Your best shot with a handgun intentional or not

My best shot with a handgun was also improbable. I was wood chuck hunting with my best friend with my Ruger Mark I .22. As we were crossing a recently mowed hay field a lone crow came winging by about 100' off the ground. I said to my friend "watch this". I pulled the ruger out of the holster, lined up on the crow, and as the front sight passed the bird I touched the gun off. There was an explosion of black feathers, and the crow nose dived into the ground. I couldn't do that again in a million years. That event occurred about 45 years ago, and i have never even tried to shoot a flying target with a handgun again.

It was in afg at night while moving.

Years ago I went out west to visit a friend. His family had a bunch of milsurps and we made plans to go out to his local range. At some point a Walther P1 was produced. For whatever reason, I loaded the gun and decocked it before lining up the sights. Scattered all over the range as targets were a bunch of golf balls so I lined up on one about 7 yards away and hauled back on the trigger (the double action pull being tremendous on the P1). To my surprise the golf ball shot up in the air about 3-4 feet, then suddenly rocketed away from the firing line. With the trigger pull requiring as much force as it did, I had flubbed the shot and actually squeezed off 2 shots. The second shot had miraculously connected with the golf ball as it floated in front of me (which we confirmed when we retrieved the ball). Everyone was pretty impressed. I knew I couldn't make a shot like that again if I wanted to.

Fast forward a few years and I was at an indoor range with MY P1. Again there were golf balls on the ground. We were happily blasting away at the balls, trying to drive them to the backstop when I loaded a fresh magazine and decocked my P1. My first shot hit the golf ball, the second (accidental) shot again got away from me. Wouldn't you know, it hit the airborne golf ball again!

I have shot quite a few golf balls over the years. They make challenging targets, particularly at longer ranges. Only on those 2 occasions have I had them change direction mid-flight. I should also add, I own a variety of DA/SA guns and I can't recall any other time the SA shot got away from me like it did on both of those days. Just one (or two in this case) of those things!

My best handgun "grin-shots" were when shooting handgun silhouette. My normal silhouette pistol was (and is) a Thompson Center Contender in 7mm TC/U where, in the Creedmore position I could hit rams at 200 yds pretty well. Then on a break, we decided to try lower power side arm pistols. With LOTS of holdover, I could more often than rarely hit rams at 200 yds using my Colt 1911 .45ACP. All it would do is "clang" the metal ram and wouldn't knock it over, but it sure was a lot of fun and we had lots of smiles.

Many years ago (when I still did things like this) I took a pot shot at a bull frog from about 30 yards with a SAA clone in 45 colt , hit low, split him in 2 with only his head holding the 2 halves together and it flipped him about 15 feet into the air where he got stuck on a tree branch. It was nasty and awesome at the same time. No way I could do it again.

Shot a flying grouse with my Trooper MkIII and a .38 Wadcutter.

I have had a few. Some mentionable others not. One involved a duck on a pond and some betting (tame duck). The duck was at about 300 yards and I had my Taurus 689. I was having a particularly good day shooting and our $2 double or nothing bets were really running heavily in my favor as I was up to $200 plus and just kept doubling. We always made it work out almost even among friends, and then we would bet dinner and margaritas at the Mexican restaurant. The duck was at 200+ yards and I had 3 shots to get a hit (all the ammo I had left). First shot was short but was close enough that the splash scared it and it got up and flew further away. It landed at about 300 yards and my second shot went right over it’s back. 3rd shot sank it. I was offered a rough but still nice Python in trade for that gun after that shot and I politely declined. I couldn’t hit squat with that python.

Used to sit by my moms flower bed and shoot bees as they came. Got a few wasps too. I had a junk bb pistol that came in a dart board set and I was comically good with that thing inside of about 20 ft.

