Originally Posted by Americano

One time? You must be the new Annie Oakley (she used bird shot) or a rare natural. I shoot all the time, have for many years but would never make that statement and am considered an excellent, consistent shooter. There are shots termed flyers that happen to everyone. I shoot with cops, some of whom can barely qualify and others who shoot in competition, and experienced/novice civilians and see very few other than the pros who can consistently put every shot in a 2" group at 25-yards. Most novices are lucky to even put one out of five on the target at 25-yards (23M) with short barreled auto-loaders, much less shoot a tight group. Now factor in the adrenalin rush of a confrontation.

The people at the range I use who instruct novices determine if practice is going to be a regular event or if they're just getting a sidearm to stick in a drawer for home protection. If the latter, instructors use the 7-yard (6.4M) 'bellygun' distance to train them and build their confidence levels. Even at that short distance it's often scary to watch the results.