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Is your favorite pistol a real shooter??

bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
We have all seen the reports on pistol accuracy from gun writers and magazines. Most of them are shot at 15 yards (45 feet) and some at 25 yards (75 feet). Some writers would have you think the $499 Vundergunn, Chrome plated and plastic, in 9MM, is a laser beam that goes bang. Please note almost none are shot from a Ransom rest to tell the true accuracy tale......

Getting back into NRA bullseye pistol shooting has been an real eye opener. Distance is NOT your friend with a handgun. My previous League experience was at fifty feet and 25 yards.

This outdoor Bullseye shooting adds a rather small target at 50 yards, slow fire (10 shots in 10 minutes). Anything over 25 yards is going to take some effort to keep your gun grouping. A load that shoots 3/4 inch, center to center at 25 yards may toss half of them out of the black at 50 yards. Finding a load to shoot 1-1/2 inch MAX at 50 yards is a lot of work and one heck of a lot of shooting with a very well built custom pistol. 99 percent of the handguns out there will not shoot that well, they simply can't do it.

If you want to have some real challenges buy a 10 Pack of 50 yard repair centers and see what your favorite pea-shooter can do. Oh, Don't forget to hold the gun with ONLY one hand, standing, no braces, no sandbags allowed.

Make sure you ignore that ant biting your arm/leg or you'll toss the shot.....[:D]

Comments

  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Well said bruce. My Ruger Mk2 with the bull barrel and target crown will do well out to 50 yards without issue, if I use decent ammo. My bull barrel smith 10 will keep in the 6" bull I usually use, but really, even 25 yards is pushing most of my handguns. In fact, I shoot most of them at 15 yards if I'm going for group.

    Now to keep them on a man-sized target, that's another matter. Even my most pitiful short barreled milsurps will do that reliably 99% of the time, but they don't really reach out and touch. They do the job they were designed for, which is close quarter defense.

    There are 'handguns' as in Thompsons and the like chambered in RIFLE cartridges with handgun barrels that I've seen group well even at 300 yards, but that's stretching the definition, isn't it?[;)]
  • perry shooterperry shooter Member Posts: 17,390
    edited November -1
    Hello Bruce I scored Brian Zins at Fairfax Va. match when he shot a 2679 with over 140 X's this was out of a possible score of 2700. That was 270 shots in a row inside the 6 inch 9 ring and only 21 shots outside of a 3&1/4 inch circle out of 270 shots. I also scored Andy Moody years ago in Bristol Tenn. he shot a 300 with 19X's with his 45 . Both guys are true gentlemen and a pleasure to shoot beside. Here's to you Keeping them all in the Black this week-end. [:D]
  • bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by perry shooter
    Hello Bruce I scored Brian Zins at Fairfax Va. match when he shot a 2679 with over 140 X's this was out of a possible score of 2700. That was 270 shots in a row inside the 6 inch 9 ring and only 21 shots outside of a 3&1/4 inch circle out of 270 shots. I also scored Andy Moody years ago in Bristol Tenn. he shot a 300 with 19X's with his 45 . Both guys are true gentlemen and a pleasure to shoot beside. Here's to you Keeping them all in the Black this week-end. [:D]


    With your fine coaching and fair weather I should hit the paper now and then, out of 270 shots even monkeys get lucky!!!!! [:D]
  • CapnMidnightCapnMidnight Member Posts: 8,520
    edited November -1
    Karl is the expert in this discipline, I'm still in a steep learning curve. Three things I've found are, light loads are better, trigger control is more important almost everything else combined, and practice practice practice.
    W.D.
  • rsnyder55rsnyder55 Member Posts: 2,526 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Interesting question. I have a Colt Python with 8" barrel that is probably my most accurate, but it is not my favorite pistol. But then bullseye target shooting is not my favorite sport.

    Referring to favorite (as in used a majority of the time) and practical accuracy, my favorite pistol is a Browning HiPower because as form fits function, it fills the need I have for a pistol. That is self defense with IDPA from time to time.
  • bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by CapnMidnight
    Karl is the expert in this discipline, I'm still in a steep learning curve. Three things I've found are, light loads are better, trigger control is more important almost everything else combined, and practice practice practice.
    W.D.


    I have found at fifty yards the MV needed to be up near 825 to get consistent accuracy from my 45. A load of 5.0 of W-W 231 shot well with a 200 grain Lyman 452460. Timed and rapid the load now is 4.1 grains of N-310.

    Align the sights, apply pressure to the trigger, straight back, until it fires. Seems so simple in theory, looks great in the movies as they dive under a table, proves to be a tough one to master.... [:0][:0]
  • uni82uni82 Member Posts: 416 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by jonk
    My Ruger Mk2 with the bull barrel and target crown will do well out to 50 yards without issue,[;)]


    agreed with the ruger MKII. I can get a really nice group at about 30 yards. (i'm not the greatest shot in the world, but ok)

    I was plinking one day to see how far i could shoot it and hit my target. at 100 yards i hit a 2 liter bottle that was filled with water 8/10 shots. Of course this was prone, resting the firearm and two hands. I wouldn't give it up for any other 22 pistol.
  • dtknowlesdtknowles Member Posts: 810 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by bpost
    We have all seen the reports on pistol accuracy from gun writers and magazines.......

