50 yards and beyond.

I have a Ruger New Blackhawk in .30 carbine that is almost as accurate and hard hitting as a .30 carbine shot from its namesake. I would also consider the .357 mag in a long barrelled revolver over any of the auto calibers mentioned but that is just my bias.

Another possibility

I guess a 1911A1 with a .460 Rowland would be out of the question?

50 yards really isn't that hard with a handgun. 100 yards is very doable and 200 yards is an option with larger revolvers.
While is 10mm is the best of the options, 9mm will work just fine for small animal defense at 50 yards. A hog or black bear would require more firepower.

Seems appropriate...

Well, since the 10 has a flatter trajectory than a 9mm and more oomph at 50 yards than the .40 or .45 have at the muzzle, seems like a pretty easy answer to me....

That said, your odds of being the victim of a vicious animal attack as an adult male in the lower 48 states are slimmer than winning the lottery. I've spent a tremendous amount of time in the great outdoors in my 32 years, and been within spittin' distance of feral hogs and black bears, had cougars close enough to hear them breathing, yet never even felt threatened by them.

The closest I have ever been to an animal attack was a frightened mule deer doe that nearly ran me over trying to get away when I kinda cornered her in my driveway backing my truck in. I got out of the truck, heard a commotion, plucked my flashlight out of my pocket and turned it on just in time to see a frantic deer only a few feet away in a dead run coming straight at me. I ducked and covered, and she somehow went around/over me without contact.

Make no mistake; I absolutely carry in the woods. But it ain't the 4 legged things I'm concerned with.

I vote 357Sig or 357 Magnum.

Tarosean – Cute picture. Hope you don't mind if I steal it.

I wouldn't engage anything at 50 yards with a pistol...But if I had to, I'd choose the 10mm. I've seen .44 mags and other high-caliber revolvers with the magnification scopes mounted on them, I think that would probably be okay at 50+ yards.

rskent - Its been floating around various forums for sometime. I pilfered it from glocktalk.

Those of you "expertly" replying with an air of total authority about not ever taking a 50-yd shot have probably never shot beyond about 25-yds!

I'm confident that I could easily make a head shot on a deer @ 50 yds with any of my handguns. Lots of others can shoot a lot better than I at that range. I routinely shoot my handguns out to 100 yds, every time I go to the range.

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot at either a two-legged or four-legged predator @ 50 yds.

Oh, yeah, back to the poll. This is a no-brainer...the 10mm, of course!!

I vote 357 mag or 7.62x25mm.

el Godfather said:

How would the bullet drop effect the heavier bullets than the lighter 9mm?

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This is my understanding of physics theory, and I may have it wrong:

Bullet drop is a function of gravity -- and heavy bullets and lighter bullets all fall at the same rate. When fired at the same velocity, two rounds will tend to hit the ground at the same time regardless of their weight.

A faster round has less time to be affected by gravity than a slower round, as it moves from point A to point B. A heavier round CAN have a flatter trajectory than a lighter round if the heavier round moves more quickly than the lighter one -- or vice versa.

What those rounds do once they get there is a different issue, which is a function of other factors, such as the speed with which they arrive, their weight, caliber, bullet design, etc., etc. I don't pretend to understand all of those variables and their likely effect on the target end...

In the woods, the trees get in the way. 50 yards will require shooting through the trunks...

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Really.. Have you ever been in the woods? I have often taken shots at greater than 100 yards with a rifle in the woods. Open bottoms plenty of trees, but in the late fall after the foliage is off the trees I can see greater than 200 yards in places.

Nor should you be taking a 50-yard shot with a handgun. What's your NEXT poll - When in space, which type of bullet is most effective?

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Really.. maybe you cannot shoot past 50 yards with a handgun, but some of us can. I can easily put rounds on target at 100 yards with most of my handguns and have killed deer and hogs at well over 200 yards with an Contender and an Encore. Just because you are not capable, do not assume others are not.

Of the calibers you have chosen I selected the 10 mm in the poll. However, I really think a revolver in 41 mag, 44 mag, or hand loaded 45 long Colt are better choices at that range.

I will take, and have taken, a shot at that range with a 357 or a 45 ACP, but it is less than optimal. Three years ago I made the shot on a walking hog, a small sow - 65#, at 53 steps (witnessed) with my 45 ACP. It did fine. Of course it was down hill and walking strait away.

You don't need no stinking 45, 9mm, 10mm at 50 yards.
A 380 Micro Desert Eagle will do just fine.


Standing, two hands at 52 yards.

Charles S said:

Really.. Have you ever been in the woods? I have often taken shots at greater than 100 yards with a rifle in the woods. Open bottoms plenty of trees, but in the late fall after the foliage is off the trees I can see greater than 200 yards in places.



