10 yards good, 15 yards pretty good, 25 yards .....not so good.

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lionking

lionking

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Shot my USP Expert yesterday at 10 and 25 yards. Two weeks ago indoors at 15 yards. Not my best 10 yard day yesterday have done better but over all good when I didn't flinch.

Past 15 yards it really falls apart for me, and this is typical for most my handguns, I do seem to do a little better with revolvers at longer distances compared to semi auto.

10 yards
100_2900.JPG
15 yards
100_2886.JPG
100_2887.JPG

25 yards
100_2901.JPG
 
Don’t feel bad I gave up trying to shoot any open sighted hand gun beyond 15 yards. If its possible I stay at 12 yards. Even in my clubs indoor range with its max range of 50’ I’ll stop the traveler at 36 feet. I just blame it on my age. :)

I was surprised to see the public range down here in Florida this year has taken the last eight positions of the 12 yard and moved them in to 7. I am tempted.
 
mavracer said:
At 10 and 15 you can get away with letting the front sight float around in the rear and it's a bit easier to focus back and forth. At 25 you really need to focus on sights and let the target be blurry.
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My 10 yard from yesterday, anything not in the 10 ring was me doing something wrong save the S&B ammo test which looks like it shoots high compared to other brands, but at 25 yards, even though I concentrate with front sight focus, squeezing and breathing control and such there is a chance one or two shots go outside the outer ring not even scoring. Think it's time I do more practice at 25 yards which I do some but obvious not enough.

was 6 o clock hold on the black at 25 yards by the way. at 10 and 15 yards I used 6 o clock on the orange center.
 
Measure your groups. I'd be willing to bet your 25 yard groups aren't much larger than your 15 yard groups proportional to distance.

And even if they are, you didn't have a nice red dot on the targets you shot at 25 yards. It makes a difference to me.
 
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Lionking, you're shooting better than me. Not that I'm all that good, but any pistol that accurate, at 25 yards, is minute of varmint, for me, and ready to go hunting.
 
WrongHanded said:
Measure your groups. I'd be willing to be your 25 yard groups aren't much larger than your 15 yard group proportional to distance.

And even if they are, you didn't have a nice red dot on the targets you shot at 25 yards. It makes a difference me.
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While dot and optics give a advantage for now I'd rather keep it old school with iron sights, for now my goal is to be consistent with 10 shots at 10 yards in the 10 ring, at 15 yards 10 shots inside the 8 ring, and at 25 yards 10 shots inside the 6 ring.....consistently.

I have decided my prefered ammo is Fiocchi after testing various brands , I know I can keep 10 shots in the 10 ring and 10 yards when I am on point, time to spend more time at longer distances.

One thing I need to consider more is fatigue, I always take too many guns out to the range trying to get as much done as I can on a trip, and spend 4 or 5 hours shooting, I did two hours of rifle before I got to handguns Sunday and did the 25 yards last which by that time I was tired and hungry..
 
What is your intended purpose? Competition bullseye shooting... I think you are going to need more practice. Self defense... the guy looks dead at 25 yards to me, what more do you want? Are you hoping to shoot the pistol out of someones hand at 25 yards?
 
lionking said:
While dot and optics give a advantage for now I'd rather keep it old school with iron sights, for now my goal is to be consistent with 10 shots at 10 yards in the 10 ring, at 15 yards 10 shots inside the 8 ring, and at 25 yards 10 shots inside the 6 ring.....consistently.
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I didn't mean "red dot" as in optics. The targets you posted for 10 and 15 yards have a red dot in the middle of the black. The ones you posted for 25 yards do not.

Like I said, it makes a difference, to me. Even if I'm aiming at 6 o'Clock, the red dot still gives me an easier center point for windage.
 
MikeInOr said:
What is your intended purpose? Competition bullseye shooting... I think you are going to need more practice. Self defense... the guy looks dead at 25 yards to me, what more do you want? Are you hoping to shoot the pistol out of someones hand at 25 yards?
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goal is bulls eye, for personal goals to get better. for now my goal is to be consistent with 10 shots at 10 yards in the 10 ring, at 15 yards 10 shots inside the 8 ring, and at 25 yards 10 shots inside the 6 ring.....consistently. I would probably never take a self defense shot past 15 yards because I' would probably need a lawyer if I did and chances are I would loose my 2nd amendment right after
 
WrongHanded said:
I didn't mean "red dot" as in optics. The targets you posted for 10 and 15 yards have a red dot in the middle of the black. The ones you posted for 25 yards do not.

