How well can you shoot with a centerfire handgun?

[JohnKSa]

How well can you shoot with your most accurate defensive style centerfire handgun/ammo combo. (i.e. no scoped contenders, no revolvers with barrels longer than your forearm, etc.)

Standing (not sitting or leaning), one or two hand hold (not rested or braced).

I'm thinking 5 shot groups, if you shoot significantly more shots per group then post it.

This isn't a lifetime average, this is what you can do most range trips if you really slow down and try your best.

The poll is in MOA, so here are some conversions to go from center-to-center group size in inches to group size in MOA.

7 yards (21 FEET)--multiply group size in inches by 13.64 to get MOA.
10 yards (30 FEET)--multiply group size in inches by 9.55 to get MOA.
15 yards (45 FEET)--multiply group size in inches by 6.37 to get MOA.
.............(50 FEET)--multiply group size in inches by 5.73 to get MOA.
20 yards (60 FEET)--multiply group size in inches by 4.78 to get MOA.
25 yards (75 FEET)--multiply group size in inches by 3.82 to get MOA
50 yards (150 FEET)--multiply group size in inches by 1.91 to get MOA.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

I occassionally get 5 of them inside 3 inches at 25 yards, slowfire, offhand. But usually it is about 4 or 5 inches.

O BTW I am using a Glock 20 with a KKM barrel.

 

[CajunBass]

I can hit the paper once in a while.

 

[C-grunt]

For me it depends on the gun. With my dads Kimber, I can keep it under 4 inches. With my Glock 23 it is about 6 or 7 inches.

 

[Biker]

I can keep 'em on the paper plate.

Biker

 

[Shipwreck]

Wish I could say I can shoot the Chaqita off of a bananna, but I'm not quite there yet

 

[bpisler]

It really depends on what i'am shooting,my 3"
K frames stay in the area of 4-5".With my J
frame groups open up to 6-7",this is firing
D/A with my carry ammo.

 

[Serendipity]

Maybe it's just me and the several million other handgun shooters, but isn't m.o.a. largely irrelevant information, regarding handgun shooting?

 

[waterhouse]

I can usually keep shots within 3 or 4" of the middle, but I'm not very consistent where I miss, so typically the spread is anywhere from 4-8".

I voted in the 6-10" range just to be safe.

 

[Ala Dan]

Sometimes I would do better by throwing rocks at the target~!

 

[wanderinwalker]

4-6" at 25 yards, with my Glock, as long as I'm really, really careful.

From 50 feet and closer, shooting slowfire, my groups are rarely something other than a one-hole cluster. For some reason I haven't found 25 yard consistency better than 6" yet.

I will continue to look at that Glock 17 as my "go-to" if I really feel the need for a handgun, and keep practicing to put the rounds where they need to go.

 

[KaceCoyote]

I can reliably hit soda cans on the 25 yard berm with my CZ, not always but I do it with fair regularity.

 

[RyanM]

1 1/8" at 7 yards, so a hair over 4" at 25.

 

[10-Ring]

I shoot well enough to win food & drink from my shooting buddies For me, that's plenty good enough

 

[Rumble]

Until I get my glasses fixed, targets at 25yds are shadowy mysteries to me. Since I cannot verify them, I can't shoot them. Notice to all bad guys: if you can mug me from 25 yards away, you'll get away scot-free.

At 21-30 feet, my groups are smaller than the palm of my hand. I can put that grouping where I'd like it to be (e.g., in center mass), but I am not punching single-ragged-holes yet. What can I say: I'm learning.

 

[JohnKSa]

isn't m.o.a. largely irrelevant information, regarding handgun shooting?

I was trying to phrase the question in a way that it was possible to answer regardless of what distance a person normally shoots. MOA is simply a distance independent measure of group size.

 

[rbernie]

1 1/8" at 7 yards, so a hair over 4" at 25.

Maybe not, at least not for me.

I've found that my accuracy with iron sights does not scale linearly; I can shoot < 2" groups at 7 yards but barely keep inside of 12" at 25 yards.

 

[Sam]

Taking my time at 25 yards 2-4 MOA.
Get me in a rush and it's minute of paper plate.

Sam

 

[GoRon]

I would say I fall in the middle of your selections.

Some bigger some a little smaller (not many).

3 to 5 inch groups at 25 yards on average. I voted "16 to 24 MOA (~4.2 - 6.3" @ 25yds)" to err on the side of caution. When I can shoot under 4" groups regulary I figure I'll be shooting a lot of 2" groups.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

I wish the people who claim they can shoot 1 inch groups at 25 yds with a defensive pistol would tell us what hardware they are using, and how consistently they can do that, and under what conditions.

 

[_N4Z_]

with my gp100 shooting without support i usually put 6 in an area under 6 inches at 25 yards. really good groups though can be around 2, it varies.

can hit the 10" steeel gong at 50 yards 99% of the time. i do love my gp. it is the most accurate i've ever been with any handgun.

this past weekend i had 2 158gr. .357 blazers left over out of the 50 round box. launched them at some cardboard at 50 yards and they hit within a 1/2 inch of eachother! lucky? perhaps, but they say luck is part residue of skill... yep, love that gp!


now if i could just find an equally good/reliable .22lr rifle for mass shooting duties.

 

[StrikeEagle]

Whoa, what's going on? We have SEVEN folks who can hold ONE INCH at 25 yards, 5 shots:

Standing (not sitting or leaning), one or two hand hold (not rested or braced).

You realize that's BETTER than guns do from a machine rest? I sure don't shoot anywhere near that well!

 

[Leonardo]

I have no idea. The range where I shoot is only 15 yards long, I think. And I never set my target that far anyway.
Oh well, I went there yesterday. You can see a video of me shooting 10 rounds here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EHIFzxZZCo
That's a bunch of MOA, I guess...

 

[evan price]

Generally with a 2 hand stance like Weaver, unbraced, at 21 feet, I get 'em all inside the 7 ring on my NRA Official Slowfire 50 yard pistol targets. That's for an 8 rd mag like my Sig or the 15 rd mag in my G21 or a 6 shooter. Far as I am concerned I never send a pistol target out past 25 feet normally, if I am feeling frisky I run it out to the end of the range which is 50 feet. At that point all on a target is fine by me. Who the H-E Double Hockey Sticks engages BG's with a PISTOL beyond 10 yards????

 

[JohnKSa]

When I can shoot under 4" groups regulary I figure I'll be shooting a lot of 2" groups.

Doesn't seem to work like that for me these days...

I can get a 5 shot group under 4" at 25 yards pretty much any time I try (assuming good ammo/pistol combo and no rush). But 3" seems to be a wall. I get a sub 3" group only once in a very great while and I've only shot a sub 2" group once with a centerfire handgun that I can recall.

I don't know if it's my limit or the limit of the guns I shoot. I guess I should try shooting from a rest, but even the idea of shooting a pistol from a rest leaves a bad taste in my mouth...