Why you would post a video of yourself shooting this bad on YouTube for the world to see, i’ll never understand:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQcDTLfhYYs[/youtube]
At first I thought it must be some random guy being filmed at the range, then the video getting posted without his knowledge or consent… but then I noticed Not only is the title of the video “Tim’s HK Mark 23”, but the guy’s youtube username is also timnanbo, and he has one other video titled “Tim’s Steyr USR” with equally poor shooting (but on a rifle this time).
Whatever turns your crank I guess. I prefer to shoot slower and/or move closer if I’m not getting any hits at the distances I attempt. If my goal was just to waste ammo, I think id find some more creative ways rather than embarrassing myself in front of 3 other guys by whizzing rounds past bowling pins.
Comments
29 responses to “How To Burn Through Ammo And Look Like An Idiot”
Ahhh, the visceral, muscular thrill of recoil. Feeling that is REALLY why we all shoot isn’t it? Just squeeze and feel that baby jump back in your hands. Why even have a target at all?
That certainly seems like the kind of thing you wouldn’t want anyone to see, regardless of why you were doing it. In fact, if your desire was just to shoot a bunch of rounds off as quickly as possible, I would definitely not want to do it while attempting to aim at something; I’d just fire rounds into the side of a hill or something!
Oh well, these kind of things are not without value. If nothing else, you can watch this kind of stuff and say, “At least I’m not this guy,” or, “I would never be so stupid as to post such an embarrassing video on Youtube.”
wow ! 3 magazines to shoot 5 bowling pins ! awesome marksmanship :p
Maybe he’s a New York City cop?
I can’t help but think (even though I haven’t ever shot a pistol) that I could do better than that.
I took my 9 year old niece out this weekend and she put fourteen rounds on a 9″ paper plate from 7 yards with an M&P9C. Six of those hits were in a 2.5″ square bull’s eye (her first time shooting a handgun of any kind). I’m thinking she could take this guy.
I think I would either move up or slow WAY down and make good slow hits. Making fast misses is like making a bad golf shot for me–just ruins the rest of my day.
If ever there is a war – I hope he’s not on our side. Looks like he already shoots like a haji anyway.
Someone give this man a shotgun.
I think the safer thing to do might be to take the gun away from him, not give him a more powerful one!
All I could think of is James Caan in El Dorado.
Ha! That sawed off right?
Accuracy by volume?…
Quantity has a quality all it’s own.
that is similar to a competition at a local range. accuracy doesnt matter- it is a timed event to knock down all the pins.
I think accuracy does matter. If a person has any shooting ability whatsoever (and I don’t know that this guy does), I would think they could knock down the pins faster by taking a moment to aim at each one. I mean, he certainly didn’t knock them down quickly the way he was doing it!
i agree. but the comp doesn’t fault you for missing.
So is the idea that in a defensive situation he would hide behind a solid wall of bullets?
I’m a contrarian so I’ll chime in to defend this guy. Perhaps he isn’t so vain that he only posts his “good” videos as seems to the be the practice of most commenters here (including me). Perhaps, he’s new to shooting and posting his just starting out videos so that he and his friends can see his improvement. Or, maybe, like myself, he’s just not as awesome of a shooter as everyone commenting here and may never be. But, to call him an “idiot” is unacceptable. You all sound like a bunch of arrogant SOBs. We want more people shooting, more people buying firearms, more people voting for politicians who support the 2nd Amendment, more people supporting local gun shops and ranges…not less. We should foster an environment of support and encouragement, not pretentious arrogance. I didn’t see anything he was doing that was unsafe or objectively improper. As at least one has pointed out, we don’t know the reason he was shooting and his rapid fire technique may well be justified given the constraints of the exercise. My point is simply, let’s not be so quick to be critical of fellow shooters…unless they are truly of the look-down-the-barrel-to-see-why-the-round-didn’t-fire variety.
I like to be contrarian also, so let me be that to your post. I do agree that there was nothing necessarily dangerous or irresponsible about what he was doing. Embarrassing – certainly. In response to your contention that perhaps he doesn’t only post videos of him shooting well – he has two videos posted under his username on Youtube; in both he’s shooting poorly. There are no videos where he looks like he knows what he’s doing. Calling him an idiot – well, nobody actually said he was an idiot. The title of the post said “look like and idiot.” In defense of that, it does look pretty idiotic to go blazing through dozens of rounds and multiple magazine changes to knock 5 bowling pins down, when the much more effective thing to do would be to pause between shots and make a well placed shot, as opposed to trying to scare the pins into submission with an overwhelming volume of fire. To your point about fostering and environment that encourages people to take up shooting as a hobby, own weapons for defense, etc. – I agree with that. I will say, however, that I shudder a bit at this video because I can picture a non-gun owner (either one who dislikes guns or is completely ambivalent to the subject) watching this and saying to themselves, “This is a typical gun owner, huh? Just fires with wild abandon and hopes he hits something.” (Incidentally, I counted, on one of those iterations he fires 34 rounds to knock down 5 targets! Couple more misses and he would have needed a fourth magazine.)
