Most people limit their practice to the distance that they can shoot a group that is acceptable to them. Luckily for them statistics show that a high percentage of defensive incidents occur at around 3-7 yards. This gives them a convenient excuse to limit the distance they practice at. If they were capable of shooting well at 20-25 yards they would advocate practicing at longer distances. Mark
This mentality is simply not true. Most people I see at the range cannot group well at any distance. It is not just at 20-25 yards. I see very few people grouping well at 7 and 10. Most people who shoot do not shoot often enough to gain proficiency or enough to maintain it.
I am not talking about people on gun board because lets be realistic we are a minority in terms of the overall gun owning and carrying population. We are enthusiast and I would guess are less than 10% of the firearm owning public. Most people are not looking for excuses they simply do not shoot often enough to be good. Honestly most people are doing the best they can with the skills they have. Why the need to denigrate them?
Then you have people like me. I can hit keep the majority of my shots in the "0" of a IDPA target or the "A" zone of a IPSC target at 25 yards but not at speed. I can hit a 2/3 sized IDPA steel target at 60 yards 9 out of ten shots on most days, again not at speed, but I choose to focus most of my shooting and training inside of 15 yards.
As I and others have stated it is good to practice at longer distances because flaws in your technique are hidden by shorter distances but for me it is not and never will be my focus. It is not that I cannot make shots at longer ranges that I do not shoot much at 50 yards. It is that I choose not to focus my limited range time on those distance because if I am "training" for a self defense use of a handgun it will not be at that distance.
I am not a LEO. I am not an "Operator" I do not shoot things or people for a living. I am an avg guy who likes to shoot and collect guns. I shoot almost weekly and I carry almost everywhere I can but I have a firm grasp of my limited skills and have defined for myself under what conditions I will and can engage.
Each person who carries or uses a handgun for self defense should do the same. It is not about excuses it is about a real world assessment of your skills.
For me even if I train up to where I can hit the "0" at 50 yards on an IDPA target 10 out of 10 times that does not mean I am going to be taking 50 yard shots. My personal risk reward assessment has predetermined there are very few if any situations where I feel that I would "need" to take such a shot. This is my personal decision.
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