Sword vs. Gun

Through November '98, rec.guns had a busy thread on Sword vs. Gun. It all started when bakner posted:

From: "bakner" <dbakner@mail.cvn.net> 11/5/98 9:48 PM
Subject: Sword vs Gun
Man with holstered pistol faces Iaido master with sheathed sword. Both start with hands on weapon. Distance is within three feet. Who wins?
Does the answer change if:
1) The gunman is A) your average cop; B) Trained IPSC combat shooter; C) Special forces, etc
2) The distance increases to 10 ft.
3) Both the gunman and Iaido master have their hands off their respective weapons.
4) The Iaido master has a drawn sword and the gunman a holstered pistol. At 3 ft? What about 10 ft?
All right, it's not a very serious question, but it's got to be better than "Could Steven Seagal take out Bruce Lee?"......
Kyle

When Gale McMillan opined "it is those people who believe that the guy with the sword has a chance are the same ones who believe every thing Bruce Lee type do in the movies is real stuff", I figured it was time for some facts. Out came the sword, gun and video camera.

Test 1

Remembering (more on that later) the first post, I set up a video camera and recorded the test for timing.

Original scenario was normal guy with gun vs. _master_ with sword, presumably within effective range of both. I timed the draw/strike process for each. While not necessarily scientific, it is a pretty good indicator (same person with comparable experience in each).

FWIW, my background:

Guns - ~200 hours of formal handgun training (LFI-IV)
Swords - ~50 hours formal training (Iaido, green belt)

Range: 2 yards.

Gun - close enough for accurate point-shooting.
Sword - close enough for draw-step-strike.

Test:

Gun - hands at side, exposed IWB holster, draw and shoot.
Sword - left hand holding sheath with thumb over guard (standard safe carry posture), right hand at side, draw and cut horizontally (right step forward included, helps speed draw and extends range).
Both actions done five times.
Everything videotaped to permit timing by counting frames.
Time is from first movement to end of attack (follow-through is not counted).

Results:

Gun - 1 second, +/- 0.06s
Sword - 1 second, +/- 0.06s

Same!

Conclusion:

At worst, they're equal.
Accounting/handicapping for more gun experience, the sword is faster.
Extrapolating to original proposed scenario, a master swordsman would be much faster than a normal guy with a gun (even a normal gun guy with a gun).

Test 2

Silly me. I did Test 1 with what I remembered. Then I dug up the original posting, and noted "Man with holstered pistol faces Iaido master with sheathed sword. Both start with hands on weapon. Distance is within three feet." I had done hands off weapon, distance six feet. (That's what I get for hosting a turkey dinner for 16 people, then writing a newsgroup posting.) Get the tools again and do it right this time.

Tools: (almost forgot to describe them)

Gun - Glock 26
Sword - katana

Range: 3 feet

Gun - pure point-shooting.
Sword - must step back for fast draw. Target will sustain a maximally deep cut.

Test:

Gun - left hand at side, right hand on gun, draw and shoot.

Left hand braces gun (ingrained training).

Sword - left hand on sheath, sheath tilted for fastest draw, right hand on hilt, draw and cut.

Left foot steps back to aid draw.

Both actions done five times.
Everything videotaped to permit timing by counting frames.
Time is from first movement to end of attack (follow-through is not counted).

Results

Gun - 0.4-0.5 seconds
Sword - 0.3 seconds

Sword wins!

Conclusion:

The sword is faster, especially when considering that I have more experience with guns than swords.
A sword master will be faster still.

Observations

As I originally guessed, the sword wins. The fact that my sword training is less than my gun training accentuates the fact.

To address the original variations:

The gunman is

Your average cop

Sword wins. I gather average cops don't practice much.

Trained IPSC combat shooter

About even or maybe win. IPSC guy likely also has fast-draw holster which would give enough edge.

Special forces

About even or lose. Holster has a firmer grip than IPSC guy. I'm not sure if his training would specifically address the special 3-foot case.

The distance increases to 10 ft.

Gun guy likely wins (could still fail on a bad shot), as sword guy must take two steps.

Both the gunman and Iaido master have their hands off their respective weapons.

See Test 1 results.

The Iaido master has a drawn sword and the gunman a holstered pistol.

At 3 ft?

Very fast stab may disrupt the draw.

What about 10 ft?

As the swordsman would have to step twice, he'd probably get shot first.

All things being equal and within comparable ranges, the sword is faster. The gun has the advantage of distance, which is outside the original question.

Pulling my head out of the numbers, I observe that within the sword's range, both participants in the original scenario will be gravely injured and neither could "win". Methinks the swordsman would have a greater likelyhood of survival, as the gunman would be pretty much sliced in half while the swordsman would have "merely" a hole in his abdomen. The times are so short that even with devestating injuries, the actions would still be completed and the target would still be gravely injured.

He who dies with the fastest time wins.