Your most accurate handgun?
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458winshooter
New member
most accurate
4in 971 Rossi bought it many years ago for $200.Whoever had it before me knew what they were doing when they did the trigger job.For a gun of simple and inexpensive it is really a great gun.I have run everything from wimpy 38's to hot 357's and it has handled it all without a hitch.I guess it would sum it all up by saying it is more accurate than I am.
4in 971 Rossi bought it many years ago for $200.Whoever had it before me knew what they were doing when they did the trigger job.For a gun of simple and inexpensive it is really a great gun.I have run everything from wimpy 38's to hot 357's and it has handled it all without a hitch.I guess it would sum it all up by saying it is more accurate than I am.
Safestuffer
New member
This is a tackdriver for me
Here is the picture as I bid on it at auction
Here is the picture as I bid on it at auction
I fully admit that I am much better from a rest than I am off hand.
That said the best shooting handgun if you want to call it that is my Contender with the .223 AI barrel on it. It is fairly boring to shoot at 100yds unless you have a decent supply of flies to aim at, here is a 10shot group at 100,
The sad part of it is, if you want to call it that, is those aren't even handloads, they are from the Winchester White box 45gr .223 Varmint Pack ammo. They shoot so well I haven't even bothered to try and work up load for it yet.
With my revolvers I usually test loads from a rest when I am working them up, but once I find what I like it is only off hand from there. Since I hunt hogs with them all, from the GP-100's up through my 454 I only figure they are as good as I am. So why bother sitting behind a nice solid bench with a nice padded rest when it isn't available when I am out stomping around in the brush.
I DO have accuracy loads for them all with jacketed loads, but for the past two years I have been playing around with casting my own. As such I have been working with different alloy blends, and different bullet styles, trying to narrow down just what I want. I haven't nailed it down for all of them, but I do have some good candidates. With the 454 which is the first I cast for it is pretty much done, I haven't found anything, (really not even trying at this point) that will keep them together like this load below does.
Lee 452 300gr RF, Alloy straight clip on wheel weight, 1550fps at 25yds offhand from my 8.375" Raging Bull,
Score it how you like, but when I get 5 of those big slugs through a 1" or so square I call it good.
I can honestly say it holds them in tight like that out to further than I need to be shooting them. One of the last hogs I shot with it was trotting across the pasture from me at a lasered 87yards when I sent one through it's boiler works.
That said the best shooting handgun if you want to call it that is my Contender with the .223 AI barrel on it. It is fairly boring to shoot at 100yds unless you have a decent supply of flies to aim at, here is a 10shot group at 100,
The sad part of it is, if you want to call it that, is those aren't even handloads, they are from the Winchester White box 45gr .223 Varmint Pack ammo. They shoot so well I haven't even bothered to try and work up load for it yet.
With my revolvers I usually test loads from a rest when I am working them up, but once I find what I like it is only off hand from there. Since I hunt hogs with them all, from the GP-100's up through my 454 I only figure they are as good as I am. So why bother sitting behind a nice solid bench with a nice padded rest when it isn't available when I am out stomping around in the brush.
I DO have accuracy loads for them all with jacketed loads, but for the past two years I have been playing around with casting my own. As such I have been working with different alloy blends, and different bullet styles, trying to narrow down just what I want. I haven't nailed it down for all of them, but I do have some good candidates. With the 454 which is the first I cast for it is pretty much done, I haven't found anything, (really not even trying at this point) that will keep them together like this load below does.
Lee 452 300gr RF, Alloy straight clip on wheel weight, 1550fps at 25yds offhand from my 8.375" Raging Bull,
Score it how you like, but when I get 5 of those big slugs through a 1" or so square I call it good.
I can honestly say it holds them in tight like that out to further than I need to be shooting them. One of the last hogs I shot with it was trotting across the pasture from me at a lasered 87yards when I sent one through it's boiler works.
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Pond James Pond
New member
It is my soon-to-be-sold Ruger MkIII.
The sights, ammo and trigger come together well on that one. But, as it gets rarely used, it is going.
After that, it is a either my Ruger 4" RH or my CZ SP-01. Not sure which as I've spent more time on load development on the RH than just shooting, so load accuracy has been variable.
The SP-01 is just new to me but shows a lot of promise.
The sights, ammo and trigger come together well on that one. But, as it gets rarely used, it is going.
After that, it is a either my Ruger 4" RH or my CZ SP-01. Not sure which as I've spent more time on load development on the RH than just shooting, so load accuracy has been variable.
The SP-01 is just new to me but shows a lot of promise.
8MM Mauser
New member
Mike/TX: You are a rockstar buddy!
I used to put out groups like that too; with my rifle on a benchrest!
I used to put out groups like that too; with my rifle on a benchrest!
8MM Mauser
New member
I recently had a family member do a bunch of reloads for me of my 8MM Mauser brass; and the load is so different from the factory (Prvi Partizan) ammo I usually shoot my POI shifted by over 8 inches at 100 yards. It took me about 15-20 rounds to get it dialed in just where I wanted. The reloads kicked like a mule too; they will certainly be good deerslayers.
