I have always been puzzled at training that focuses on “center body mass” hits instead of training to aim slightly higher in the chest where the heart and most major blood vessels leading to it are located. For example if you look at most training silhouette targets the bullseye is located lower than where you would expect the heart to be, and at first thought the heart and other major organs located higher in the chest would be a better target.
Then I read some things that suggested at best unpredictability when handgun rounds strike hard bone like the sternum or ribcage. Is this why we train to aim below the sternum? To miss the bones? Have any reliable tests been performed on high quality JHP’s to determine how they will perform when striking bone such as the sternum?
The one class I have under my belt is a pistol class. There we trained for high center of mass hits. Failure drills where targeting the head and the pelvic girdle was mentioned as a possiable alternative.
The sternum is a rather thin (about 1/4-3/8" thick in my experience), spongy bone. I have seen enough of them cut in two while observing a CABG, etc.
Yes, the lungs and heart and all the “good stuff” start at about the xyphoid process and extend upward (a good bit further, in the case of the lungs, than most realize).
Anatomically, it is not too hard; if you want immediate incapacitation, then the CNS is the only reasonable target:
For delayed incapacitation, then high thoracic targeting of the heart and large vessels is the best option:
The target below is STUPID to train with, as the “X” is in the wrong spot–it needs to be where the upper “8” is at. Why would any trainer use that target? It is just going to reinforce shooting the WRONG anatomic location for rapid threat incapacitation. An LE agency using that defective target to train/qualify officers is setting itself up for liability issues…
It is easy to train correctly–to start, use targets that reinforce proper hit zones, for example, below is a FAR better option to practice getting shots to the proper incapacitation points:
3x5" cards and 6" paper plates make great cheap targets for CNS and COM targeting, respectively…
It is arguable that a 3x5 card on the face should be placed vertical, not horizontal to emphasize the target as the brain stem. Hits too far left or right of the midbrain may only result in some one sided loss of motor function.
Indeed, but there is nothing directly behind the eye that will drop someone like cutting the strings on a puppet. That said, I prefer to aim for a structure that I know will take a person down (brainstem and midbrain) and hope the round doesn’t deflect too much rather than set my standard to miss what I am really trying to hit and hope that I somehow end up hitting it. With a high velocity round the cranial vault is good enough but with low velocity rounds, it is not.
Not to mention that in reality a round striking someone midline from the tip of the nose to just above the suprasternal notch will drop them. So why not set your standard to put rounds closer to the midline (vertical 3x5)? I’m not saying my way is THE way, its just one way of looking at it.
First, let’s be clear on what “center of mass” is. It’s the middle of whatever body area you can see when the target is presented. On a square-range, fixed facing target, it’s the X depicted on the B27 types and several others. It’s also the middle of the head peaking around a corner, or the middle of whatever other partially exposed body area you have available to shoot at.
The reason for targeting it isn’t to maximize injury potential. It’s to maximize hit potential by aiming for the largest area. It places hit potential at a higher priority than terminal effects, recognizing that a hit to a less optimal area is better than a miss to a better zone. Remember the audience it was developed around, and the hit potential of the LCDs within.
Upper thoracic triangle, high thoracic cavity, whatever label you assign reduces the size of your impact zone. For those able to hit anyway, shoot it. For those less able, they should carefully consider their ability to hit the target area presented effectively.
