What is the best pistol for long range defense?

[silicosys4]

Coolluke,

quoting you
"It would be perfectly justifiable to take a 100 yard shot on someone that is pointing a firearm at you. I have a youtube video to prove that a 100 yard bowling pin shot is very do able. I'm not going to wait for someone to lob a few shots at me before returning fire at 100 or even 200 yards. Run or if others are the target and they aren't able to get out of the way, make the best shot you can."

So...let me get this straight...from 100, or even 200 yards away, if you see a gun, you are going to open fire, before you are shot at, no questions asked?

So, (because shooting people at 100yds under incredible stress is just like shooting those bowling pins at home), you just shot a 15 year old who was playing airsoft with his best friend because at 100 or 200 yards you couldn't tell the difference, real gun or not...adult or not.
Argue that one as "perfectly justifiable" with the DA

And which scenario is more likely? crazed gunman that you with your eagle eyes spotted hundreds of yards away, or a faulty ID due to distance and the prevalence of "toy guns" in our society?

Wonder if the Anti's would seize that one and run with it.

Now that's scary.
Get a grip, guys.

 

[Skribs]

Sam, the thread said 165 yards, not feet. The article didn't mention and youtube lags while I'm at work, but that sounds like an amazing shot.

People are mentioning the big thumpers on here, what about the light-and-fast? How would the FiveseveN do at 100 yards? It's not "compact" but it's not a Draco either.

 

[X-Rap]

If someone has a handgun gun pointed at you and they are under 200 yds and know how to use it you are in a very hazardous place. That may not happen often but it is worth spending some time shooting at distances so you at least know the potential of your gun or better yet someone elses.
There are a lot of folks talking about how lucky a 165 yd shot would be but I say they really don't know their weapon very well.

 

[Sam1911]

Sam, the thread said 165 yards, not feet. The article didn't mention and youtube lags while I'm at work, but that sounds like an amazing shot.

Yes, it did. But it was wrong. Read the thread here on it. The Sheriff confirmed the shot as being a little over 50 yards, and it was demonstrated by satelite photos that there was not one clean shot in that whole trailer park that would have given the man a 165 YARD line of sight.

He was just muffed his words during his interview and said "yards" when "feet" was what he meant.

 

[Sam1911]

from 100, or even 200 yards away, if you see a gun, you are going to open fire

He heh. Not me! If I think someone's aiming a gun at me from 100+ yeards away, I'm going to MOVE. There's no way I can not only outdraw to a drawn gun, but also aquire a stable sight picture on a target that far away before I catch incoming rounds. I'm OUT of there.

 

[FMF Doc]

If you want to shoot at rifle distances, shoot a rifle cartrige...FN FiveSeven.

 

[jimniowa]

A 16 " .44mag lever action, holds 8 rounds and a very effective street sweeper.

 

[Rexster]

I worked a murder scene, at an outdoor eatery, where the suspect left the business, parked a block away, and started firing. (Apparently, he felt another customer had cut in line.) IIRC, the number of spent cases indicated he probably emptied one double-column magazine. He connected with one of the customers from 70+ yards, as measured by a crime scene unit officer. None of the customers were armed at the time. There was no solid cover; rounds were passing completely through the small building. (Only the tiny kitchen was indoors; seating was picnic-style tables under an awning.)

Had I been a customer, at the time of the shooting, it might have been nice to have a weapon capable of making a standing human, at 70 yards, suddenly remember an urgent appointment elsewhere. Of course, skill counts for something, too. Please note I did not say I would have necessarily started shooting; that would depend upon several factors.

Weapon? I still like to carry a 4" .357 revolver or 5" 1911 much if the time, both capable of engaging standing humans at 50+ yards, IF the shooter does his part, by going into a rollover prone, becoming one with the earth. My 3" SP101, or its snubbier brothers, would be a bit more of a challenge, due to the shorter sight radius, and lower-profile sights.

 

[Rexster]

I should probably add that long-range shooting is more likely to involve defense of another person than defense of self. I swore an oath that makes me always subject to duty, so defending another is always part of my way of thinking, plus, I have more if a duty to engage, whereas a private citizen's objectives will generally differ.

 

[sargents1]

So lets say you are driving by a school yard when you see a man with a shotgun running around and shooting at the children. You immediately pull over and take cover behind a wall with your pistol and the shooter is about a 100 yards away. Would you take the conventional advice of "being a good witness" and would you be afraid of prosecution or violating the law by making a 100 yard shot with your CCW? At this point, would you worry about arrest or being convicted of murder? What would CNN, Obama or the Huffington Post say about you if you decided to take the shot?

Ok, let's start out by saying that this a Very unlikely scenario. And there are big issues with being able to correctly assess the situation and determine who the bad guy is and whether or not you are supposed to shot him. Now that that is out of the way...

