Handguns Calibers at 100 yards?
- Thread starter stonewall50
- Start date
Shooter 973
New member
Handguns at 100 yrds.
I usually shoot at things on the 100 yard berm. It's not as difficult as you think.A 45acp only drops about 6 inches at that distance.A 357 or a 44 mag are even better. A 9mm carries well also. I shot a PC 9mm carbine at 200 yrds. It works. As for the energy, you lose quite a bit but there is still enough to do what needs to be done. The Magnums will give complete pass thru on a broadside deer.Longer range shooting with handgun calibers is a lot of fun.An educational. It's a real eye opener t find out jst how well they do. A 22lr out of a 6inch Ruger auto sighted in at 25 yrds, is again on st sbout 75 yrds. and only about 8 inches low at 100 yrds.
I usually shoot at things on the 100 yard berm. It's not as difficult as you think.A 45acp only drops about 6 inches at that distance.A 357 or a 44 mag are even better. A 9mm carries well also. I shot a PC 9mm carbine at 200 yrds. It works. As for the energy, you lose quite a bit but there is still enough to do what needs to be done. The Magnums will give complete pass thru on a broadside deer.Longer range shooting with handgun calibers is a lot of fun.An educational. It's a real eye opener t find out jst how well they do. A 22lr out of a 6inch Ruger auto sighted in at 25 yrds, is again on st sbout 75 yrds. and only about 8 inches low at 100 yrds.
chris in va
New member
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/08/14/citizen-shooter-saves-officer-with-amazing-shooting/
165 yard shot...5 times with a revolver.
165 yard shot...5 times with a revolver.
Most pistols are capable of tighter groups than shooters. I certainly can not sight a 1" target with open sights at 100 yards. Never could when my vision was what I thought was excellent. Congratulations on nailing 9 out of 10 1" targets with a rimfire pistol at 100 yards. I've never had a rimfire, even a rifle that was capable of that.
I guess accuracy is relative to purpose, and I won't feel bad that my pistol range for deer is only a little over a hundred yards, and my rimfire range for squirrel is less than that, even with the aid of a scope.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the 10mm yet. I routinely shoot my 10mm out to longer distances for fun, but know a number of guys who hunt with the round and have taken deer and other game at longer distances. So I would definitely trust the 10mm to do the job asked about in the OP.
Speaking of 100 yd shots, the lastest theory on the 2 cops shot in Ferguson yesterday is that they were shot from approximately 120 yards out. If true, I seriously doubt that kind of hit was an "aimed" shot. More likely just pointing in the general direction of the line of officers and managing to connect.
That could also make tracking down the perpetrator more difficult.
That could also make tracking down the perpetrator more difficult.
buck460XVR
New member
I hunt with .357, .44 and .460 revolvers. Thus I practice with them regularly @ 100 yards with open sights. It's not that big of deal. The .460 X-Frame is every bit as accurate out to 100 yards as my handgun caliber carbines.
bamaranger
New member
capable human eyes
When I was 17, my eyes were much more capable than they now are near 40 years later. Resultantly, I cannot shoot handguns, and many carbines, near as well as I used to.
The firearm is indeed capable of more accuracy than my eyes can get from it, with conventional iron sights. A paper plate would be a challenging target for me, at 100, so to my old gallon jugs.
Thank heavens for optics of all kinds.
When I was 17, my eyes were much more capable than they now are near 40 years later. Resultantly, I cannot shoot handguns, and many carbines, near as well as I used to.
The firearm is indeed capable of more accuracy than my eyes can get from it, with conventional iron sights. A paper plate would be a challenging target for me, at 100, so to my old gallon jugs.
Thank heavens for optics of all kinds.
I have been hunting with handguns since back in the mid to late 80's. There are plenty of revolver loads in calibers from 357 through as big as one can handle that will reliably put a medium sized deer on the ground if the shooter does their part. The "shooter" part of the equasion is the biggest pitfall though.
Me personally, I have shot several big hogs out past 100yds, and a couple of deer under 25 and one doe at 73 steps with my GP-100. I will tell you up front that it takes dedicated practice to hit reliably at distance. With my scoped 44 Redhawk off a rest, I shot many 1 - 1.5" groups at 100yds, and thought I was pretty fair. That was until I watched 5 of the Ruger team shooters come out to the 200yd range using the then new Super RH and do the same with open sights. Then again they were shooting upwards of 300 rounds a week as well, so as the adage goes, practice makes.....
