Best shot I have ever heard of

Back when I was in college, the late 60's, I went to a public shooting range to check the sights on my Marlin 336. A police car showed up, and I was hoping that I wasn't the reason. Turned out that it was, I think, the local police chief, and he was there to shoot also. He had a Ruger Blackhawk in 44 Magnum. He walked 100 yards down to the berm and put out some oil cans (back when there was such a thing), walked back to me and started shooting at, and hitting, the oil cans. He let me shoot the Ruger some, but I wasn't close to hitting an oil can (or a car, for that matter, at that distance). If that man had wanted to kill you at 100 yards, he would have done so. And he shot one handed.
 
At one of the ranges I shoot at we usually shoot .45 ACP's at IDPA targets at 100 yards (300 feet) about once a month.

Aiming at the head drops most of them nicely into the A zone.

Can't say that I've tried it one handed, but I don't see it taking a whole lot of luck to get a hit if he's a decent shot and has a little experience taking shots at 100 yards.
 
I shoot at 100 with a 1911 all the time, it's not hard to hit a 24x24" target offhand. However, there is no pressure and I'm not holding two horses, 1 handed working a service pistol. I also have multiple shots to get my zero if needed. Under the circumstances this was a phenomenal shot.
 
This reminds me about the neighbor who's 120-130 yards away from a gun fight between the cop and the BG. The cop was in a bad position that time that the neighbor took out his 357 and start shooting at the BG to distract him but he made a hit that brought him down.

Anyone remember that?
 
DNS said:
Luck?

I really don't think so. He made the shot on the first try.
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IMHO the fact that he did it on the first try simply reinforces the notion that it was a lucky shot. Even if one practices at 100 yards, the ability to score hits at 100 yards is heavily predicated on knowing the exact distance and having known reference points by which to judge the not-insignificant holdover. Here we have a police officer who almost certainly does NOT train with his duty sidearm at 100 yards, taking a shot at an unknown distance, and scoring a hit on the first shot. I respectfully submit that without luck, that's flat out impossible.
 
JWT wrote:

Skill?, luck?, or a bit of both....
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JWT, MH, AB and jmr,

Not knowing the officer, My gut feel is "LUCK". However, I have a friend and shooting buddy that could make that shot consistently. So I know one could be trained and practice to that level.


He is an retired military combat pistol instructor - He taught special forces pistol for his last 4 yrs. He's an unbelievable shot - Could consistently hit the 200 yd rifle gong standing 2-hand more than most could hit it standing off hand with their scoped rifle. Many times at the range, I've seen him win a bet from an unbeliever who spoke too soon - "Oh No, that's not possible"!
 
IMHO the fact that he did it on the first try simply reinforces the notion that it was a lucky shot. Even if one practices at 100 yards, the ability to score hits at 100 yards is heavily predicated on knowing the exact distance and having known reference points by which to judge the not-insignificant holdover. Here we have a police officer who almost certainly does NOT train with his duty sidearm at 100 yards, taking a shot at an unknown distance, and scoring a hit on the first shot. I respectfully submit that without luck, that's flat out impossible.
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So basically, you are arguing from the position of ignorance about the officer's shooting abilities, what it takes to shoot 100 yards (and no, you don't need to know an "exact distance" to make such a hit at that approximate distance as noted), the officer's ability to assess shooting distance, and the officer's understanding of his local environment.

Okay, I respectfully understand your perspective.
 
DNS said:
So basically, you are arguing from the position of ignorance about the officer's shooting abilities, what it takes to shoot 100 yards (and no, you don't need to know an "exact distance" to make such a hit at that approximate distance as noted), the officer's ability to assess shooting distance, and the officer's understanding of his local environment.

Okay, I respectfully understand your perspective.
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You are correct on two out of four, and I respectfully submit that the fourth isn't a valid factor.

  1. Correct, I don't know the officer's shooting ability. Neither do you.
  2. Incorrect. I do know what it takes to shoot at 100 yards. Been there, done that. How about you?
  3. Correct, I do not know the officer's ability to correctly assess target distance away from a shooting range. Neither do you.
  4. ??? I don't see what the officer's "understanding of his local environment" has to do with making a first-shot hit at a distance of 312 feet -- one-handed, while holding onto two horses with the other hand.
 
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Remember the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada?
Twenty years ago the hired bouncer there pulled off a shot like this OP.

A professional boxer was beating one of the girls and the bouncer
took a shot from a very long distance. I don't know the distance but it
was a couple hundred feet or longer.
I think he used a short 38 revolver.
He killed the perp. Must have angled it at a forty five degree line.
 
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