Longish Range Handgun

I would recommend a Ruger Blackhawk in 357 or 45, or a Super Blackhawk in 44 magnum.

Mine are all accurate at long range... much more accurate than I am. The SBH shooting 44 special is my favorite, but it also has easily the best trigger. (It's a three-screw.)

The BH 357 has a 6.5" barrel. The 45 and 44 are 7.5". 6.5" is pretty good, but 7.5" is noticeably better as the range increases.

I prefer a single-action revolver for longer range shooting.

My S&W N-frames and Ruger SBH are pretty darned good, though, if I feel like shooting a DA revolver instead.

NMI -
Q's:
- Open sights or - other? (red dot and/or scope)
- How do you plan to shoot? Off hand, standing, seated, laying down prone, from a rest?
- Are you shooting for any type of score or just screwing around?
- Price range? Garden variety "any .357 magnum or 1911" and the ones that come with a 1.5" @ 50 yard guarantee start getting real spendy/real quick.(they do still make 1911s dedicated to Bullseye)
- Have you considered a .22? (Bullseye matches are still shot with a .22 @ 50 yards.) I have a Ruger Mark II "Slabside" & a S&W M22/s that both share a 4X scope. The Ruger is ok - but - the 22/s is nothing short of phenomenal - it can put nearly 50 rounds into a hole not much bigger than a Nickle @ 50 yards from a rest on a calm day. The thing is so accurate that hitting big horse flies @ 25 or 50 yards is too easy. It's more fun to get close to them & watch them hunker down with a "Fly -*** was THAT" that went by so close??!!!

Anyhow - as lots have mentioned - nearly anything is good for "hitting that big old gong way over yonder" - but - if you want precision - it might cost you a lot.

For me, Long Barrel (6.5/-8 3/8) .41 or .44 magnum and maybe a scope if you can handle the weight.

Bob

A lot of good information has been provided to you DMW1116. Hitting targets out to 100 yards you can go with any of the calibers previously mentioned. A longer barrel is your friend, no doubt about that. If you decide to hunt, my advice would be to go with a caliber in the 40/s such as the such as the .41 Magnum, 44 Special, 44 Magnum and limit your range to no longer than 75 yards. I know I'm going to get push back from the .357 Magnum crowd but that's o.k., each to his own opinion.

DMW1116 said:

I'm looking for a handgun for longer range shooting, like 25, 50, or even 100 yards..... Am I looking for something way off or is that a doable proposal?

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Not your caliber/cartridge choice, but.... back in the late 1980's, my buddy and conjured up the thought of some "bench rest" pistols. This came about though my finding a Beretta Model 76, that was in nice shape, except for its barrel shroud. Those shrouds were aluminum, really didn't do much for the way the pistol shot, other than being there for looks more than anything. At any rate, I was determined to make a new shroud, and found a nice hunk of stainless bar stock to drill and whittle away. One thing led to another, and I had a damn near 6lb behemoth of a Beretta. I ended up putting a Weaver rail on it, I think from a 10/22. Mounted up a Redfield long eye relief scope and waited to test it out at our shootin' place in central Fl. I don't think it was jealousy, but my buddy owned a Ruger Standard 22 with the longer barrel . He cleaned up the front sight "ring" and turned about an inch of the barrel at the receiver's front edge down from taper to straight. He made a "shroud" that covered the barrel, and entire receiver tube, mounted a rail, and put a scope on his as well.

We had no issues shooting clay birds at a measured 100 yards with those pistols, from sandbags on a picnic table. They shot amazingly well, and amazingly consistent hits on the clays. Much much fun, and cheap to shoot too. We got to the point that were shooting animal crackers at 35-50 yards, and bagging big game all afternoon. That went on for a few years until we sort of lost the use of that spot to shoot, so I reluctantly sold my pistol. Haven't heard from the ol' buddy in 20 years or so, but it would not surprise me if he still had his.

Point of the story is the limiting factor for most handguns at serious range, is not the gun's built-in inherent accuracy, but how steady you can hold it (that weight really helped for our .22s) and how well you can aim it without jostling things when you pull the trigger. Ruger still makes a 10 incher, I think, on their Mark IV series. That on sandbags with a scope and a little trigger work would still be dandy to shoot.

I shoot most of mine out to 100yds, and mecahnically I don't think ANY of them are really incapable, but I cant shoot them consistently to get hits every time. The guns with optics are easier for me, and guns with longer sight radius are easier. All of mine are larger specimens, with the largest being the easiest to hit with. They are also the fastest with my 10 clocking 1200 with factory ammo and 1300 with handloads, and my .44mag scratching 1500. Being able to aim basically dead on makes it a lot easier.

Funny how no one has mentioned the number one silhouette shooter the Dan Wesson
.

I don't think it takes a specialized revolver or cartridge. Just an accurate handgun that one can shoot well, coupled with good ammunition.

Frankly, the ones I find easiest to shoot at 75 and 100 yds. are a couple of lowly 4" Model 10's with (gasp) fixed sights loaded with 153-158 gr. cast handloads running 900 or so fps.

This old beater police turn-in put 9 of 10 shots from a field position into about 6" @ 75 yds.



Its stablemate is a little less used and shoots a little better.



Another good one is an old S&W Hand Ejector .44 Special.




I think a fella could start out using a .22 LR until he got the hang of it.

35W

I have a 22 and have tried it to 50 yards once. I'd like a little more oomph on target and a round I can reload.

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Gotcha - on everything.

Magnums will shoot flatter - but - you pay a price for that flat trajectory with more recoil - which gets hard on the elbows if you rest them on a table in front of you.
At the price point you list - that does more or less eliminate most semi autos.