Above all, I think the idiotic thing here is not necessarily what he was doing, but that he would post this on the internet to share with the world. Unless the point is to knock down the pins using as many rounds as possible, this guy sucks. If the point is to knock down the pins as quickly as possible, without any limit to number of rounds, he would be much better off firing more slowly, giving himself the chance to aim before firing the next round. What he’s doing isn’t working very well. And even though what he’s doing is done at a range, and there seems to be nothing dangerous about it, I think the argument could be made that what he’s doing is presenting an example of irresponsible shooting in that firing with what might be called “reckless abandon” is not a responsible way to shoot. A more responsible thing to do would be to ensure that you can hit your target, not just send rounds in the cardinal direction of your target and hope that some make contact.
I don’t draw much if any distinction between calling him an idiot and saying he merely looks like an idiot. Like saying a dress makes your wife’s ass look fat…but honey, I didn’t actually say you were fat…good luck with that.
I still disagree with “embarrassing.” How about just honest. This is how he shoots. YouTube is less about excellence and more about simple slices of people’s lives. Everyone…everyone…here was a poor shooter when they started out. This guy just doesn’t have the self-consciousness that everyone else does to hide that stage from the public. As for non-gun owners, this is not the only video they will see. And, it’s perfectly fine for them to see a video of people shooting safely and properly but poorly to let them know it is OK to be a beginner or even a long-time enthusiast and not be skilled. Except the comments here are more of the nature of don’t join us unless you have the physical capabilities to be a good shooter and are willing to devote the time and effort to developing good skill…otherwise, we will mock and ridicule you.
As for me, I’ll bet I’m no better shooter than this guy. Like most supporters of the 2nd Amendment, I simply don’t have the time with a busy job and active family to get to shoot as often as I’d like. I’m glad he posted the video, it shows a regular guy practicing his shooting skills.
Along that line, I’ll argue the drill is perfectly reasonable and proper. I don’t own and practice with firearms in order to get good at shooting targets, nor have I ever hunted. The 2nd Amendment ain’t about target shooting or competition or about hunting…’nuff said. If confronted by an assailant intent on inflicting severe bodily harm on the shooter, what should he do? How should he practice? I would argue exactly as he is doing…rapid fire, center of mass. His shots aren’t flying wildly down range, I’ll bet most are within a body-width of the pin. Sure, the next step would be to incorporate movement and use of cover, but as a precursor, his drill is perfectly acceptable. It is not idiotic nor irresponsible. Sure, if it was the only way he ever practiced, your criticism of it being irresponsible might have more merit but, obviously, that is almost certainly not the case. In addition to slow carefully aimed shots and quick aimed shots, I’ve done very similar exercises with each of my weapons. Have you never fired in this manner (but, obviously, with much greater accuracy)?
I just don’t like fellow brother shooters being called “look like an idiot” without better reason.
I’d liken this to practicing your juggling skills by repeatedly throwing up 5 or so eggs and trying to learn to juggle. They are all going to crack, and yes I’d also say you are going to look like an idiot.
This guy is going for the spray and pray method pure and simple… if he cared about practicing his skills he wouldn’t squeeze off rounds back to back without even bothering to get his sights properly lined up.
In his 3rd string of shots he takes 35 rounds to knock down 5 pins… if he would have been shooting at a decent rate of speed for his skill level I never would have bothered to post this video because I agree, that would be considered practice… In my opinion though this video though is just embarrassing and does make him look like an idiot.
Your “center of mass” argument is laughable… If you added the stress of a situation where he was fearing for his life into the mix, and likely not standing perfectly straight and stationary in front of the target, his shooting would definitely be far worse. So I wouldn’t be too keen on seeing this guy with a carry permit either (like Kevin mentioned below)
You should start your own blog then where you can praise people for basically doing anything at all with guns as long as it isn’t unsafe.
I don’t claim to be any sort of marksman, because I am not. Both his videos just show a complete lack of skill, considering all he really is accomplishing is putting lead down range. Like I said in the last paragraph of my post, “whatever turns his crank”.. if he wants to waste ammo and not even have a chance of getting to be a better shooter then go for it, the money isn’t coming out of my pocket.
You don’t think a dress can make a person look fat, even if they aren’t? Or certain clothes don’t make a person look skinnier than they actually are? How about a girl that is dressed very provocatively, wouldn’t you maybe say, “She looks like a prostitute”? Doesn’t mean she is one. I’ve got some clothes from Afghanistan, and a beard, and a pretty good summer tan going. I could dress myself up and you would probably say I look like a terrorist, but I’m not.
