If shot placement is so important, why no sights?

An exhaustive NYPD report (NYPD SOP 9) revealed that in 70% of recorded police shootings (the majority under poor lighting conditions) officers did not use sights while 10% of the time officers didn’t remember whether sights were used. In the remaining 20% of the cases, officers recollected using some form of visual aid to line up the target ~ which could be the sights themselves or just the barrel.

The NYPD statistics showed no correlation between an officer’s range scores and his ability to hit a suspect at close range. The mean score for NYPD police officers (1990-2000) for all shootings is fifteen hits per 100 shots fired, which is almost the identical hit ratio seen among Miami officers ~ who in the years 1990-2001 fired some 1300 rounds at suspects while recording fewer than 200 hits. Almost unbelievably, some NYPD figures show 62% of shots fired at a distance of less than six feet were complete misses.

The 1988 US Army training manual for pistols and revolvers [FM 23-35], in apparent recognition of the disconnect between sighted shooting at the range and the ability to score hits in short distance combat, wisely calls for point shoot training at distances of less than fifteen feet. The ability to shoot targets at 25 yards using sights sadly seems to provide little or no advantage in close combat. Nor are there recorded instances where an officer required a reload in close combat. When reloads do occur, there is no immediate threat to the officer’s safety and the perpetrator has usually barricaded himself in a defensive posture. A study by Etten and Petee (l995) showed that neither large capacity magazines nor the ability to reload quickly was a factor in shootings.

Speed reloads at short ranges just don’t happen and practicing paper punching at long ranges using sights appears to prepare one for short range conflict to the same degree it prepares one for using flying insect spray. (Hitting an annoying yellow jacket buzzing a picnic table without spraying the guests or the food might be better practice for combat than long range paper punching. So might a plain old-fashioned water pistol fight.)

In the FWIW department, of 250 NYPD police officers killed in the line of duty in the years 1854-1979 there was only one instance where it could be determined an officer was slain at a distance of over 25 feet ~ by a sniper 125 feet away. Of the 250 fatal encounters, 92% took place under fifteen feet and 96.4% under 25 feet. In the remaining eight instances the distance was unknown.

If you hold the LWS pistol at a 45-degree angle there is a groove formed that can be used as a sighting tool. The 25-yard shooting proficiency test for carry qualification required by many issuing authorities is absurd. It’s a request to perform a feat that would land you in jail if you ever tried to perform it “in self-defense”. It’s like passing a driver’s test that requires you to slalom between traffic cones at 120 miles an hour. Seventy-five feet shooting proficiency is not too much to ask from a police officer who may be firing at a barricaded target, as the ability to drive at high speeds is not too much to ask from a Trooper pursuing a fleeing vehicle, but it’s ridiculous to ask it of civilians. Shoot an “assailant” at 75 feet. Then try to find a lawyer good enough to keep you out of prison. On the one hand the law demands that you use deadly force only when you are in danger of serious bodily injury or your life is threatened. On the other hand they demand that you have the ability to commit a long-range homicide with a firearm before they give you that right.

Using sights at shorter ranges invites problems

In order to use sights a shooter has to put at least one hand in front of their face. This obstructs the view behind the hand they have placed there. When the focus is on the upper torso of the threatening individual, the lower portion of that person is partially or completely hidden from view by this deliberately chosen visual obstruction. The closer the target, the greater is the degree of visual impairment that may cause the shooter to fail to recognize potentially important information below the sight picture.

Statistics show pistol sights generally go out the window once shooting starts; however, this does not mean sights are not used prior to the commencement of hostilities. We can see on reality TV police programs numerous instances where officers in a Weaver stance point guns at suspects who are in absurdly close proximity to them.

With both hands in front of one’s face, one is less able to recognize whether a possible threat is reaching for a gun or a wallet when the landscape below the target area is blocked from view. One might perceive movement, but one cannot see what is being moved. There have almost certainly been accidental shootings of unarmed individuals that have in many instances been caused by sight shoot training, in which a trained focus on a clear sight picture leaves one with an incomplete view of the important overall scenario.

The potential hazard of losing perspective of the complete picture of the environment is well illustrated by Matthew Emmons. He lost what appeared to be a safe gold medal in the 2004 Olympics by shooting, with great accuracy, holes in his neighbor’s target. Overmuch concentration on the bull’s eye, which can be achieved with sights that exclude distracting but possibly important stimuli, may assist in hitting what one is aiming to hit but it can do so at the great cost of making an improper choice of target.

