shooting at 100 yards

Status
Not open for further replies.

LUCKYDAWG13

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Messages
1,895
Location
Illinois
Today me and my daughter went out to our range she was shooting my CZ455 22lr at a 10" gong
at 100 yards then quickly switched to the 2" swinger Anyway i had my Ruger SBH 7 1/2" barrel with so what the hell I loaded it up with some of my reloads 240gr XTP with 19gr of 2400 under it and took aim at the 10" gong first shot was a Hit the next 3 were all around it and one was just under the gong and hit my 2x4 my next 1 was a hit well i think i found my new sport this was a blast
well with the ammo i had left I hit it about 10 more times
So anyone have any tips at all
 
In another living location, I belonged to a range that had IHMSA handgun silhouette competitions. So, an easy thing to get involved with.

I shot standing revolver some and shot at the practice targets alot. Lots of fun to hit the pigs at 100m and the rams at 200m. 150m turkeys not so much fun.:) (tiny targets!)

Generally, I'd sit the target on top of the sights (6 o'clock hold) but you may find something different works for you.

For just hitting the targets (aka gongs), adjusting the sights is a must. Alot easier than trying to use Kentucky windage. Record the number of clicks off the bottom so it is easy to reproduce your results. Record the clicks for your standard sight settings and then you can return to them when done with your long range shooting.

Depending on what you are shooting and how "flat" it shoots, Kentucky windage may come into play. Prior to one match, my 357 Magnum revolver broke and the only alternate I had was a S&W Model 25-5 in 45 Colt. To hit the 200m rams with the 45 Colt, I had to hold about "2 berms" high as I did not have enough sight adjustment for the 45 Colt revolver. I knocked down at least one ram during the match on the bounce as the bullet hit in front of the ram and ricocheted up into the target. Got to love that heavy, slow moving bullet.:)

357 Magnum, 41 Magnum, or 44 Magnum and others of similar performance should shoot flat enough that you have adequate adjustment range on your sights.

Be careful, long range shooting handguns can be addictive. Have fun.

Good deal on having a fun shooting day with your daughter. I enjoy the shooting outings with mine.
 
Last edited:
Elmer Keith had gold bars inlaid across the front sight post corresponding with extended ranges where you'd level that bar with the rear sight then hold on the target with the top of the front sight. He could hit things WAY out there, and this might be worth experimenting with should you regularly try shooting things beyond normal handgun ranges.
 
I regularly shoot my .44 mags @ 80 o 100 yards because that is my personal limit for hunting deer with them. Not that hard once one has the mindset. Far too many folks that only shoot handgun for SD and recreation tend to limit themselves to 15-25 yards.
 
Well I'm going to load up a bunch of rounds to bring to the range the next time i go and set up a bigger paper target to set up my sights
for this but going to back off to 50 yards and work my way out Like buck460XVR said I have limited my self to SD ranges with open sights
so I'm raising the bar
 
For me, long range shooting was great practice. Like many others, I did shoot a lot on the silhouette range, though never in competition. Hitting the rams at 200 meters was a great feeling. I practiced enough that I could hit a Styrofoam coffee cup on the bank 110 yards down range. This mostly three for five or so. Even if I missed the cup, I was close enough to make it bounce. I practiced enough that when I did have a shot in the field, at a groundhog some 110 yards away (by a range finder) I took him with a shot through the neck. This with my 7 1/2" Ruger Super Blackhawk and a .44 Magnum load of 245 gr. SWC over 25.0 grs. of DuPont (then) IMR-4227.

I've tried the Keith method of holding up the front blade, but while this got me about on for range, I had trouble holding windage. Usually got me off to the left or right of my target.

This my long range gun at the time:

100_0041_zpsktlvzqap.jpg


Bob Wright
 
Be careful - you're on a slippery slope! Once you get outside of the "pistol range" box, you'll likely find yourself trying to milk out the most of what your revolvers are capable. Throw a scope on top and a pistol rest underneath and things become REALLY interesting, where you can get out there past 250yrds with a "belt gun". Then you'll find yourself wanting more range, and you'll be buying an Encore pistol, then a custom bolt pistol, and you'll start doing things which make you question why you ever carried a rifle... It's amazing what can really be done with handguns.

Irons are satisfying, especially when fired offhand, and they offer a much more hard wired connection to your target, but it's a challenge to hold a ~15moa wide front blade on target at 200yrds without access to a REALLY big target. Revolvers need a lot larger target than a rifle, since the precision isn't the same, but with a support and an optic, a guy can deliver on targets a lot smaller than the ~12.5MOA IHMSA standards.
 
