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Handgun accuracy

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  • J pace

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    I would just like to start a discussion about handgun accuracy , there seems to be a lot of people out there the doubt you can hit anything with a handgun at any distance. What are the thoughts or experience from the group
     

    joraca

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    Depends on how fast you are shooting it, too. An expert at slow fire, offhand, with a match grade gun and ammo, will have about an inch of dispersion for every 10 yards distance. Probably less than 1/2 that from a rest.
     
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    PINELOG

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    Lots of practice and knowing your weapon . Technique is very important also. As a retired leo i had to qualify for 29 years , both with a revolver and a pistol. If you shoot with others who are proficient , watch and learn .
     

    SAWMAN

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    IMO it is all about bbl length,sights,and trigger.
    A 60 - 70 yd shot with the right gun with a dot or scope is highly doable.
    I did some shooting at range with my Glock 20 and green LASERMAX laser. It was deer/hog accurate at 70 yds.
    Now my Magnum Reserch Lone Eagle (243Win )with its 2-6X scope is good out to XX yds. --- SAWMAN
    665f_2.jpg
     
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    Bowhntr6pt

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    I can hit a 66% IPSC target all day long at 50 yards, and "darn near all the time" at 100 yards with a standard G19 or G34 with junk ball ammo.

    I'm no champion pistol shooter. Sometimes when class ends slightly with time to spare, I do a "walk back", sometimes with pistol, sometimes with rifle.

    There were at least three members from this site that witnessed me hit a full size IPSC target at 200 yards, standing/unsupported, with a G34, on the first shot. Stupidly long range shooting with a pistol is something I do often "just for fun". One would be surprised to see it's doable.

    It can be done... if you 1) hold still; 2) get a good sight picture; and 3) make a clean trigger press.
     

    Baddog 0302

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    I would just like to start a discussion about handgun accuracy , there seems to be a lot of people out there the doubt you can hit anything with a handgun at any distance. What are the thoughts or experience from the group
    When most people hear "handgun" they think 4 or 6 inch "wheel guns" or Glocks , Smith's and other auto loaders. In another "handgun" shooting event, there are 8 & 10" Dan Wesson's, FA's, T/C's , MOA's and other long range specialty pistols.
    Long Range Pistol Shooting
    To see a local match, check the Pensacola Rifle and pistol match schedule . They also shooters to use their 22 LR rifles.
     

    G-rat

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    out to Element Training in Holt we often hit the 100yd range with pistol for fun. several dudes hit B7 targets on the berm at 100yds. there's targets at 50yds that get busted too. handguns are way more capable than most of us are able to take advantage of...



     

    DixieReb

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    I’m pretty decent out to 100 yards , got 6 or 7 hunting pistols, only hunt with them early in the season , once the rut nears its rifle time only
     

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    44Ruger

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    I would just like to start a discussion about handgun accuracy , there seems to be a lot of people out there the doubt you can hit anything with a handgun at any distance. What are the thoughts or experience from the group
    I used to be able to hit beer can with every shot at 50 yards when I bought the Buckmark back in 82. Now I need a flashlight to find the correct 10/22 in gun safe.
     

    Jhunter

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    One must be able to see a small target to be able to hit small target or you most be able to see 1 MOA if you are able to shoot 1 MOA. A modern pistol with a tuned load should be able to accomplish 1 MOA. There are only a handful of individuals that can outshoot their pistol. I can’t find the video but I did see a guy shoot a 1.5” 3-shot group at 100 yards with open sights on a 1911 platform. Please share if someone knows where to find this.
     

    Jhunter

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    Here is one that prints a 1.8” 10 shot group at 100
     

    J pace

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    One must be able to see a small target to be able to hit small target or you most be able to see 1 MOA if you are able to shoot 1 MOA. A modern pistol with a tuned load should be able to accomplish 1 MOA. There are only a handful of individuals that can outshoot their pistol. I can’t find the video but I did see a guy shoot a 1.5” 3-shot group at 100 yards with open sights on a 1911 platform. Please share if someone knows where to find this.
    I'm a firm believer in the saying if you can't see it you can't hit it, that's why these two long range pistols have 3 x 9 and 3 by 12 scopes
    20220115_094420.jpg
     
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    Boardfeet

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    This is no long range gun, but even my old eyes can hit pretty good at 50 yds.
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    joraca

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    The OP indicated there might be some skepticism.

    When I first started shooting pistol silhouette about 25 years ago, I was already a master in NRA bullseye and ISU standard pistol and the NRA had trained me in Colorado Springs trying to get my air pistol scores up . So I shot my bullseye guns over the 100 and 200 yard silhouette pistol courses, always from standing, sometimes one-handed. I never could get my scores consistently above 30/40 with them, so I finally bought contender pistols. The score of 30/40 is about what would result from 10 moa pistol accuracy that I mentioned earlier.

    The photos below are pages from one of my old log books.

    The first photo shows test results with different guns and ammo in poor light from a bench. The Springfield is an open-sight custom hardball gun logged as producing 5 shot groups of 3 1/4 up to 6 inches from a "poor" rest, which probably means just the heel of the gun was at rest.

    The "standard" pistol is a bull barrel model 41 S&W with open sights. Logged as producing 2 1/2 to 3 inch 5 shot groups at 50 yards.

    The "aimpoint" is a bobbed barrel S&W model 41 with an aimpoint. It logs 10 shot groups of 2 and 2 3/8 inches.

    At the bottom of the page is logged a 10 shot 100 m 2 hand offhand standing group with the aimpoint gun with a 6.5 inch spread.

    The second photo below show a couple of pretty 5 shot groups shot with the aimpoint .22. at 50 yards. The SGB is a small game bullet rather than a target loading.

    The third photo shows on ISU air pistol results at the top of the page. 3 of the 6 10-shot strings are stated at 9+, meaning all 9s and 10s. That is nearly down to 10 moa one-handed, with open sights.

    The bottom of the page gives some bench rest results at 150 and 200 m with .45 ACPs. The "hardball" gun is the open-sight Springfield mentioned earlier. It produced 5 shot groups of 5 and 6.75 inches at 150 m, and 14 and 19 inches at 200 m. The "Wadcutter" gun is a custom Colt longslide with a grip mounted aimpoint. It produced a group of 6.5 inches at 150 m, followed by lousy groups of 12 1/4 and 17 inches after the gun was cleaned, and groups of 12 1/2 and 16 inches at 200 m.

    The fourth photo shows some screening groups at 50m for a TC contender with a 10 inch match .22 barrel and a 2X Leupold scope. The BR 50 at the bottom is an old Eley ammunition not made anymore.

    The fifth photo are 100 m groups with the Eley BR 50, dirty barrel left, clean barrel right. The clean barrel produced about a one inch 5 shot group with a 2X scope and also appeared to shift the zero.

    The sixth photo discusses screening results for a Mark III Target Ruger .22, with iron sights. Noteworthily, CCI standard velocity.22 yielded 5 shot groups of 1 1/2 and 1 1/8 inches at 50 yards under breezy conditions.

    The seventh photo shows load development for 200 yds for a 10 inch TC contender in .357 magnum with a 3-9x Leupold scope. These are hot loads and shouldn't be duplicated without workup and load confirmation. Sub 6-inch groups were produced under good conditions.
     

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