What distance do you prefer handguns to be tested for accuracy at?

[Fiv3r]

All of my pistols are SD pistols. I generally dont shoot past 15yd with most of my practice going on at 7-10.

I dont measure bench accuracy, because
..well I dont see myself shooting from a bench rest in a life or death situation. Also, I'm not really concerned with cloverleaf accuracy. In a defense situation, I want to poke holes. If some hit the heart and some hit the spine or even if they just deflate a lung. I'm good with that. Now, I don't want to aim center mass and wing him in the shoulder. I dont want my gun to be sighted on his front and center and have a flyer whizz past and hit a bystander.

But I'm good with rapid fire standing with tea saucer groups at 7-10 with my pistols.

 

[Hangingrock]

Years in the past, measured in decades, when I shot Bullseye, I'd bench rest for accuracy, handgun and ammunition combinations. On the other hand, I can't recall if ever shooting from bench rest S&W Gen3 semiautomatic pistols along with Glocks and or S&W MP series pistols. There are a significant percentage of individuals that shoot the humanoid style targets and seem happy to scatter shots accordingly.

For years as a member of one shooting club association, I argued for a seven and or three yard line shooting line or lines for the pistol range for those not interested in Bullseye shooting. When those yard lines were put in place there was a dramatic increase in pistol range usage and along with revenue generated.

 

[Hangingrock]

But I'm good with rapid fire standing with tea saucer groups at 7-10 with my pistols.

A tea saucer group would be approxmently 6-1/2 inches or so with the IDPA target body scoring circle is 8 inch diameter. Just an observation.

 

[rpenmanparker]

Most of the indoor ranges around here go out to 50' so 15 yards works out pretty well for accuracy testing.

And also for zeroing.

 

[P5 Guy]

Really it depends on the barrel length and size of the frame.
A snub nosed 'J' or 'K' frame would be accurate enough for me at 7 yards.
Taking my Glock 34 to the 50 yard line is the other end of the spectrum.

 

[sgt127]

If we are talking about pure accuracy out of a defensive gun, I don’t think there a decent gun on the market that will not shoot accurately enough barring any mechanical or manufacturing issues for defensive purposes.

The difference between a gun that can shoot a 1” group at 25 yards and a 3” group is likely lost on the vast majority of shooters.

I prefer guns that I can’t outshoot. If I miss, I know it’s my problem, not the gun, if I miss with a 4” Model 15 or a Wilson Master Grade 1911, it’s likely my fault.

That said, most of my defensive guns are sighted in at 25 yards. That’s a good all around range.

 

[RA40]

The firearm is quite capable. My thought is: "What distance do you prefer yourself to be tested for accuracy at?"
The last couple months the drill has been at 15-25 yards on an 8.5x11" plain piece of paper. Sufficient for the intent in SD.

 

[Old Dog]

I'm good with 50 feet (or about 15 yards). If I can shoot groups offhand at that range that I can cover with a playing card, I'm gonna be pretty confident that I can shoot two-inch groups at 25 yards from a rest. I know I can hit what I'm aiming for at 50 yards with the handguns I own, but I don't foresee ever needing to make that shot.

 

[WrongHanded]

Being as a handgun is likely to be what I have (because I don't carry long guns around), I like to know I can hit out to at least 25yds. If I had easy access to a 50yd range, I'd be shooting all but the sub-compacts out that far. I might not be doing very well at that distance, but I'd be trying. So that said, I shoot at 25yds at least a little bit with each handgun at every range session.

 

[Iggy]

I watched a feller with start with a Winchester Model 70 put rounds on a gong at 200 yards. Then a 30-30, a 44 Magnum, a 1911 45, and a S&W Model 10 38 Snubby.. His point was the guns were mechanically capable if the shooter did his part.
Of course the guy probably shot those gun about every day and knew exactly where to aim, but as he said, "If you know the gun, you can hit with it.

Obviously a six inch barrel revolver is easier to aim accurately than a two inch barreled snubby, but the guns can do it.

I put enough splinters in the face of an unhappy rancher shooting a 30-30 from his barn 80 yards away with my Model 58 to keep him ducking until I could get behind my car and get a rifle. He wasn't trying to kill me. He was just expressing an opinion.

 

[Catpop]

I got into this subject a while back with magazine article writers using different yardages for different pistols- some even comparing the same pistol at different distances to bias the report!

It’s somewhat like the news we get today! Adjust the news to fit your biases! Or in this case adjust the yardage to make your report look better than another pistols.

One has to carefully look at ALL the data, before one can make an intelligent decision!

Whos qualified to say where the subcompact ends and the bolt action single shot ends?

That said I feel the ideal compromise is 25 yards from a sandbag rest for standard handgun testing. That way the issue is not confused! Jmho

 

[Trey Veston]

I love how most people are absolutely sure they will never have to fire their defensive weapon beyond 15yds so therefore don't care how accurate it is at that distance.

The latest mass shooting in California was inside a bar roughly 100' x 100'.



Most mass shootings occur in open spaces or large rooms. Being able to engage a target at distances up to 75' away seems like common sense.

I test all my pistols at 25yds. And I want my carry gun to be capable of 2" at 25yds.

I bought a new S&W Performance Center Shield. Great little pistol that fit my hand well, had great sights, great trigger, etc. Took it to it's initial range trip and at 7yds, it was impressive...



Then I started the requisite 25yd shooting and the groups opened up to 12". Gun had a flawed barrel and went back to S&W. Had I been content to just shoot it at 7yds, I never would have known that it was so inaccurate at longer distances.

I'm sure I'll be flamed for wanting the pistol my life may depend on to be capable of above-average accuracy at 25yds. But then again, I am not a psychic and have no idea what possible scenario I may find myself in in this day and age when the world seems to be going mad. I'm jealous of those that are absolutely certain 7yds is the furthest they will ever have to fire their gun in order to defend their lives or the lives of others.