Really.. maybe you cannot shoot past 50 yards with a handgun, but some of us can. I can easily put rounds on target at 100 yards with most of my handguns and have killed deer and hogs at well over 200 yards with an Contender and an Encore. Just because you are not capable, do not assume others are not.

Of the calibers you have chosen I selected the 10 mm in the poll. However, I really think a revolver in 41 mag, 44 mag, or hand loaded 45 long Colt are better choices at that range.

I will take, and have taken, a shot at that range with a 357 or a 45 ACP, but it is less than optimal. Three years ago I made the shot on a walking hog, a small sow - 65#, at 53 steps (witnessed) with my 45 ACP. It did fine. Of course it was down hill and walking strait away.

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It appears we differ on our interpretation of "the woods". Most of the wooded areas I've hunted in are dense enough to make such shots unreasonable. I have shot autoloading handguns (we are in that forum) at distances exceeding 100 yards in open country, but would choose a rifle for hunting.

Now, when you shoot a hog that's walking away - where do you hit it? Does it kill 'em quick when you shoot 'em in the ass?

It appears we differ on our interpretation of "the woods". Most of the wooded areas I've hunted in are dense enough to make such shots unreasonable.

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Well... In my experience woods can vary... I hunt, at times in early growth pine thickets that a 30 yard shot would be tough, I hunt in deciduous forest and in the early season a 50 yard shot is tough secondary to foliage, I hunt in hardwood bottoms where I can easily see over 200 yards even early in the season. Hardwood bottoms do qualify as the woods, do they not?

Maybe the woods you hunt in are always so dense you cannot see. That is not the case in Texas, or Louisiana or, Arkansas, or Oklahoma.

Now, when you shoot a hog that's walking away - where do you hit it? Does it kill 'em quick when you shoot 'em in the ass?

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Well, as I was in an elevated position and the hog was walking down the hill, when it raised it's head I shot it at the base of the brain (the back of the head). It died on the spot. I have never tried a low body shot (some people refer to that as a Texas heart shot) even with a rifle, so I have no experience regarding that.

el Godfather said:

Nice shots.
And people go on lengths to tell us how weak is 380

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Just because the bullet travels 53 yards means that it isn't weak? Okay

If 50 yards+ with no warning of the need to shoot at that range, I'd pick the 10mm.

With enough warning beforehand I'll stick to my .45 colt and just dial the sights in.

Just because the bullet travels 53 yards means that it isn't weak? Okay

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I'll add to that, that one could throw a baseball 53 yards. Doesn't mean I'd want to count on a tossed baseball to stop an attacker.

And I do carry a .380 pretty often. I'm just not under any illusion that it is "powerful" even by handgun standards.

Charles S said:

Well... In my experience woods can vary... I hunt, at times in early growth pine thickets that a 30 yard shot would be tough, I hunt in deciduous forest and in the early season a 50 yard shot is tough secondary to foliage, I hunt in hardwood bottoms where I can easily see over 200 yards even early in the season. Hardwood bottoms do qualify as the woods, do they not?

Maybe the woods you hunt in are always so dense you cannot see. That is not the case in Texas, or Louisiana or, Arkansas, or Oklahoma.



Well, as I was in an elevated position and the hog was walking down the hill, when it raised it's head I shot it at the base of the brain (the back of the head). It died on the spot. I have never tried a low body shot (some people refer to that as a Texas heart shot) even with a rifle, so I have no experience regarding that.

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I've never been to your neck of the woods. When I think of woods, I think of M2Carbine's photo.

Thanks for the clarification on the pig. I'm looking at some mountain property to move to, and will have wild pigs to deal with - along with quail, cottontails, ground squirrels, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, deer, and even the occasional mountain lion.

Fishbed77 said:

I've seen .223 go through a 12" tree trunk easily.

It depends entirely on the bullet and density of the wood.

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Yeah, maybe Balsa wood.

The various sportsmen's clubs,range organizations and etcetera that I've been associated with thru the decades the 50yd line is the least used in in conventional pistol shooting endeavors. That said those that shoot 50yds and beyond on a regular basis are a minority as opposed to a majority. When the subject of shooting distances is broached there are apparently more individuals in this endeavor then I've observed in the last forty plus years of shooting. Mostly what I've observed is people shooting at spitting distances. I realize there are long range shooting competitions and endeavors for the most part that are shot with dedicated equipment.

And I do carry a .380 pretty often. I'm just not under any illusion that it is "powerful" even by handgun standards.

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I put myself in the position of the guy being shot.
Now am I tough enough to take a couple 22LR, or 380, 9mm, etc, in the chest and still have much fight left?

Maybe I'm just a sissy, but I doubt it.


At 52 yards, from the short barrel guns like this SIG P238, the .380 bullets flatten when hitting the steel. I call them "dimes". (The SIG P238 was a accurate small gun)


























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