I really do need to start reloading for myself: there is a S&W 629 in the used section at my local Cabela's with a great price on it. A part of me wants to buy into a .44MAG because I know if I do the only cost effective way for me to actually shoot it would be to reload. Plus I would love to have an effective sidearm to carry hunting (or possibly take game with.)
That said, I usually shoot through my guns whatever I can buy for a good price. My Ruger used to get some decent ammo run through it; now it is whatever happens to be on the shelf when I'm in the store or whatever I can find reasonably priced online. Honestly, I have been shooting more 9MM lately. My last range session was 100 rounds of 9MM and only 50 rounds of .22, I used to pick up a 300 round box of .22 every single time I went shooting and shoot through the whole thing.
8MM Mauser
New member
My grandfather used to have a scoped super blackhawk and he has told me all kinds of stories about how far he has shot it and what game he has taken. When I was younger I didn't believe him; now after hearing the same stuff from many other people who have had them I do. If I could bring myself to not hate the blackhawk grip (it feels like it was made for a toddler; and I am not a particularly big guy) I would probably own one right now. I guess my hand is too used to the big, beefy Glock grip.
8MM Mauser
New member
My ruger at 7 yards offhand (darn flyer):
And 50 yards offhand (a couple 9mms floated over from my dad's target):
I'm not quite minute-of-rabbit at 50 yards; but given the distance and the sights and my frequency shooting, I'm not ashamed of it. I was shooting next to two guys with .22 rifles who did no better than I.
And 50 yards offhand (a couple 9mms floated over from my dad's target):
I'm not quite minute-of-rabbit at 50 yards; but given the distance and the sights and my frequency shooting, I'm not ashamed of it. I was shooting next to two guys with .22 rifles who did no better than I.
Naaa, just was brought up under a fella who appreciated it when everything came together, and he drove that home with me. Most of my rifles and loads will shoot very similar even being nothing but off the shelf factory. That said though, sometimes I might work on them off and on for a year or more to get them that way. Once I start in on one I get somewhat anal about it and will piddle with things until in my mind, it is right.
Years ago when I purchased my Redhawk in 44mag, I mounted a 4x Leupold on top of it. Then I worked up a load using the 180gr Sierra that would put up groups like the 454 does only out at 100yds. There were many days at the range where the folks shooting their hunting rifles were somewhat put off by those type groups coming from a 7.5" barreled revolver when their high dollar hunting rifles were grouping like buckshot.
One evening I ran into some fella's who were on the Ruger shooting team, and were all sporting the then brand new Super Redhawks. They were shooting awesome groups out at 200yds with the 300gr Sierra and open sights. After watching them for about an hour I went away feeling a bit like those folks with their rifles.
It simply takes a LOT of trigger time, and knowing in your mind when things feel right and the trigger breaks. Trust me though, for every set of groups I have, like pictured above, there have been plenty that took up MUCH more of the target.
8MM Mauser
New member
I look forward to the day when I have the time and resources to build up a load like that. I have decided I WILL get into reloading one of these days if for no other reason than providing myself with consistent ammo.
My dad does what you were saying with rifles; he'll hit a deer just fine of course but his groups are crap out at 100 yards, like a buckshot pattern, it doesn't bother him. It always gets me when somebody could be shooting much better but they are too quick to the trigger. He approaches shooting like it's just something to get done; like he's just checking he can hit a deer sized target.
For me it's more like your experience; something I really enjoy and value doing. I like building the skill to levels which far exceed the necessities of SD or hunting. Well, I'm trying at least. For a while about a year - year and a half ago I was shooting a lot (like every two weeks) and I was doing a lot better than right now. My groups with that aforementioned rifle have opened up by about an inch at 100 yards. I am still above what I consider the minimum threshold but it is not nearly as satisfying.
The worst part of it with the .22 is that I can never find consistent brands of ammo; one time I shoot Remington, another CCI and the next time Winchester; all have a slightly different POI which shows up at 10 yards but REALLY stands out at 50. I miss the days when I could load up on bulk packs and shoot that .22 for half the afternoon.
sawdustdad
New member
My most accurate is a stainless Dan Wesson .357 mag with a 6 inch barrel (one of the replaceable barrel models) that I bought in the late 1980s. I can consistently hit 1 lb coffee cans at 100yds with the open sights. At 25 yards, 6 shot groups are just over an inch.
Ruger MKII, stainless steel, that was worked over by Clark Custom Guns, they did a trigger job, reliability package and mounted a red dot sight.
Put the red dot on something and think about hitting it. Bang, it's hit dead center. It is the most amazing gun to shoot, it even out does my S&W model 41.
Gary
Put the red dot on something and think about hitting it. Bang, it's hit dead center. It is the most amazing gun to shoot, it even out does my S&W model 41.
Gary