Hand Guns Effetive Rate Of Fire

P

PRXD

Inactive
hi guys and gals i am looking to buy any hand guns book about maximum range and effective range of the hand guns and i know the effective and the maximum range will depend on the type of ammo but if someone know any book with that information let me know is for work purposes thanks in advances
 
Last edited:
The effective range and rate of fire is dependant upon several variables not the least of which include the caliber, ammunition type, action type, sights and the shooter. Generally speaking, semi-automatics, smaller calibers, lightweight bullets, and high-visibility combat sights are condusive to high rates of fire while revolvers and/or single shots, more powerful calibers, and finer target or telescopic sights are more condusive to longer effective ranges. While I've not really studied effective rates of fire enough to know what is typical, I would say that maximum effective range in the hands of an experienced shooter would be about 50 yards with a service-sized semi-automatic in a major caliber (9mm Parabellum and up) and 100 yards with a serviced sized Magnum caliber revolver (.357 Magnum and up). While longer shots than these are possible, they are quite difficult and beyond the ability of most shooters.
 
Webleymkv is dead on.

Handguns mostly run out of range due to practical limitations on the sights and the ability to compensate for dramatic trajectory drop, not the effectiveness of the cartridge itself.

A .45 auto has enough energy to kill at 100 yards+ (it wont penetrate a 2x4 at that range though if that gives you an idea of the energy loss) but it drops about a full foot (and falls FAST beyond that; beyond the ability to accurately compensate) and the sights are generally coarse enough that the target will likely be completely obscured as well.

A magnum wheelgun can get out to 100 yards in the hands of a good shot since their trajectory is flatter and sights are normally finer.

Rate of fire is completely different and mostly irrelevant on a semiautomatic only firearm. Incidentally, at full rate of fire most service handguns are near uncontrollable; look up the Youtube video on a Glock 18; it's the same as a Glock 17 but full auto.
 
Webleymkv thanks your data was help full but is any book with the information the i need ?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't have a book to cite. My comments are based on my own observations and experiences over the years.
 
thanks i will keep my search as you said most of the hang-guns will be 50 to 60 yards give or take depending in various factors
 
One book you might consider...

Although quite dated and difficult to find, and completely ignoring any question of rate of fire, Sixguns by Keith, has a lot of good decriptive information about long range sixgunning. Keith could and did make hits on targets out to 600 yds and more.

Maximum rate of fire for a handgun is dependant on the shooter's ability to pull the trigger and reload. Maximum rate of fire ignores accuracy needed to actually make hits on a target (at any range) it is just about how many times in a given minute you can fire the gun.

Cyclic rate is the rate at which the mechanism of the gun cycles. A useful bit of information when discussing full auto firearms, but pretty much usless otherwise. A belt fed machinegun may be able to match the rate of fire and its cyclic rate, provided there is enough ammo continuously linked, the feed mechanism has enough energy to feed the ammo, and nothing jams, breaks, or fails from heat during the test minute. A magazine fed full auto cannot match the cyclic rate, due to the necessity of changing magazines.

A semi auto must have an even slower rate of fire, due to the need for the shooter to release and repull the trigger for each shot, along with the changing of magazines.
 
As far as rate-of-fire goes for handguns, the "human factor" is going to be the biggest issue. I saw a youtube video of a guy shooting a revolver faster than my AC556 can cycle on full-auto. (on second view, not quite.....but close)

Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsLx5ISBXw4
 
Last edited:
Maximum rate of fire could only be calculated by clamping the hand gun into a fixture and mechanically pulling the trigger as fast as the action will cycle, and accurately measuring that duration. Practical rate of fire varies between individuals. The factors in practical rate are how fast you can acquire the target with the sights, and fire the weapon so that you hit your target. In one of the few true Old West "middle of the street" gunfights the antagonists faced off and one fellow drew quickly and fired all six shots without hitting his opponent. His opponent waited until the black powder smoke cleared a bit and fired one shot, killing the other gunman. It's all about how quickly you can acquire and hit your target with a shot that achieves the desired results. You can't miss quick enough to win a gun fight.:)
 
Don't forget barrel length. Chances are slim of you hitting a long range target with a 2" S&W snubbie. Just saying.
 
I do some competition style steel target speed shooting, for enjoyment, not offically. Check out the results of our match on 7/11/09 here.

Look at the time for stage 2 for the first competitor on the list (for brevity's sake, its 8.0 seconds - but you can download the results and see for yourself). That's the total amount of time it took for him to draw his pistol and hit 5 targets for 4 out of 5 rounds (the slowest round is thrown out). This particular stage was actually only 3 targets - we had to double-tap two targets before hitting the final target so it was the easiest and quickest stage. Eight seconds total to draw 4 times and hit 20 shots.

Beat that.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top