Mythbusters: less than 3" at 25 yrds w/ snubnose

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2ndamd

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This post is not meant in vain.

Over 2 months ago Elvishead was trying to see if anyone had witnessed someone shooting a snubnose at 25 yrds into a 5 shot group less than 3 inches. Well, I had the opportunity to meet fellow forum member Hunt and Fish at a local indoor range tonight. Here is the myth being busted as witnessed by Hunt and Fish and others.

lessthan3.jpg


I was using a Ruger SP101 2.25" brl .357 magnum. The ammo was the cheap Independance 130 gr fmj .38 special. The group measured about 2 7/8ths of an inch from center hole of furtherest two holes.

No bragging here just wanted to let you know that it is possible. I shot this same gun with my father at a range in St Joe MO about 1 month ago and at 20 yrds had a less than 2" group.

Keep practicing Elvishead. You can do it.
Consistency is the key to good groups.
Hunt and Fish had about a 1" 5 shot group at 25 yrds with a model 15 4". Even with the extra inches it was a great group.

This was shot double action, standing and unsupported. No bench resting; it was shot off hand, with a two handed hold.

There are many others out there that shoot better than this. There is a guy in Michigan that can shoot less than 2" groups with a model 36 1 7/8ths" brl, and a guy named Jerry Usher could shoot revolvers better than almost anyone I have seen. I think he was a Chicago Police Officer?
 
Your excellent group is not unusual, or at least it wasn't so some years ago. The folks that think it can't be done are the ones that buy an aluminum/titanium ultra-lightweight revolver and stoke it with .357 Magnum cartridges. :eek:

In they're case they might be right. :uhoh:
 
Problem...I have two S&W's (Mod 10 2" barrel and a Mod 19 2 1/2" barrel) that do that all the time. The length of the barrel at 25 yards has little or no bearing on it's accuracy. And I have two S&W with 4" barrels (Mod 10's). All four shoot about the same at 25 yards. In fact the Mod 19 will put five within 2 1/2" spread.

Now if you shot that without the aid of a bench rest, I would then be impressed.
 
The length of the barrel at 25 yards has little or no bearing on it's accuracy.
Click to expand...
+1
The length of the barrel has no effect on accuracy at any range, if you can align the sights.

I won a lot of beer money with a Chiefs Special when I could still see, shooting little stuff at 100 yards.

4 out of 5 rounds on a 5-gallon bucket at 100 yords or more was pretty easy when I was shooting on the 5th. Inf. pistol team years ago.

Even today with bifocals, a man size target would be in a heapa trouble at 100 - 150 yards I betcha!

rcmodel
 
I have seen a LEO shoot 1,5" groups with a S&W snub at 25 yards. He was an arms instructer. He double tapped a vicious perp once with the same snub. It was lights out for the perp!
 
I was not using a bench rest.
This is unsupported with a 2 hand hold. Just standing and shooting.

There is a guy on the Michigan State police force that uses a model 36 and can consistently shoot under 3" at 25 yrds all day long and even gets under 2" most of the time.
He's a great shot.

The reason for posting was to demonstrate that it can be done and that it is no hype or internet rumors. I needed a witness and Hunt and Fish (a member here) was buying a gun from me and I thought it the opportune time to demonstrate to some people here that snubnoses are accurate. Even 2.25" unmodified SP101 shooting cheap range ammo, and fired from a two handed hold, unsupported. It can be done. Just practice.
 
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It's sight radius and fear/flinch factor. Front sight, front sight, front sight. Then work you way up to the full house 357's in the alloy frames. You need practice with your main defensive load but work up to it, especially if your first CCW gun. I've seen the "Mucho Macho" shooters more than once blame poor accuracy on a "Bad" gun but don't tell them how much they flinched when they tried to get that one extra shot out of their revolver, the one named "click".
 
Ron Dog, you either have been using the wrong revolver or you have not practiced enough. Remember the drill, SA or DA, is "concentrate on the sights and squeeze the trigger." Works for me.

