Your Own Shooting Ability ? ? ?

[Ben]

On a " good day " for you :

1. With your favorite center fire auto pistol or revolver

2. With your favorite loads

3. No props, free hand, slow fire, one hand hold or two hand hold .

4. Standing on your feet.

5. No scopes, metallic sights only

How far has this target ( seen below ) got to be from you before you're
unable to keep 5 consecutive rounds in the black :

 

[Brad]

Not far enough. I would say, realistically, 15 yards. Depends on the handgun and the day but certainly no more than 20-25 yards.
Best I have for this is my SRH with 44 special loads. With a fair bit of work I can do 25 yards with my 1911 but that would take some practice. By some I mean 300 plus rounds of steady work.

 

[45 2.1]

I don't "target shoot" with a handgun anymore, and haven't for a very long time..... but probably 60 yards under your conditions. Sitting off my knees is an entirely different story though since that is the way I deer hunt. I wonder if you would propose the same question about offhand rifle?

 

[Ben]

45 2.1

Well, ........ now that you've suggested it.
What about " Off Hand " center fire rife ?

Same target.
Standing.
No props, no tree to lean up against , etc.
No scope, metallic sights only.
No Sling
Center fire rifle.
Standing , slow fire, 3 shots
How far for three ( 3 ) consecutive shots, ALL
striking somewhere in the 4 " dia. Black Bull.

 

[Rick]

I haven't competed in many years now either but back in the day when I could see both sights and target I practiced iron sight revolver on targets much that size at 200 meters (218 yards). Not off-hand as you suggest but rather Creedmoor shooting position. That was the good ole days, today I can't see sights or target and it makes for a very frustrating day at the range. I've got red dots on some hunting revolvers now & they can get me on target but the dot is big enough & covers up enough target that they aren't for shooting groups.

 

[Ben]

Ah Yes..........If we were 25 yrs. old again and
had those good eyes and steady hands.

I think my best shooting years were age 25 - age 30.
About this time frame, ( 40 yrs. ago ) with my trusty Model 14, Smith & Wesson
revolver, 8 3/8 " barrel, K - 38, In a 25 yard slow fire , center fire event, I beat
72 shooters and came in 1st place in 25 yard slow fire , bullseye, standing,
two hand hold shooting.

Everyone fired 5 rounds and the range master measured and scored the targets.
My 5 rounds could be covered with a quarter that day.

Gee, I'd like to be able to do that again !
For me personally, those truly were the good old days.

Ben

 

[Ben]

Brad,

Give or take a few yards, I'd have to realistically
say that I'm right there with you ! 20 - 25 yards.

Ben

 

[Ian]

Depends. Lighting good? Any distractions? 25 yards handgun, 40 yards rifle with irons and no sling under the best conditions, I have done this and done it a lot, and that's how the cookie crumbles for ME, on any given Sunday. Now, do I have 'buck fever'? Have I just hiked half a mile or more over rugged terrain? Is the paper plate armed? Am I in a hurry? Lucky to hit the plate 5/5 or 3/3 under stress.

If I were asked to put my very best five rounds on that target at 100 yards, standing, unsupported, with any gun and any optic I have, I would grab my 4" Kimber 1911 with the Tru-glo dual fiber-optic/Tritium three-dot sights and some American Eagle 230-grain ball. Strange, but offhand there is nothing I own that I can shoot better....especially way out there.

 

[Ben]

Ian,

WOAHHHH ! !

100 yards with a .45 Auto , - - - - now you really are separating the men from the boys.
I'd certainly end up in the back of the line in 100 yard competition.

 

[Rick]

Interesting thought, my 45 Springfield factory comp is a surprising shooter at 100. Well, surprised me anyway. I never competed with it but at the range one day I tried a bank of 5 100 meter 1/2 size pigs & cleaned the bank. For me off-hand that was a right good day. This 45 has a love affair with 068 & isn't real fussy about the load.

 

[45 2.1]

45 2.1

Well, ........ now that you've suggested it.
What about " Off Hand " center fire rife ?

Same target.
Standing.
No props, no tree to lean up against , etc.
No scope, metallic sights only.
Center fire rifle.
Standing , slow fire, 3 shots
How far for three ( 3 ) consecutive shots, ALL
striking somewhere in the 4 " dia. Black Bull.

