Handgun accuracy?

J

jeager106

Moderator
Does anyone here that shoots a handgun for any reason test for accuracy with specific loads.
By specific loads I mean any load you might carry for CCW, home defense, hunting, target shooting, etc.
I shoot ALL my handguns at 25 yards. Probably a habit I picked up from my days competeing in PPC.
When Mass & I put on training sessions the question of handgun accuracy would sometimes com eup.
Mass felt the minimum accuracy for a fighting handgun is 3 inches at 20 yards. I agree with that.
I'm anal about accuracy, too much so. I want the best possible accuracy I can get.
For instance my Shiled .40 surprised me showing groups of 1.5 inches.
My Smith M-60 .357 gave me 1.25 inch with Remington 125 grain h.p. in .357 caliber.
Even my Glocks ,(G-27 & G-23) not noted for accuracy, have displayed groups of 5 shots at 25 under 2 inches.
I expect & get fine accuracy from my kimbers and they are all capable of 1 inch at 25 IF I am. Usually I'm not that fine a shot to wring out all the Kimbers are capable of.
My Gold Cup is almost as accurate as the Kimbers.
The notable exception being my 4" Kimber Pro Carry which sprays bullets into 3.5 inches. Still acceptable for what the Pro Carry is intended for.
I admit I shoot way too much from the bench & at 25 yards. That isn't a good thing when practicing for defensive purposes.
So do you shoot for group size with your handguns?
What distance?
I'm speaking fo benched groups of course.
 
I don't shoot different loads much, but last week I was shooting .38 specials in my Ruger GP100.

Having got the sights zeroed in at 12 yards with one load I was found the rest of my .38 ammo was a heavier grain, and I landed my first group several inches higher (if I recall correctly) as a consequence. As I had no more of the regular grain with me that was it for shooting .38 that day, I didn't want to reset the sights for the new bullet.

It definitely makes a difference even at relatively short distances.

25 yards is a heck of a distance for shooting handguns, btw, though I generally don't shoot from a rest.
 
Virtually all of my shooting is competition that requires a minimum level of power, so I do test all of my loads for accuracy, after confirming that they "make power factor", but I have never rejected a load due to inaccuracy.
Just about every gun, and every load, shoots 4" at 25 yards, so until I see something noticeably less accurate than that, I won't do any additional testing or load development specifically for accuracy.
Any round that will land within the apparent width of the front sight is generally going to be accurate enough for two-legged varmints. If the sight is wider than the target, you're probably better-off running than shooting.
 
I test all ammo I intend to use at 25' on an 8" target. They better all land on that target. My main purpose for owning guns is for CCW, but I do enjoy testing myself.

I have one gun that I routinely plink a bit at 25 yards. Witness Poly .45 with 4.5" brl. My carry guns don't really need to be tested much at that range, though I do test them. It takes more time to be accurate with a short site picture, to the point of being situationally unrealistic. Lately, the .45 isn't making it to my range trips. I spend more time maintaining my CCW proficiency and helping my wife improve hers. Less play time fits in now :(


If I had some land I where I could shoot, rather than a range, there would be cans laid out at lots of different ranges for some real fun testing myself out.
 
A kimber than shoots 1" at 25 yards . Should be in the hands of a camp perry champion shooter or on tour as the greatest kimber 1911 ever made.

Other than checking the sights on an old 44 mag revolver with a red dot before the hunting season starts I don't shoot a handgun from a benchrest anymore. Stand and shoot two handed , one handed and weak hand . Then practice some double taps and practice point shooting from 5 to 10 yards and try for all A zone shots . I have used the same loads for years and know what to expect .
 
Shooting from the bench never seemed to be a realistic use of a handgun.
I do it on occasion, but only to verify that the reason I'm shooting so lousy isn't due to the gun.

At the local outdoor range, the target stands are preset at 7, 25 and 50 yards, so that's what I practice.
Generally with 8" and 6" circles, as they don't allow human looking targets.
Most rounds, done standing, are well within the 8" target at the 50 yd target, the 6" at 25 yds and usually 4" at the 7 yd one.

Oddly enough, other than being slightly slower or faster, it doesn't seem to make a lot difference whether I'm shooting two handed or one.
Must be due to all that one handed shooting we all did before we knew about the two handed variety.
 
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I never shoot a handgun off a bench, but when I stand and shoot groups unsupported, I expect/demand the gun and me together to deliver 3" or better at 25 yards. I give a little (but not much) slack to a compact gun.
 