While I was in the service in the early 1970's I got so tired of hearing whining about how awful the 1911A1 was that I took a bet from a young LT and ended up winning money and more important to my comrades and I at that point of my life beer and the LT got taken pretty hard with some side bets. All I had to do was drop three of five kneeling man pop up targets at 100 meters with "his" 1911A1 and the five rounds that were then in it. Our arms room issued 1911A1 magazines for under arms use with five rounds of hard ball in them rather than a full mag to ease book keeping.

I got to repeat the performance once a year for any newbees in the unit as a confidence builder.

A kneeling man target is 18 inches wide and 36 inches tall. So it was no big deal. Later in civilian life (for a bit) took to shooting 55 gallon drums at that range.

One day a guy name Pappy Coleman flew into our range at the airport and let me shoot his .30-30 handgun at a shoebox sized target. I honestly thought that way silly small at the time until I just held like he said and hit it repeatedly. I later tried his .44 magnum single shot and soon delighted in paint cans and milk jugs at that range, first with a 8 inch M19 S&W and my own .357 loads and eventually with "Whatever". It is a mater of knowing where and how to hold.

Very satisfying.....and sometimes serves to run embarrassed jerks off the range.

My wife won many a supper at Sonny's BBQ shooting her .38SPL Charter Undercover 2 inch barreled revolver at things at 115 meters against college kids that did not know any better for a couple of years while we worked a range. One of the club members called her shooting with that snubby "Barnaby Jones Shooting" for in the Buddy Epsten TV show about the fictional detective he makes an unlikely hit on a "sniper" on a water tower way beyond where most folks think a .38 snub nose can do harm. Oh, and the wife always shared her fries and texas toast with the hubby so I did not mind if she showed me up sometimes.

-kBob
 
There is a book Called "fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting" by Ed McGivern,written back in the 30's He documented speed and accuracy with revolvers. In one of his chapters he was engaging targets as far as 800 yards with a handgun and making consistent hits at 600 yards....These trials are all documented and great reading....most people don't realize but a revolver can be fired faster than a semi-auto.
 
This reminds me of a story. ("Oh, no!" you groan.) Several years ago I was visiting my daughter and her family in Ohio. There was a range in Fernwood State Park close by, and my son-in-law and I ventured out there. We chose to shoot on the rifle range, which had a 100 yard target line.

Some previous shooter had left a gallon sized can down range, bright shiny tin plated it made a good target. I whacked it a few times with my Ruger Super Blackhawk, and at each hit some brownish looking stuff squirted outwards in several direction. Curious, we cleared and went downrange to investigate.

Turns out it was commodity peanut butter, given out to the needy of the area. It had been punctured with .22 caliber bullets, presumably .22 L.R. Each impact of a .44 slug had sent little threads of peanut butter flying out each hole!

We didn't leave it but disposed of it as we left.

Bob Wright
 
One of my favorit pasttimes. :) My SIG P938 at a 12´´ gong at 100 meters, free style standing. Switching to a full size handgun makes it feel like cheating. A 9x19 handgun set up to a slightly high POI at 50 meters is very easy up to 150 meters.
On 9/27 I finally got to a 300 meters range - very few of them around here. Wanted to test what is possible for a time. Or verify my guesstimations. :) I shot at a standard steel torso at 150, 200, 250 and 300 meters. The last three distances sitting with my arms on my knees (Elmer Keith style). My goal was to test how much front sight I have to set out for those distances.The first three were easy. Used a 5´x4´ cardboard backup at 250 and 300 meters. I shot 15 (or 17?) cartridges at the 300 m line. 3 landed on the torso, 9 on the cardboard, one on the stand. My FS was pushed out about 4 mm.
And helped a gentleman to sight his .308 hunting rifle at 100 m along the way. ;) What to add, a great day at the range!
 
I have not used a rifle to hunt for 40 years. Most of my hunting revolvers are SA with iron sights, except for one Freedom Arms with a scope. Now days I limit my hunting with iron sights to 100 yards [from a stable position], they are capable of much more but I am not as good as I once was. When the children and grandchildren come they have fun hitting a gong set up at 200 meters.
 
In another living location, I belonged to a range that had IHMSA handgun silhouette competitions. So, an easy thing to get involved with.

I shot standing revolver some and shot at the practice targets alot. Lots of fun to hit the pigs at 100m and the rams at 200m. 150m turkeys not so much fun.:) (tiny targets!)

Generally, I'd sit the target on top of the sights (6 o'clock hold) but you may find something different works for you.

For just hitting the targets (aka gongs), adjusting the sights is a must. Alot easier than trying to use Kentucky windage. Record the number of clicks off the bottom so it is easy to reproduce your results. Record the clicks for your standard sight settings and then you can return to them when done with your long range shooting.

