Posted by
chief99:
How far out could you use these [pistols] before it would not be considered self defense?
I think it has been explained that distance mat well not be the determinant, unless the assailant is, or is believed to be, armed with a contact weapon. As Phaedrus/69 said, there's no arbitrary distance where you can draw a clear line in the sand as to what is self defense and what's not.
Posted by
ReloaderFred:
If an aggressor is within 9 or 10 yards of you, is armed with a knife, and your handgun is holstered, you're going to get cut up pretty badly. When I was rangemaster for our department, we proved this over and over again, and that was from duty holsters, not concealed carry holsters. An agile aggressor can cover that distance and stab you before you can draw and fire from most concealed holsters, especially if covered by a garment.
That's why early recognition and moving off the line, to get behind something if possible, is a good idea.
Posted by
Fred Fuller:
The best advice I can offer is to seek some good basic training first, and THEN practice what your instructor(s) have taught you.
That's great advice.
Of course, you want an instructor who teaches defensive shooting, and not just how to hit targets.
Posted by
kayak-man:
I don't see there being any negatives in doing your live fire out to 25-50 yards on a regular basis, ...
I think that depend on what is meant by "out to".
It may seem counter-intuitive, but one who practices solely at longer distances is likely to have trouble rapidly and repeatedly hitting a close moving target with combat accuracy.
We see many people shooting at targets at seven yards. In the Tueller experiment, that's where the assailant
starts moving.
As ReloaderFred said, if the defender starts to draw at that point, it is likely that the attacker will be on top of the defender before the defender can get off a shot.
I would concentrate on shooting fast and getting shoe-box accuracy at 3 to 5 yards. That is based on teaching from a very competent instructor.
That takes us back to Fred Fuller's advice: seek some good basic training first.