Suggestions for achieving proficiency

Other than range practice of point shooting at realistic combat distances (under fifteen feet), here’s what you can do to achieve proficiency, let’s start by making sure you are using an unloaded pistol:

Dry fire the pistol to get acquainted with the trigger pull. Dry firing will not hurt the LWS. Slow deliberate dry firing will help you get acquainted with the pull but make it a snappy pull once you get the feel, because you’ll never use the slow pull to defend yourself. (Please keep in mind ‘unloaded’ guns are probably responsible for most accidental shootings, so never under any circumstances point the pistol at any living thing or something you’re not prepared to suffer the consequences of shooting.)

Repeatedly pick up the pistol and point it towards a target without looking at the gun. Holding the gun in that position, bring your eyes down to examine whether the position of the gun lines up with the target. As much as you can, keep your arm straight without allowing it to interfere with your vision. A straight arm makes for more accurate pointing.

Most of those who buy pistols for self-defense shoot infrequently. At the distance at which handguns are likely to be used for self-defense this doesn’t bother me as much as it perhaps should. Who doesn’t have a shotgun, or some other weapon stashed away, seldom, or never used, that they wouldn’t hesitate to bring center stage if there was a forced house entry. People who buy pepper spray and Mace don’t normally feel the need to practice a thousand squirts to feel comfortable they can hit an assailant. And, as mentioned, the studies seem to show little practical benefit from long distance range practice. I’d rather go up against a target shooter than an individual who plays occasional paintball.

Due to the compact design of the Seecamp we require the shorter cartridge length of a hollow point to assure a clean and proper feed during use. 

Further for a self-defense pistol an argument could and should be made that you should always carry hollow points.

Whether a hollow point expands or not, there is still a hollow point shock value advantage.

When shooting hollow point ammunition, air becomes trapped and compressed inside the cup as the bullet speeds through the air. This pressure exerts itself outwardly against the side walls of the cup. If enough of it were present, the cup would expand or explode on the way to the target.

Simultaneously, there is a far more moderate degree of inward pressure on the cup created by the outside bullet taper. The discrepancy in pressure exists because the air on the outside of the cup is allowed to pass while the air on the inside is trapped.

The bigger the cup and the smaller the outside taper, the greater is the force for explosion versus the force for implosion.

Soft bullet material, a thin-walled cup, a cup weakened through expansion cuts or an aerodynamically streamlined cup to reduce the implosion force, all encourage bullet expansion or explosion ~ as also does increased bullet speed.

Greater bullet speed means a greater tendency for expansion or explosion. From a practical point of view, there is an upper limit to the benefit of bullet speed. There is a point at which increased bullet speed offers no benefits or even a negative benefit in stopping power ~ for example, a lightweight bullet that disintegrates on impact.

Expansion or explosion work against penetration. Bullet penetration is reduced by expansion and even more so by explosion.

When a hollow point bullet hits the target, it can do a number of things depending largely on the medium it hits.

Ideally, the hollow point bullet hits soft tissue and the compressed air/tissue inside the cup cause the bullet to expand. Along with this, with or without expansion, comes an increased temporary wound cavity. Trapped air/tissue inside the cup and the aerodynamics of the cup create a larger temporary wound cavity than is created by a streamlined ball bullet. Wadcutters have been shown to be more effective as people stoppers than ball. Their aerodynamics tend to create a bigger temporary wound channel.

Traditional hollow points have only minimal if any expansion on hitting denim clothed ballistic gelatin. This is a good thing because it means if the assailant is wearing heavy clothing, penetration is increased. The downside is reduced or no expansion.

With this increased penetration and non-expansion, however, there is still an increased temporary wound channel. Just because a hollow point bullet fails to expand does not mean it is less effective than a ball bullet.

Air blowers are equipped with safety nozzles because air hoses are dangerous and can kill people. The stopping power value of trapped air/tissue in a hollow point should not be underestimated, even when the bullet does not expand.

Expansion, with traditional hollow points, is most on unclothed gelatin. This is good ~ there is penetration with heavy clothing and expansion with light clothing.

We recommend traditional hollow point ammunition ~ Gold Dot, Hydra Shok, Hornady, Silver Tips. I’m wary of “high performance” and home-brewed ammunition that show extraordinary performance under staged conditions.

To sum up, there is no ideal cartridge, there is no ideal caliber and there is no ideal gun. For a close-range self-defense pistol, we think we do okay.

The most important thing in any defense pistol is that the pistol goes bang when the trigger is pulled each time it is pulled. Ammo choice is secondary.

