Deadly Force: Is Shooting a Knife Realistic? 

Hey everyone, please: WATCH THE ENTIRE VIDEO. There have been a lot of comments erroneously claiming that I disregarded innocent bystanders and the stress of real shootings. I made those points very clear. Again, WATCH THE ENTIRE VIDEO.

The great tragedy of our time, is people with strong opinions on subjects with which they have little to no knowledge.

"Deadly Force: Is shooting a knife realistic" No. I can't get a knife to chamber in any of my guns.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how tight those groups are on a moving target.

"I've won local, regional, state, national and international titles." "I wouldn't call myself a great shooter" Sir. Please.

I was shocked by Paul’s success rate hitting the knife hand.

I was about to say, “Another defenseless meat target? Is there no shame?”, but then I remembered it had a knife.

I've never in my life felt compelled to comment on a video. However as a police officer, I appreciate you taking the time to make this video, it was politics free and very revealing of the realities of a situation. I thank you very much for making this.

Watching Mr. Harrell hit that moving knife hand proves he is actually a Jedi. The force is strong with this one.

The meat target never ceases to motivate me to never become a meat target for any caliber.

This test is far easier than the real-world scenario. For one thing, the target is moving along a more or less predictable path and it's also moving slower than the hand would be during a stabbing motion. Most importantly though, the target's journey lasts several second, whereas the real world version only presented for a split second.

Paul Harrell is one of the few people on the planet who could've hit that moving hand so easily

I'm not proud of how long I tried to understand how Mr. Harrell would project knives from his firearms after I read the title.

Part 2: "Shoot them in the leg", Part 3 "warning shots in the air".

If you're wielding a knife and willing to take someone else's life, your life is by then forfeit.

I was quite impressed with the hit rate you had on the moving knife hand. However, I can't help but think how that would have turned out if only you had used your Taurus Judge.

I will never get over how much I like Paul Harrell

Paul is quite possibly one of the most underrated necessities in the modern world. The crazier the world gets the more we need his cool-headed practical approach.

"I'm going to give the police officer the advantage of having their pistol drawn and being me, Paul Harrell."

50% hit ratio for Paul is probably 10% for the average Police officer

Whoever was saying 'shoot the knife' must've been watching too much Lone Ranger shows.

Man, You really got to give Paul credit for being such a good mediator for all the wild opinions people have nowadays, even for a suggested solution so seemingly ludicrous most of us would dismiss it immediately as implausible, Paul actually puts to the test with little to no bias. Just pure and simple numbers and putting it to the test. Thanks so much Paul!

In an age where politicians preach fantasy as fact, it’s nice to have an occasional dose of reality. Thanks, Paul, for a clear demonstration.

DAs should be playing this at the start of every OIS/CIS GJ and Public Inquest

Everyone- "of course not" Also everyone " but just because let's watch Paul anyway" :)

If you are actively trying to murder anyone, the officer on scene should use deadly force against deadly force.

Great video. I am a retired Marine of 22 years. For the first half I shot on the 2nd FSSG rifle and pistol team, then the 2nd MAW rifle and pistol team. (My preference was pistols-back up you car to the shooting line, fire all day, no 600 or 1000 yard line, no shooting jackets etc.). During this time we were Weapons Instructors, and after spending too many hours on pistol ranges training Marines, I can barely think of 2 shooters that could conceivably make that shot, and both were Distinguished Pistol Shooters. In real life, under stressful conditions, even the best marksman miss their targets from very close locations. Too many times I have read about officers emptying their 16 round magazine and hitting their target 4 times. That is 12 rounds that continued to their primary destination unimpeded. And another 4 rounds that like over penetrated the body and continued on to a secondary destination unimpeded. Now I am an attorney practicing law for more than 30 years. People like to ask why not shoot for the knife, the leg, the shoulder, etc. I assume this is the TV mentality at play. What most people don't understand is the legal concept of deadly force. If an officer shoots around between a persons eyes, or shoots the person in the little toe on their left foot, under the law the officer has exercised deadly force. There is no legal difference. I agree that the shot between the eyes is more likely to create a permanent "deadly" force then the one to the big toe, but nonetheless both shots are deadly force. Still, the officer that shoots the target in the toe, and exercised deadly force, gives the target the opportunity to exercise deadly force on the officer, or other civilians in the area, potentially creating the opportunity for the officer or the civilian to not go home that night or ever again.

As a police officer, who won the best shot award in his academy 22 years ago,,,, I appreciate this video👍

Hitting that moving hand target about half the time was pretty dang impressive. Good video Mr Harrell

I knew Paul was a great shot, but those hits were magnificent!

I aspire to be "pretty good" Thanks for all the work you and your crew put in.

PH is a voice of logical reasoning........I love the "let's find out", as a prelude to testing out a hypothesis. Wish we had more such people of such high calibre and high standards.

As a regular watcher, I appreciate Paul's approach to educating and not mocking new viewers. We all were inexperienced once and anyone wanting to improve themselves should feel welcome in the firearms enthusiast community- truly some of the kindest and open minded people I have ever met.

Time for the Taurus Judge Part 6: Shooting knife-wielding hands. If you keep trying, you’ll eventually find a use for that thing!

FINALLY!!! Paul admits he is not an average shooter!!!!! Love you Paul, your humility and thoughtfulness is always appreciated and understated.

Has the thought occurred to anybody else that I don't need level 3 hard armor if I walk around wearing 84 layers of fleece?

Lmao he did it boys! He finally flexed his shooting skills and admitted it

My buddy was SWAT sniper and used to moan about the guy who shot the pistol from the hand of the stand off in Columbus, OH. “Now everyone thinks we can do that every time!”

Great explanation Paul. Your videos are always informative. I look forward to each new video.

