Tueller Drill Gun versus Knife

Massad Ayoob has a very good video called
"Police Survival Shooting"

For me the best part was definition of the Tueller drill plus them demonstrating it.
He also covers shotgun stances, one handed shooting, revolver reload technique and the use of cover. Video seems really short.



Basically Tueller was a guy who wrote an article about how quickly a guy with a knife or club can strike you from 21 feet(7 yards) away. They chose this distance only because it was a typical police training shooting distance. The idea is that most people would wrongly assume that someone that far away with a bladed weapon or impact weapon is far enought away that they do not represent a threat to you. The Tueller drill shows them wrong... someone at 7 yards away can charge you and make contact in about the time it takes to draw a weapon or faster... Also it is important to note that in many if not most cases, one bullet does not stop someone who has deadly intent. So even if you could draw in shoot in time, unlike the movies, the bad guy will probably not drop on the ground immediately or stop his attack.

Times vary, but in about 1.5 seconds, a person can cover 7 yards and strike you with a weapon. As an instructor of a martial art that spends alot of time on knives, I can say that yes, it is all true.

Gun guys don't really know how dangerous bladed weapons or impact weapons are. Anyone who talks about "bringing a knife to a gun fight" simply knows nothing about bladed weapons.

I have heard that the .45 automatic was taken up by the US Army since philipinos could charge someone with a machete and cut them up before they could shoot them OR when they were able to shoot them with their 38 caliber pistols, it many times didn't stop them and they were able to still kill the guy that shot them.

So the Tueller drill is the truth so what do you do about it?

Well, if someone is charging you with a knife, sword, machete or impact weapon you should

1. Move offline and shoot them at the same time. Shooting isn't enough, moving straight back won't work. I recommend practicing moving offline at 90 degrees and shooting at the same time.

At 7 yards, the guy with a sword is looking good to win. You can shoot me if you want and depending on where you hit me I may or may not stop and I may or may not die. But with a stroke of the sword you arm is OFF or your neck is cut through...you are stopped for further action and/or you are dead.

So my joke is "idiot bringing a gun to a knife fight". Your joke is only funny if the knife or sword guy is further away than 7 yards.