Your "opportunity cost" comments in post #70 of this thread
seem to conflict with the metrics you've set. If resources are very limited, you should probably narrow down and focus your "why."
Acknowledging that this is the "
Competition Skills" sub-forum on
Pistol-Forum, I should be clear that "it's a free country," as they say. If you want to get really, really good at the shooty stuff, just because, then rock on with your bad 'ol self. Set whatever kick-ass standards you want get after it.
That said, if you're primary goal is personal defense, I suspect you'd do well to look to the standards of instructors like @
Tom Givens, @Darryl Bolke, @
Wayne Dobbs, and commentary by guys like @
Cecil Burch @
SouthNarc, @
Paul Sharp and Varg Freeborn, for instance. I suspect that anyone on the high side of "C" class has sufficient raw marksmanship skill to do really well in those standards, and therefore do well in a personal defense shooting. To that point, The Tactical Professor Claude Werner's minimum effective standards are even more modest. Fortunately, acquiring and maintaining that level of skill probably won't require a ton of practice, ammo and time away from family.
On the other hand, personal defense is multi-disciplinary. Shooting is only one of the skillsets that a well rounded personal defense practitioner ought to be familiar with, and arguably the least likely to be used in a personal defense encounter.
Being physically strong and healthy, along with competency in
Awareness and Avoidance
MUC (Managing Unknown Contacts)
OC Spray
Hand to Hand fighting (such as BJJ or boxing)
managing in-fight stress response
medical training
low light shooting
defensive weapons flow
force on force validation
managing the after action
use of force legalities
are more likely to affect the outcome than having "A class" shooty skills. IF personal defense is the primary goal, I suspect getting "C class" competency in most or all of those skillsets is more valuable than becoming A, M, or GM in just shooting. If you can consistently pass the more respectable LE quals or Tom Givens standards, for instance, then time and resources may be better spent pursuing family time, health and wellness, general preparedness (food, water, power, shelter) and competency at those other defensive skills.
Of course, you do you.
***I am in not remotely an expert on any of this. That's why I qualify everything with "I suspect..." This is my imperfect understanding from listening those who are. I hope the knowledgable folks will push back if I'm full of poop. ***