When They Say Yard, do They Mean Feet?

[Doodlebugger45]

It all depends on the gun and the rest to me. If I have a bench rest, I have 2 revolvers that can get about a 1.5" group at 25 yards most days. One is a 22 with a 7.5" barrel and the other is a 44 mag with an 8 3/8" barrel. If I'm shooting offhand, it's probably about twice that group usually. And if I'm shooting my little 3" barrel 357 magnum, well, it's probably more like 4-5" with a rest at that distance. But 25 yards is a fairly reasonable distance to practice with if you intend to do any hunting with a handgun, like I do with the 44 mag. I occasionally shoot it out to 100 yards. At that distance, with a good rest, I feel confident I can put my bullets inside a 6" target with that revolver.

The nice thing about shooting at 25 yards all the time is that when you finally bring the target into the 7 yard distance, it looks ridiculously simple, even with the little 3" revolver.

 

[Alleykat]

Folks who can really shoot 1", five-shot groups, offhand, @ 25 yds., with a centerfire handgun are as rare as hens' teeth.

Some of the best groups you'll ever hear of are executed on keyboards.

I've run across a few guys on forums like this who claimed to be able to shoot 1" groups @ 25 yds., offhand. One, in particular, claimed to be able to shoot 10 rd groups like that "all day long." Challenged the claimer with a generous wager, and, miraculously, his "religion" prohibited him from gambling. Wonder what his religion said about lying?

 

[RockyTop]

When you can make a happy face at 25 yrds you know you the man..Seriously though I think I shoot well most of the time but sometimes I shoot excellent and other times good god I Suck.Could be the same gun, same ammo, same distance with different results at the indoor range,so I can't blame the weather conditions.

I generally blame it on the amount of coffee I drank that day.

 

[djohn]

I think I mentioned this once but if not I seen a older gentlemen around 65 shooting a 44 magnum at 25 yrds and boy was I very impressed.He not only had most of the holes about and inch or less he had a big hole out of the center bullyseye and Off Hand w open sites.I can only dream I was that good,I think I might have a chance with a 22 long gun and scope.

 

[spacemanspiff]

You want fun? Try shooting steel plates at 50 yards. I've never had much trouble at 25 yards, but at 50, all your shooting mistakes are painfully obvious.

My shooting efforts have dwindled, but when I do go, my main concern is with shooting decent groups at 5-10 yards.

 

[darkgael]

group

Here's a pic of a target that was shot at twenty-five yards, standing one hand unsupported, by a member of another forum. It was an international competition in Russia. He came in second.

 

[johnwilliamson062]

I shoot sub one inch groups with my fixed sight G26 @25 yards quite regularly. Sometimes at moving targets.

Then I wake up and go to work.

I saw a guy who could pull that off last week. At 25 feet he put about 15 in the X, 3 in the 10 and the other two in the nine. Rapid fire. I was pretty impressed. I imagine he could put a one inch group together slow fire, but not EVERY time out at 25 yards off hand.

 

[P-990]

Allow me a 2-handed hold (usually a modified Iso) and I am good for 4-5" at 25 yards pretty routinely shooting my 4" S&W M-19. It will shoot better than that, but that's about all I can do. I'm working on it though!

As for range, 25-yards is pretty close. I shoot my revolvers and autos at a plate at 50 yards when I can. And I love shooting my Highpower rifle, and have spent lots of time shooting at 300 yards, and some at 600 (but not as much as I would like). With a little practice and dedication, it's amazing what you can do.

 

[Alleykat]

saw a guy who could pull that off last week. At 25 feet he put about 15 in the X, 3 in the 10 and the other two in the nine. Rapid fire. I was pretty impressed. I imagine he could put a one inch group together slow fire, but not EVERY time out at 25 yards off hand.

Next time you see that guy, get him to move that target on out to 25 yds and see how well he does! Here're 42 shots from my G17 @ around 7 yds (pretty close to 25'), shot at less than one second per shot. Move that sucker on out to 25 yds., and that group ain't looking so spiffy! Got bored and had a few flyers!

 

[Sport45]

To this:

Here's a pic of a target that was shot at twenty-five yards, standing one hand unsupported, by a member of another forum. It was an international competition in Russia. He came in second.

I can only agree with Alleykat when he said:

Folks who can really shoot 1", five-shot groups, offhand, @ 25 yds., with a centerfire handgun are as rare as hens' teeth.

Sure, there are folks who can shoot insanely small groups at amazing distances. But anyone who thinks everyone should be able to do that on demand is fooling themselves.

Great handgun shooters (l'd say less than 2" at 25yd with boring repeatability) are few and far between.

 

[ghalleen]

Depending on the gun, I shoot at 25 yards (75 feet) anywhere from 2-4 inch groups with my carry gun. My LEO friend can shoot my same guns, though, and have groups in the 1-inch range, consistently. He humbles me every time we shoot, and it always encourages me to concentrate on my sight picture, breathing, and trigger pull.

I used to shoot all the time (ammo was a lot cheaper 25 years ago when I was in the US Army). With my TC Contender .44 magnum, I was getting 3/4-inch groups at 50 yards. Yes, it looked like a clover leaf. Don't ask me to do it again, though, because I'm not the shooter I was back then. Practice definitely makes a difference.

