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Guns, Bullets, And Gunfights: Lessons And Tales From A Modern-Day Gunfighter | 
 enlarge | Author: Jim Cirillo
Publisher: Paladin Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $10.79
You Save: $7.21 (40%)
New (15) Used (9) from $10.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 162233
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 136
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.3
ISBN: 0873648773
Dewey Decimal Number: 028
EAN: 9780873648776
ASIN: 0873648773
Publication Date: March 1996
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Learn what it takes to survive a real gunfight from someone who's been in many - Jim Cirillo, top gun in the New York City Police Department stakeout unit. Read about the stress and intensity of an actual shoot-out and how to maximize your training, ammo and weapons to prevail.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 Jim Cirrilo January 26, 2008
Jim Cirillo's book is very informative, especially to those who are actively involved in the law enforcement/security field. This is a must read!
 Good Book That Could Have Been Fantastic December 26, 2007
Jim Cirillo talking about three topics, as described in the title; Guns, Bullets and Gunfights. This is not a "how to" book on tactical shooting
The Guns and Bullets sections were filled with interesting technical stuff interspersed with self-promotion. The Gunfights section, on the other hand, is chock full of real world advice and stories with quite a bit of humor thrown in.
My favorite exchange;
Lieutenant - "Jim, did you warn them? Did you tell them to drop their weapons and that they were under arrest?"
Cirillo - "Yeah, but I don't think they heard me because of all the shooting."
Hopefully there are other writings of his that may get published in the future. I would guess he had many important and useful things to say, but this book only gives a small sample.
An American Hero, R.I.P. July 24, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Anyone who would describe Jim Cirillo as a "bloodthirsty killer" is beneath contempt. If you were threatened with violence by some street thug, you would pray that a man like Cirillo might intercede on your behalf. You may have no idea of the senseless, violent crimes that led to the formation of New York's Stakeout Unit. Storeowners were being brutalized and executed for no reason after being robbed. I understand that that reality is hard for some people to grasp. As Orwell wrote, "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
Some other, more reasonable critics have described Jim as coming off as arrogant. Having had the privilege of getting to know Jim in the last few months of his life, I can assure them that he was not arrogant in the least. He was a warm, open, and vibrant man, extremely gregarious. He did like to talk about his experiences but the effect was not arrogant. He simply took pride in his accomplishments, but at the same time he would talk about his own mistakes and laugh at himself. He was also very interested in what other people had to say.
I don't think there is anyone who knew Jim who did not regard him as a fine man and a great friend. He will be missed.
 A book that keeps on giving April 7, 2005
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is outstanding! First of all...it is short! It is less than 120 pages, much less in text. That is a good thing. Keeps it easy to get through.
Secondly it addresses the psychological aspects of gun fighting better than most books of its era.
Thirdly, it doesnt try to cover motor movement skills like some books. If you want to know how to move, stand, hold the gun and aim...I recommend finding an instructor in the flesh. He doesnt waste 50 pages with wire diagrams of people going around corners and stuff. His book is better without that stuff. Dont try to learn physical skills from books.
Finally, the book unlocks new things to me each time I read it. I read it the first time when I knew nothing of shooting. I found it interesting and something to think about. It was short so it was worth my time. Later, as I grew as a shooter and a person I would reread it about once a year and notice things I hadnt seen before. New insights I had gained would allow me to comprehend things better and it made certain parts of the book more illuminating.
The book isnt perfect but for its cost and length it is well worth your time and money.
Invaluable Advice from a Master Gunfighter October 18, 2004
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
During Jim Cirillo's years with the legendary New York City Police Stakeout Unit (strangely enough, everyone I've ever seen or heard refer to this unit, in print or person, calls it the "Stakeout Squad" - except Jim Cirillo who tells me it was actually called the "Stakeout Unit") he participated in many of the most harrowing of its 252 armed encounters. Later, Cirillo spent more years as a firearms instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). Since retiring from law enforcement, Cirillo has conducted periodic firearms training courses on an itinerant basis. I feel privileged to be a graduate (with a 100 percent "survival rating") from Jim's Close Quarter/Tactical Handgun Course. Cirillo has also penned numerous articles for gun magazines. Much of the content of Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights was first published as magazine articles.
Subtitled "Tales and Lessons from a Modern-Day Gunfighter" this book includes chapters covering all of Jim Cirillo's many areas of firearms expertise. Cirillo is one of the few men in the modern era with a depth of experience sufficient to have a legitimate claim to the title "master gunfighter" so his thoughts are of significant interest to anyone who owns and/or regularly carries a gun for self-defense.
"Part One: Guns" includes two chapters, "Averting the Unintentional Shot" and "Hybrid Weapons" addressing, respectively, how to safely practice with and store guns in the home, and Cirillo's experiments over the years customizing a variety of handguns in search of maximum performance.
"Part Two: Bullets" includes "The Two Primary Functions of Handgun Bullets" and "Are Hollowpoints the Way to Go for Stopping Power?" It's interesting to note that the opinions of this master gunfighter, who's "been there and done that" more times than most people have shot gelatin blocks, is quite at odds with conventional wisdom on these topics.
"Part Three: Gunfights" includes five chapters, stories of Cirillo's days in the NYCPD Stakeout Unit and the lessons he learned from those experiences:
"Selection of the Gunfighter" details the qualities Cirillo believes are most essential both to survive a gunfight and deal with the emotional aftermath, based on his personal exposure to many people who both could and couldn't hack it in the Stakeout Unit. It's fascinating reading.
"Shooting for Score or Survival?" critiques the forms of "combat pistol" competition, compared to what's needed to survive a gunfight.
"Firearms Training and the Gunfight" gets into Cirillo's recommended training procedures, including his Weapon Silhouette and Geometric Point aiming methods. This chapter is also noteworthy in that it recounts the story of Cirillo's most famous gunfight, in which he was forced to shoot three armed robbers...only two hours into his very first stakeout!
In "Stress of the Gunfight" we get a few more facts about this incident (based on which Jeff Cooper created an IPSC course of fire called "The Cirillo Drill"), as well as Jim's ideas on how mental perceptions change and are affected by the stress of a life-or-death defensive emergency. This is firsthand experience talking here.
"The Bizarre NYCPD Stakeout Squad" was for me the most enjoyable part of the book, in which Cirillo recounts many hilarious stories of his fellow gunfighters from the Stakeout Unit. I've been fortunate enough to be there when Cirillo's told many of these tales in person, and believe me, you do lose a bit of the effect when you're not hearing them in Cirillo's heavy New Yawk accent. Still, even in written form some of these stories are so funny they verge on slapstick. I defy anyone to read about the gunfight titled "Marty and Benny" without smiling - maybe even breaking into hysterical laughter.
Finally, in the book's postscript, Cirillo reduces down to a set of rules his advice on preparing for a deadly encounter involving firearms. This is all really good stuff, gang.
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