hi guys..what's a "double tap" when firing a weapon? is it single shot or auto? thanks..?

Question

meant that its a three round burst? 2 to the chest and 1 to the head?

Answer 1

A double tap is a shooting technique where two shots are fired quickly at the same target. The term hammer is sometimes used to describe a double tap in which the firearm's sights are not reacquired by the shooter between shots.

The origin of the double tap technique is credited to Fairburn and Sykes, British Police chiefs in Shanghai during the 30's. This tactic is still used by well trained firearms handlers, and has also been adopted by many other special forces and counter-terrorist military units, and police tactical teams.It is also taught to regular infantrymen in the U.S. Army. However, William Ewart Fairbairn is reported, in Ian Dear’s book Sabotage and Subversion about the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS), to have instructed SOE personnel in this technique during 1944–1945 at the SOE training school near Arisag in Scotland, run by Fairburn and Sykes. This was later perfected by the Special Air Service, and was then adopted by other special forces groups.


Control of fire has been an issue since reliable and effective semi-automatic weapons became available. The advent of fully-automatic weapons further exacerbated the problem, particularly in the military. Analysis of tactics used in the Vietnam War revealed that soldiers spent too much time with their weapons set to full-automatic, wasting ammunition on a very low hit probability. Consequently, when the United States Army's M16 rifle came up for revision to the M16A2, the full-automatic setting was removed and replaced with a three-round burst.

Extensive testing has shown that after the third round of sustained fire, accuracy drops off sharply, as aim is thrown off-true by recoil effect. Accuracy with a sidearm is unaffected as long as the shooters grip and stance is correct. During the Rhodesian Bush War, the double tap was used in a method called 'Drake Shoot'. In an ambush, soldiers would deploy in a circular 'all around' defence. The soldiers would then identify their opposition's location. If the rebels were behind cover, then the Drake Shoot would be employed. The idea was that the first round would penetrate through an opponent’s cover, such as a tree trunk, and then the second round would then kill the enemy.

The double tap technique is meant to impose similar restraint and fire control on the users of a semi-automatic weapon, while maximizing the potential of that weapon. After the first round is fired, the trigger is pulled again, quickly, while maintaining the same point of aim. Ideally, both rounds should strike anywhere within the centre mass, causing two sites of trauma and maximising shock.

Follow-up shots should be held for at least one second. This gives the shooter enough time to assess the situation and determine an appropriate course of action, where a single aimed shot to the head can be employed in the case of a failure to stop.

Against armored targets, the double-tap is sometimes the only way to defeat the target's protection. While appropriate soft armor can stop almost any pistol-caliber round once, two rounds impacting the same spot will almost certainly defeat the armor. Likewise with hard armor, two rounds from a higher-powered weapon stand a much better chance of defeating the armor if the rounds strike closely. If the target is unarmored, the double-tap is devastating. While pistol rounds tend to have poor terminal ballistics characteristics, a pair of such projectiles, traversing the body in close track, can produce unrecoverable damage. While the concept of hydrostatic shock has been largely dismissed in ballistic engineering, the creation and effect of a temporary wound channel by the passage of a high-speed projectile is very real. In theory, the creation of two such channels in close proximity would geometrically increase the probability of an incapacitating wound. Furthermore, since the center of mass is the most desirable target for a sidearm, firing two rounds helps compensate for the possibility that a low-caliber round might be deflected by heavy bone or might miss a vital organ.

Answer 2

I keep my hunting knife right next to my bed, ever since I began watching the walking dead I've been ready! Scares the crap out of my Dad, though, since i sleep WITH the knife sometimes. It's a fold out, but still, he'd sfraid i'll spazz lut and somehow stab myself. Still, though- I'm on vacation now and i can't sleep without my knife.... and i'm only 14. Lol.

Answer 3

A double tap is two fast aimed shots (semiauto). Not to be confused with a "hammer" which is one aimed shot followed by a second shot fired as quickly as the trigger can be cycled.

Answer 4

It is the action of firing a semi-automatic weapon twice in rapid succession. It is part of normal training of most law enforcement officers.

Edit: Crimsonshedemon plagiarized her ENTIRE answer from the Wikipedia article. Not cool.

Answer 5

This term usually refers to a quick "one, two," head shot.

Answer 6

It means to aim once and fire two quick shots.

Answer 7

Double tap is when you pull the trigger twice quickly without resighting your target. Sight....pop pop....sight... pop pop.

Answer 8

the double tap could refer to two things:

1)Tapping the magazine full of rounds on your helmet to assure the rounds are locked in the magazine.

2) There is small push valve close to the charging handle that I call the tap assist valve, it pushes the incoming valve into the chamber.

Answer 9

One quick shot to the chest, followed up by a more precise shot to the head

Answer 10

two shots to the head.