Rules For A Gunfight by Drill Instructor Joe B. Fricks, USMC

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I have no clue whether this gentleman wrote all of this or not. I've seen some of these attributed to other people, but it is still full of good advice and worth repeating.

1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.


2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap – life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap – funerals are expensive.

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.


4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.


5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)


6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.


7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.


8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell “Fire!” Why “Fire”? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause then to lose concentration and will…. and who is going to summon help if you yell ”Intruder,” “Glock” or “Winchester?”


9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on “pucker factor” than the inherent accuracy of the gun.


10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.


11. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.


12. Have a plan.


13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won’t work. “No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy.”


14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.


15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.


16. Don’t drop your guard.


17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That’s how you live if hit in your “good” side.


18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don’t (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)


19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.


20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.


21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.


22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.


23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.


24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller than ”4″.


25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. “All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket.” At a practice session, throw your gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.


26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.


27. Regardless of whether justified or not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperature.


28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, “He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. I’m sorry, Officer, but I’m very upset now. I can’t say anything more. Please speak with my attorney.”


Finally, Drill Instructor Frick’s Rules For Un-armed Combat.


1: Never be unarmed.
 
I have no clue whether this gentleman wrote all of this or not. I've seen some of these attributed to other people, but it is still full of good advice and worth repeating.

1. Forget about knives, bats and fists. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns. Bring four times the ammunition you think you could ever need.


2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammunition is cheap – life is expensive. If you shoot inside, buckshot is your friend. A new wall is cheap – funerals are expensive.

3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.


4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.


5. Move away from your attacker and go to cover. Distance is your friend. (Bulletproof cover and diagonal or lateral movement are preferred.)


6. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a semi or full-automatic long gun and a friend with a long gun.


7. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.


8. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running. Yell “Fire!” Why “Fire”? Cops will come with the Fire Department, sirens often scare off the bad guys, or at least cause then to lose concentration and will…. and who is going to summon help if you yell ”Intruder,” “Glock” or “Winchester?”


9. Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on “pucker factor” than the inherent accuracy of the gun.


10. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.


11. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.


12. Have a plan.


13. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won’t work. “No battle plan ever survives 10 seconds past first contact with an enemy.”


14. Use cover or concealment as much as possible, but remember, sheetrock walls and the like stop nothing but your pulse when bullets tear through them.


15. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.


16. Don’t drop your guard.


17. Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees. Practice reloading one-handed and off-hand shooting. That’s how you live if hit in your “good” side.


18. Watch their hands. Hands kill. Smiles, frowns and other facial expressions don’t (In God we trust. Everyone else keep your hands where I can see them.)


19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.


20. The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.


21. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet if necessary, because they may want to kill you.


22. Be courteous to everyone, overly friendly to no one.


23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.


24. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with anything smaller than ”4″.


25. Use a gun that works EVERY TIME. “All skill is in vain when an Angel blows the powder from the flintlock of your musket.” At a practice session, throw your gun into the mud, then make sure it still works. You can clean it later.


26. Practice shooting in the dark, with someone shouting at you, when out of breath, etc.


27. Regardless of whether justified or not, you will feel sad about killing another human being. It is better to be sad than to be room temperature.


28. The only thing you EVER say afterwards is, “He said he was going to kill me. I believed him. I’m sorry, Officer, but I’m very upset now. I can’t say anything more. Please speak with my attorney.”


Finally, Drill Instructor Frick’s Rules For Un-armed Combat.


1: Never be unarmed.
Damm skippy

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks Chad! We ALL need to live these rules!
 
23. Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.

Probably the most important thing to consider!
 
Seen this list many times over 15 years, but it is never exactly the same. This one is longer than most. BTW #24 is in every one I've seen, but in this one it's a double negative resulting in the opposite meaning than what was intended, lol.
 
These should be the first 2 rules:
19. Decide NOW to always be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
11. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
 
Yeah, that list (more or less) has been around for a while.

#13 is actually a paraphrase of Rommel: “No plan survives contact with the enemy”
 
Another good thing to remember is ...

"Don't forget, incoming fire has the right of way."
 
4. If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.

Most people practice shooting by standing still. You need to practice in awkward positions behind cover. You also need to practice shooting while on the move towards your cover. Anyone can stand still and shoot at a target. Remember, in real life that target will be shooting back at you.
 
Most people practice shooting by standing still. You need to practice in awkward positions behind cover. You also need to practice shooting while on the move towards your cover. Anyone can stand still and shoot at a target. Remember, in real life that target will be shooting back at you.
And it will be moving :)
 
I also understand that everyone doesn't have a place to shoot where you can practice these drills. I am very fortunate that I have access to a place where we are able to create different scenarios. I am no Gekko45 but I have learned so much these last few years. I have recently gotten fairly comfortable shooting with my off hand. That is something that I had never practiced before.
 
The list is cute and all. I've seen variations through the years. But, too many rules lead to complexity, confusion and delay.

To simplify:

Rule #1 - Win

That's it.

For those that must have more rules, I'll offer two more...

#2 - Win decisively.
It's not a fair fight. If they brought it to you you're already behind the curve. You were selected and an attack plan was made before contact. You are trying to formulate a plan after contact. Be bold and don't hold back.

#3 - Win quickly.
Suppress the enemy as quickly as possible. This may not be your only fight. There may be a second or third.


Just my .02
 
I also understand that everyone doesn't have a place to shoot where you can practice these drills. I am very fortunate that I have access to a place where we are able to create different scenarios. I am no Gekko45 but I have learned so much these last few years. I have recently gotten fairly comfortable shooting with my off hand. That is something that I had never practiced before.

I am often better with my off hand than strong hand. So either really suck, or am really talented. Not sure I want to know which one.
 
Most people practice shooting by standing still. You need to practice in awkward positions behind cover. You also need to practice shooting while on the move towards your cover. Anyone can stand still and shoot at a target. Remember, in real life that target will be shooting back at you.

Preparing for deployment we had done all the right things, had all the right training, but you know THE best thing we did to get ready? We would run sprints in full gear, do push ups, compete against one another, do things to get all jacked up. Then we shot. At first it looked like a bunch of blind monkeys were shooting, the shots were all over. But the more we did it, the better we got.
 
Preparing for deployment we had done all the right things, had all the right training, but you know THE best thing we did to get ready? We would run sprints in full gear, do push ups, compete against one another, do things to get all jacked up. Then we shot. At first it looked like a bunch of blind monkeys were shooting, the shots were all over. But the more we did it, the better we got.

This is exactly why shooting sports make you a better "thinking" shooter.

If you are in a situation where you need to defend yourself... you are on the clock, you are in a competition [for your life], you are certainly jacked up and you need to make decisions fast. The question you must ask yourself is "hmm, did the buzzer just go off?"
 
On of my favorite courses of fire during a sniper match was having to get up from the gun and run 10yds behind to retrieve each round to be fired at a 300yd target. He called it Heartbreaker. It was fun, except for the guy next to me that kept kicking sand into my action.
 
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In my 22 precision challenge match last month one of the tactical division (shot from various positions instead of bench) stages required jumping jacks on the clock before shooting.
 
#8 is exactly what I've taught my wife over the years if there's a break-in while she's home and I'm not. I've told her that if she's hiding with her firearm and phone, call 911 and tell them there's a major gas leak or fire.

The only alternative would be to tell them the truth and that she's armed and getting ready to shoot someone. But since the fire department is less than a mile from the house, that's the best option to get sirens blaring and on the way.
 
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