Depending on what you are shooting and how "flat" it shoots, Kentucky windage may come into play. Prior to one match, my 357 Magnum revolver broke and the only alternate I had was a S&W Model 25-5 in 45 Colt. To hit the 200m rams with the 45 Colt, I had to hold about "2 berms" high as I did not have enough sight adjustment for the 45 Colt revolver. I knocked down at least one ram during the match on the bounce as the bullet hit in front of the ram and ricocheted up into the target. Got to love that heavy, slow moving bullet.:)

357 Magnum, 41 Magnum, or 44 Magnum and others of similar performance should shoot flat enough that you have adequate adjustment range on your sights.

Be careful, long range shooting handguns can be addictive. Have fun.

Good deal on having a fun shooting day with your daughter. I enjoy the shooting outings with mine.
 
I shot a lot of silhouette in the old days. I started out with a Smith 8" .44 Magnum.
K Bob is right about sighting in starting from the bottom. Then record the amount
of clicks you used. Keep the book with you when you go to shoot. Load the same
ammo you sighted in with. Easy Peasy, if you missed it's because you missed.
Zeke
 
I have Bowen Rough Country sights on my Ruger SBH so no Click adjustments going to zero them in at 50 yards
and see how much hold over i need at 100 I would like to use it this Deer season if I can get proficient enough with
it And as far as buying the book "fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting" by Ed McGivern, if i see it again I will buy it
I also went and picked up some more 240gr XTP to load up for my next trip to the Range
thank you all
 
You are making me very jealous! I wish I could try it one day. There is a curious video of Jerry Miculek shooting a target with a S&W 929 revolver at 1.000 yards. I am trying to insert it here:
 
Back when I could see that far I used to win money at the South Coast Gun Club hitting the 100 yd gong with a stock fixed sighted 1911A1. Bet was usually 5 bucks for every one I hit out of a 7 round magazine 10 for every one I missed. The intelligent folks only got snookered once. Had a couple that never could figure out I had found a spot above the gong to hold.

I could do the same thing with a Ruger MK I Target with the 6 7/8" barrel, but it was almost impossible to hear the hit.
 
Before I got into handguns I was a member at an outdoor gun range and I remember seeing a guy there shooting a 1911 at an 8" swinger at 100 yards and hitting it more than missing. I asked him to try to hit the 4" swinger I had set out and he hit it on the 3rd shot. I don't recall what kind of 1911 it was but nothing super fancy. Just a 5" with adjustable iron sights.

I like to shoot my 4" sp101 357 at 50 yards rested and I hold about a 4" group on a good day. I took a doe with that little sp101 last year at about 55 yards.

My father in law got me into contenders after shooting his 10" 22lr match that he used to shoot silhouette with. With the long sight radius on that I was able to shoot a 4" plate at 100 yards about 7 or. 8 out of 10. Now I have a 13" mgm 357 maximum with a 4x32 scope. I get 1-1/2 to 2" groups at 100 with that with 180 gr xtp's at 2000 fps. Sighted an inch high at 100 it hits 8" low at 200. Rested I can hit my 6" plate at 200 no problem.

It's great fun! It's kind of neat carrying that little contender out to the bench knowing you have a capable 200 yard big game gun in that little case! Looking forward to carrying it deer hunting this year. Next I want to get a flatter shooting cartridge like a 6tcu for plinking at longer range.
 
I do have both Contender and a Encore in 22lr 44 454 so I'm not new to shooting at longer ranges with a scoped pistol
but I am new to it with a sixgun it's no big deal to put 5 rounds into a 3" group with them

but wow the rush that i got with my sixgun at 100 yards now that was fun so now I'm going to reload 200 rounds of new brass
with 19gr of 2400 under a 240gr XTP this load worked the best for me anyway going to give this a try then I'll
work up a Castboolit load
 
I do have both Contender and a Encore in 22lr 44 454 so I'm not new to shooting at longer ranges with a scoped pistol
but I am new to it with a sixgun it's no big deal to put 5 rounds into a 3" group with them

but wow the rush that i got with my sixgun at 100 yards now that was fun so now I'm going to reload 200 rounds of new brass
with 19gr of 2400 under a 240gr XTP this load worked the best for me anyway going to give this a try then I'll
work up a Castboolit load

Let us know what you work up with your cast bullets. Your load of 2400 under a 240 gr.XTP is my go to load. Also 19 gr. of 2400 (or 17.5 gr. of H240) under my cast boolits out of a SAECO No.7 mold.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top