Double Tap (Extreme Prejudice)/Meditation no. 17

 

  

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A double tap is a shooting technique where two well-aimed shots are fired at the same target with very little time in between shots.The term hammer is sometimes used to describe a double tap in which the firearm's sights are not reacquired by the shooter between shots

Origins

The origin of the double tap technique is credited to William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes, British police chiefs in Shanghai during the 1930s to overcome the limitations of full metal jacketed (FMJ) ammunition. FMJ ammunition is commonly used by militaries for feeding reliability, adherence to the Hague Convention regarding non-expanding ammunition, and improved penetration. FMJ rounds can fail to cause sufficient damage, requiring more hits and better shot placement. In Ian Dear’s book Sabotage and Subversion about British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) forces, Fairbairn is reported to have instructed SOE personnel in the double tap from 1944 to 1945 at the SOE training school directed by Fairbairn and Sykes near Arisaig in Scotland. The term "double tap" is now used to describe the broader technique of firing two rounds quickly and accurately to disable an opponent. The tactic is still used today by firearms handlers, police tactical teams, military personnel, counter-terrorist combat units, and other special forces personnel.

Theory

In the double-tap technique, after the first round is fired, the shooter quickly reacquires the sights for a fast second shot. This skill can be practiced by firing two shots at a time, taking time between the shots to reacquire the sights. With practice, the time between shots grows shorter and shorter until it seems to the observer as if the shooter is just pulling the trigger twice very quickly.

Note:  Readers can click on the link in the first paragraph to see a double tap demonstration.

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.   

 -- John Donne, Meditation no. 17 from "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions" (1624)