This study is old, but a 10 year study by the Police Policy Studies Counsel showed that 80% of officer slayings (from firearms) between 1991 and 2000 occurred within 6 feet.
Depending on the study, more recent studies show that 80% of shots fired by officers are within 11 feet. Because of the layout of homes, offices, and other populated areas, it’s pretty straight forward to understand why. It also makes it reasonable to assume that defensive shootings will occur at similar distances. In short, most people spend the majority of their time within 10-20 feet of a wall, which caps the upper end and skews the stats downward. Bad guys also tend to close on their victims before announcing their intentions. In addition, since not all bad guys use standoff weapons (guns), they have to get close to threaten their intended victims.
So, from a practical perspective, 11 feet is a great distance to practice at. So is 2 feet, 21 feet, 25 yards, and 100 and 200 yards.
From a math perspective, a one hole group is a situation where radians and degrees are more of what you’re concerned about. A group that can be covered by a quarter (.955 inches) at 11 feet will spread out, but still be under 2″ at 21 feet and just over 6″ at 25 yards. In other words, the exact distance doesn’t matter all that much at the distances where people are most likely to need to use a firearm in self defense. A bad group will be a bad group at 5, 11, or 21 feet and a ragged one hole group will be a ragged one hole group at 5, 11, or 21 feet. This principal is why, again, depending on the study, 85% of rounds fired by officers within 21 feet completely miss their target – the distance just doesn’t matter as much as solid shooting fundamentals.
Trying to put a full mag into a small hole in a hurry brings problems to the surface.
- If you’re looking at where your bullets are hitting between shots, you won’t make it.
- If your grip is bad and you’re having to adjust your grip after every shot, you won’t make it.
- If you’re not trusting your sights and following your shots, you won’t make it.
- If you’re mashing the trigger too much, your group will be loose.
- If you’re anticipating recoil, your group will be loose.
- If you’re jerking the trigger, your group will be loose.
and on and on.