It is embarrassing. If that’s how he shoots, fine. He should be embarrassed enough by it to not make it available for millions of viewers via the internet. Not everyone is a good singer, but those who are terrible should be too embarrassed to try out for American Idol and make fools of themselves on television. But this seems to be beyond merely not being a good shot; it might be a fundamental problem in his approach to shooting. How could you be a good shot when you’re pulling the trigger as fast as possible? You might be right, this might not be the only way he practices, but his only other Youtube offering is similar – firing a bunch of rounds and hitting very little. As I type this, the little TiVo in my head just popped on and I’m picturing the scene from “Dumb and Dumber” where Jeff Bridges character unloads the revolver at the bad guy and manages to hit all over the wall behind the bad guy, but misses him entirely!
You ask if I’ve never fired in this manner. No, I don’t think I’ve ever fired in such rapid succession with such ineffectiveness. If he were firing in rapid succession and hitting his targets with any type of accuracy, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But the other important thing that I would never do is post a video of me shooting so horribly, for fear that it would make me look like an idiot.
I learned to shoot as a young boy on a farm in Iowa. I would shoot for target practice and to hunt. In either case, the objective was to hit the target with one shot, not to assault it with a hail of gunfire. Later on I joined the Army, and was an exceptional marksman during my service. The only time I’ve fired in a manner that I was say is similar to his, it was called “suppressive fire.” I think what he demonstrated here was a fine example of suppressive fire – those pins look like they would have liked to seek cover, rendering them unable to return fire.
So, I maintain that it was perfectly acceptable to say that this video makes him “look like an idiot.”
He doesn’t look like an idiot to me.
As to calling someone a name versus telling someone they look like that same name, outside of an English class, I don’t think most people differentiate. I pass you and your wife/lady friend on the street and tell you she looks like a cheap whore…your first thought isn’t going to be that I just can’t stand her dress. (My head TiVo is playing Steve Martin in The Jerk being shot at saying, “He hates these cans!”) My comment would rightly be interpreted as an insult to the lady herself and could not be defended by my claiming that I only said she “looked” like a whore and that I hadn’t actually called her one.
I grew up in Cook County near Chicago and didn’t shoot until well into my adult life when I moved to a free state to work and live. I will never be a great shot and, God willing, I will never have to shoot for what I train. The likelihood though if I ever do, it will be more like this guy than anything else. I defer to, respect and thank you for your service and admit without qualification that you know more about firearms, training and their use than I. But, in a civilian self-defense situation, aren’t I likely to be firing at a similar rate as this guy? And thus, shouldn’t I train for just that situation? For instance, this article by Massad Ayoob about the Marine who dispatched two thugs in a Subway describes a situation involving at least as fast, if not faster, rate of fire (although closer quarters): http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA09/?page=62
We’ll just have to agree to disagree…I’ve enjoyed the banter. Love the site!
That’s an interesting article. I’ll bet if you were to ask that Marine how you should practice, his response would be that you should practice being accurate; this video is not demonstrating that. In the article it mentions his horror at realizing he had an empty magazine and was having difficulty retrieving his second.
I think this video makes it abundantly clear that this guy doesn’t know what he is doing. If he did, surely he would realize that he would be more effective (time-wise, and ammo-wise) if he slowed down. I don’t care how fast you can move your fingers across the keys of a piano, if you’re not hitting the right keys, you sound like shit! It seems (to me at least) that this guy lacks the fundamentals required for good marksmanship, and without those, his rapid-fire is pretty pointless.
You asked if you shouldn’t train for a situation where you dumping ammo as fast as you can. I think the clear answer is no – you should train to first be able to hit what you’re aiming at. Although what the Marine in that article did may sound similar to what is happening in this video, I’ll bet you that Marine is thankful for years of training and practice on HITTING WHAT HE AIMS AT. Regarding how it went down in the story – adrenaline, fear, uncertainty of how the robbers are going to react – of course there are all sorts of things play a part in how something works in real life. I used to hear people all the time say something to the effect, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy intact.” Meaning, that whatever the plan is, it needs to be flexible and you need to be able to adapt to changes; nothing plays out in real life exactly as you plan it on a sand table. But you still practice and train on the fundamentals. I think this guy probably hasn’t done that. I think if he had, he would have hit more targets during his little ammo spendex.
And that, plus the fact that he published the video of himself doing it, makes him look like an idiot.
God help us if this guy carries for self defense (or work)
He is shooting a timed event when he obviously DOES NOT HAVE BASIC SKILLS. Hopefully his friends are not telling him is is doing good. No need to post a vid like this. If he wants additional training I am available ;-)
No compromise.
There’s still a miss, but here’s at least a faster attempt at pins. Don’t see any reason to post a video of you looking like a moron.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOeVIcSQqf8
that is not bad at all compared to the vid in this post!