We all train within certain limitations. It may be cost of ammo (using range fodder vs. our +P carry loads), range limitations such as a square range, limited firing speed, no use of holsters, etc.) and we face limitations on our ability to become "masters of the art" because most of us have day jobs, relationships, kids to raise and so on.
But good practice where your marksmanship, tactics and procedures are sound gives you a leg up on surviving a gunfight.
Practicing at 25 yards or 50 yards probably isn't necessary for the bulk of your defensive work, but it should be at least part of a regular "work out" at the range.
The notion that 25 yards is "too far away" for us to practice shots at that distance is patently false. If your life or someone else's life is in danger, the only question will be how will you save a life?
If someone is shooting at others and you're 30 yards away from the shooter with no cover to approach, how will you engage with any confidence? Chances are, you won't.
Certainly someone making threats or brandishing blunt force weapons 25 yards away isn't an immediate threat - to you. But what if his threat is to your spouse trying to get into the car? Or your child?
Most of us train on static targets while real-life targets move, stop, turn and move again. When was the last time your handgun practice included targets that move?
We all have our myopic tendencies. Some study says 7 yards, another says 15 yards. Some say to practice near-contact distance skills while other say practice move & shoot. In general we practice for what we expect and what we expect is often driven by studies and reports describing the "average" of numerous events.
The two problems with this approach are that many of those statistics include police shootings which are different in nature than civilian shootings. Second, your actual gunfight will be nothing like you expected or trained for.
Whatever distance you've trained at will not be the distance of your gunfight. For that reason alone, we should be flexible and practice at many various distances, include 25 and 50 yards. Otherwise, we're like a military planning to fight the last war again instead of adapting to new conditions.
But good practice where your marksmanship, tactics and procedures are sound gives you a leg up on surviving a gunfight.
Practicing at 25 yards or 50 yards probably isn't necessary for the bulk of your defensive work, but it should be at least part of a regular "work out" at the range.
The notion that 25 yards is "too far away" for us to practice shots at that distance is patently false. If your life or someone else's life is in danger, the only question will be how will you save a life?
If someone is shooting at others and you're 30 yards away from the shooter with no cover to approach, how will you engage with any confidence? Chances are, you won't.
Certainly someone making threats or brandishing blunt force weapons 25 yards away isn't an immediate threat - to you. But what if his threat is to your spouse trying to get into the car? Or your child?
Most of us train on static targets while real-life targets move, stop, turn and move again. When was the last time your handgun practice included targets that move?
We all have our myopic tendencies. Some study says 7 yards, another says 15 yards. Some say to practice near-contact distance skills while other say practice move & shoot. In general we practice for what we expect and what we expect is often driven by studies and reports describing the "average" of numerous events.
The two problems with this approach are that many of those statistics include police shootings which are different in nature than civilian shootings. Second, your actual gunfight will be nothing like you expected or trained for.
Whatever distance you've trained at will not be the distance of your gunfight. For that reason alone, we should be flexible and practice at many various distances, include 25 and 50 yards. Otherwise, we're like a military planning to fight the last war again instead of adapting to new conditions.
Overstated, definitely. 
