what's the true effective range of a 2 inch snubby?

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bullfrog99

New member
I have a ported taurus 606 revolver with a two inch tube, and i find it will hit a 16 oz soup can every time from 50 yards, so i wonder what is the practical effective range of a snubby, i was under the assumption that 25 yards was about it.
 
Bullfrog: very impressive. Regardless of how you do it, it's very impressive. I can't hit a target the size of a soup can at 25 yards with a 4 inch barrel. My question is: is that using a rest, one handed, two handed, double action, single action, open sights, scoped, taking a while to aim, etc.? I'm just trying to guage my performance in comparison to others.
 
SHot a taurus 3 inch 357 at 100 yrds.I very easly could hold man size torso area with it.There have been some tests made with a rest to compare accuracy between a 2-4-6 inch barrels.Off of a rest there isn't any real accuacy difference.A short barrel with the short sighting radius is just harder to shoot.
 
In my view it's the maximum distance to which you can truthfully claim that you fired in self-defense if you have to shoot someone.

Pretty much with ANY carry gun that's going to be anywhere from contact distance to about 10 yards, with mitigating circumstances always possible.
 
The design of the snub nose revolver was to defend yourself from a close encounter, inside 25 feet. Not to be aimed, but pointed. And in some cases where things develop rapidly, shot from the hip. Feeling the warm gases filtering through your clothes from fame escaping between the cylinder and forcing cone. You have 1.3 second. Can you do it?

Robert
 
I truly believe 50 plus yards is possible with a snubby. My SP 101 is a tack driver out to 20 yards. I bet it could hit accurately much further, if I was a good shot.
 
I used to watch, amazed,

...as my boss would assume his antiquated one-handed bullseye shooter's stance and ding pie-plates, one after another, at 50 yards with his or his wife's J-frames.

Completely changed my mind about the "inherent accuracy potential" of snubbies.
 
that accuracy comes from a seated knee rest, but it can be done from off hand branrot, it just seemed odd that a 25 or under yard gun made to point and click with crappy sights could do so well at such ranges.
 
Saw Bob Munden burst a balloon at 200 yds. with a .38 snubby on American Shooter not too long ago. I use to have a S&W 37 with which I could routinely hit pop cans at 25 yds. without too much trouble. It really depends on who's doing the shooting. The accuracy is there it's just that the sight radius is sooooooo short. regards, birdman
 
i've only shot my 642 out to 50yds on our PPC course (fewer rounds, less time) and i can keep all of them inside inside the 9-ring...so i would think i could hit a torso from the draw within 2 sec.

i work for head shots from 25yds...soup can at 50yds is enought to impress me
 
I'll join with those who say it depends on the shooter. Have seen Model 36 2" holdin bout 8" group at 100yds, one handed n offhand.

I used a 2" back in the 60s to requal as expert on Navy course. Shot a lot then and was young enough to actually see the front sight on a short gun. Not no mo.

Use...you are hundred yards from car with long gun in it, see somebody who is willing to shoot at you to get your car. Use short gun to cover for your partner who is clearing malfunction in long gun.

Sam...guess dirt here to stay but still wonderin bout stainless.
 
I am always amused by the old "I can hit ping pong balls at 100 yards double action..." threads. The question shouldn't be "what is possible", but rather "what is practical"?

For example, I am one hell of a shot with my compound bow and I can drill 5 spots all day long at 40 yards and a pie plate at 60 yards isn't much of a challenge. Still, I consider my effective range under hunting conditions to be about 30 yards and 20 is better.

I bought a 632 Smith a couple of weeks ago and I can hold a 8 inch circle double action at 25 yards shooting at a pretty good clip. I am also a Master Class PPC shooter. Still, I would think my effective range under less than ideal conditions to be about 10 yards. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Hey Bullfrog,
You are a beter shot than I am, my friend.
I am only good with my Taurus 605 out to about 12 yards. Of course, I do not shoot it as often as I would like. Money is tight right now, and I find myself reverting back to the .22LR to satisfy my filthy gunpowder habit. ;) I did, however take some cerebral-occular shots at 25 yards with my Ruger 22/45 a couple of weeks ago. :)
 
I'd have a better chance hitting a soup can at 50 yards with my S&W snubbie if I threw gun and all in that direction. I may be getting too old to get it that far though. I'll bet I could get more distance throwing a titanium.

25 yards is about it for me shooting the thing. I wouldn't be consistently punching holes in soup cans at that range but on a target, I'd be keeping it in the black.

The Captain
 
When my eyes were a lot younger I once shot a match (private-run what you brung type) with a 2 inch M&P .38. Came in third out of 22 behind a couple of target grade 1911 shooters. The match was "slow fire" and I could take my time lining up the sights as well as firing SA. Since the snubbie in question (my wife's carry gun) is from 1941 and has a few million miles on it the SA pull is something under 8 ounces (lowest my trigger guage will register). With this I found that slow aimed fire was pretty easy. Rapid DA isn't going to look that good though. Range was 50 yards. The simple answer is that the snubby can shoot as well as the ammo being used, whether the shooter can match the gun's accuracy is another question.
 
Given a choice, no one would use a snubby (or any handgun) at 100 yards, but I can keep my shots in a silhouette target at that distance, double action, standing, with two hand hold, using a 3" Chiefs Special. (If the target shoots back, forget that "standing" business!)

Someone mentioned 1.3 seconds to fire a shot in self defense. Unless that includes the draw it's way too slow. I can empty the cylinder of my Model 19 in that time.

Jim
 
I have a 12" round metal gong set up 75 yds. off the back porch. On a good day I can ring it 5 for 5 with 158 gr. +p from my 2" SP101. This is single action, offhand, weaver stance. Double action drops that down to 3 for 5. I find the short barreled revolvers to be plenty accurate but just plain harder to shoot due to miniscule sights and miniscule sight radius. Also, the breaks like a green twig trigger pull found on most factory guns doesn't help. Trigger control and sight picture are of the utmost importance with any shooting, especially the snubbies. Learning the point of impact of your bullets at extended ranges is a great help in hitting those long shots. Try shooting only a snub for a few months. Practice long range shooting with an emphasis on getting that near to perfect sight picture and trigger break. Then go back to shooting your longer barreled guns. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to hit with them.
 
I think the question is still one of what is practical not what is possible. I'll use my Edge and you can use your snubbie, and we'll have a little man on man steel speed shoot at various sized plates from 10 to 35 yards...enough said.
 
I agree with you Ron that just because something is possible doesn't mean it is practical. There are far more ideal guns for engaging targets farther than 7 yards than a snubby. Its just that many times a person finds himself in a less than ideal situation with less than ideal tools. The ability to hit at long ranges with a snubby might save my life some day. Who knows? I certainly won't dedicate 90% of my training to it, but I don't see how a little long range practice can hurt.
 
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