One of the bigest issues with handguns is they usually have sights which do not allow one to draw a fine bead. Most are in the 1/8" thickness realm, are either black or bright orange, neither of which are really good for hunting, and most all of which block out a significant amount of the intended target. Once upon a time Ruger sold V-notch sight sets which fit both the GP-100's and the Redhawks. These had a very small brass bead on top of a very thin front blade making it real easy to get a fine bead on just where you wanted to hit, as well as not blocking out half or more of the game. These are what I used for many years. However like most have mentioned here, when your eyes go south, and your now depending on added magnification simply to see period, the "finer" things in life sometimes have to be adjusted to something a bit larger. Whats funny is I have come to realize, this doesn't just necessarily stop with sights...
I can still reliably hit a nice sized feral hog at 100yds with anything from my 357 to my 454. What I have found is that your bullet weight and profil are what will make that hit lethal if it is put whee it needs to be. In my 357's I will hunt with nothing under 160grs, in the 41, if using jacketed I use the 200gr Remington SJHP bullet over a decent dose of 296, and if using cast, I have now worked up a load using a 220gr WFN bullet over 2400 that has a ton of promise. In the 44, nothing yet but the 240gr Remington SJHP or the same weight XTP. Either of these shoot awesome and both hit with plenty of authority. In the 454 I only shoot the Lee 452300 RF that I cast myself over a charge of 296 or AA-9 either of which runs right in the 1550fps range. This particular load will slap a 200# feral hog right off it's feet at most any range I connect with one and I do not hesitate to reach out on them when I catch them in the open pasture. Granted I miss more often than not, but I just have this stupid stigma in my head that makes me hold over for the longer shots. Trust me when I say, that 454 doesn't NEED hold over till you get out plenty past 100yds.
Me personally, I have shot several big hogs out past 100yds, and a couple of deer under 25 and one doe at 73 steps with my GP-100. I will tell you up front that it takes dedicated practice to hit reliably at distance. With my scoped 44 Redhawk off a rest, I shot many 1 - 1.5" groups at 100yds, and thought I was pretty fair. That was until I watched 5 of the Ruger team shooters come out to the 200yd range using the then new Super RH and do the same with open sights. Then again they were shooting upwards of 300 rounds a week as well, so as the adage goes, practice makes.....
One of the bigest issues with handguns is they usually have sights which do not allow one to draw a fine bead. Most are in the 1/8" thickness realm, are either black or bright orange, neither of which are really good for hunting, and most all of which block out a significant amount of the intended target. Once upon a time Ruger sold V-notch sight sets which fit both the GP-100's and the Redhawks. These had a very small brass bead on top of a very thin front blade making it real easy to get a fine bead on just where you wanted to hit, as well as not blocking out half or more of the game. These are what I used for many years. However like most have mentioned here, when your eyes go south, and your now depending on added magnification simply to see period, the "finer" things in life sometimes have to be adjusted to something a bit larger. Whats funny is I have come to realize, this doesn't just necessarily stop with sights...
I can still reliably hit a nice sized feral hog at 100yds with anything from my 357 to my 454. What I have found is that your bullet weight and profil are what will make that hit lethal if it is put whee it needs to be. In my 357's I will hunt with nothing under 160grs, in the 41, if using jacketed I use the 200gr Remington SJHP bullet over a decent dose of 296, and if using cast, I have now worked up a load using a 220gr WFN bullet over 2400 that has a ton of promise. In the 44, nothing yet but the 240gr Remington SJHP or the same weight XTP. Either of these shoot awesome and both hit with plenty of authority. In the 454 I only shoot the Lee 452300 RF that I cast myself over a charge of 296 or AA-9 either of which runs right in the 1550fps range. This particular load will slap a 200# feral hog right off it's feet at most any range I connect with one and I do not hesitate to reach out on them when I catch them in the open pasture. Granted I miss more often than not, but I just have this stupid stigma in my head that makes me hold over for the longer shots. Trust me when I say, that 454 doesn't NEED hold over till you get out plenty past 100yds.
NoSecondBest
New member
For long range handgun hunting I use a post front sight which is rather wide. It's also flat black as is my rear sight. In metallic silhouette, where they shoot out to 220yds, all the best shooters use this type of sight set-up. I use the post and "sit" the spot I'm aiming for on top of the post and centered on the post. I have shot many, many perfect scores using this method and I've shot well over fifty whitetails with my handguns over the last thirty-five years of dedicated handgun hunting. I once shot 9x10 shoot-off chicken targets at 100yds at a regional shoot with a stock Browning Buckmark using these type of sights and the targets were rifle shoot-off targets to make it more difficult (much smaller than handgun targets). They were just about 1.5" high and shaped like a chicken so there was a lot of area missing. Total area was around 1sq.in. I'd avoid any fiber optics like the plague and try to avoid any bead or other type of sight. I'd have no problem using fiber optics or beads if I was restricted to shooting 50yds or less, but they aren't suited to shooting precision at long distance.