50 yard shot, your 'go-to' handgun?

Practical Purpose

I have set up my target at 50 yards to practice for whitetail deer hunting with my sidearm. I could get a consistent 12" group with my Dan Wesson .357 with the 6" barrel.

I learned that for all practicality, any suitable "kill" shot should not be taken at any more than 30 yards, for myself, where the groups fell under the 7" pattern. A heart/lung shot couldn't be expected outside of that range.

But do I practice at 50? Heck yes! But only for the purpose of honing my hunting skills. All SD practice is 50 feet and closer.
 
I have a 50 yard range off my back deck. Soup cans are in grave danger with my Security Six or my Buckmark. My Taurus 605 makes 'em sweat. They're more of a challenge from the 100 yard line but you can still do it regularly with good ammo and a rest (M605 not included).
The Buckmark is my "go to" gun for playing at those ranges. At 50 yards free-hand it will go 7 for 10 on the soup cans regularly, 9 for 10 occasionally, 10 for 10 only a few times in 10 years. I do this a lot, sometimes every day of the week.
 
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Its fifty yards guys not fifty miles One Hundred and fifty feet. It aint so far! I love long range shooting shooting with a Hand Gun. My sig 229 in 357 sig shoots like a little rifle.

Amen! My P239 shoots high all the way out to about 50 then it's just right. For a carry gun probably my H&K otherwise a Mark II or even a revolver shooting single action.
 
50 yrd shot

I can shoot my CZ well to 50 yrds from the static stance, so I was that confident on the IDPA match last month-the longish shot approx 30-35 yrds-
shure nuff missed the whole cardboard. Shooting under stress? Im no good.
 
Of handguns that I own, that can and have been used in a concealed carry capacity, geez, long list. Here are a few that are easy to hit with @ 50 yards:

Glock G21
Glock G20
Glock G34
Glock G19

Kimber Custom 5"
Colt series 70 5"
Springfield Armory 5"

S&W M29 4"
S&W M629 4"
S&W M29 5"

They will all do well at 50 yards with appropriate ammo.
 
I replied first, but from rechecking the question, we don't even know what we are supposed to be shootin at 50. A gerbil or a barndoor? I guess a man sized silhouette would be bothered by just about any gun listed here, a gopher would be best shot with a scoped target pistol by some of us, and the deer have little to fear from many of us. I have actually grouped .32 pocket pistols at 50 yards for fun but I really just have not been practicing with handguns beyond 25, not doing competition or hunting with them. Would be great if the poster said what his idea was anyway. Combat backup in case of rifle jam? Regular hunting? Survival hunting? Mall ninja secret assassin video game fantasy? Watching movies and saw this, or what?
 
If I wanted to hit a 50 yd target, I'd carry my scoped TC .44 mag when I was shooting at it. If I used my regular CCW and just shot at it, I would use my Ruger P90. :)
 
50 yards is a cake shot with just about any handgun I own when on the range. A few weeks ago I fired my cz-82 at 50 yards and they all went center chest. I've done it with every handgun I own. Of course that's on the range and slow fire. As far as some of the full size guns mentioned here, 125 yards is real easy.
 
At fifty yards, I would have to hope it was a very loud gun because my best chance would be to scare them off with the rapport...but if I had to choose one of my guns that I actually do carry for the job I would go with my Sip P229 Elite. It is an extremely accurate gun that points very well. :)

SigP229Elite-1.jpg


...or, I would go with my Walther PPK. These guns are amazingly accurate in SA mode.

PPKtulip-1.jpg
 
I wonder why you always see a lot better shots on Internet Gun Boards than at the Range. No offense meant, but has anyone else noticed this? :D
 
50 yards on a man size target about any of them except the seecamp and the AMT Backup (lack of sights makes 50 kinda difficult).
If you wanna talk a soda can size target with a realistic carry gun I'll take my HK P7.
 
I'd use my Uberti Cattleman in 38WCF caliber. That old cartridge is a dead ringer ballistically for the 40 S&W, and with the right loads, shoots like a laser. Old timers used to say the 38-40 "shot hard".
I've often wondered what could be accomplished with that cartridge in a modern gun like a S&W with a 6" barrel.
 
Well, the trick is stop telling yourself that the gun can't, many of them can. Then stop saying you can't, you can if you try. As far as 50 yards is concerned, that's what I did in bulseye matches one handed with a 1911. As far as long range hunting, the 44 mag will do it at 125 yards if you disipline yourself to wait for the shot, kind of like an archer. Just like an archer, if you learn to hit the long range stuff the close stuff is easy. For example, when I use the point of the field tip as a sight point my bow hits at 105 yards. I do that pretty often. That was a training thing taught to me by a 5 time IBO champion. You would never do that in the field at an animal, but to do it requires perfect form and that is what it teaches. Same with a gun, learn to do it at long range and shorter range is a cake walk. Same with a handgun, I shoot 175 yards with the graduated front sight and get pretty good, 100 yards is then easy. You always have to press your limits.
 
All they got to do is stand still, right? IF your 50 yard target is moving, I suspect their odds are better! Especially if they are shooting back! Still no one has defined the purpose of this excercise. Target work, well yep from a bench, slow shooting, alot of these guns will ding the bell.
 
All they got to do is stand still, right? IF your 50 yard target is moving, I suspect their odds are better! Especially if they are shooting back! Still no one has defined the purpose of this excercise.
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In an SD situation I'd like to see someone justify to a prosecutor why they fired instead of leaving. I'm talking about targets and hunting.

You'd have to show provocation, justification and the lack of the ability to avoid lethal force including flight.
 
Self defense with a handgun is not inconcievable at ranges of 50 to 100 yards, and could easily be justified.
I spend alot of time in the outdoors backpacking and hiking. Suppose you encountered some meth cookers who then started chasing you as you withdrew.
The ability to place some accurate rounds at long range could mean the difference between escape and dying like a dog.
If you get a chance, try this--Next time you are at the rifle range, just pick out a feature on the dirt birm and slow fire at it. See the impact and walk the next shot closer. I do this with every service sized handgun I own. My club has 10 inch swinging steel plates at about 40 yards. Hitting those is no problem at all.
 
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