Long Range Handgun Shooting

[David E]

My range has put in a new rifle bay. It has backstops at 100, 200 and 300 yds.

I went there today and found they'd put up a steel target on each backstop. It's less than 1/2 a man-size target. I didn't go downrange and measure them, but that's about the size they were. Being as the backstops were dirt, misses were easy to spot.

In another thread, some guys scoff at long range shooting with a handgun, thinking it's only a trick or that it's impossible. It's neither.

After giving a shooting lesson, I went over to the rifle bay and tried my hand real quick with my .40 caliber 1911 Govt.

I hit the 100 yd target on the second shot.

I hit the 200 yd target a couple times, one of which skipped off the ground at about the 150 yd mark.

The 300 yd target was harder, of course, but I eventually hit it.

All shots were standing, back leaning against my Jeep, shooting into the wind. The wind was brisk enough to move the Jeep I was leaning against. I had something in my left (non-aiming) eye, which didn't help anything.

I shot faster than I would have, had the wind been less or my eye less distracting. But at any rate, it was interesting to see how much holdover was needed and how close my misses were.

If you have the ability to set up a long range shooting session with your handgun, I encourage you to give it a try. You might have fun and even learn something. I do everytime I try it!

I want to emphasize that this fun little shooting exercise was NOT tactical or FoF training, nor should it take the place of proper tactical or FoF training..........

 

[Ed Harris]

Good link to article and video of shooting a snubby revolver at long range. Interesting comments too.

http://shilohtv.com/?p=180

"I met Harley Shaw in 1974. He is the only Arizona Game & Fish employee ever shot on duty, even though his working title was Research Biologist for his entire career. The culprit wasn’t a game law violator, but an escaped convict who had killed an officer, wounded Harley and a companion and was finally killed by a young highway patrolman on his first duty day in his new district. His experience proves that any gun is better than no gun, when you don’t think you need one, but fate isn’t in your favor and all of a sudden life goes sour. I know many old farts who are never, ever without a snubby, and evil people are the reason why."

 

[M2 Carbine]

I wish my range was longer than 100 yards.

I'm in a club that has a 300 yard range but I'm too lazy to drive there.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Elmer Keith wrote of - and did - a lot of long range shooting with revolvers, even going to the length of putting horizontal gold bars across the front sight ramp for the various ranges.

When shooting at distant targets, don't hold the handgun over the target. Instead, elevate the front sight above the rear while keeping the front sight on target. This is easier on revolvers which usually have tall front sights; some low profile sights on autoloaders will have you seeing the top of your slide in the middle of your sight picture. You will have to experiment until you find the right amount of sight holdover.

 

[R.Clem]

Long range hand-gunning is a real kick.
Today I managed to hit a ground squirrel at just shy of 100 yards with a 4" barreled .357, it did take 3 shots without a rest.
What I used to do, when the whim hit me, was go out of town a distance and find a dry plowed field of a large size with no houses or other items that might get shot, use the binoculars to locate something of interest to shoot at, (rocks, big clods, dead coyote) and bang away, both rested and off hand. The best part about this strategy was finding which cylinder bore placed the shots different than the others, most wheel guns will have one that shoots away from the others.
It is also interesting to use a Ransom rest the same way with different ammunition, you may not believe the results when you do it from a semi-auto. They are not all loaded equal.

Ray

 

[pyth0n]

I think I would direct those people to the IHMSA site to check out the 100m & 200m shoots. I used to shoot both the IHMSA & NRA Hunter pistol,(100m) matches. Many, many folks shoot at those ranges regularly at local & National matches.

 

[m2steven]

I love long distance pistol/revolver shooting. I routinely shoot at the 100 yard mark. Sometimes 200 though it's stretching things a bit. I've found that most 9mm and up can do 100 yards pretty easily with little adjustment in sighting.

The 2 best longer distance pistols I have are my SIG X-5 and Glock 32 (357 SIG). Many of my other handguns are almost as good as long as I can keep steady. My little G26 is amazing for it's compact size. You really could go to war with it or something like it.

I have a S&W 4" 686 which is terrific at 100 yards.

Great topic and good original post!

 

[David E]

When shooting at distant targets, don't hold the handgun over the target. Instead, elevate the front sight above the rear while keeping the target perched on top of the front sight.

I fixed it for clarity.

This is exactly what I do. And you're right, the slide can get between the rear and front sight for the longer range shots.

Now that I know these targets are out there, I'll take some other guns, to include a .22 NAA, .25 acp Beretta, .38 snub and others.

 

[tincanhunter]

I hunt rocks in the 100 yd backstop at the range I go to with my 1911. Lotsa fun!

