In my honest opinion, being a good shot with a pistol is much easier that being a good rifleman. A pistol is the last weapon besides a knife that i would want to do combat with. For close range a shotgun is the best alternative. However this creates a problem. A shotgun is difficult if not almost impossible to conceale. This is the reason a shotgun is ruled out unless ou are defending against a home intruder. For common defense situaltions, such as a mugging or a robbery a person armed with a pistol does not have to be that good of a shot. Since the distance of most confrontations are under 10ft away a person will only have to hit an area roughly 2ft by 3ft. Such a shot is extremely easy if you train with your weapon at least one a week. Now being a good rifleman is much harder. Now really think about this for a min, if you are shooting a rifle more than likely you are aiming at a target anywhere from 25 to 1000 yard away. There is much more to take into consideration when you try a shot. Distance is the main one. Most people have a hard time judging anything past 100 yards. Wind is another factor, and yes even with a large caliber wind still has quite a bit of effect on the bullets flight path. In the heavy winds of the panhandle you would be suprised how much the wind will affect a bullet. Basically you must ultmatly decide wich kind of shooting you will mostly be doing. If you are a rifle hunter place your emphasis on the rifle. If you are more worried of what will happen when TSHTF, concentrate on tactical or a battle type shooting. As for me I concentrate on the rifle. I have little use for a pistol and am more interested in the hunting aspect of shooting. However i do not neglect the pistol, i always make time to practice at the range with my Colt 1911. After all you never know what is going to turn up wheather it will be a deer or a crazy bastard that wants to kill you in that dark alley