Just about any service class (full size) pistol is still going to be lethal at 100yds (no, not hunting rifle lethal, but you damn sure wouldnt want to go downrange and have someone take pot shots at you). There is an 8-10in rock on our 100yd berm at the local range. I can hit it at least once per ten shots with my P85MKII 9mm. On a good day I can hit it 1 in 5 shots. I could probably do a little better with my Blackhawk in .45 Colt (7.5 in bbl).

So yeah, I like to think that if there was some nut running wild on a school yard killing kids, I would pull my gun and give it a go, especially if I had cover. But its easy to speculate from the safety of the internet, more difficult when sh%$ gets real.

If I had to Pick a pistol for this extremely unlikely scenario, I would probably go with my G20 loaded with something midweight and fast. 150-180gr running at least 1200ft/s. As for what Carry Gun, you would be stuck with whatever you carry. So practice up and know what you can do.

 

[coolluke01]

So...let me get this straight...from 100, or even 200 yards away, if you see a gun, you are going to open fire, before you are shot at, no questions asked?

I should say the it "could" be justifiable. Obviously nothing is ever a no brainer.
I was supposing that there was a reasonable level of hostility from the 100 yard shooter to justify shooting. I believe that the distance doesn't necessarily dictate weather or not you are justified to shoot. It could be very justifiable.

I'm not saying that I could make that 100 yard shot when under stress. All I know is that the shot can be made and I don't know the skill level or stress level of the person pointing a gun at me. Given the accuracy of handguns I would feel that I was in great danger if someone were to put me in that situation.

 

[Kendahl]

A full size service pistol (revolver or automatic) is capable of making 100 yard shots on human sized targets. The big question is whether the shooter can make the shot.

 

[BLB68]

A snubnose can make the shot if the shooter is up to it.

The question is the wisdom of attempting the shot. You'd have to be very sure of what's behind the shooter, which can be difficult at that range. You have to consider if the shooter is armed with a rifle vs. your pistol, because even if you tag the shooter, they may not go down with your first shot, so now you have to make that very tough shot under fire.... etc.

 

[tarosean]

10.5" of reach out and touch them in 44mag.

 

[Shoot66]

I believe that any medium to higher quality handgun can be used efficiently at those ranges. I mostly practice/enjoy myself at ranges from 50 to 100 meters. At 50m I mostly use a 4´´ steel plate, that means standing, a two-hand hold. My last Sunday "nice" target shot at 100 m kneeling shows 6 shots in less than 6´´ (Colt Python 6´´, 180 gr SWC, 8 gr of AA no 5). You just need to know the trajectory.
I carry a full size semiauto for SD.

 

[wlewisiii]

If you're actually in such a circumstance, grab a rifle.

 

[Skribs]

If you're actually in such a circumstance, grab a rifle.

Yes, because we all CCW a rifle.

 

[bigfatdave]

grab a rifle

from where, exactly?

 

[keithbayne]

yep,what this guy said i agree.MINIMUM 5 INCH BARELL
HEAVY LOAD WILL LOOSE STEAM AND DROP,LITE LOADS WONT GET THERE,JUST EXPERIMENT.

 

[Patrick Gookin]

I shot my cousins Glock 22 a couple months ago. I had never shot a Glock before, so it was a first for me. Even with the terrible trigger and my shaky hands, I could hit a man-sized target at 100 yards almost every time. The bullet only dropped a couple inches from the line of sight at 100 yards. The bullets would actually hit HIGH at 50 yards. Here's a photo of a 100 yard group I shot.



I also shot that Glock at 200 yards. The wind was whipping pretty bad, so I had to aim 3 or 4 feet into the wind. The bullet also dropped 3 feet or so. That was the first and only time I ever fired a pistol at 200 yards and I could hit the target a little more than 50% of the time.

I think it's definitely possible to shoot a man-sized target at 100 yards with pretty much any pistol out there. It would just be harder with a snub nose with a shorter sight radius. Harder, but still definitely possible.

 

[Queen_of_Thunder]

A Buntline with 18 inch barrel in 44-40

 

[BLB68]

I think it's definitely possible to shoot a man-sized target at 100 yards with pretty much any pistol out there. It would just be harder with a snub nose with a shorter sight radius. Harder, but still definitely possible.

It's definitely possible on the range. I can hit a man-sized target every time with a snub nosed .357.

Of course, the targets we're talking about aren't moving. Add movement to that hundred yard shot and it gets a lot harder.

 

[Robert]

At those ranges I'd break contact and move away if I can. If I am forced to fight then I will, while doing my best to close with the target to up my chances of making a good shot. But the chances of something like this actually happening are pretty slim.