Acceptable handgun accuracy is a topic that is always hotly debated.

Acceptable" accuracy has a different meaning for different shooters. To find the level of accuracy that puts you at the top of your shooting discipline you will need to spend plenty of time at the shooting range.

It would help if we could define exactly what "acceptable" means. But that word has a different meaning to different shooters. The bullseye shooter wants the tightest groups possible so that he will be guaranteed of winning the pistol match. The handgun hunter wants to be able to bring down that trophy buck with one well-placed shot. And the fellow who packs a defensive handgun just wants to be able to get home alive.

When I got into police work PPC competition was all the rage. We soon found that a quality DA revolver could be tuned up and carefully mated to a target handload with the expectations of delivering 1-inch groups at 25 yards from a sandbag rest. Bullseye shooters came to expect the same thing from their 1911 target pistols after they had been treated to the loving care of custom pistolsmiths such as Jimmy Clark and Armond Swenson. Some folks even attempted their own accuracy tune-up on their .45 autos.

They would tighten the slide and frame rail fit until the slightest burr or foreign particle would cause the slide to fail to go completely into battery. These same shade-tree gunsmiths would file on the 1911's sear until the point that when the slide release was tripped the hammer would follow it forward. I suspect these efforts to improve accuracy are what gave the 1911 pistol the undeserved reputation for being unreliable. Mind you, all of this was being done whilst in the chase for tight groups and greater accuracy.

But I'm not all that convinced 1-inch groups at 25 yards are really needed.

In handgun hunting we can pretty well say that the hunter's maximum practical range is that range at which he can keep all of his shots inside an 8-inch circle. When that circle is centered on the shoulder of a whitetail buck, a black bear, or an elk, the handgunner's shots will be going into the critter's boiler room.

The defensive handgunner will also do quite nicely if he keeps his shots inside an 8-inch circle. To demonstrate this point just stick a picnic plate on a silhouette target and you'll see what I mean. The center of that circle ought to be just about where the second button on a man's shirt would be. Proper defensive ammunition, dropped into that circle, should do the job just about every time. (If it doesn't, the bad guy's probably wearing a ballistic vest.)

But while 1-inch groups may not have the practical value that some might think, they can have a great deal of psychological value. A pistol/ammo combination that gives good tight groups can be a real confidence builder.

Imagine sitting in your deer blind when that 150-class whitetail buck steps out at about 35 paces. Imagine further that you've got your Ruger .44 Magnum Blackhawk handy. That same Ruger .44 Magnum with its tuned action and carefully selected hunting ammunition. That same gun you've practiced with and know that you can deliver your hunting load into 1.25 to 1.75 inches at that range. That's the kind of confidence I'm talking about. The kind that says, "Mr. Buck, if I want you, you're mine!"

The same is certainly true for the person who carries a handgun for defensive purposes. A violent encounter is assuredly not a nice thing. It is, in fact, an experience to be avoided if at all possible. But imagine you're carrying a handgun that is capable of putting your defensive ammunition into 1.25 inches at 25 yards.

And, further, you are carrying the same handgun that you just used last weekend to win your regional IDPA match. When the balloon goes up and you turn to deal with a deadly threat, your thoughts should be, "They told me this might happen...I had hoped it wouldn't happen...but I know what to do about it." An accurate handgun will go a long way towards helping you develop this sort of winning mindset.