text: Death Spewing hip fire... (Reply #108) - Democratic Underground
  DU Home » Latest Threads » Forums & Groups » Topics » Justice & Public Safety » Gun Control & RKBA (Group) » Pistol grips on long guns... » Reply #108
  108. Death Spewing hip fire...
  There are a lot of factors to take in when determining where a shot will land. Those factors would be compounded if one is firing from the hip.
  1. When fired from the hip a rifle is at one's side off center from the body, by about 8 inches.
  2. The individual is not aiming, but guessing where the shot will land.
  3. The body is not behind the rifle to take up recoil so the firearm will sway and bounce quite a bit.
  4. Also, since the rifle is off center it causes the body to twist away from the rifle.
  In the video above you can see that the muzzle of the rifle moves up and down about 3 to 4 inches and you can also see his body rotating away 3 to 4 inches from every shot. Just these factors will add up to missed shots even at very close range.
  Here are some simple math factors that can determine where a shot will land.
  1. Distance the muzzle to the target
  2. Left/Right movement of the muzzle by the shooter
  3. Up/Down movement of the muzzle by the shooter
  Since we are not talking longer shots I will not need to show the effects of gravity, wind, elevation, muzzle velocity, bullet weight, ballistic coefficient, temperature, altitude, air pressure, etc... as they will have almost zero effect on where a shot would land within 3 meters.
  Just judging from the video this shooter is not aiming level, but the muzzle is pointed about 2 inches higher than level. Also, since he is at the hip and to the side he has to compensate(aim across his body to the left) for where he thinks that the shot will go. So if he is simply off by that 2 inches up and 4 inches left at the tip of the muzzle he will miss his theoretical aim point. He will be about 6 inches left and 5 inches high off his target if his target is only a meter away and 18~19 inches high and 13~14 inches to the left of his target at 3 meters. And that is just his first shot. His other shots would be off even farther. This does not even take into account his ability to guess as to the actual aim point.
  There was an episode of Top Shot where the contestants had to hip fire. These were highly trained military professionals and competitors. They did not do very well at all.