What constitutes "very good" handgun skills?

[CraigC]

At what range does the accuracy of a "good" air pistol start to unravel?

 

[tuj]

At what range does the accuracy of a "good" air pistol start to unravel?

Physics being what it is, you are shooting a 7 or 10 grain .177 wadcutter at ~500 fps at the muzzle, the velocity drop off is pretty quick. Put it another way, the benchrest guys with their PCP rifles get to shoot at 25 yards and the 22lr guys have to shoot at 50; same target.

Effectively, you could probably hit things at 50 meters with a springer or single-stroke pneumatic air pistol once you figured out the drop. But really I wouldn't want to shoot it much past 25 meters, and these things were designed with velocities more appropriate for 10m. Accuracy is largely a function of consistent velocity, which is why the top pistols are PCP, not springer or CO2 or even pneumatics.

If you look at the 10m air pistol targets, they are pretty tough. I would say easily as hard as a B2 target at 50' with a 22.

 

[Blackstone]

The 10-ring on a 10m air pistol target is about 11mm diameter, to give an idea. The longest distance I've shot an air pistol at is 25m, with most competitions held at 10m or 20yards. Keep in mind I'm in the UK, where there is a power limit of 6ft/lb on air pistols

 

[MCgunner]

I had a frustrating range session yesterday with my Ruger .22s. I couldn't keep 'em inside 6" at 25 with my friggin' scoped Mk 2 which shoots 1/2" groups at that range off the bench. My excuse is I had too much coffee yesterday morning. I had eaten breakfast at a restaurant, but tanked up on coffee and, man, my trigger control sucked and I was jittery. Some days are better than others. Normally, with an accurate handgun and iron sights, I can keep 'em into 4" at 25 with careful aimed fire. I've been shootiing a long time, but don't really stick to one discipline. I've shot IDPA, all sorts of local shoots, and IHMSA. How's that for variety? But, while I'm on top at the local club range, usually, get around good shooters in an IDPA match and I'm just one of the lesser experts in the crowd watching the master class shooters with awe. I know that's about as good as I'll get with the practice I do. Those master class guys have talent and burn a lot of powder to get that good. It ain't that important to me. All I wanna be is dangerous to an attacker and I feel I'm way better than your average shooter at THAT.

 

[9mmepiphany]

The 10-ring on a 10m air pistol target is about 11mm diameter, to give an idea.

For those who are metrically challenged, 11mm is just under half an inch...actually .43"

 

[MrBorland]

For those who are metrically challenged, 11mm is just under half an inch...actually .43"

And for those who are numerically challenged, 11mm is small...actually very small.

I don't shoot 10m, or even target shoot formally, but I'm no slouch in the accuracy department, either; yet I've never shot a single perfect 50. Here's about the best I've ever been able to do with my Izzy (score = 49; 10m, 1-handed, of course):



When shooting 10m more regularly in my backyard, 47s and a few 48s were pretty typical. Those 2 little bitty extra points are tough to pick up