My advice on ammo: Always go with the ammo that works most reliably over the ammo that impresses in staged tests.

The drawbar spring (v shaped spring over the magazine) should last indefinitely in all caliber models.

The recoil spring only needs replacing in the .380. After a few hundred rounds, spring replacement is recommended. All .380s are test fired with old and battered recoil springs well beyond the recommended change limit.

As an additional note we frequently get calls from Seecamp owners wondering why there is a significant difference in overall length between a new unused vs. their new lightly used recoil springs. Most springs take on what is called a compression setting after their first use. This is an expected significant change in the overall length of a spring. It is standard and in no way a sign of a defective product.

As for materials: The cast parts (slide, frame, trigger, hammer, magazine safety and magazine catch) are all made of CA15 stainless, which is a special 400 series blend that is also used by other manufacturers. All pistols with a serial number higher than 31000 are made of this material. We had previously used 416 for the frame (used to make knives and gun parts) and 17-4PH (used extensively in the aircraft industry) for the slide and small parts.

We have found CA15 to be vastly superior to those mentioned for fabricating pistols. Without this material we wouldn’t have been able to build a .32 size .380.

Currently used in the making of our casting is a process called Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP for short). One might think of it as atmospheric forging. The molten material is densified under atmospheric pressure to give it a better grain.

Some folks will tell you slides and frames machined from bar stock have better material characteristics. This is absolutely not true, bar stock has directional grain, much like a baseball bat. Most of the strength is along one axis. This directional grain makes it possible for karate experts to split boards by applying force along the grain.

Investment or precision castings have omnidirectional strength. You’re not likely to see a karate expert splitting plywood.

Folks make slides and frames from bar stock because it facilitates manufacture of some parts and it’s usually adequate for its intended use. To get flat surfaces on a casting, excess material must be provided as slide and frame castings normally take on some distortion in the cooling process. First, the slide and frame must be straightened, which takes some skill. Then, the excess material is ground to specification to provide a perfectly flat and cosmetically pleasing surface. (We grind about .040 off our frames before they reach the CNC.)

Our frames start out looking like forgings, there are few surfaces that are not machined, or hand worked.

In that vein, there are some manufacturers who receive recognition for the excellent machining of small parts that aren’t machined at all but use a process called Metal Injection Molding (MIM). (I’ll leave out the company names. The clue to recognizing MIM is from hearing about the frequent breakages a manufacturer has regarding a particular part.)

MIM produces beautiful parts. The piece starts out larger than it will end up because it’s a mix of plastic and metal. The plastic is melted out leaving a metal part that looks terrific but is lacking in some important material properties. (It’s akin to sintered metal.)

It has been suggested to us by folks selling the process that we could make some of our small parts like catches and triggers that way, but we refuse to do it.

MIM parts require little to no work at all. They are delivered perfectly finished and they look great, allowing for complex shapes that would leave one marveling at the intricate and sophisticated machining it took to produce the part ~ if one didn’t know the process.

Back to the question: Firing pins and stops are made of 4140. The mainspring cap is case hardened for wear. Stampings are 400 series pieces, with stamping stress risers buffed out to make breakage less likely. Finally, all magazine components are made from 400 series stainless as well.

Unfortunately, with firearms laws the way they currently are we are not actively pursuing getting our .380 on the MA or CA approval roster at this time. Hopefully things can change in the future. 

A question frequently asked in private emails concerns custom grips. Do we have any? Where can we get some made?

Initially the grips we used were made of nylon reinforced with glass fiber. These grips were utilized for years and were the iconic grips of the Seecamp. 

In 2021, we moved to a fully machined G10 grip, this improved the tactile feel and grip of the firearm as well as allowing a cleaner and tighter fit with the frame. 

The additional benefit this brings is the ability to now take advantage of the many different offerings you have with colors of G10. We plan to begin offering other styles and colors for your Seecamp grips in 2023. Keep an eye on our social media and store for when they become available! 

Initially the grips we used were made of nylon reinforced with glass fiber. These grips were utilized for years and were the iconic grips of the Seecamp. 

In 2021, we moved to a fully machined G10 grip, this improved the tactile feel and grip of the firearm as well as allowing a cleaner and tighter fit with the frame. 

The additional benefit this brings is the ability to now take advantage of the many different offerings you have with colors of G10. We plan to begin offering other styles and colors for your Seecamp grips in 2023. Keep an eye on our social media and store for when they become available!