Learn what it takes to survive a real gunfight from someone who's been in many - Jim Cirillo, top gun in the New York City Police Department stakeout unit. Read about the stress and intensity of an actual shoot-out and how to maximize your training, ammo and weapons to prevail.

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The book is divided into three parts. You guessed it: Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights. The main portion of Guns -part consist of article on hybrid weapons (Cirillo likes to fit Dan Wesson revolver barrels into S&W frames. The problem is that Dan Wesson company has closed down years ago). In the Bullets -part Cirillo presents his patented "Felon grabber" -bullet design, and mourns that no bullet manufacturer has shown interest in producing the bullet. There is also some discussion on other hollow point bullets. The third part is the real meat of this book. There Cirillo tells about his gunfights and the ideas he has developed from his first hand experiences.

There are several problems about this book. Since there is only about 120 pages, Cirillo should have concentrated on only one topic. Now he can only scatch the surface on these subjects. Secondly, Cirillo seems to be a bit too much in love with himself. The book is filled with references of his achievements ("here are some of my police shooting awards...", "I fired this range record...", "...On my waist is the speed slide I invented, which revolutionized combat shooting", and so on. These examples are captions from preface). Third, because of the structure of the book, there is some repetition, as I mentioned earlier. Also, the text is written in layman's words. I don't doubt that Cirillo doesn't know what he is talking about, but it would be more credible if he would have used more scientifical approach.

The reason to buy this book is the third part, in which Cirillo tells tales about his adventures in Stakeout squad. It's a real shame that there is only ten pages of these stories, because the stories are witty and humorous, even ïf the subject of the stories is somewhat grim. In the third part Cirillo also introduces his "silhuette point" -system of aiming, and there is also discussions about the qualities that make man a gunfighter, realistic training and so on. However, the same problems that trouble the first two parts exist here also.

In conclusion, if Cirillo were to write a whole book of stories on Stakeout squad, I could recommend it to anyone. Sadly, in this book there is only a limited amount of good stuff.

20 of 21 found the following review helpful:

Solid material, but too much technical dataJan 02, 2003
By Eric Avila
Before I begin: I'm a cop, I carry only the guns I'm issued, and I have tremendous respect for Jim Cirillo and his experience.

That said, this book is solid, but there is still too much discussion of the relative merits of different calibers, loads, and accessories. This book is of greatest interest to other cops who want to learn about deadly force situations. The material that's in here on those subjects is good, but there's too little of it. I really don't care about .44 Special versus 9mm, etc. Most cops have very little latitude about picking their firearms. Cirillo's discussions of different shootings he's been in are great - but give me more.

What the market needs, but lacks, is a book dedicated solely to combat case studies and breakdowns of different shootings, the tactics employed, what worked and didn't, etc. This was a step in the right direction, but we're not there yet.

Don't let this put you off, I own the book and I recommend it to anyone else, but I can't give it more than 3 stars.

20 of 22 found the following review helpful:

A valuable summary of lessons learned in the NYPDJan 08, 1999

I liked this book. In contrast to Marshall & Sanow ("Street Stoppers" & "Handgun Stopping Power"), this book is less statistical and more empirical. Cirillo has a lot of advice to give. The stories of actual gunfights are vivid and clear; he makes his points well.

There was a bit of self-aggrandizement, but I guess that all falls into the category of "I've earned my right to an opinion" -- which he has! I have no trouble believing the stories he tells, and his opinions are clearly discernable from his facts.

I think this book might be more relevant to law enforcement officers than to citizens. It's really more about police stakeouts (eg - tactical ambushes) than being accosted in daily life. However, there's plenty here for the average citizen and CCW permit holder. I recommend it, not as a "bible" for self-defense, but as a good addition to the shooter's library.

16 of 18 found the following review helpful:

Invaluable Advice from a Master GunfighterOct 18, 2004
By Duane Thomas
During Jim Cirillo's years with the legendary New York City Police Stakeout Unit (strangely enough, everyone I've ever seen or heard refer to this unit, in print or person, calls it the "Stakeout Squad" - except Jim Cirillo who tells me it was actually called the "Stakeout Unit") he participated in many of the most harrowing of its 252 armed encounters. Later, Cirillo spent more years as a firearms instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). Since retiring from law enforcement, Cirillo has conducted periodic firearms training courses on an itinerant basis. I feel privileged to be a graduate (with a 100 percent "survival rating") from Jim's Close Quarter/Tactical Handgun Course. Cirillo has also penned numerous articles for gun magazines. Much of the content of Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights was first published as magazine articles.

