I found this article just now - average shots fired in a SD shooting, rounds onboard & distances - an interesting take!

[chief38]

An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Statistics of Self-Defense: Don't Bet Your Life on Averages

Don’t base your self-defense strategy on the average anything. You’re not average, right?

www.shootingillustrated.com

I just found this article a few minutes ago and though it to be interesting enough to post here. I know there are always discussions here about the number of rounds contained in a specific pistol or revolver ( the will be it enough discussions ) and many quote the statistics of SD shootings recored. Carrying a reload or not is also a popular subject brought up as well. I am not posting this to convince anyone set in their ways or change anyones daily EDC habits, I just thought this might be a "food for thought" article that is somewhat well written.

 

[stansdds]

Interesting article and just because there is an average number for something does not mean that the average number will apply in your situation. I practice at 25 yards, even with my Model 640-1. Averages indicate that it is quite unlikely that I will ever have to draw my defensive sidearm. Averages indicate that it is even less likely that I will have to fire it for defensive purposes. Averages also indicate that I will likely never need to use a fire extinguisher, but twice, so far, I have needed to use one.

 

[rockquarry]

That article says little more (if any more or any less) than what you'll find in reading many textbook and gunfighting theory posts on this forum and perhaps other forums.

 

[Greyman50]

Have read several such reports and IMHO they are spot on. Pistol shooting is a skill developed with time and $$$, there is No way around it. Granted some people are “ naturals” in pistol shooting and after years of instructing women are many of the naturals. They seem to listen and absorb better than most men.
Been shooting 1911s at 100 yards for many years but declining eye sight has affected it recently. Used to shoot B-27s at 100 yards and with some 357, 50 S&W we shot at around 200 yards. Lots of fun and we reloaded.

 

[chief38]

Years ago I was at a match and as a side match afterwards they had a 2" snub nose shoot at 100 yards. The targets were the orange clay trap and skeet birds sitting on the mound of sand. Believe it or not after a few shots walking the bullets out, many of us were able to hit them with Kentucky windage & elevation of course - lol. I was shooting my M60-7, 2" bbl. Some guys
were clueless as to how to aim.

 

[rockquarry]

Years ago I was at a match and as a side match afterwards they had a 2" snub nose shoot at 100 yards. The targets were the orange clay trap and skeet birds sitting on the mound of sand. Believe it or not after a few shots walking the bullets out, many of us were able to hit them with Kentucky windage & elevation of course - lol. I was shooting my M60-7, 2" bbl. Some guys
were clueless as to how to aim.

To add a little to what you stated... If handgun shooters practice at longer distances enough to become proficient, the short distances become far easier. Few seem to realize that.

 

[45Smashemflat]

As folks who work with me get tired of hearing, “averages are interesting, but they are not very useful.” It would be interesting to see the entire data set of shootings that lead to the “7 yard average distance” and “3-4 shots fired on average.”

Distributions are made up of averages, minimums, maximums, and standard deviations. As an engineer, you do not design to averages, or you’ll never be able to achieve the maximum. (Automation engineer here…)

How this impacts my practice is, I practice at longer ranges and I practice reloading. I typically carry at least one reload. Am I ready for “the maximum “? Probably not, but I’m ready for what is more than one standard deviation above the mean.

(Establishing my nerd cred, I guess.)

 

[fatcat3]

 

[65-2x2]

You prepare for the danger that you think you might encounter. There is no such thing successfully preparing for everything. The fluke can always get you.

 

[Shibadog]

To add a little to what you stated... If handgun shooters practice at longer distances enough to become proficient, the short distances become far easier. Few seem to realize that.

This. If you can hit at 25 you darn sure can at 5. The reverse is NOT true,

 

[chief38]

This. If you can hit at 25 you darn sure can at 5. The reverse is NOT true,

I'd agree to some extent - BUT shooting for SD at 5 yards is a different type of shooting. I'd call it more point shooting than true aiming and therefore both should be practiced. Many can point shoot at 5 yards with more than descent enough accuracy and at speeds that would be good for close and personal SD purposes. Others struggle!

For 20+ years I shot S.A.S.S. Cowboy Action Shooting competition. It really was really great training since we drew and shot our Six Guns as fast as we could at close up steel plates by point shooting and there were also long distance pistol targets at 30 - 50 feet as well which required treu aiming - but again we were shooting against the clock for accuracy, speed and lowest time. For every miss there were 5 points added to your time and so your score was made up with a combo of shortest time and best accuracy. There are many times they do not go hand in hand.

 

[Greyman50]

View attachment 779742

Henry had a sip and was out,lol.