Not mine, but I witnessed it. My dad and his brother grew apart years ago. There are only a couple times I have seen my uncle shoot a gun, but he had an old Colt that he was excited about. He missed the soda can about 30 times at whatever range you can sling an empty soda can. He got smart with dad as dad headed back to the house and dad pulled out his beat to hell old RG and center punched the can with all 6. I never heard another word about how awesome that old Colt was. On the way home, Dad was chuckling and I asked him why, he said that he could never hit a thing with that revolver, he bought it on a whim and kept it as a bedside gun figuring he could at least point shoot it if he needed to. He was right, he can’t hit with that gun unless you aggravate him and put some pressure on. Doesn’t make sense, I think it may be something to do with the way he holds the gun.

A half dozen relatives were way out in the country, standing around in Grandma's back field, plinking.

I saw an apple on the ground about ten yards away. I had my old Taurus Model 66. I hit the apple, cutting it in half, then proceeded to shoot each half, then a few of the quarters until I was out of ammo.

None of the shots was super difficult, but I hit all six in a row fairly quickly. It would probably have taken me 100 tries to do it again. The relatives all seriously overestimated my marksmanship after that.

Second day of deer season, just at first light, I was searching for a tree to climb up in and settle down for the morning hunt. I hear all these truck doors slam and guys talking while they load their shotguns. The guys fan out, about 8 or 10 of them, and start walking through this hay field, away from me. Now I am about half way up this tree where I should be. Suddenly I see a buck emerge from the tall grass right where these guys just walked through. The buck was crawling as low as he could go until he got a little distance away from the hunters. Now the buck is running at a full gallop right toward the tree I am trying to climb. He passes right under the limb I am standing on. Holding on with my left hand, I draw my scoped SBH, cock the hammer and get off two quick shots at the running deer. First shot misses, second shot hits buck in the ass as he flies by me. All the hunters in the field stop and look around, trying to figure out who is shooting and at what? I climbed down from the tree, found a little blood, tracked that deer about 1/2 mile, found him totally emerged in water in a creek with just his horns sticking out of the water. The 240 gr. Rem. JHP entered the deer right next to his butt hole and never exited. I was aiming at the back of his head, but because he was running so fast, his ass got in the way. Lucky for me, for him, not so much!

I was shooting with a Deputy buddy [ I was a city cop ] and he had a "Python" that he thought was the cats P.J.'s.
We were shooting at 25 yards and the prized shot was a 1" exploder [ this was a few decades back ].
I was shooting a fixed sighted S&W 581 [ .357 4" barrel,my duty gun & personal wheel gun ].
He fired 6 rounds and missed from the bench.
I fired one round from standing offhand and BANG/BOOM ,hit it center !.
He dared me to do it again ----- I passed on that !.
To this day I still bust his stones about that shot !.

I shot a fish with a BB gun from 30 yards.

I shot a 2 liter soda bottle at 100 yards with a 1911 once but I had to adjust fire like I was shooting artillery to do it.

Last one I shot a herd of hogs in Germany at 18 MILES with an M110A2 but I can't take credit for it because someone else (who got in a bunch of trouble for doing it) gave us the coordinates.

Artillery is all math anyway so it's not a feat of marksmanship so much as who's best with a calculator

Probably not the "best," but certainly the most memorable and most satisfying...

This goes back over four decades, to when I bought my first handgun -- a used Model 40 "lemon squeezer" Centennial... It had the ergonomics of an actual lemon squeezer, but hey -- I wanted an S&W J-frame, and it was there at a good price.

My buddy ragged me for weeks about the purchase. He said I wouldn't be able to hit the broad side of a barn with that piece, and why didn't I get something that a shooter could actually HIT with... Like his Beretta .380.

We finally found an opportunity to shoot on a piece of property that a friend of his made available for our use. We set a target at about 10 yards.

He gave me the first shot, ragging me literally up to the point I stepped to the "firing line." I squeezed (choked) that gawd-awful lemon squeezer/ saw-handle grip, sighted down that vestigial blade front and groove, and slowly staged the trigger (I had been practicing with dry-firing for weeks). The shot went off. The hole I placed with the 158-grain wadcutter round was smack-dab on the center of the X-ring. I SWEAR... If you had taken a ruler to that target, you wouldn't have been able to measure a more precise centering placement of that shot.

It didn't matter WHAT I did after that point. My buddy shut up FOREVER about J-frames... And, coincidentally, has become a fan of J-frames since...

