Highly unlikely that you will get into a shootout with your handgun at 50 yards! Unless you are in an open field and have no choice but to shoot back, you are at a disadvantage, especially if the bad guy has a long gun! At 50 feet, just try to take cover and slowly remove yourself from the threat! Do not try to be a hero!

 

Depends on what their armaments are, the size of their force, how fast they are approaching, what your weapons are, how many are you protecting, what barriers and cover you may have, and their declared intent. Plus at least another dozen factors I've probably overlooked. There is really no one answer.

 

I think you are factoring too many variables for this question and I think most experienced shooters understand this but I think this question deserves the basic answer for anyone using a Handgun for self defense is to not engage a threat at a 50 yard distance if you can possibly avoid it! A Tactical situation would be much different!

 

My best working distance is close up to 15 yards ( 18-20 my accuracy gets shaky)


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Glad to hear that I'm not the only one.

 

If the question is based on providing (to an anti-gun audience) specific long range scenarios requiring a civilian owned AR15, you've lost the argument already. Back it up and leave it as this: the adult citizen of sound mind and character is ultimately responsible for his/her own life and the protection of vulnerable loved ones. To that end, we are free as US citizens to utilize the most effective defensive tool available.
If you draw that line in the sand, all you have to do is offer education on why the AR15 (or similar) is the most effective defensive tool available.

 

A argument I would make about “assault weapon” need wouldn’t be over distances but accurate fire and possibility of body armor.
I am just asking the absolute maximum distance you think you might encounter.

I could see a highway patrol cop engaging at 50 yards. My absolute maximum distance could be about 50 yards and that is in SHTF type environment.
The realistic ( not max) for me is really the 15 yard line or closer. I personally don’t have a current need for a rifle caliber self defense weapon option where I think a shotgun, pistol or PCC would do( excluding a body armored threat .) Nor would I have time to get a rifle in a realistic threat for my environment. Any such threat would be on me before I could recognize the threat and get the rifle from a gun safe. But other guys have a different situation.

 

Arms length or less on average, 3-7 yards possible, 8+ yards unlikely.

 

This. Back almost 20 yrs ago I was involved in a police shooting. It happened in a millisecond and it was within 5 ft.

 

Also depends on what you're defending against. I'm not waiting until a bear is 7 yards away to make my stance with kids, pets, and livestock in the yard. Shotgun is sighted in for 50 yards with slugs. AR is setup for 100 to 500 yards, though anything past 100 would take some unique circumstances.

 

This what I am talking about. Bears are not realistic for my environment but is for you.

 

Living "out of town" and on a little fenced in land I suspect that my "self defense distance" could likely be about 20 yards and out to a little more than 100 yards.

And it's possible that the distance could be as close as the front door.
But that isn't likely because my dog hears every little sound.

To cover the most likely event, a after dark shooting, the loaded laser/light equipped pistol, that hangs by the back door, is sighted on my shop door, that is 30 yards from the house. (a very easy shot with a laser equipped gun).

 

Anyway, it got me thinking what are the longest realistic self defense distances even in a SHTF scenario would you expect have to make.
My area ,( suburban type) , I believe any realistic encounter would be under 50 yards even in a SHTF situation.

walkinguf61, if you want to, you could pose this question to Mas in the GATE section. I think he responds to questions similar to your question from time to time.

 

Of course, I had a debate with my liberal family member about “ no one needs a assault weapon debates”. I responded “I don’t need one ( I don’t have one) but not all needs are the same. Talk to the guys who live on the border where coyotes run drugs across their farms and the police are an hour away” type response.

Anyway, it got me thinking what are the longest realistic self defense distances even in a SHTF scenario would you expect have to make.
My area ,( suburban type) , I believe any realistic encounter would be under 50 yards even in a SHTF situation.

I’m sure some of you guys have longer distances as a realistic possibility. What are they and why?

Read through this thread for what is probably every view point possible (inclusive of good, bad, indifferent, knowledgeable, ignorant, helpful and trolling):

Do you need to be accurate at 25 yards?

Concealed carry self defense (or home defense) is unfortunately a necessity in many lives but I don't see shooting someone 75 feet away as self defense. I would think that after 10 yards you could be considered the attacker. What are the laws on this?

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If it isn't in the above (^^^^) thread, you probably aren't going to get more information in this thread.

 

I read it and responded to that thread. Some people have different situations.

I think of that movie “ No country for old men” when I think of someone needing something with range in a self defense situation

 

I figure about 150-175 yds....my feelings are easily hurt.

 

Probably about 7 yards. Distance across living room & dining room, more or less. Maybe 10 yards, or distance across a street. Most likely is probably less than 10 feet. Which would mean I wasn't paying attention.

