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:

Range: 2 yards. Test: Results: Same!

Conclusion:

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)

Range: 3 feet Test: Results Sword wins!

Conclusion:

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:

  1. The gunman is
  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.
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.