.

I was out pheasant hunting with a buddy years ago, and I was carrying a 7.5" Ruger Blackhawk 30 Carbine along with my Remington 12 gauge. A coyote ran across about 80 yards in front of us. I drew that 30 Carbine revolver and put a bullet clear through that coyotes ribs. He slowed to a walk, stumbled, and fell down dead. I never did let on that I was every bit as surprised as my buddy.

I was squirrel hunting on our farm in southern Illinois with my 10" Buckmark, shown below.

Wind was blowing about 15-20 mph when I saw a big red squirrel in the top of a tree, the branch swaying back and forth about 2 ft each swing. Range was about 70 yards. I brought the pistol up offhand, settled the crosshairs on his head and fired when the branch was at it's farthest swing. Took him right through the shoulders and he was dead before he hit the ground. The Buckmark routinely puts 10 rounds into an inch at 25 yards, so even from a rest the shot at nearly 3 times that distance included some amount of luck . . . but it sure was fun, nonetheless!

Trunk Monkey said:

Last one I shot a herd of hogs in Germany at 18 MILES with an M110A2 but I can't take credit for it because someone else (who got in a bunch of trouble for doing it) gave us the coordinates.

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Couldn't have been a 2LT, it wasn't friendly fire.

We used to hunt rabbits in front of dogs. Beagles. Lil leg fellas. If the rabbit really turns it on he can get away. We had 4 adults in the field posted up in cotton heads spread around a large field. 2 of us had kids with us. We were not quite into the spot my son and I would post up in. They ran a rabbit by us but my son missed with his single shot Rossi 20. The dogs circled him back our way. But he stopped short by 150ft looking back at the dogs. I could see him between the rows. I jerked my single six out and planted him. I knew we would prolly see a few more that day. I didn’t really think I would get him. One shot. My kid went crazy. Looked at me like I was John Wayne. Best day ever.

I actually have three instances of incredible marksmanship. Two of which were on the same day. I used to ride ATVs with a large group of riders. We could ride all day and never cross over a trail we’d been on earlier. One of our regular trails was down beside the God awfullest muddy river that was full of water moccasins. We stopped for a little snack and was about 20 feet above the water. One of my friends spotted a water moccasin swimming down the stream and unloaded a entire 13 + 1 round 45 Glock at it. He sure tore the water up but the snake kept swimming. I asked him if he was through which pissed him off. I drew my trusty Ruger 6.5 stainless Single Six with the magnum cylinder and center punched that snake in the head. With all the shooting going on I didn’t realize that our entire 25+ group had come to see what was happening. They thought I was a god to make a 30 yard shot like that. Thing is that pistol was and still is my favorite handgun. It’s been on my side for thousands of miles on atv, tractor and mower. I didn’t act like it was that big a deal.
My next “holy cow you hit it” shot was just about two miles down the trail on the same ride. We had made our way down to the river crossing (same river) there was a really shallow spot and we had played in the water and were all standing on a gravel bar in the river. One of my best friends had just bought a stainless Ruger Vaquero in 45 Colt. He asked if I wanted to shoot it and I said sure. Everyone is watching again. I said see that stick sticking out of the gravel down stream? Somebody laughed and said that one about 120 yards down. I said yep. More laughter! The stick was about a foot high and 2” in diameter. I raised the pistol and pulled the trigger. Damn thing split in two and the two half’s landed in the water. I turned around and and handed the gun back to my friend. After those two shots the entire group looked at me like I was some kind of weirdo or pervert for getting that good at shooting. There was a lot of luck involved to be honest but they didn’t need to know that!
Third shot was at my dads house in the back yard and dad had a garden. The rabbits were wearing him out in the garden. I had a Kel-Tec P3AT 380. My 25 yard range was in his yard and I’d been shooting the Kel-Tec at 7 yards. That thing was absolutely no fun to shoot! Stung my hand with every shot. Suddenly a rabbit came running out of the garden and I picked up a full magazine, inserted it in the gun, racked the slide and fired. When I hit the rabbit at 40 yards he was still running. I was shocked! Nothing like a shot like that to give you confidence in your concealed carry gun. I carried that pistol for about a year and never shot it again.

