Scoped Handgun Hunting

[rhoggman]

Need some advice....

I have a Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley Hunter in .44 Mag w/ a Luepold 2x pistol scope mounted on it with the Ruger facory rings.

Everything is screwed down tight; scope is not moving around or anything.

That being said I am new to handgun hunting and shooting with a scoped revolver. I am not getting the best groups at 50 yards, or the groups are inconsistent at best. To sight in the revolver I wasn't using the best ammunition, but it was factory Winchester 240gr sjsp. $35 / 50 rounds from Walmart. I would expect to at least get decent results. I was shooting sitting down on a bench in a rested position. If someone tells me that factory ammo in 44 mag out of a pistol is junk I will feel better

I'm sure many factors come into play, but I'm just looking for advice. What can I do to get my group sizes down?

Is this an extremely difficult skill to acquire?

Any advice from experienced handgun hunters and target shooters would be great

 

[hoghunting]

Are you experienced in shooting handguns with a significant amount of recoil? Flinching or trigger jerking could be part of the problem. If it's not, try a different brand of ammo, as your pistol might not like the Winchester ammo.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Trigger control....

That long (single action) hammer fall of the Blackhawk requires precise follow through.

 

[xphunter]

Describe how you had it set up on the bench.

 

[owlhoot]

You didn't mention your group size, so you may simply expect too much. From a Ransom rest your revolver is capable of no better than a two or three inch group on its best day. The inconsistency of the ammo can add to the group size. And there is the possibility that your revolver doesn't like the particular load you were shooting. Now toss in human error and your group will increase even more. So if you were getting four or five inch groups at fifty yards, that may be about as good as you can hope for. You would have to either carefully tailor a hand-load the revolver really likes or have the money to invest in a wide variety of factory loads to find a load that would decrease your group size. And that would assume that you had virtually eliminated the human error.

If you were getting group that were greater than six inches, the problem was almost certainly mostly human error, although the ammunition used could have contributed greatly to the group size.

I have taken deer, boar and bear with a handgun, but I never used a scope. I do know that a scope is no magic wand. It doesn't diminish the need for mastery of all the fundamentals of good marksmanship. If a person can't shoot a tight group with open sights, he will be unlikely to shoot a tight group with scoped sights unless the scope simply corrects a vision problem.

So to tighten your groups, first insure that you have mastered the fundamentals. Second, find a load that your revolver really likes. (It's real easy to develop a flinch shooting full house magnums, even from a bench. So, you might put a couple of empties in the cylinder when you load in order to check.)

 

[squarles67]

Went through different factory ammo until I found out my 44 mag Redhawk prefers Speer 240 Gold Dots. There was a significant difference in group size from one brand to the next. Try some different ammo before you call it junk.

 

[rhoggman]

Most groups were definitely larger than 6 inches. Everything is on paper, but was just a little disappointed. Recoil may have something to do with it, but I am pretty certain I could get better results out of GI model 1911 at the same distance. The one thing that makes me think it is likely me is that the closer I would get the group sizes would shrink significantly.

I probably just need to keep practicing and try to develop a good hand load.

We have a wooden bench with a table top and some adjustable muzzle rests (mainly for rifles). I was pretty confident that from the rest I should be getting good results.

 

[xphunter]

Was the barrel resting on the rest?

 

[CraigC]

Need more details. How much experience do you have with hard kickers in general and single actions in particular?

 

[rhoggman]

The barrel was resting on the rest....

Not exactly a pro here. I have a only a couple single action revolvers, but have several single/double revolvers, and have owned countless others at one time or the other.

Many may frown upon the Heritage Rough Rider, but I have one in 22lr/22mag that I shoot all the time. It is extremely accurate. I must have gotten lucky because I have one without adjustable sights that shoots to the same point of aim with virtually everything I put in it. It is accurate enough to kill small game with out to 25 yards. I know others who own them that have not had the same results.

I really enjoy shooting single actions revolvers, and plan on getting one in .357 & another in 45 LC.

Anyways, I am just looking for good advice. I realize it is hard to second hand analyze someone's shooting when you are not there. I need some pointers that is all.

I believe the factory ammo may have something to do with it, and have heard the Hornady XTP bullet does well in the blackhawks. Me and a buddy are going to try and work up a go load. I also have a bunch of various factory loads to try, which will also give me some good trigger time.

 

[flipajig]

I also shoot a SBH with oppen sites but all my scoped barrels are for my TC Contender
it took my quite some time to beable to shoot a scoped pistol after several hundred rds im now able to to shoot some great groups (1/2 " at 100 yds.) pratice pratice and when you think your good enough pratice some more. a great site to go to is specialty pistols.com there is alot of great advice and some verry experianced shooters there.
I hope that ive helped some another thing if you reload work up some light loads to pratice with that has helped me alot. shooting a scoped pistol is some thing different than shooting a rifle stay with it and dont give up a rule of thumb is when you can put all six in a 10" paper plate that is your max range. mine on my SBH is 25 to 30 yds but with my tender I have shot rock chucks at over 200 so i know that it can be done. One of the shoots that happens in Wyoming is set up by MOA and those boys start at 500 and work there way up to 1000 yds with a pistol. now that is shooting.