Jim
 
The first time my wife fired a revolver was with my S&W Model 65 3". She fired it in single action, at a 1 gallon milk jug on a fence post a measured 100 yards away. She hit the jugs 3 out of 5 times with .38+p.

Short barreled revolvers are capable of amazing accuracy.
 
I have a 64-5 with Pachmayr Presentation grips. I shoot this gun better than any other gun I own. Points naturally for me, fits my hands well, and shooting either DA or SA I am unbelievably good with it (at least compared to how I shoot some other guns...:D)
 
Try that 25yd target with a DAO 12oz 340PD and let me know how you did. Heavy steel snubbies are no problem at that range but I, for one, don't even bother practicing at 25 with my light pocket guns. Can't hit squat.
 
To tell the truth the Snubnose can be a very accurate gun with practice...the key is practice...I can hit small targets out to 100 yards with most 2" Snubnose revolvers (without the use of a bench). Even can keep tight groups with a 340PD at 25 yards all day long, and have hit targets out to 100 yards with it...I remember the first snubbie I ever bought took to the range and at 7 yards was all over the paper..I started to blame the gun an old Colt Det. special...the range officer came over to me asked to give it a try and placed all six rounds touching each other in the X ring...turned to me and said...It's not the gun and walked away...This experience made me practice a lot in my earlier shooting days with the Snubnose...once again practice is the key...if you can't hit at any range with a Snubbie..it's probably not the gun!.....Doc:D
 
Even today with bifocals, a man size target would be in a heapa trouble at 100 - 150 yards I betcha!
Click to expand...
Yep, I can still hit 1 gallon paint cans at 100 yards with bad eyes and a 2 1/2" 686 at least once out of six shots. A man sized target? No problem. Same with my 3" 1911. :)

Shooting at 50 or 100 yards can help improve your close up shooting by making you concentrate on trigger control and getting better.
 
A real "MythBuster" backs it up with video proof. So you didn't Bust that myth yet,.... Cowboy!

Or, next time your in Vegas, stop on by the American shooters club on Tuesday night's, 5-9pm. And,... they have a 50 yard rifle range too, now that's really fun.

Hell, I'll pick you up at the darn Hotel before we go to Walmart for ammo, and Taco Bell! You buy the Ammo, I'll buy the Taco's!:neener:

All that being said, I can get about 3 or 4 of 5 within 3", with that infamous flyer or two. I even have a video of it.

I still like to shoot out to 25 and 50 yards from time to time, but I'm still waiting for that UFO sighting with proof.

All in all, if you can do 5"-6" groups at 25 yards with a snubby, that's good enough to impress me.

The Elvishead
 
I bought a 442 and got quite a surprise. Between the light weight and rather stout trigger, it put rounds all over an 8.5x11" sheet at 15 yards. I'm sure a shotgun would have had better consistency. I could almost hear the gun laughing at me as it caught every shooting flaw I had. :D

The 442 is the one handgun I shoot every time I go to the range, since I've been carrying it more than any other. Between a fair amount of dryfiring and 15-50 rounds be range session, the accuracy and precision has greatly improved. I don't think I can do sub 3" at 25 yards with the 442, but I've seen a couple guys fire it who probably could. In my case, I think the shooter has more to do with the accuracy than the revolver.
 
By any chance have you got laser grips on your snub ? I put Crimson Trace grips on my .357 snub and that was the only way I could shoot that tight. Nice shooting.
 
Not at all Impossible.

My old rifle team coach, God rest his soul, could do very well, thank you, with a snubbie, and often won bets on his groups with riflemen.

He'd bet he could to better at a hundred yards with a snubnose 38 than a rifleman could. He could shoot from sandbags, the rifle shooter had to fire offhand. He won some cash and lots of "first rounds" at watering holes.

It takes a bit of skill, and most of us can't shoot a snubbie that well, but it CAN be done. Practice, practice, practice.
 
Color me impressed... My groupings with my 2" .357 snubbie are LESS than impressive =( Guess I need to spend a little more time with it.

Bflobill_69
 
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