    Finding a load to shoot 1-1/2 inch MAX at 50 yards is a lot of work and one heck of a lot of shooting with a very well built custom pistol. 99 percent of the handguns out there will not shoot that well, they simply can't do it.

    If you want to have some real challenges buy a 10 Pack of 50 yard repair centers and see what your favorite pea-shooter can do. Oh, Don't forget to hold the gun with ONLY one hand, standing, no braces, no sandbags allowed.

    Typical gun writers today and not writing stories about repeating handguns that can shoot small groups because only a few of us care about that kind of accuracy.

    I have been shooting my Ruger MKII hunter almost every weekend for months now, I agree that we should shoot standing without braces or sandbags etc. but I shoot with two hands, not preping for Bullseye but Hunters Pistol. Off a rest testing ammo at 25 yards the gun shoots groups in the 0.60 inch range with the best ammo and even the cheapest ammo shoots under an inch so I practice with the cheap ammo.

    My offhand practice is with the 3 inch shoot'n'see bullseyes at 25 yards. I almost always get 8 of the 10 shots on the bull and sometimes get all 10. 10 shot off hand group averages running just over 3 inches and average miss distance (average distance of point of impact from point of aim)for individual shots in the 60 shot strings (I shoot 6 bulls each weekend) is about 1.1 inches. I plot the 60 shot strings on graph paper and run some analysis. I still have a vertical stringing problem and some flyers I need to correct that will improve my shooting greatly.

    Anyway back to accurate guns, I consider this Ruger a very accurate gun but it was hard to shoot even this level until I got the Volquartson trigger. I don't think anyone is likely to find a more accurate semiauto pistol for this kind of money.

    Accurate centerfire semiauto pistols are harder to find and I have never had one that could shoot under two inches at 25 yards. I guess I should not say they are hard to find because I hear that you can get one built for just a few thousand dollars. Accurate revolvers seem to be more affordable, I am looking at Freedom Arms because of their reputation for accuracy. My Dan Wesson Model 15 will shoot under 2 inches with the right ammo.

    Tim
  • bobskibobski Member Posts: 17,868 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    each target fired here, was from a different high standard.
    10rings.jpg
    once i cleaned a target, i retired the gun and got another one. thats how i kept my self challenge up. shot all the styles, so if in the future i was handed one by anyone, i knew how to shoot it and what to expect. today, as a result, i can guess the series and model hi standard in my hand... blindfolded.
    so, rule of thumb, unless it shoots a 10 or 10x, its not my favorite. but all that do, are.
    on 45's, my inherited essex/rand match gun built for msgt buel parker u.s.a. team by quantico, is my favorite. he went distinguished with it. so did i. its got about 20,000 rounds in it and in my mind, for me to hold anything else on a target, is less than perfect. [^]

    and if anyone complains about my shooting or my choice of guns, i let them shoot this one.
    polishhistd.jpg
    Retired Naval Aviation
    Former Member U.S. Navy Shooting Team
    Former NSSA All American
    Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot
    MO, CT, VA.
  • best defensebest defense Member Posts: 30 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yes, my favorite handgun is accurate, but it is supposed to be. It is a Remington XP in 7BR adorned with a 2.5-8 power scope. It is accurate out to 200 yards or so. I would not compare that with my 45, which has iron sights and is fairly accurate out to about 50 yards, depending on what your definition of accurate is.
  • dcs shootersdcs shooters Member Posts: 10,969
    edited November -1
    My HS Trophy sure is. Also my fav. ground hog gun- a T-C Contender super 14 in 223 with a Redfield 2-8 [;)]
  • SkeedaddySkeedaddy Member Posts: 95 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:If you want to have some real challenges buy a 10 Pack of 50 yard repair centers and see what your favorite pea-shooter can do. Oh, Don't forget to hold the gun with ONLY one hand, standing, no braces, no sandbags allowed.
    Just wondering...does the use of sandbags make your peashooter, or shooter, more accurate?[}:)]
  • bpostbpost Member Posts: 32,664 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Skeedaddy
    quote:If you want to have some real challenges buy a 10 Pack of 50 yard repair centers and see what your favorite pea-shooter can do. Oh, Don't forget to hold the gun with ONLY one hand, standing, no braces, no sandbags allowed.
    Just wondering...does the use of sandbags make your peashooter, or shooter, more accurate?[}:)]


    Sand bags will show you the potential of your gun and if you are jerking the trigger! When you are "in tune" with the pistol you can very accurately call your shots off-hand at 50 yards. The sand bags work OK only if the front part of your arm is still free to move.
  • sandwarriorsandwarrior Member Posts: 5,453 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by best defense

    Yes, my favorite handgun is accurate, but it is supposed to be. It is a Remington XP in 7BR adorned with a 2.5-8 power scope. It is accurate out to 200 yards or so. I would not compare that with my 45, which has iron sights and is fairly accurate out to about 50 yards, depending on what your definition of accurate is.


    That thing is accurate out to 500! Or better...

    Bullseye is different in that you're shooting with one hand and no rest. It's a real test of the shooter not so much the piece. That is unless you consider how well it fits and works for the shooter. It still has to be accurate. But nowhere near as accurate as an XP100 or TCU. They just don't work for Bullseye competition.
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