 

[k4swb]

I prefer the guns be tested at at least 25 yards. Sadly I now have to test me at about 50 feet max. If I keep at this, I'll be down to 10-20 feet like some seem to be.

 

[Pheasant Plucker]

Most of my guns are for concealed carry and are mostly short barrels. I know most guns, out of the box, are sighted for 25 yds. With fixed sights I want to know where to aim when shooting at 7 and 15 yards. My usual distance is 15 yds. but reading some of the responses I have begun to think differently. I don't hunt so 25+ yards, with these old eyes is stretching my need for distance.

 

[entropy]

Depends on the intended application. I wouldn't test a snub at 100 yards, but I did test my Redhawk at that distance. 25 or less is the usual for me, the 25 being 1911, the rest 7 yards.

 

[RedlegRick]

All of mine were tested at 50', because that's how big my club range is. That said, I generally practice at half that, because me and my EDC simply aren't capable of reliable shots much farther out than that in 'hurry up mode', which is how I practice.
Outdoors, my PF-9 is capable of making hits at 50 yards off a rest or braced, but that's not what it was made for, so I don't count it that way. The same goes for my G17 and P22, even though both are technically able to shoot better.
My feeling is, anything farther than spitting distance means it's time for me to seek cover or retreat rather than engage. I'm not a cop or soldier anymore, and it would be foolhardy and potentially set me up for legal problems down the road if I find myself in that sort of situation.

 

[Mike OTDP]

My preference is 25 yards or meters...but ideally, 50 yards is the test of fire. A gun that shoots straight at 50 yards will shoot straight at shorter distances.

Anything less than 25...unless it's a true pocket pistol, I start looking for what is being covered up. "Acceptable combat accuracy" is another way to say "shoots poorly."

 

[JohnKSa]

For conventional handguns other than pocket pistols, I want to see 25 yard groups. The unofficial convention seems to be the average of five, 5 shot groups at 25 yards and that works just fine from my perspective.

For pocket pistols, testing at closer range is ok, but anything closer than 10 yards isn't really testing much, IMO.

For custom handguns with accuracy guarantees or target pistols or single-shot, hunting pistols, I think that testing at 50 yards makes sense.

The general idea of accuracy testing, at least from my perspective is to stretch the gun a little bit so that if there are any issues they show up. I want to know the limitations of the system and if the testing is done at very close range you don't get an idea of where the capabilities of the system start to really hinder the ability to put shots on target.

 

[JTown]

I don't use a rest to test my guns, everything is off hand. I shoot all new guns at 7 to 10 yds, to check guns accuracy. Once sure of my target I do most of my shooting at 10 to 25 yds.
Walt

 

[C0untZer0]

A gun does not become more or less accurate depending on its intended use right? You may decide that a gun is sufficiently accurate for whatever purpose you're going to use it. Bench testing at 25 yards has been the consensus standard for accuracy testing for quite a while. I still have The Gun Digest Book of 9mm Handguns: An In-Depth Study of the 9mm Luger / Parabellum Cartridge & the Guns That Fire it. by Dean A. Grennell and Wiley Clapp from 1986. All of the testing of all of the 9mm handguns were at 25 yards.

 

[Jeff Burgess]

25 yards

 

[bearcreek]

I love how most people are absolutely sure they will never have to fire their defensive weapon beyond 15yds so therefore don't care how accurate it is at that distance.

The latest mass shooting in California was inside a bar roughly 100' x 100'.

I'm jealous of those that are absolutely certain 7yds is the furthest they will ever have to fire their gun in order to defend their lives or the lives of others.

Good post. There are many gun owners who are of the opinion that they will only use their firearm to defend themselves and their family. That, of course, is their choice. In that case, as long as their family always stays within that 7 yard radius, they're not likely to need great "long" range accuracy. That's not good enough for me. My family doesn't always stay within 7 yards of me when we're in public areas and I know myself well enough to know that I would not be ok with abandoning other people to their fate if I was reasonably able to do something to help. I attend professional training for and then practice shooting pistols at distances from 0 to 100 yards. I've also found that the interesting flip side to this is that many of the people who claim they won't need to shoot past 7-15 yards have also never received any training on how to shoot, much less fight, inside of 0-5 feet. Apparently, in their mind, the bad guy will only do the bad things inside of 15 yards but not close enough to go hands on.

 

[Catpop]

I saw another range test in American Rifleman this month (I think) with a 3” barrel at 12 yards. Go figure!
I mean it doesn’t matter if it’s 10, 12, 15 or 25 yards. It’s just that it gives one range test over another an unfair advantage to the unsuspecting public.
Personally I glean all the data!
And especially if it was shot with the other unfair advantage of a Ranson rest- vs a human held gun in sand bags!
Jmho

 

[robhof]

My S&W Airwt is shot at 7yds as are many of my B/P pistols, but the longer barrel ones are often shot to 25 yds, now my Loong barrel/Contender 14",DW 8" and 10", are all shot at 50yds then 100 and tested at 200 for finishing.

 

[Keith G]

Perhaps I’m ignorant on the subject, but it boggles my mind when someone answers the question with “It needs to be accurate at 7-10 yards for my self defense purposes.” Is there a handgun on the market that is inaccurate enough at that range to not be worthy of self defense purposes? I know there are shooters that are inaccurate at that range, but are there handguns? It seems to me that a reasonable adult could hit someone in the chest at 7 yards 90% of the time with a sling shot. So I guess I’m not sure the need to test accuracy at that range, I think what’s important at that range is that the operator is comfortable enough with it to use it under serious stress. If there is a handgun on the market that is that inaccurate from 10 yards, it should be taken off the market.