long range pistol thoughts

[Vern Humphrey]

I should point out that the man who developed this technique, Elmer Keith, killed a mule deer at 600 yards with a .44 Magnum -- and a Federal Judge witnessed it.

Many handgun hunters use iron sights on deer, elk and so on beyond 100 yards.

 

[Malamute]

Keith wrote of shooting the deer. Its sometimes taken out of context. He was with another guy that had a 300 mag rifle. He had hit and wounded the deer, then ran out of ammo. He spotted for Keith with his rifle scope as he started shooting with his pistol. He managed to hit it several times out of 6. It wasn't a choice to shoot the deer at that range, it was a last resort to finish the deer off. He had been shooting distance for many years, and was in good form.

And no, its mainly all for fun, misses don't count for much against you, but, as with the Keith story, that fun stuff could possibly be good to know one day.

Shooting distance makes you really focus on all the elements of a good shot. Once you start getting the hang of it, shooting closer starts to seem like cheating. If one wants to practice but doesn't have a place to shoot at longer distances, try shooting empty shells at 25 yards, or closer as required to get consistently good, then move back a bit. Shotgun shells to start, then rifle or pistol shells. If that becomes simple, move them out even more.

As kids, we used to plink at small sticks, grass stems, tiny pebbles and such. Its a good start. When I see people say they only practice out to 7 yards, I think they are missing way more fun than they can imagine. Even pocket guns can do some surprising things. I'm looking forward to shooting the Dot Torture when I can get out more. Once under control up close, start moving it back.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

He managed to hit it several times out of 6.

He hit it two times out of three. The first shot was a miss. He corrected and saw the deer flinch on the second shot, which hit it in the jaw. The third shot was a body hit and put the deer down.

But all this is neither here nor there -- there are plenty of people who hunt with iron-sighted handguns quite successfully.

 

[kBob]

I used to know a guy called Pappy Coleman that would fly in to our local single paved strip in his Luscombe 65 no starter and taxi over to the grass cross strip area our little range was at. He would back off to 100 to 200 yards and unlimber one of his single shots. Granted he did mainly shoot a .30-30 from a 10 inch or so barrel but also a good bit but also .44 magnum. He always shot the same target. He had cut the bottom out of a shoe box and would set it on a piece of card board and spray black paint in it leaving a shoebox sized black rectangle that was about the size of a deer's vitals.

He always shot with irons when I saw him shooting and he seldom made a shot that did not end up in those black rectangles.

He used to encourage me to shoot from 100 yards at a 55 gallon drum we used for burning range trash which one or another of us regulars would spray paint between fires to show hits better on. He insisted I should always shoot 3 shots at it, one round below the bottom roll ridge one between the two ridges and one between the top roll ridge and the top of the can. Further he insisted I should not get full of myself if any of the rounds were out of the center third of the drum as it faced me. It came in handy when some folks disparaged shooting the "inaccurate" .45ACP while I waited for them to zero hunting rifles at 100 yards.

We were talking one day and the subject of an out house door at 600 yards came out (can't recall which gun writer for sure but I think it was Keith demonstrating to some one the 600 yard critter shot was possible). Pappy seemed to feel that if the Out house door was a Dutch door and the top half open it might be a little challenge.

When he finished for the day he would set things up in his Luscombe, throw the prop himself, pull his own chocks, mount up and fly off. At the time I thought him an impressive Old Man. Now that I am his age then I am even more impressed.

-kBob