BALANCE

[golden]

Have you discovered your balance point yet? By that, I mean the point where you become a less accurate shooter when you increase the power of you handgun.

As I get older, my point is changing. I sold off my .41 and .44 magnums, even my S&W model 24 snub nose and most of my .45ACP pistols.

I find that a 2 pound (or something around that) pistol is just right for me as a carry gun and a range gun. I usually shoot .38 Specials in my .357's when I go to the range. I make an exception for my 6 inch model 586. Between the heavy weight of the gun and having been MAGNA-PORTED, it is easy to shoot, even with full power 125 grain .357 ammo. I just would not want to carry it around on my hip.

I still shoot .40 S&W, using the 180 grain ammo that is not nearly as fierce as the 155 grain load my agency once issued. You can really tell the difference in a short barreled .40.
Most, in semi autoes, I shoot 9m.m., which is still my issue gun caliber.

I recently bought my wife a BERETTA 92X Compact and think it is just about perfect for me as well. I will see how much she likes it on her birthday.
I shoot the full size BERETTA 92's and 96's just as easily, but they are just larger and less concealable than the Compact model, so not as good a fit for my needs.

Have you found a balance point at which you happy with?

This is not a caliber question per say, but just what do you find is the best balance of size, caliber and action type for you?

Jim

 

[beag_nut]

Have you found a balance point at which you happy with?



Jim

No, and I am more than 75 years old. Nothing's perfect.

 

[Bazoo]

I don't have any problems with 38s in a full size gun. Light to mid 357s are okay, full house 357 though I'm working to master. I can shoot it okay. 45 auto is a bit more than I like with full power rounds as is 44 special heavier than starting loads. I makntain some level of proficiency though, I can hit a 6" plate at 50 yards with my 45 for example. But, I like 22s best and find 38s / to be a good spot for shooting all day. Even though small bore is more shootable I still like big bore better and haven't given it up yet. But it takes more practice and is more fatiguing.

 

[Ru4real]

My balance is 335 grain 45 Colt out of a S&W model 25. Anything less would be uncivilized. Kind of like Grey Poopon.

 

[ontarget]

I have personally never been much of a magnum junkie. (With handguns).
I do own several 357 revolvers and only shoot 357s in them, but they don't get nearly the range time that the others do.
I much prefer the K frame in 38 Spl, or a SAA clone in 45 Colt, or a 1911 in 45 ACP.
Mostly carry a Snub in 38 Spl stoked with +P hollow points.
Not sure if that makes me balanced or not.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Im happy with shooting both handguns and long guns at cast data. Now and then i'll crank them up.

 

[Bazoo]

The cast data I have for handguns goes to full pressure. Heck I've never reloaded jacketed in 44 special or 38 or 357 or 45 acp. Only in 44 magnum did I load a few xtps.

 

[cfullgraf]

Have you discovered your balance point yet?

I had cataract surgery several years ago and I'm dealing with not seeing the as sights well on my handguns. I use cheaters for shooting at the range but I have trouble seeing the sights in other situations.

But, as far as the gun I'm shooting, I still shoot what I shot long ago. I don't shoot as many full power magnum loads any more because I have nothing to prove and most of my targets these days are paper or aluminum cans.

I drag out the 460XVR once in a while and send some 427 big block busting loads down range.

 

[entropy]

Speed is another factor; I can shoot 6 accurate rounds from a .44 Magnum, but not as fast as I can from a .38. In revolvers, .38+P is my 'balance point' In autos, .45ACP.

 

[CDW4ME]

I can put rounds on target quickest and most accurate with a Glock 17 - Glock 22, 19, 32 would be close behind. 17 wins.

 

[Anchorite]

Speed is another factor; I can shoot 6 accurate rounds from a .44 Magnum, but not as fast as I can from a .38. In revolvers, .38+P is my 'balance point' In autos, .45ACP.

I’m pretty much the same, but I carry a G22 and shoot it almost as accurately as my 45 (1911 and G30). I just like how the 22 carries compared to my 30. And I shoot a lot of 250-260gr .44s.

 

[Boarhunter]

I can still shoot and carry the big guns adequately; I simply no longer care to do so.

BOARHUNTER

 

[JoeHenry]

At 74 years young, I don’t shoot as much as I use to. Shot NRA action pistol for over ten years. I feel like the more you shoot the less sensitive to recoil and muzzle blast you become.
I have to admit my fondness for the Beretta 92x compact. All those years shooting a double action revolver makes the first shot from the Beretta pretty easy.

 

[Tallball]

I do okay with 38 special, 44 special, mild 45 colt, etc. in revolvers. Likewise 9mm, 45acp, (and even 40 caliber) in a full-sized pistol.

Shooting 357 and 44 magnum out of anything is exciting. Shooting either of them (or 40 caliber) out of a small handgun will make me start flinching if I do it too often.

I'm still in my 50's and hoping I can keeping shooting 45acp out of my N-frame and 1911 for a while longer.

Smith And Wesson Model 625

• Tallball
• Apr 5, 2018

RIA 1911 45acp

• Tallball
• Jun 26, 2019

 

[wiscoaster]

Have you discovered your balance point yet? By that, I mean the point where you become a less accurate shooter when you increase the power of you handgun.

I'm 71, I own well over 100 guns, pretty much every caliber currently out there, and I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend, but I find the concept expressed by the OP to make absolutely no sense to me. If there's something I'm missing, well, it doesn't seem to have made any difference.

 

[golden]

Easy enought, I will repeat it.

Have you found the point as I have where your shooting degrades as your recoil/power goes up. I have found that I am most comfortable shooting .38 Special mid size revolvers like the S&W model 15 and @ 2 pound 9m.m. pistols like the BERETTA 92 Compact or SIG 229.

