1944 - Combat Firing with Hand Guns

A now unclassified WWII US Army Training Film Bulletin outlining proper procedures for aiming, firing, etc... of hand guns.

The bulletin covers the handgun shooting techniques developed by W. E. Fairbairn while he was head of training for the Shanghai police in the early 20th century. His techniques were then taught to the SOE, and passed on via Rex Applegate to the US OSS. Applegate was involved in the production of this video.

This video covers three distinct methods for shooting with a handgun; two handed prone aimed fire for long range (50 yards) targets, two handed kneeling aimed fire medium range (25 yards) targets, and one hand unsighted point shooting for near range (15 yards or less) targets. It demonstrates the technique of firing a rapid two-shot "burst" to increase the probability of a hit, a technique now called a "double-tap".

U.S. War Department 1944

Video on Creative Commons Licence
from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct9R0DBUwjk