 

[9mmepiphany]

it's a lot easier with a 9mm. shooting 115gr Blazer aluminum required very little hold over at 200 yards

 

[257x50]

A freshly plowed sunny hillside, a 5 gallon bucket at 250 yards, lean back against the tire in the shade, a sixgun and a bunch of reloads. That is how a friend taught me a sixgun is not just for shorter ranges. Repeat as necessary.

 

[David E]

Certainly, some calibers/loads are much easier than others.

The aforementioned .40 load was a 200 grain TC @ 860 fps, so it had a lot of drop going past 100 yds.

But I'm curious how guns/calibers NOT considered accurate past the confines of a phone booth do.

 

[leadaddict]

Much fun. I've recently starting practicing at 75 yards with my Ruger Mark III. Shooting at 8" metal squares. So very gratifying to hear that "PING"! Practice Practice Practice!!!

 

[NelsErik]

Elmer Keith at 600 Yards with a .44 Magnum

 

[RippinSVT]

I do most of my handgun shooting at 75-125 yards. I know I am competant at the shorter distances, but long distance shooting is much more fun. I take old steel chisel-plow discs and hang them with a length of chain and a piece of rebar at 50-100-150 yards, or whatever. You know when you hit them. I have my off days (ya know, shaking a bit from a night out with the guys), but on a decent day I'll smack the 125 yard gong 4-5 times per cylinder with my Casull. I shoot .22 up through .460 at longer ranges, pretty damn good at it too after a few years practice.

 

[jmorris]

Some are better than others for distance but 300yds is no problem with a pistol, if you have the right pistol.

 

[jem375]

Some are better than others for distance but 300yds is no problem with a pistol, if you have the right pistol.

You are right on, my hunting handguns can reach out pretty good at long distance.. Savage Striker in 308, T/C SSK Industries in 375 JDJ, Competitor pistol in 44 mag, and a Super Blackhawk in 44 mag.. All except the Blackhawk have scopes on them and are very accurate..

 

[flipajig]

I 2nd the right handgun for the job.. TC tender 7-30waters,30-30 winchester, 44 mag, and 22 LR super blackhawk 44mag.

 

[David E]

But part of the fun is taking a gun that is NOT "suitable" for long range shooting and see how well you can do !

 

[M2 Carbine]

But part of the fun is taking a gun that is NOT "suitable" for long range shooting and see how well you can do !

+1

While I have many handguns that would be much better suited for distance shooting, I'd rarher use compact and short barrel guns, like Makarovs and even pocket guns like the SIG P238 and Micro Desert Eagle.

 

[buck460XVR]

I personally don't consider 100 yards long range handgun shooting.......even with my 1911. I consider it the range at which the fun begins.....especially when using reactive targets that give you immediate feedback when hit. Bowling pins suspended from a shepherds hook, one of those aluminum energy drink cans with the resealable lids filled with flour or carpenters chalk, or water balloons hung from the same apparatus. Clay pigeons hung on sticks a foot above the ground. To me, shooting at paper is necessary only when sighting in your firearm, after that, your targets need to be fun and challenging, whether four-legged or inanimate. We have our own 250 yard range, but occasionally shoot at the local sportsman's club range. I love watching the peoples faces when we set up to shoot @ the same 100 yard berm with our iron sighted handguns as they are shooting with their scope equipped rifles. More than once we've been told about the 25 yard handgun range out back.........

 

[MCgunner]

I used to shoot my snub quite a bit at a gong target, about 14" across, at 100 yards. The rifle guys finally shot it too full of holes. I have an elevation wire ala Keith in the front sight on that gun that helps with the hold over/sight picture. It also lets me shoot low power loads and short range for practice. I was changing the sight anyway, didn't like the shiny stainless.

I shot IHMSA with a 7mm TCU 10" contender barrel for a while. While it was fun, it wasn't really worth driving 150 miles to shoot 40 rounds and go home. I play with it at the range once in a while. The gun is uncanny accurate.

 

[MCgunner]

And btw...I love the internet guys that can't shoot snubbies. "It's a belly gun, not made for more than 15 feet" or that sort of idiocy to make excuse for the fact they can't shoot. The only guns I kinda feel that way about are my NAA mini revolvers. Even those will do far more than most who fired one 10 times and sold it out of frustration will ever know.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Many years ago (so long ago that the statute of limitations has passed), I was fascinated by Elmer Kieth's artcles. I couldn't afford a .44 Special or a .44 Magnum, but I did have a Ruger Standard Model .22 automatic. I put a gallon bucket against the dam of one of our ponds and punished it from a little over a hundred yards away.

One day, I saw a goose in that pond, right next to the bucket.

He was delicious!

 

[Quoheleth]

Missouri Bullet's 180gr Striker out of my 6" GP100 with a moderately-stiff dose of AA#9 or 2400 makes a serious 200 yard blaster.

Q