Thank you again Paul for another great video.

If nothing else from all of Paul Harrell videos I've watched, I have determined that I need to walk around wearing a high tech fleece bullet stop....

Considering the situation that people are referring to, the victim was right next to the suspect and behind the knife hand that was coming at her, so it was best to aim for the suspect center mass.

Your video content is truly phenomenal in terms of attention to accuracy and thorough presentation. I freaking love this channel. Keep up the great work!

Excellent presentation. Thank you for doing this.

I started laughing like a maniac thinking how awesome it would be to see Paul called Into a courtroom to discuss his demonstrations to a judge and jury. "Yes your honor, it’s a meat target." 🤣😂🤣😂🤣

Down here in Australia, we get taught "Don't be the guy who brings a knife to a gun fight. Knife equals gun, no questions!" Sure there are other options in some scenarios, but when an assailant is rushing you (or someone else) with a knife... you've got a second or two to act. And you want that action to be decisive. Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.

Excellent presentation and demonstration!

This is the best video I have ever watched on this subject matter. Thank you Paul. Everyone in the country should watch this.

yeah i live near Columbus. grew up in a suburb right next to where this happened. that cop saved a girls life that day. CPD is pretty good overall.

But those misses could realistically have hit, the woman being attack.

You shouldn't even have to make this video, but it was very well done. Thank you, Paul, your expertise is always appreciated. Keep it up.

Excellent presentation as always, sir.

I'm convinced that these recent videos are just a format for Paul to flex his art skills. Please make them available for download somewhere. The snake is on patreon, but I can't find the rest of them.

Paul is such a voice of reason in these challenging times

Holy cow Paul, you're an incredible shot! I was so impressed with the hits on that moving hand target, wow

Excellent, thorough demonstration.

Paul is bad ass. He can shoot, he can hit what he aims at, and he always tries to portray an event, or subject in a realistic way. There are of course, other ways things could happen or be done, but in every video he always states disclaimers. I would absolutely want him shooting with me, not at me.

I freaking love Paul Harrell videos, never change your style man. Your production has a charm to it.

Excellent analysis Paul, as always

Awesome work paul!! Amazing work...

Don’t forget that if you miss the knife hand not only is the stray bullet a risk to innocent bystanders, but the knife is still going towards its intended victim. You may only have enough time to get one shot off before they are on the victim.

The single dislike has apparently been shot in his knife hand.

Informative as always. Thank you

Excellent presentation as always.

I never fails that some idiots that know nothing about something will try to say how it should be done.

This is such a wonderful video that is so relevant in real world applications. Well done sir!

Paul, I think Sky King could have done it. Back about 1960, I watched him on TV start a back fire by shooting his .38 M&P revolver from his Beechcraft Bonanza! He was doing about 175 knots while flying 300 ft. off the deck. The bullet glanced off a rock, and the spark from the ricochet touched off the grass fire, saving the forest! Did you know they made bullets of steel back in the '50s? This was done to create sparks when the bullet hit something like buildings, rocks, cars, etc.. Lots of people don't know that! Yeah, I know Sky King could have shot a knife out of an assailants hand, and I'll fight any man who says he couldn't! As always, a great episode. Thanks Paul!

Excellent vid Paul. Well explained. Well done. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Just hit the bullet button to make the bullets homing projectiles once they leave the clipazine. Then you can lock them onto hand targets. But don't attach a barrel shroud, or else the bullets will get confused and start murdering people at random. On their own.

OMG he can shoot. That was incredible. On a moving target!

as always, extremelty thorough and professional. well done paul

Great video Paul. Thank as always!

Lol nice detail colouring the hand holding the knife as a nice pink flesh tone. Way to avoid controversy there.

Thank you for making this, Paul. Unfortunately, the people who most need the takeaways will likely not understand them.

Another fantastic presentation by Paul Harrell!

Great demonstration. Really makes the point.

Can't say I'm surprised by the outcome, but kudos to you for actually testing it instead of just taking it as axiomatic like everyone else (admittedly, including myself)

His shout out to Jerry was quality

Once again, well done sir. Well done

Thank you for the educational video Paul!

I would have loved to see the 40+ minute version of this, but considering this is something people will be sharing during arguments, it's best that it's short and concise.

I'm reminded of the Old Mythbuster's episode about Knife to a Gunfight, now granted they were testing a different method of having to draw, rack, then shoot as the bad guy is charging from different distances

Thank you Paul. Great video!

Great demonstration & explanation.

I just love Paul's dedication to firearm knowledge and distributing it in a way even a first time veiwer should understand.

Thanks paul. A voice of reason in a world of madness

informative and interesting as always, paul, never stop being you!

As usual, extremely well done Paul.

How shooting on a range is just like people in real life! "Some groups are better then others"

"It's very easy, with the leisure of years to think about it, to critique what other people did when they had seconds to decide on a course of action and execute it." Words to live by.

Paul I love way you explain those intricacies!

Great stuff, as always.

The other day I was thinking about how it would be funny if Paul was secretly a Battle Rapper and used the same precise enunciations and Shatneresque...pauses to verbally destroy his opponents.

Love how Paul had to point out that the pork rib bones are thicker than “most people’s hands” because there will inevitably an idiot who asks “What if it was Andre the Giant?”

Great stuff Paul !

Another genius presentation. Thanks for all that you do, @Paul Harrell

That was amazing shooting I can’t believe he had that level of accuracy on a target that small moving that quick

That was as good a demonstration of the subject as anyone is ever going to make. And I’ve been hoping that one day you would do that exact simulation; I’ve always wondered how dangerous a pass-through bullet could be. Thanks.

Well done, Paul. An excellent presentation.

Thanks for another great informative video.