 

Of course, I had a debate with my liberal family member about “ no one needs a assault weapon debates”. I responded “I don’t need one ( I don’t have one) but not all needs are the same. Talk to the guys who live on the border where coyotes run drugs across their farms and the police are an hour away” type response.

Anyway, it got me thinking what are the longest realistic self defense distances even in a SHTF scenario would you expect have to make.
My area ,( suburban type) , I believe any realistic encounter would be under 50 yards even in a SHTF situation.

I’m sure some of you guys have longer distances as a realistic possibility. What are they and why?

Normal civilian life? Within 25 yards. Normal police life? Maybe 100 yards, although we certainly see longer shots.

SHTF? They train most Soldiers to shoot out to 300 years, so you better be able to shoot 500. You will need a precision rifle, not a semi-auto, since you aren't going to overwhelm an armed group with your superior firepower.

 

A SHTF situation, my line of sight probably wouldn’t go out much more than 50 meters in my environment barring being a sniper or counter sniper on a rooftop. A realistic STHF situation isn’t going to be those distances not even then . The high ground isn’t that high compared to the surrounding ground or other buildings

 

I plan from zero to the maximum effective range of whatever weapon I’m using. There’s no reason to impose artificial and non-statutory based limitations.

 

I guess it depends on how far away the other guy is.

And how good a shot he is.

 

More of not how good he is but knowing I’m not that good .

 

Inside the house no further than 50 ft hallway. So most likely a 25 ft average shot. Anyone in the house who shouldn’t be their is a Kosher shot.

Outside on the street the criminal will be up close and personal. Walking in the street probably contact distance to 10 foot shot.

Sitting in my vehicle with a driver side robbery or car jacking attempt .....contact distance to 10 foot shot.

I shoot / train a lot and have no problem hitting what I’m aiming at with handguns and long guns but I doubt, other than perhaps in my home I would be using an AR..... well at least I hope not.

 

Inside the house no further than 50 ft hallway. So most likely a 25 ft average shot. Anyone in the house who shouldn’t be their is a Kosher shot.

Outside on the street the criminal will be up close and personal. Walking in the street probably contact distance to 10 foot shot.

Sitting in my vehicle with a driver side robbery or car jacking attempt .....contact distance to 10 foot shot.

I shoot / train a lot and have no problem hitting what I’m aiming at with handguns and long guns but I doubt, other than perhaps in my home I would be using an AR..... well at least I hope not.

Is it though? What if the neighbors' toddler wanders into your house? What if the Alzheimer's stricken woman that lived in your house before you returns "home" one night and is doing the dishes she left 30 years ago? What if the neighbors' drunk teenager is passed out asleep in your bathtub? I know, far-fetched scenarios, but these happen. Last year we had the Alzheimers lady wandering the neighborhood.
**** happens.

 

Less than 50 yards in my neighborhood since so few things would possibly occur that I would need a weapon for outside of my yard.

I do know that I'm good anywhere from 0-350 yards with my 6.5 Grendel, which would be my go to if I needed to grab something other than the CCW on my hip.

 

In my normal everyday Joe Schmo life, zero. Seriously, that's my expected self-defense distance.

The chances of any of us needing a sidearm to defend our lives in ridiculously small. We're fractions of a percent here.

How far can I shoot? Plenty far enough. In training scenarios, I've done headshots on hostage-takers at 25 yards. I've also missed and hit an innocent or two at closer distances in certain scenarios. In one, a hostage-taker was wrestling with my "partner" (an actor on a screen) and I took careful aim, intending to hit the attacker right between the eyes but I shot my partner in the head instead. In one scenario I hit a bad guy at roughly 30 yards right square in the face as he popped out from cover. Could I do that in real life, with real bullets coming back at me? Probably not, and I hope I never find out.

In a SHTF, the rules change. What is self-defense in what scenario? If you see looters trying to break into a house 100 yards away that you know is occupied, are you justified in shooting them to protect that homeowner? Can you hit a man-sized moving target at 100 yards with your rifle?

Realistically, I train for 25 yards with my handgun but have hit at farther distances.

 

Look at it this way: Should have Vic Stacey shoot from ~65 yards at a guy firing a rifle at a police officer or run up to within seven yards?

There are the statistics and then there is reality. The stats attempt to describe a typical fight. But, they may not describe the next one you are in. Look around. 25 yards is NOT very far and “getting” there is very easy. I honestly think most of us fail to shoot enough at 15-50 yards at five yard increments. This is in addition to empty hand skills that one learns in Shivworks ECQC, jujitsu, wrestling, etc.

