StressFire is a book on gunfighting. In it Ayoob puts forth the techniques he believes work best, based on having debriefed hundreds of gunfight survivors. It's good stuff. Ayoob looks into this controversial topic with rare insight. He was one of the first well-known instructors, for instance, to condemn the Weaver Stance as a combat technique, recommending instead a modified isosceles. Read this book, see if you can argue with his logic.

Massad Ayoob is a wonderfully articulate writer, with extremely strong opinions. Like his fellow gunwriter and instructor Jeff Cooper, he's the sort of larger-than-life personality that attracts both devoted followers and sworn enemies. Just to make it clear where I come down on the topic, I've trained with Mas Ayoob, I've read his articles and books for 20-plus years, I like the guy. But whether you love him or hate him, there's one fact that's undeniable: no one can honestly say he's done more to provide good, solid information on the use of the defensive handgun to the average citizen than Massad Ayoob.

Do I agree with everything in this book? No. Every highly trained gunperson is going to have their own repertoire of preferred techniques, some of which might differ from what Ayoob puts forth in StressFire. And that's fine. I will say, however, that in order to have an informed opinion on the topic of gunfight survival, StressFire is one of the books you simply must have read.


The name Stressfire could mean: how to fire under stress   July 5, 2003
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

This is how to shoot and handle a pistol the Ayoob way. Ayoob's real contribution in this book is his focus on developing and teaching techniques that use gross motor skills rather than fine motor skills. The premise of the techniques in this book is that performing small, fine or complex tasks under emotional and physical stress is prone to failure. So, Ayoob teaches gun handling and shooting skills that rely on large, simple motions that a person can perform under the worst of conditons. For example, instead of slightly pivoting your grip and pushing a button with a fingertip, Ayoob might teach to use the other hand and rear-back and punch the button with the other palm. Many of the techniques that Ayoob teaches here are slight modifications of those more commonly taught.
My copy of this book has frayed edges, highlights and notes written in the margins. I turn back to it once in a while. Just this year, when I was having trouble with one particular skill at local pistol matches, I pulled this book from my shelf and had the answer I was looking for immediately.