3. That is possible sure. Though the gun might not be random, nor lying around. So it's equally possible that it's fully loaded, ready to go, and I shoot him easily. The point is that a correct strategy can overcome the superiority of the copy by rendering its superiority irrelevant, and that victory, therefore, is entirely possible.
4.
I don't understand what you are saying here. Is it that the author always determines who wins in a fight so the whole conversation about hypothetical better versions of characters fighting themselves is entirely pointless?