Yes, I've heard the story of Elmer and the miracle pistol shot. Even if its true, Elmer wasn't a soldier, he was a hunter and the deer don't get to shoot back.
I take NOTHING away from the good old boys who have spent their whole lives shooting/hunting with no formal training. They are self taught from experience and tend to gain knowledge from family tradition that is stronger than military organization knowledge. Also, the best shooters are using their own customized weapons and hand loads. Certainly not impossible for the world of T2K, however Joey Tentpeg in your average infantry platoon is not going to have a customized .38 super with a scope. Also, a lot of hand loads that are designed for match shooting are not designed for military applications. Joey most like has some wonderful ball ammo for his pistol.
I don't care how good someone can shoot, applying combat circumstances to shooting drastically lowers accuracy. Lets have 2 situations:
#1, Private Jones bets some members of the Krakow ORMO that he can hit a tin can at 100 yards with his M1911 in exchange for a free pass into the city. Private Jones has the luxary of getting his breathing, sight picture, trigger squeeze all under control, no time constraints.
#2, Private Jones sees three approaching maruaders at 75 yards. One is providing cover fire with his AKM while the other two are doing successive bounding rushes between rocks and trees towards his position. Private Jones now has to worry about maintaining cover, keeping track of his evolving tactical situation as he is in danger of being suppressed and outflanked. Not to mention, if he exposes himself from cover, there is no way that he will have time, with iron sights, to get a good sight picture, adjust for windage, and get the perfect trigger squeeze to make even a 50 meter shot.
Combat shooting with a pistol is simply not realistic past 30 meters for a good shooter, and probably a lot less for even an average shooter.
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