Subtitled "Tales and Lessons from a Modern-Day Gunfighter" this book includes chapters covering all of Jim Cirillo's many areas of firearms expertise. Cirillo is one of the few men in the modern era with a depth of experience sufficient to have a legitimate claim to the title "master gunfighter" so his thoughts are of significant interest to anyone who owns and/or regularly carries a gun for self-defense.

"Part One: Guns" includes two chapters, "Averting the Unintentional Shot" and "Hybrid Weapons" addressing, respectively, how to safely practice with and store guns in the home, and Cirillo's experiments over the years customizing a variety of handguns in search of maximum performance.

"Part Two: Bullets" includes "The Two Primary Functions of Handgun Bullets" and "Are Hollowpoints the Way to Go for Stopping Power?" It's interesting to note that the opinions of this master gunfighter, who's "been there and done that" more times than most people have shot gelatin blocks, is quite at odds with conventional wisdom on these topics.

"Part Three: Gunfights" includes five chapters, stories of Cirillo's days in the NYCPD Stakeout Unit and the lessons he learned from those experiences:

"Selection of the Gunfighter" details the qualities Cirillo believes are most essential both to survive a gunfight and deal with the emotional aftermath, based on his personal exposure to many people who both could and couldn't hack it in the Stakeout Unit. It's fascinating reading.

"Shooting for Score or Survival?" critiques the forms of "combat pistol" competition, compared to what's needed to survive a gunfight.

"Firearms Training and the Gunfight" gets into Cirillo's recommended training procedures, including his Weapon Silhouette and Geometric Point aiming methods. This chapter is also noteworthy in that it recounts the story of Cirillo's most famous gunfight, in which he was forced to shoot three armed robbers...only two hours into his very first stakeout!

In "Stress of the Gunfight" we get a few more facts about this incident (based on which Jeff Cooper created an IPSC course of fire called "The Cirillo Drill"), as well as Jim's ideas on how mental perceptions change and are affected by the stress of a life-or-death defensive emergency. This is firsthand experience talking here.

"The Bizarre NYCPD Stakeout Squad" was for me the most enjoyable part of the book, in which Cirillo recounts many hilarious stories of his fellow gunfighters from the Stakeout Unit. I've been fortunate enough to be there when Cirillo's told many of these tales in person, and believe me, you do lose a bit of the effect when you're not hearing them in Cirillo's heavy New Yawk accent. Still, even in written form some of these stories are so funny they verge on slapstick. I defy anyone to read about the gunfight titled "Marty and Benny" without smiling - maybe even breaking into hysterical laughter.

Finally, in the book's postscript, Cirillo reduces down to a set of rules his advice on preparing for a deadly encounter involving firearms. This is all really good stuff, gang.

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

An American Hero, R.I.P.Jul 24, 2007
By Paul Kirchner
Anyone who would describe Jim Cirillo as a "bloodthirsty killer" is beneath contempt. If you were threatened with violence by some street thug, you would pray that a man like Cirillo might intercede on your behalf. You may have no idea of the senseless, violent crimes that led to the formation of New York's Stakeout Unit. Storeowners were being brutalized and executed for no reason after being robbed. I understand that that reality is hard for some people to grasp. As Orwell wrote, "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."

Some other, more reasonable critics have described Jim as coming off as arrogant. Having had the privilege of getting to know Jim in the last few months of his life, I can assure them that he was not arrogant in the least. He was a warm, open, and vibrant man, extremely gregarious. He did like to talk about his experiences but the effect was not arrogant. He simply took pride in his accomplishments, but at the same time he would talk about his own mistakes and laugh at himself. He was also very interested in what other people had to say.

I don't think there is anyone who knew Jim who did not regard him as a fine man and a great friend. He will be missed.

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