C 8 Nerve - where to shoot and not to shoot

C 8 Nerve - where to shoot and not to shoot

Since 05-20-08

From MAY TRAINING UPDATE #3

Suarez International USA, Inc.:
Subscribe To This Newsletter Here

L.C. Pyzik

I purchased my first gun in August 1969. It wasn’t until after a cold Friday evening in January 1994 that I realized I needed to become much more intimate with firearms. I almost walked into a mass murder at a local fast food restaurant where 7 employees were killed with a gun.

Coincidentally, a local group was forming that would import many well-known top instructors to teach attendees about personal protection. I decided that I needed to attend! IDPA targets were used. Over time I was able to hit the “A” zone – I even had a few good groups as I learned sight alignment, target acquisition, and trigger control. As I got better, I began to mentally question why I was using the “A” zone of the IDPA target as my COM as the area to place my front sight on. You see, I am a licensed physician and radiologist for more than 30 years now. My background in anatomy and physiology got me thinking that there must be a better “sweet spot”.

I had been trained to double tap to the chest and if there is a failure to stop, to transition to the cranio-ocular cavity (Mozambique Drill). If the treat continues to advance, shoot to the pelvis and break the foundation of posture causing the VCA to drop to the ground and be taken out of the fight.

In speaking to fellow attendees over the years who are LEO’s and involved in shootings, I found out that the VCA usually remained in the fight for 5-10 seconds or longer even with 7 hits to the chest COM. 5, 10, or 15 seconds is a long time! How many loaded magazines can you fire in 15 seconds? How fast can you run for cover?

A “head” shot? That’s a small dense body area that has a round or circular contour in which bullets frequently ricochet off of, having only two smaller areas that will be effective at stopping the threat.

And lastly, the shot to the pelvis to “anchor” your threat. Right now, stop what you are doing, stand up, and using your index finger, touch the exact spot on the front of your pelvis that you would aim for on your next shot. Invariably, a hit there would NOT anchor your threat. I contend that you would have to fire 4 - 7 rounds or more to penetrate the heavy musculature, high density tissues present in this area to penetrate deep enough to strike a bone, let alone hit one of the two spots that would most likely break the base of posture and drop the VCA.

I often hear that most pistol bullets do not have enough energy to penetrate deeply enough to be effective so firing many bullets are necessary – besides bullets are cheap, so use many when the need arises. We hear this often from military veterans using 9mm or 5.56mm rounds. They are in the know and have proven this to be fact more often than not.

Let’s review: - pistol bullets are underpowered and body thickness precludes sufficient depth to produce immediate deanimation,

Chest COM’s may not quickly stop VCA’s because of many reasons including soft body armor,

Head shots are difficult because that area moves a lot and it is small in size, and

Those that have shot to the pelvis discovered that the VCA does not drop.

Is there another area that will stop the threat that we need to be aware of or at least consider? This may be a new concept for you – knowledge is power. If you do not practice something difficult, you will not perform it when you need it. If you are a serious intermediate or advanced practitioner understand this. There is an area that is thinner than the chest COM, contains both important blood vessels and nerves that will prevent the VCA from holding a pistol and/or bending the trigger finger so that the gun will become inert. This thinner body part is above the top of the level of soft body armor, is the same size as the cranio-ocular cavity, contains vital blood vessels to the brain and nerves that control the arms, hands, thumb and index finger.

While taking a class with Tom Givens of Rangemaster several years ago, we spoke of this concept. He challenged me to create a PowerPoint presentation on this subject based on my knowledge of anatomy and neurology and allowed me to present this concept to the attendees of The Polite Society annual meeting.

It has been argued that this area is:

- too small of a target,

- difficult to hit because the hands/gun may be in line of the bullets, and

- the bones that protect this area have a rounded contour and the bullets will not penetrate and only ricochet.

Intermediate and advanced practitioners should be able to hit an area of this size if they practice head shots as part of their routine. If the VCA’s hands/gun is in line with our return bullet fire is that bad? How many accounts have we been told of where the parties had been shot in the hands because that is where the eyes focus! When you practice FOF, do you wear gloves to soften the frequent hits to the knuckles/hands? If some of the vital blood vessels or nerves in the neck region are disrupted and/or destroyed will that stop the action? Ever hit your “crazy bone” in your elbow – did you stop what you were doing? Were you able to feel your arm/hand for the next several moments?

So, where is this area?

It is along the midline of the body, in the area from the “Adams apple” to the notch at the top of the breastbone (feel that notch with your index finger tip at the top of the breastbone?). Imagine the horizontal area of the cranio-ocular cavity and turn it vertically over the neck region described above.

Deep to that region are the blood vessels and one of the many nerves in the lower neck that controls the muscles of the thumb and index finger commonly referred to as the C8 nerve. Am I saying that this is the one-shot stop area with pistol rounds? Of course not! It is however, more anatomically and/or neurologically correct in accomplishing immediate deanimation than the chest COM and awaiting for enough blood loss to cause the threat to loose consciousness. It is as good, if not better than the other areas discussed in this article because of the immediate results. Ever see a deer shot in the neck drop in its track?

I have it on good authority that a well-known former LEO responding to a “stop and rob” call actually produced immediate deanimation when one pellet from 00 buck ricocheted off the top of soft body armor worn by the VCA and struck the C8 nerve! I also understand that the late great Jeff Cooper described in one of his books that during a Mozambique Drill, the head shot struck low (in the neck) and ended the encounter. Now you know a vital area that may be considered that produces immediate deanimation.