The size and weight of these guns are most comfortable to carry around all day and shoot at the range.

If I go up in power like the other day at the range when I was shooting NORMA 158 grain .357 magnums, I want a larger/heavier than usual gun to shoot that ammo. Instead of a 2 pound plus a couple of ounces like my RUGER Security Six, I was using a 6 inch barreled and MAGNA PORTED S&W 586. This is a great gun shoot heavy recoiling.357 round in, but not an everyday carry gun or even a preffered range gun.

I have given up on the .44 magnum for shooting in a handgun, it is still an option for rifles, but more than I want to handle anymore in a pistol.

Jim

 

[wiscoaster]

Easy enought, I will repeat it.

Have you found the point as I have where your shooting degrades as your recoil/power goes up.....

Sorry, no, I haven't experienced any correlation between performance and recoil, so I'm still clueless. I think maybe I'm sort of a recoil junkie, so my reaction to recoil may be quite the opposite of yours. Whatever works for you ... go with it.

 

[bangswitch]

My hands are getting more arthritic as I age (I'm 67), and my vision isn't what it used to be, either. I can still grip properly, it just hurts more quickly after a few magazines or cylinder loads than before. What is messing my "balance" up is my vision. I'm less able to focus on my sight alignment, it's difficult to see the front sight sharply without getting my head in a weird and uncomfortable position to get my glasses in the right spot to focus. I can still hit center mass at 25 yards within a paper picnic plate diameter with any of my magnums, and that's good enough for me. I was pretty good in my 20's, could cut the X out of the ten ring on a PPC target, but that's a long-lost skill 45 years later. Still pretty good with a scoped rifle, though.

 

[wiscoaster]

....What is messing my "balance" up is my vision. I'm less able to focus on my sight alignment, it's difficult to see the front sight sharply without getting my head in a weird and uncomfortable position to get my glasses in the right spot to focus.....

The right optometrist (by that I mean with the proper skillset to know what you're dealing with and under what circumstances - not one of these big box opticians) can write a special "shooting glasses" prescription that might help deal with those issues.

 

[entropy]

Any optometrist or opthalmologist can write that Rx. Just give them a focal length you want the Optical Center set at.....

And some of those 'big box' OD's are capable of writing shooting Rx's. I just worked with one for the last 6 1/2 years. He went to another Walmart, I left Walmart to work at a private practice.

 

[wiscoaster]

...And some of those 'big box' OD's are capable of writing shooting Rx's.....

Of course, you're 100% right, and I plead guilty to association by group identity.

What I think I meant to say is to make sure your "eye doctor" (of whatever credential) does know what you mean by a "shooting glasses" prescription. My old one (now retired from her OD practice, and also a former army NCO) did know and the new one that took over her practice, although skilled and knowledgeable, did not, so I had to spend some lengthy time educating her about shooting, sights, sighting, target distances, etc and etc.

 

[Old Dog]

Have you found the point as I have where your shooting degrades as your recoil/power goes up.

I'm now in my 60s, I've quit .44 Magnum entirely, even out of 4" or longer barrel. And anything/everything bigger. With the arthritis in my right wrist, two labrum tears and a shredded rotator cuff in my right shoulder, it's just not any fun anymore.
- Even shooting 230 gr .45 ACP out of a LW Commander is now not quite as easy for me as the same load out of a 5" steel-framed 1911.
- Absolute degradation of my recoil control with a LW Micro-compact or Officer's Model...
- Not fun anymore shooting full-house (158 grain) .357s out of a S&W 640 or Model 60, the titanium framed models even worse.
-+P lightweight .38 SPL loads out of my Model 442 are something I can't shoot as well as I could ten years ago.
So yeah, most of my best shooting these days is with full-size handguns with at least 4.25" barrels and moderate loads. I've found a 4 1/4" or 5" barreled revolver, full-sized 1911 or service pistols such as the Beretta 92FS, SIG P226 are what I can shoot these days the most effectively, and are still fun...

 

[brmiller]

I am also in my 60s and lucky for me, have not had any issues yet. But I only shoot 45 ACP, 40 S&W, 10mm auto in handguns. It's been a few years since shooting a 454 Casull or a 44 Mag, and while I gravitated towards the big-bore magnums in my younger days, I no longer own any. And after pricing ammo recently, I likely won't for the rest of my life.

 

[film495]

no, but I don't shoot many hand cannons. one thing I have notices is however, stance and posture can significantly affect perceived recoil, both pistol and rifle.

 

[.38 Special]

My ability goes down pretty linearly starting with air pistols and maybe .22 LR, through light .38 Specials, "major power" centerfires, right through .44 Magnum or so. It nosedives as we get into silly things like .500 S&W, especially if more than one cylinder full is called for.

I will say that the dropoff from .22 to .32 Long or super light wadcutter loads in the .38 is pretty small, but I do think it exists - at least if we are talking about the last little bit of slowfire accuracy.

<edit> Beyond that, I may have two very general "balance points".

The first is for effective hunting or defense cartridges, where I am pretty happy with a recoil level somewhere around a medium .357 load up to a fairly stout .44 Special load - say 158@1200 to 250@950. I really don't hunt anything which requires more power than that, and am happy with mid-frame revolvers at that recoil level.

The second is "pure fun" shooting. I generally don't find that I want more than light .44 Special levels of recoil there - although some demented part of my personality still demands the occasional excursion with a cannon - so let's put my upper level of "fun" somewhere around 250@750 in either medium or large frame revolvers.

And yes, as I age I am certainly finding fewer and fewer reasons to spend an afternoon with the fire breathers!