 

What do you think is your realistic self defense distances?

Most likely between 3-7 yards.
Farthest distance for a shot in our house is only 25 feet.

In the past - specifically during my LEO time, my regular practice was between 0 - 25 yards. Sometimes we pushed it out to 50 yards if we had ranges that allowed that. But almost all training/practice was between 0-25 yards.

Nowadays, almost all of our training/practice is between 0-15 yards. Sometimes we will push it out to 20-25, but rarely.

 

By including "SHTF" scenarios, OP really opens up the topic. I'd say the max reasonable perimeter for self-defense in a typical burglary/robbery/rape incident is no more than 21ft, considering what we've all heard about closing distance by an armed (blade) attacker, etc. But a SHTF situation could include defending your home against multiple looters, i.e. an armed gang. I mean assuming worst case scenario, we're talking "The Walking Dead" stuff, right? And in a situation like that, where my ability to keep my family fed and safe is exactly the thing they're coming for, no I won't be waiting for 21 feet.

So, I don't have an answer to this. But I don't worry much about it either. If I'm pulling the trigger, the threat is either imminent enough I don't have time to think, or serious enough I did have time to think.

 

I was including SHTF short of “ walking dead “ stuff. Realistic SHTF like Koreatown in the LA riots as the max .

 

I can draw and fire fairly rapidly and reliable hit one of those Bianchi Cup targets from 25 yards, but it's usually only a 50% hit. I practice it sometimes, but it is far from a sure thing. It really helps to shoot your preferred target at longer ranges to see about where your mistakes cause bullets to strike.
If I was forced to try a twenty five yarder, I'd do my best, but anything beyond fifty is probably just gonna be cover for our rapid escape!

 

1 was arms length, the other started at 75 yds and ended at 25. 17 rds fired on number 2.
One ended at 100 at night.
Distance and concealment/cover is my friend.

 

While the longest on-duty rifle shot fired by police, of which I'm aware, was against an active rifle shooter at something like not quite 150yds (it took 2 shots for get the hit that stopped the threat, as the first shot missed), and the longest handgun shot was 104yds (in TX), I have a hard time imagining me, as a retired cop/private citizen, ever finding myself in a situation where I'd be using a rifle or handgun out to those distances. I didn't have to do it in all my working years, and that was being put in innumerable situations where it was highly likely to happen on any given day/night.

The only times I've even prepped my personal AR was when some serious potential threats appeared to have the potential to approach our previous property and our new one. One time involved a suspect thought armed with a semi or full-auto carbine and wearing body armor, who had fled from a nasty shootout with a local tac team at a raid on a grow property. The best update I got was the suspect was thought to be on foot, maybe a mile or so away, heading in our direction in a semi-rural hill area. The possibility of body armor meant AR (to me).

The other time was when that active shooter who killed a Santa Cruz Co SO sergeant was initially reported to possibly be headed our way (our property isn't very far away) in some of the evolving news reports. (Meaning social media activity, with some of my wife's friends learning of the active shooter on their news feeds and calling my wife, scaring her). My wife was (uncharacteristically) very concerned, so I prepped my AR and one of my shotguns, to ease her concern about the suspect reaching and coming down our street, and actually approaching our house.

Aside from extraordinary events, since I'm not looking to find, chase and apprehend suspects anymore, they're going to have to come find me. I can't imagine any reason why the same firearms training and drills covering 1-25yds, and occasional instructor training out to 50yds, wouldn't continue to serve me in good stead. I'd consider the potential for engaging anyone out past 15-25yds to be downright improbable, especially considering I'm no longer able to invoke peace officer powers and have an agency behind me. I worry more about the 1-10yd situations where I'm too close to get away or under cover.

Just my thoughts.

 

Just my thoughts.

Very valid ones at that. 👍

Some of your examples outline the realities of armed self-defense. It may never happen or it may be a one-in-a-million scenario that actually happens. One thing we know for sure, the bad guy isn't going to be a piece of brown cardboard and suspended on two wooden sticks with no arms.

I personally think too many people want to believe it's going to be an easy shot, nothing will go wrong, and they're going to win. Not many people want to think about the very real possibility of it being difficult, bloody, and a losing and possibly life-ending proposition.

99% of GT'ers believe they're going to shoot the mugger down or rule the post-apocalyptic world and they don't realize or think about bullet holes burning like a mother ****er.

 

Not sure, but I’m ready for any distance😄

Realistically probably pretty close, and I’m much more likely to need H2H techniques versus a firearm.

 

Maybe the next county over if those pesky Hancock folks don't smarten up right quick.