Headshot, Boom!! Headshot, Boom!!!

[Yojimbo]

Almost without exception, when I have taken gun noobs shooting the women are better than the men, especially pistol. Guys seem to think they have some innate ability to pickup up a pistol and based on watching movies be able to hit something. Women tend to have no ego about it and typically are afraid its going to kick or hurt. After a couple of rounds just to get used to the recoil and noise, they calm right down and take instruction very well. Funny that you mention that -- the newbies I had been referring to in my post were in fact all women, with the exception of one high school friend who did not do as well as the females consistently did. Good call!

[Mike70]

Absolutely right. One thing we learn from actual experiences of military and law enforcement personnel in combat situations is that the stress of combat decreases accuracy, rather than increasing it. If you watch videos of short-range (even nearly contact range) police shootouts with criminals, it's amazing how many shots they get off without hitting a damn thing. here is a decent example of just that. this is a vid of two clinton county (ohio) sheriffs pulling over a truck. they don't know it but the two guys inside it are aryan brotherhood members and are on the lam for murder in arkansas. one of the deputy sheriffs and one of the dudes in the truck blast away at each other from maybe 20 feet to no avail. the action starts at about 1:25 or so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk9zC6PzpqI

[Crappingbear]

here is a decent example of just that. this is a vid of two clinton county (ohio) sheriffs pulling over a truck. they don't know it but the two guys inside it are aryan brotherhood members and are on the lam for murder in arkansas. one of the deputy sheriffs and one of the dudes in the truck blast away at each other from maybe 20 feet to no avail. the action starts at about 1:25 or so. For some reason the vid didn't work but I've seen that one before. My theory on why this happens is that in training you are taught to focus on the front site and the rest takes care of itself (in very simplistic terms). But, when faced with someon moving and shooting at you, I think you focus on them and lose sight of the pistols sights so when you pull the trigger, there is no telling where the bullet will go. Just a theory.

[Mike70]

For some reason the vid didn't work but I've seen that one before. My theory on why this happens is that in training you are taught to focus on the front site and the rest takes care of itself (in very simplistic terms). But, when faced with someon moving and shooting at you, I think you focus on them and lose sight of the pistols sights so when you pull the trigger, there is no telling where the bullet will go. Just a theory. i should've tested this before i posted. i would've noticed that the embedding is disabled. sorry bout that. i'll be fixing that right away.

[sandrock74]

Hell, in the old G.I. Joe cartoon, they used to shoot the guns out of the Cobra soldiers hands...while they were running, jumping and everything. Now that, my friends, is a crack shot!

[SRP76]

I don't think this was meant as people shouldn't hit the heads in Romero's films. Those are somewhat realistic: the zombies are slow, and there is no long-range, with a handgun, rapid-fire multi-headshots going on. It's mostly long-distance, with a rifle, one-at-a-time. Yes, people CAN do that. They usually aren't directly under attack. The problem is in the Dawn remake-type movies. People pegging whole crowds of zombies who are running and juking like Barry fucking Sanders. THAT is unrealistic. Nobody's going to be able to do that (especially while also running and dodging, themselves). Those are the things that should be "fixed" in any future movies.

[strayrider]

It depends on the distance. With a pistol, even an inexperienced "noob" should be able to make a headshot at very close range -- say within 5-8 feet. The sights are not that important at "point-blank". But, what about greater ranges? 10-25 yards? Say the "noob" shoots, intending for the head, but the shot is high and to the right. With no "marker" on the target, how would the shooter know in which direction to adjust his/her aim? With ghouls coming at you, that is not the time to learn how to use a gun sight, or attempt to understand the various trajectories of various bullets. Noobs shooting like Rambo are pure Hollywood -- for entertainment purposes only. I admit that it would be effectively impossible to take a newbie to the trap range and do the above with a pistol. I recall one time -- many, many years ago -- I hit a clay bird with a Ruger 10/22, firing from the hip, just messing around. Never been able to do it again and quit trying a looong time ago. -stray-

[Crappingbear]