Like I said, it makes a difference, to me. Even if I'm aiming at 6 o'Clock, the red dot still gives me an easier center point for windage.
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true , the concept of "aim small miss small", the thing is for me at 25 yards the red center is moot I can't hardly see it so aiming 6 o clock on "the black" which is but a dot on the tip of my front sight at that distance is more realistic as I'm trying to stay with B-16 25 yard slow fire targets, however using a different target at 25 yards could be a option.
 
That looks like very good shooting to me. I think we sometimes let the internet make us feel bad - it is rare, online, to find anyone who can't shoot minute-of-angle with any handgun he picks up - but I almost never see anyone shoot as well as the o.p. in real life.

Having said that, well, you aren't quite ready to take home the prize at a bullseye competition. With continued practice, though...
 
That is still pretty good shooting. Unfortunately, shooting is a skill that diminishes quickly and the only remedy there is to maintain a level of competency is practice, practice, practice, and more practice. Sometimes this is not feasible due to finances or time contraints, but if it happens to be finances I always offset it by practicing with a 22lr handgun that mimics the model of the firearm you shoot or by buying a conversion kit for your specific firearm.

I always end up shooting several hundred rounds of 22 during each range session to the point of exhaustion and end up my shooting session by at least shooting a box of ammo what I carry so that muscle memory will be fresh. By me doing this it cuts down on the cost of shooting but you still maintain your skill.
 
I don't see anything wrong?? I only shoot out to 7 - 10 yards at the range. I'm firing at a blurry target past that.
 
LEOSA qualification only requires 3 hit's out of 5 at 25 yards. That;s three hit's anywhere on the silhouette.
 
your best 10 yard group is 21 by 21 moa (wide by tall), your best 15 yard group is 17 by 25 moa, your best 25 yard group is 25 by 15 moa. moa - minute of angle

your 25 yard group is the smallest. nice shooting!

and it's "aim small hit small". I cringe when someone makes a big thing out of missing. missing is a bad idea to keep in your head.

how often do you dry-fire?

luck,

murf

p.s. target dimension reference: http://www.indecorous.com/bullseye/rings.html
 
lionking said:
goal is bulls eye, for personal goals to get better. for now my goal is to be consistent with 10 shots at 10 yards in the 10 ring, at 15 yards 10 shots inside the 8 ring, and at 25 yards 10 shots inside the 6 ring.....consistently. I would probably never take a self defense shot past 15 yards because I' would probably need a lawyer if I did and chances are I would loose my 2nd amendment right after
Click to expand...

That makes perfect sense. And I completely agree with you in that I can not foresee any reason for me to take a self defense shot past 15 yards. Not that in some crazy extenuating circumstance it couldn't happen... practicality dictates that I should be running for cover not engaging a threat. I also enjoy practicing to improve my aim at longer distances for personal satisfaction. :)
 
I try different things when this happens. I've never been a sharpshooter on paper but when hunting it's a way different thing. If I'm not on target with a paper target I switch to a blank paper plate. For me it seems to be less visually busy. If things go well I then try a clay pigeon. If I'm out other than the range I set up a few 303 food cans and if it's going well will lay some long ways and shoot through the bottom. For me sometimes focusing to a smaller/less busy target helps me narrow my focal point. I do better with contrasting sights. Good rest between loads too. I find trying more to become instinctive helps. Trying to find grip, squeeze, arm and head posture that provides best point and shoot that shortens decisive aim time.
Your POI on all those are effective center mass shots for self defense.
 
I really think that too much effort goes into shooting groups with a handgun.

The sights aren’t conducive to pin point accuracy and shooting slowly enough to be that accurate with a handgun kind of defeats the purpose of a handgun.

I do almost all of my handgun shooting at 25 yards and I never measure groups. I love shooting steel and for practice, I shoot at clay pigeons on the berm.

my handguns have XS dot sights on them, so groups are kind of off the table, but I have no problem banging steel.
 
It's not bad shooting. How's your dry fire practice going? If you practice dry firing daily you should see some improvement.
 
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