 

[Shane Tuttle]

Here's a pic of a target that was shot at twenty-five yards, standing one hand unsupported, by a member of another forum. It was an international competition in Russia. He came in second.

And I bet he wasn't exactly using a Springfield XD Service model with stock sights, either. I can accept claims of 1" groups at 25 yards with a handgun designed for target accuracy in very capable hands. I don't accept the same claim using a firearm designed to be combat accurate.

 

[m&p45acp10+1]

I have been working at shorter ranges lately. Due to lack of time to practice, and the ability to pay for ammo and range fees. I did on my last range visit break out the old 4 inch Python. I hit a personal best of splitting 5 of 6 playing cards at 20 feet. Time was somewhere in the 20 second area. It was slow fire. I was using 38 spcl. one handed. I should note that I grew up bening taught by my grampa. He was a trick shooter in a wild west show in his early days before he joined the army. He could do it in under 6 seconds and that was slow for him.

 

[more forty fives]

Just have to say ALLYCAT and SPORT45 said it all.I just want to no how shooting a 1" group at 25 yards can cause all this turmoil.Hell i can't but they still let me play

 

[Shane Tuttle]

Because it's a coded thread to vehemently bash Mall Ninjas...

 

[novalty]

I train at around 7 to 10 yards using iron sights on 5906. As I haven't shot the gun very much (due to FTF issue, which S&W just fixed) was happy with grouping for inexperience. Reason I shoot at that range normally is that is the longest distance I expect to have to use it in my house for self defense. Once the gun arrives today, and I am able to get some more practice, I will move my distance further back. I shoot on my father's property and could shoot at distances over 100 yards, but for a handgun with iron sights, 4" barrel and no scope it just seems like a waste of time and $$$ on ammo--which is hard to find. Now for those that would say I am wasting my time at 7-10 yards, and not great training for the CCW permit I have, I would say that I would feel hard pressed to defend myself in court for shooting at someone that was 25 or 50 yards away--unless standing in an open field and being fired upon. As according to my State's law "Deadly Force.." can be used "...only when the person reasonably believes such force is necessary: To defend the person or 3rd person from what the private citizen believes to be the IMMINENT use of deadly force."

Have been told that the State Police for Maine qualify at 3 yards, yes 9 feet annually.

 

[treg]

Have been told that the State Police for Maine qualify at 3 yards, yes 9 feet annually.

Would be very interesting if they have to draw from a non-ready position and hit a target quicker than a young, fit man can cover nine feet.

 

[FF/EMT]

Ya 25 yards isn't too hard of a shot. I don't want to give a big list or anything but time and practice did it for me...and having a marine/cop of 27 years for a dad helped a bit. Just being raised around them ya know?

 

[Radagast]

I've managed a 5 shot 1 inch group at 25 meters (.38 special winchester 158 grain round nose, 6 inch 686). That was braced, two handed and with the first cylinder full. That's precision accuracy.

Last Monday I put 40 rounds through a CZSP01 at 15 meters rapid fire, all rounds in the A zone of an IPSC target at 15 meters. That's practical accuracy.

The one time I tried at S&W 686 with 4 position front sight I knocked over 10 out of 10 half sized chickens at 25 meters with ten shots. The first time I shot my S&W 66 I knocked over 4 out of five half size rams at 100 meters with 6 shots. That's reasonable hunting accuracy.

It all depends on your purpose in shooting. It can be making noise, a zen experience, hunting, self defence or something else again. If I am 'in the zone' I can amaze myself with my shooting. If I'm not then I'm just competent.

The Zen type shooters are scarily accurate.

 

[Japle]

25-30 years ago when I was shooting IHMSA (handgun metallic silhouette), I was one of a few hundred International class shooters in the Production Standing class.
For those who aren't familiar with the sport as it was back then, this involved shooting from a two-hand standing position with unmodified iron-sighted factory guns (trigger work was OK) at targets from 50 to 200 meters. The 200 meter target was a 55 lb steel silhouette of a desert bighorn and if the target didn't fall when you hit it, it counted as a miss. Anything under .357 Mag was considered inadequate. Hot-loaded 7TCUs were the standard.

Anyhow, you had to shoot about 10" groups to stay on the 150M turkeys and 12" groups at 200M to stay on the rams. If you could shoot the equivalent of 1.5" 25 yd groups, you had a chance at a big match if there was no serious competition. Remember, this is outdoors in the wind. The State, Regional and International matches were 80 shot affairs. You had to be able to shoot and you had to be in good shape. And the fact that several hundred people were watching you .........

Basically, any International class shooter could shoot groups under 2" on an indoor 25 yd range on demand. So can the top USPSA shooters. Brian Enos has stressed for years that you should be able to shoot very good to excellent groups on demand if you expect to be successful in competition.

IMNSHO, the reason most shooters think 2" groups are nearly impossible is that they've never had proper instruction and haven't paid their dues with thousands of hours of dryfire and careful work on the range. They buy a 9mm or .45 as their first gun and don't learn trigger control, follow-through and calling the shot. A few hours a week with an accurate pellet gun, learning to put ALL their shots on a 1" paster at 20' would take them a long way toward those impossible groups.