Simple as the topic sounds. I've played 3 separate pistol characters in the past year and am very familiar with how it operates, so I know for sure this is a bug.

Problem: whenever using vats to aim for a specific spot on any target (I usually prefer head, although I confirmed this happens no matter where I aim) vats will suffer some insane accuracy penalties causing me to shoot upwards of 3 feet away from a target that is 6 feet in front of me, clear as day. It is most evident when vats does a slow motion first person view, you can see the pistol being brought up, aimed in the general direction of the target, and even if it were impossible to miss (meaning so much of your field of vision is your target, that no amount of spread could cause a miss) bullets will get shot, and the target will not get hit, or get hit in all the wrong places.

potential reasons I already ruled out: crippled limbs, damaged but not yet crippled limbs, drug addictions, overencumberance, using gear that exceeds one of my SPECIAL stats. objects being in my way, pathing bugs, distance, 3rd party mods (as I don't use any mods, ever), and weather or not the weapon is properly suited to penetrate the DT of the target I am attacking

when the problem first started: exactly the moment that I entered big MT. Up until this point I had absolutely no problem with accuracy, in fact there were times I would almost want to call B.S. on how accurate I was, as I was capable of plucking headshot 1hit kills from 75 yards stealthed with non scoped pistols simply by queuing it up in VATS. The problem may also have coincided with the moment I took the Run 'n' Gun perk, as I got that perk the moment I leveled briefly before heading off to big MT.

Character statistics:
LEVEL: 26
S:7
P:7
E:9
C:1
I:7
A:7
L:6
PERKS: Abominable(1), Agility Implant, Better Criticals, Big Brained, Bug Stomper, Confirmed Bachelor, Cowboy, Demolition Expert(2), DNAvenger(2), Endurance Implant, Finesse, Gunslinger, Hand Loader, Heartless, Intelligence Implant, Jurry Rigging, Lord Death(1), Machine Head(2), Run 'n' Gun, Silent Running, Spineless, The Professional, Toughness(1), Trigger Discipline, Wild Wasteland

Weapons of choice: any and all pistols that fit the cowboy build you see. .44 magnum revolver, .357 revolver, lucky, That Gun, Police Pistol
Gun skill was also at 80 when issue first arose.

I hope thats enough information to help figure out whats wrong, and if anyone knows a solution I'd be very appreciative. Pistol build is the most fun I have in this game, and although I prefer to run'n'gun and shoot things with my own skill, those moments when I absolutely have to depend on vats come along every so often, and I'm sick of having to give up on vats entirely and instead stand on objects that force my enemies to do pathing bugs just so that I may survive in a situation that had I a functional VATS I would have otherwise survived normally.
I'm not familiar with the rules of external links with the bethesda forums but I will also be posting a youtube video as an example if people would like some more examples of how this is happening.