It depends on the distance. With a pistol, even an inexperienced "noob" should be able to make a headshot at very close range -- say within 5-8 feet. The sights are not that important at "point-blank". But, what about greater ranges? 10-25 yards? Say the "noob" shoots, intending for the head, but the shot is high and to the right. With no "marker" on the target, how would the shooter know in which direction to adjust his/her aim? With ghouls coming at you, that is not the time to learn how to use a gun sight, or attempt to understand the various trajectories of various bullets. Noobs shooting like Rambo are pure Hollywood -- for entertainment purposes only. I recall one time -- many, many years ago -- I hit a clay bird with a Ruger 10/22, firing from the hip, just messing around. Never been able to do it again and quit trying a looong time ago. -stray- I've long held to the belief that some people are natural "shooters". Not marksmen, but just some inate ability to quickly hit a target and when you talk to them they aren't using front sites, Weaver stance or anything tradiitonal; they simply throw up the gun and hit their target. I'm a bit like that myself. My accuracy is better aimed, but not much different just throwing up the pistol and firing as soon as the gun is semi level with my target. Its a strange thing I can't really explain. I stand by my long held belief that in a dead world, a "shooter" would be of premium value to the collective and be the resident superstar who is held in awe above all others. We need gardeners, medics, and the like but a handful of hardened shooters would be the creme de'la creme of society. It depends on the distance. With a pistol, even an inexperienced "noob" should be able to make a headshot at very close range -- say within 5-8 feet. The sights are not that important at "point-blank". But, what about greater ranges? 10-25 yards? Say the "noob" shoots, intending for the head, but the shot is high and to the right. With no "marker" on the target, how would the shooter know in which direction to adjust his/her aim? With ghouls coming at you, that is not the time to learn how to use a gun sight, or attempt to understand the various trajectories of various bullets. Noobs shooting like Rambo are pure Hollywood -- for entertainment purposes only. I recall one time -- many, many years ago -- I hit a clay bird with a Ruger 10/22, firing from the hip, just messing around. Never been able to do it again and quit trying a looong time ago. -stray- I recall that there was a trick shooter back in the 50s or so who would use a .22 rifle to shoot 1" blocks of wood out of the air, even coins, he was dead on. When I just out of high school, I used to hunt on an old black mans land. Armstrong was in his late 80s at a minimum at that time and blind as a bat. He would shoot his .22 rifle from the hip and could chase a beer can all over the back pasture and never miss. Cool stuff.

[EvilNed]

Gotta say I'm on sgrosses and jims side on this. Shooting zombies in the head would be difficult, especially if you're life depended on it (You can't take a cool, quiet moment as in the firing range). Now they were running? And you had to get a head shot? Practically impossible, I'd say.

[Crappingbear]

As for running zombies, if you are going to stay in an area for any amount of time you need to put up obstacles or tanglefoot to slow them down or trip them so you can put them down. Barbed wire might be your best friend in a zom world. I've always thought it would interesting to hook up a live wire extension cord from a house/building and tie to the barbed wire to give zoms a 110 jolt and see what happens to their brains electrical system. If you are in farm country, bales of hay could be used along with barbed wire for obstacles. These are things that can be put in place relatively quickly and readily available in rural areas which is where I'd be or try to get to anyway.

[Skippy911sc]

I think a lot of people in this post have been referring to a technique called point shooting...this used to be taught in the armed forces but has since disappeared. This is the technique of just pulling the gun out and using the front sight to shoot. I have found that this is very useful but also difficult to master, and using this to obtain a head shot...good luck, even at 8 feet. If anyone has ever been in a traumatic encounter or excited heavily (you know what I mean) the heart starts pumping the adrenalin starts flowing and most people get to shaking. Can you imagine a hoard of flesh eaters moving in on you and staying perfectly calm to make head shot after head shot? I do know some people who are very good shots, but they were not born that way. The point is...practice practice practice!

[AcesandEights]

I assure you all, the day zombies rise I will be dropping scores of them by head shot from the back of my flying pig. That said, it is nice to see nods to realistic human emotions, reactions, foibles and failings in horror and even action movies from time to time. I guess it depends on the tenor the film is setting.

[bassman]

I see no reason why an average joe with minimal firearms training couldn't hit most of the head shots in a "calm" situation. If you're surrounded and don't have time to think, then maybe that's a different story. I used to be "afraid" of guns but recently purchased a few to protect my family. Having no kind of former training or experience I found I was quite good with them after a few practice sessions. I had a police officer train me, but it was still quite easy once you get the hang of it. So it depends on the situation, I spose. If you've got time and are taking them out in the distance, no problemo. If they're surrounding you or they're track stars like Dawn04.....you're probably screwed.

[Crappingbear]

for you shooters who are tired of shooting at the same old targets, if you have a rural area you shoot at, a fun change of pace is a variation of the old "chase the tin can around the pasture with a .22 game". Get your bag of charcoal bbq briquets out and chunk them out on the ground. When you shoot them you get a nice little black poof cloud. You can also have a buddy hand throw them like skeet for shotgunning. Small so harder to hit but fun. Cheap and its biodegradable. You get good at hitting 2" briquets and a zom head is going to look like a watermelon in your sites.

[Wyldwraith]

Something I was thinking about, When people here talk about the difficulties inherent in even near point-blank shootouts they often reference conflicts between two human beings who are shooting at each other. To me that's apples and oranges if you're talking about shooting zombies in the head. Three critical differences make all the difference. 1) Human beings don't want to be hit by bullets, and do everything they can to avoid being hit. 2) Someone shooting back at you constrains your actions. 3) Humans are worlds smarter, faster and unpredictable than zombies. By comparison you're talking about pegging a target that doesn't react at all even if you paint their face with the brains of the other zombie that was next to them. Your targets can always be relied on to take the same plodding shortest-distance/straight line to the flesh path, and they're SLOW. Shooting an adult zombie in the head isn't much harder than shooting at stationary targets. Unless you're being threatened by imminent attack, what exactly makes it any different? The target isn't going to change course. It won't care if your first shot grazed its cheek. Not saying it's child's play, but logically it's GOT TO BE exponentially easier than an opposed shootout between humans.