Long Range Handgun Accuracy

V

Vermonter

New member
On a recent range trip I was shooting and testing my new G27 Gen 4. I am loving this little Glock and have been doing very well with it my typical pistol distances. During this range trip I had an odd # of rounds left that didn't even fill a mag.

I decided to send all 5 at a steel target that was setup for rifle shooting at what I believe was 75 yards. I was supprised as all get out to hear the rounds hit the steel 4 out of five times.

I have never shot a handgun that far and never figured it to be a nessecity. I am thinking of setting up a sticky target on the steel to see what kind of grouping I get at that distance.

This is a defensive pistol with night sights on it meant to defend me in an SD situation however it is nice to know longer ranges are possible.

Anyone shoot their defensive pistols at longer ranges and if so with what kind of results?

Thanks, Vermonter
 
Not defensive, but when younger, we would take .44 mags and .45 long Colts and try to hit manzised rocks about 200 yards away. (hey if its good enough for Cowboys in the Old West holding off Comanches its good enough for Texans). You had to aim it like a mortar but we were able to hit the rock about one in three shots.
 
The best handgun shooting I have ever seen (not read or heard about) was a 2 1/2" group fired from a 6" barrel .357 S&W Highway Patrolman at 100 yards, off a bench rest. I didn't shoot it, but I did fire 5-6" 100 yd groups out of the same gun. I used to be able to keep all my shots in the body area of a silhouette target at 100 with a 3" Chiefs Special, double action, holding high.

Jim
 
Holding High

See this is what supprises me. I was not holding anywhere differently with the G27 on the far target as I was on the close target. Granted that steel target has so many dings in it I couldn't tell which were mine but I heard the distinct sound of steel. For all I know they were the four lowest shots on the target.

In any event I hit a piece of man sized steel sillouet target 4/5 times holding with no elevation in mind.
 
75 yards

Buzzcock,

If 75 isnt far what is? I am not being scarcastic I am actually asking. At what point would a person shooting .40 s&W out of a glock subcompact need to compensate for elevation?

I was supprised that I hit it at all so therefore what limit should I be testing here?

Thanks, Vermonter
 
What surprises me is how many people that are surprised they can hit things at longer distances with handguns!

Handgun bullets do not disappear after 26 yards:D

I shoot .45 acp at 100yds every now and then, Colt NM, an average day can see 3-4 out of 8 in a paper plate, good days better!!
A 6" S&W .41 mag all in the plate fairy easily, my 4" Anaconda forget it! ;)
 
Lol they don't disappear eh? Well while I'm not supprised they don't disappear I am supprised there didn't appear to be alot of bullet drop.
 
I'm not surprised at all - my wife cleans up in metallic silhouette shooting with a 6" Taurus M66 and that's out to 100 meters. I'd say that she usually hits 7 out of 10 rams at that range - way better than I do, but I'm not nearly as steady as I used to be. To be fair, I carefully hand load those rounds, but like highvel points out, it's not unusual at all.
 
In my younger years I used to routinely topple 36" tall steel rams at
silouhette matches with my Dan Wesson .44 magnum with 8" barrel
at 200 meters.
 
If 75 isnt far what is? I am not being scarcastic I am actually asking.
Click to expand...

For me, 'far' is when the front sight appears wider than the target's head. If I have to aim based on selecting a section of the front sight in order to hit my target, the target is "far." That isn't to say that the target is beyond my capabilities or the capabilities of the gun, just that making precise shots are more difficult.
 
Bob Munden.........i've seen him shoot 100-200yds with a 38 snubbie.....

it just goes to show that generally the gun is capable of more than the average shooter.....and of course Bob Munden is no "average" shooter tho :)
 
If the target is stationary, I'm able to hit an E-Type Silhouette at 100 yards most of the time with our current M9 pistol. With its light recoil, it is quite capable of rapid fire hits of one every second and half or so from a roll over prone position. From a standing position I guess I'd call it a 50 yard gun.

With my very accurate 6" Model 28 S&W 200 yards is not out of the question when using heavy bullets at top end velocities. I have 180 grain cast bullet and 180 grain Remington hollow point loads that work well in both it and a Marlin rifle at long range.

Growing up in the Rocky Mountain States, long range shooting for fun was the norm. A good trick is to paint thin horizontal lines on your front sight and use those for reference points when superelevating your front sight above your rear sight. This works well with the grooved Baughm ramp sight on S&W revolvers. Someday when I retire and move back to the open spaces I'd like to cut thin lines into the sight and then inlay gold wire into them for those reference points.

As an aside, sight allignment is critical when shooting at long range (any range for that matter). An allignment error imparts an angular error that increases with range. The short sight radius on a pistol exacerbates the error at a much greater rate than with a rifle.
 
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long range

Our club had a full sized steel Buffalo at 600 yards that we would hit with an 8" Smith model 25. We always said " hold High its an adventure". You can hit the 12" gong at 200 with your 22 pistols after a little practice too.

papa
 
50 yards is the longest range I have near me. Hitting the target at 50yds is no problem for my 92FS. It's going for the 10's at that distance that is hard! (Still haven't been able to pull off the Mel Gibson smiley face trick either ... I keep trying though. :D )
 
I set up man size targets @ 100yds. for fun with a G 21 45ACP & colt 70 serious gold cup,After shooting like that a while 15-25yd. hits come quick & easy.:D:D
 
Front Sight

I can see what you mean in regards to the front sight appearing larger or more specifically wider than the target. I was dry firing at targets in the back yard and I noticed that effect.

With the G27 this seems to happen at roughly 100 yards. It is the exact same effect I expirence with my Bow shooting at longer ranges. The pin begins to appear larger than the vital area. I can compensate well enough with the bow so I figure it would be similar with the gun.

Thanks, Vermonter
 
If 75 isnt far what is?
Click to expand...

Bullseye shooters routinely shoot slow fire one handed, offhanded at 50 yards, and the good ones routinely group them into 4-5 inches. 100 yards shooting at a 12" gong shouldn't be a big deal, especially from a rest.
 
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