It also eliminates guns like Dan Wesson & Freedom Arms.

You might stumble onto something in .41 magnum. Since you reload, that's only a set of dies & bullets as an extra expense.

Another great shooter - that has gone way out of favor & can be found for a fraction of what it cost to build them - would be old S&W M10s (like above) only redone as a PPC pistol.
Nobody - well almost nobody - shoots PPC anymore & the super expensive guns that were once popular to that sport just sit - until they are covered in dust.
Right now on Gunbroker - there's an older S&W M19 w/a Bomar rib (& my best guess would be a Douglas barrel) - it's going for $495 - with 0 bids & the auction expires tomorrow at 6.
That's a lot of shooter - for not much money.

Anyhow - good luck. Most any gun can hit something at extended ranges - but - a better gun will enable that something to be smaller .

Unless you have to knock something down at 100 yards, and all you have to do is hit what you're aiming at, I'd probably choose a Glock G34.

It is a very common gun available just about everywhere (at least when there is not a gun buying panic going on). Good, long sight radius. Light recoiling caliber. Lots of sight options, and easily user installed - or simply done at most gun stores, and most are fairly inexpensive. Simple maintenance and replacement of just about everything from barrels to trigger groups. The Gen 5 guns are already milled for a red dot if you ever do want to go down that path (I realize you said no).

22lr in a 8in barrel. Hitting steel at 100yards is impressive. 22 in any length barrel hitting your target at 100 yards is impressive.

8-3/8" 629

I've enjoyed my Dan Wesson Monson 15-2 when shooting at longer ranges with plain iron sights. The sights are pretty good, the 357 has sufficient range and power and the trigger is phenomenal.



Here it is with the 6" barrel but I also had an 8" barrel for it. Honestly I found the 6" barrel as accurate for me as the 8" but in more competent hands the 8" might have shown better.

Think I'm getting bit by this long range bug. Will be bringing out my Dan Wesson 715 with the 8" barrel. Probably going to start at the 50 yard range then move to the 100. I'm thinking a 158gr. Missouri cast SWC with 14.0 grains of 2400 might be a good place to begin.
Recommendations on long range handloads would be appreciated. On second thought I think I'll start a new thread in reloading.

JTQ said:

Unless you have to knock something down at 100 yards, and all you have to do is hit what you're aiming at, I'd probably choose a Glock G34.

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These Glockateers are always good for a chuckle.

brutus51 said:

These Glockateers are always good for a chuckle.

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If I ever end up owning a Glock, or a striker fired pistol, or a polymer framed pistol, or even a pistol chambered in 9mm, I'll be sure to let you know.

My Ruger GP100 4.2" hits on steel at 90 yards. 6.5gr Win231, SNS 158gr RNFP coated,

I have a 12x12" steel plate at 60 yards.
Every time I shoot handguns a number of rounds are fired at it.
2" S&W snub nose, SAA, 1911 in assorted configurations....close to 80% hit rate.

Is 100 yards longish range? Lots of guns and calibers (dozens) are easy hits on an 8 inch plate.

How about 200 yards to hit the same 8 inch plate? Now things are getting interesting because the list of capable calibers and guns have shrunk to a handful.

I think you are in the Thompson Contender arena. I only say that because at 200 yards I need a rifle.

Velocity & weight are your friend. Velocity flattens trajectory and bullet weight will help overcome the breeze a little . I'm not an expert , not even close. If I want to shoot a handgun 100 yards or more I go for this thing-

It's a 10" barreled freedom arms m83 in 454 casull. It has an excellent trigger and enough power to put out heavy lead at high speed. You won't be putting this one in the waistband of your sweat pants but for a dedicated long (ish) range handgun it's tough to beat.

This one has a nice long barrel. I need to shoot it more. The trigger isn't even broken in yet.

Ru4real said:

Is 100 yards longish range? Lots of guns and calibers (dozens) are easy hits on an 8 inch plate.

How about 200 yards to hit the same 8 inch plate? Now things are getting interesting because the list of capable calibers and guns have shrunk to a handful.

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The problem with an 8" plate at 100 yds. is you can't see it with handgun sights to even aim at it. So, 200 yds. is out of the question unless one has a scope mounted to their handgun, and I just never really understood that.

35W

35 Whelen said:

The problem with an 8" plate at 100 yds. is you can't see it with handgun sights to even aim at it. So, 200 yds. is out of the question unless one has a scope mounted to their handgun, and I just never really understood that.

35W

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I practice shooting at clay pigeons at 100 yards with a regular old 45 ACP, iron sights, off hand. I’m doing well when I make one hit per 8 round magazine.

With my 7.5” Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt, with irons, from a rest, I can ring an 8” gong 6 out 6 shots at 100 yards when I’m doing well.

CraigC said:

Yep, no need for anything special. Scoring hits at 100yds will depend more on the shooter than anything else. Though a full sized revolver with a 4" or longer barrel is going to be better than any service auto.

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Almost any service auto. A 10mm 1911 does wonders at 100 yards.

But honestly if its just hits on targets any .22 will shoot 100 yards, but a longer barrel for a longer sight radius and more velocity, and a really great trigger makes it easier.

Not tooting my own horn, but if you're shooting steel at a public range, it becomes very hard to hear your tinks vs the firing next to you, past 75 yards.

I have taken single 6s, volquartsen scorpions and even smith model 34 (iirc it was a tiny 22) to 220 yards. Yes you aim 4 ft above your target, yes you completely cover up the target with the gun, but with practice you can get hits on 16x16inch plates pretty regularly.

Dont get me started on how far I've taken my contender with an mgm match 22lr barrel, op is after "regular" handguns not rested specialty pistols.