A few from the last 5 years or so -
Shot the top off of a spray paint can at 57 yards with my S&W 617. One handed, one shot.
Split a playing card in one shot at 60 feet with my very modified GSG 22lr. Standing with a two hand hold. This was after about an hour of splitting cards at shorter distances. At 60 feet I can just barely see the edge of the card. This is probably my most rewarding shot with a pistol in recent memory.
Shot the nozzle off of a spray paint can at 25 yards and left the can standing with a S&W 41. A called shot but it took 3 tries.
The paint can shots were witnessed by my brother. The card splitting was witnessed by a half dozen people at the range.

I have several pretty memorable shots with my single six from back in my teenage years. When you shoot all the time, you connect a few.
One such lucky shot was witnessed by our long-time county sheriff.
My buddy and I were helping his brother in law(the sheriff) and sister move an old building from an abandoned farm to their house. We took a break for a bit of plinking with .22 pistols.
There was a finch flittering in the weeds nearby. I usually don't kill anything for target practice, but someone said SHOOT THAT BIRD. I took aim, but just as I was about to squeeze off a shot, it would flitter to the next thistle. This went on for several seconds. Finally I was determined to shoot and I just flicked my wrist in the direction that the bird was flying and shot. There was a puff of feathers and the bird fell like a brick.
I got alot of mileage out of that shot. The sheriff was convinced that it was skill, and he told the story often. In fact,, I am still riding that shot because the sheriff's son is now our current county sheriff. He knows the story too, lol.

wasn't me, but I was about 12 or 13 and friend shot a dragonfly out of the air with a BB gun as it turned to look at us and hovered for a split second. completely turned it into shrapnel as it exploded. it wasn't a handgun, but it was a BB gun, so - kind of the same, and completely amazing shot.

It's not nearly the same, but I did stick a nerf dart in my sister in laws ear from the living room while she was at the kitchen table. Wouldn't ordinarily go for the head shot but she had her glasses on.

As far as actual handguns, I haven't done anything that really got me excited. Shooting 8" steel plate at 100 yards and hitting 5 of 6 with a single 6 .22 probably.

Trunk Monkey said:

I shot a fish with a BB gun from 30 yards.

I shot a 2 liter soda bottle at 100 yards with a 1911 once but I had to adjust fire like I was shooting artillery to do it.

Last one I shot a herd of hogs in Germany at 18 MILES with an M110A2 but I can't take credit for it because someone else (who got in a bunch of trouble for doing it) gave us the coordinates.

Artillery is all math anyway so it's not a feat of marksmanship so much as who's best with a calculator

Click to expand...

I probably shot a couple of thousand rounds from a M110 (not A2) and never made a shot like that.

GRIZ22 said:

I probably shot a couple of thousand rounds from a M110 (not A2) and never made a shot like that.

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To the guys on the gun line that shot wasn't any different than any other. The FO gave a grid to FDC and FDC gave us our firing data.

Neither we nor FDC knew what we were shooting at

My 2 best shots, which pales in comparison to others posted, we're with a M66, 4", S&W and my Combat Commander in 45 ACP.

After qualifications at Ft Meade all the shooters hung out to shoot more. Someone put a clay at 100 yds and we were competing to see who could break it. Standing 2 hand hold. No hits on the first go around. I hit it on the 2nd go around.

The other was with my Combat Commander shooting a 200 gr H&G SWC (had to be a good bullet, Cooper liked it) over 6.0 grs of Unique. Well under max and gives me 950 fps chronographed. It's been my standard 45 ACP load for over 40 years.

Shot it way back when from a rest for accuracy. Shot a Ballantine group at 50 yds.

The younger guys will have to look that up.

As a side note if you're ever in Newark, NJ (not a tourist destination by any standard) visit the Ballantine Mansion part of the Newark Museum. Pretty safe area, for Newark, parking right by the museum. You'll see turn of the century (19th to 20th) what making beer can buy you.

American history.