A kimber than shoots 1" at 25 yards . Should be in the hands of a camp perry champion shooter or on tour as the greatest kimber 1911 ever made
Click to expand...
I can pull 1.5" with my Kimber 9mm Target at 25yds from a rest. I would expect a more competent shooter would do better. The only pistol I can do better with is my 460xvr thats scoped.
@the OP- Your accuracy is more than adequate for SD and most competition. IMO- bullseye shooters are the only people regularly doing as good or better. For my purposes its a good day if I keep it in the 4" black off hand out to about 20yds
 
One inch with a good Kimber at 25 yards from a bench & solid hold is doable.
I've only done a measured one inch one time & that was a darned good day.
I think it's Wilson handguns that advertises 3 inchs at 50 yards and that
is stellar & most likely from a machine rest.
I suppose my quest for accuracy comes from my days shooting
PPC competition. A PPC "funny" gun, for those that aren't familiar with them, is a K frame Smith with very highly tuned action, 1 inch Douglas barrel,
Bo-Mar rib & sights. Mine was tuned & made into d.a. only.
As far as distance is concerned PPC distance in 7 yds to 50 yds.
These revovlers are capable of one inch at 25 all day long
from a machine rest.
I was taught PPC by Capt. Ed Roman. He taught me to balance a dime
on the front sight and squeez 6 X d.a. without loosing the dime.
It took a while but I could do it.
Doubt I could today tho. Bear in mind also that I did a whole lot of shooting.
At one "tactical" school I shot 5K rounds in one week.
I also creaeted, & trained, the S.W.A.T. team & have been to at least
7 firearms training schools.
Plus I was the firearms instructor on my department & I shot a ton
of ammo I didn't pay for. "Testing" it you see.:D
I do a lot of offhand practice too and need to do more at
reasonable personal defense distances.
I'm lucky in that I have 15 acres, no close nieghbors & the ones I have all shoot also.
 
I always shoot at 25 yards on diverse target.
e8avapum.jpg


The only thing I like to test is myself. Last time I tried to shoot at 100 yards the 10inch steel target, standing, no rest. I hit it 3x out if 16 rds, I was happy !....LoL
 
jeager106 said:
A PPC "funny" gun, for those that aren't familiar with them, is a K frame Smith with very highly tuned action, 1 inch Douglas barrel,
Bo-Mar rib & sights.
Click to expand...

Kinda like mine? ;) I don't shoot PPC, but I'm a sucker for an accurate revolver.
DavisPPCgun030.jpg



=jeager106 said:
These revovlers are capable of one inch at 25 all day long
from a machine rest.
Click to expand...

At least. IME, a factory S&W that's in spec ought to be capable of this accuracy, or even a smidge better, with good ammo. I'd expect a well-built PPC revo to be capable of sub-3/4".

=jeager106 said:
I was taught PPC by Capt. Ed Roman. He taught me to balance a dime
on the front sight and squeez 6 X d.a. without loosing the dime.
Click to expand...

You'll like this, then ;):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmy5mkjpUNI

.
 
All my 1911s are tested on a bench rest. My target 22s also. I want to know what the gun is capable of.
I'm like you, I want accurate handguns.
I just bought SA RO in 9mm. It was bench rest shot with 5 different loads including factory ammo. I found it shot best with 147gr lcn bullets best. That said, it was so close to all the other loads, I could be just as happy shooting factory ammo.
 
I do so with training ammo, some is just better than others, but for the most part most variations in defense ammo are so slight that it wouldn't make a difference at self defense ranges.
 


I test every handgun that I own for accuracy and dependability with as many different loads as I can obtain for each gun's caliber. Except for derringers and a few other special purpose guns, I test all of the guns at a distance of 15 yards or 25 yards.
I have been recording these ammo/gun testing results for over 5 years and I currently have data on over 100 guns.
Among the interesting things that I have learned is that even identical guns (same make, model, caliber & barrel length) often produce different results depending on which ammo that particular gun likes or dislikes.

Another thing that I have found is that most guns are capable of much better accuracy than the results posted in many gun magazines.

Mark
 
If you are talking about hunting revolvers,,,,This is what my Taurus .454 "Bull" can do at 100 yards. I did this while setting the scope. This was Magtech 260Gr factory loads......

100yd_target_454_pistol.jpg
 
25 yards is a heck of a distance for shooting handguns,
Click to expand...

For defensive or combat style shooting, it is, but for hunting, target, and plinking, its not all that far, to me, anyway.

I shoot handguns from a bench, or some kind of rest, when I want to know what the guns and ammo are capable of, without ME adding more error than necessary.

In the decades pre-Internet, 2-2.5 in groups at 25yds was considered a good accurate handgun. Better than that, and it was gravy. A bit worse was acceptable in a short range defensive gun.
 
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