Ben-
My offhand practice rifle is an old butchered (by some miscreant) K11 Swiss 7.5x55. My target is a 1.5" thick, 3" diameter steel disc hung from belting at 100 yards. When I did practice at it, I ran 50 count boxes without a miss offhand. My limit is being able to "see" a 4" whatever it may be... that usually takes some contrast with the sun on it now. Age has it's problems, doesn't it. Long range rifle with cast holds little mystery for me as long as I can see what I want to hit.

 

[Rick]

Depends. Lighting good? Any distractions? 25 yards handgun, 40 yards rifle with irons and no sling under the best conditions, I have done this and done it a lot, and that's how the cookie crumbles for ME, on any given Sunday. Now, do I have 'buck fever'? Have I just hiked half a mile or more over rugged terrain? Is the paper plate armed? Am I in a hurry? Lucky to hit the plate 5/5 or 3/3 under stress.

If I were asked to put my very best five rounds on that target at 100 yards, standing, unsupported, with any gun and any optic I have, I would grab my 4" Kimber 1911 with the Tru-glo dual fiber-optic/Tritium three-dot sights and some American Eagle 230-grain ball. Strange, but offhand there is nothing I own that I can shoot better....especially way out there.

I just checked my notes, American Eagle is Federal and my best factory ammo groups were with Federal 230 gr FMJ round nose.

 

[Ben]

45 2.1
I've never fired a Swiss rifle.

I've read many articles on how accurate they are.
Sounds like you have a real shooter.

Ben

 

[45 2.1]

45 2.1
I've never fired a Swiss rifle.

I've read many articles on how accurate they are.
Sounds like you have a real shooter.

Ben

All the K11's I've fired do extremely well.... that's the ~24" barreled version with the front sight wings. The earlier versions ('89, '96, '96/11), the G11 rifle and the K31's don't do nearly as well. If you get one, I'll tell you what it likes.

 

[fiver]

it would have to be shot by someone better than I can shoot but I have guns and loads that'll do it.
okay, okay nuff kidding around.

hmm 4" circle with a handgun,, the ruger hunter in 41 mag with me actually shooting it could keep a cylinder full in there to about 30yds without too much drama.
the 445 and 375 super mags should be able to do it out a bit further, but I can do it to @ 40yds with them without any drama now.

with most all of the lever guns and the 30-30 savage bolt gun I could stretch the 4" circle out close to 75yds. [reliably 100%]
I'm pretty sure the lever gun silhouette [half size target] matches we shoot helps a lot.
that and I shoot the jebus out of them.

 

[Ian]

Ian,

WOAHHHH ! !

100 yards with a .45 Auto , - - - - now you really are separating the men from the boys.
I'd certainly end up in the back of the line in 100 yard competition.

Try it sometime, Ben, seriously, it might be easier than you think as long as the .45 will shoot and has a good trigger. Your paper plate target should be fine, dot or no dot, just aim for the middle. Mine shoots to the same POI at 100 as it does at 15. I never was much of a rifleman standing on my hind legs, for some reason I never practiced it at all at any point in my life...that's one reason I carry a staff when hunting.

 

[Ben]

This is all very interesting.
Thanks to all of you for your input and participation.

Keep it coming.

Ben

 

[smokeywolf]

I don't think I could keep 5 of 5 in 4" at 100 yards with a 1911 on my best day. The majority of target shooting I've done with the 1911 has been at short range; typically 25 yards. That was duck soup. When I was a kid; 11 years old or so, one of my favorite things to do when we were out in sticks was to follow a soda can down a dirt road while plinking it with the 45. If memory serves, distances were probably on the order of 30 to 40 yards. Keep in mind my 1911 is an unaltered 1917 manufacture Colt.

As far as rifles go, my model '95 Winchester in 30-06 is more accurate than just about anything else I own. With my my eyesight being certainly no better than most of you fine gentlemen, I'm lucky to keep 5 of 5 in 6" at 100 yards.

 

[Ben]

As to rifles shooting off hand :

This has got me to thinking, I have a nice ( SUPER ACCURATE ) 1903 Springfield with a Lyman 48 Rear and 17 A Front sight. Maybe it is time to get it out of the safe and give it a good workout at the range with the 4 " Bull , standing. I'll see how far I can go and still keep 3 consecutive rounds in the black ?

I need to see what this puppy can do ? ?

This is 5 shots @ 50 yards , 308 Win. with a plain based Lee 200 gr. RN with
7.0 grs. Bullseye. This kind of shooting isn't unusual at all with this particular rifle.

Of course, keep in mind this is with the rifle sitting on bags, not
standing like we've discussed. If I can hold this puppy steady , it will " drill it."

 

[smokeywolf]

I've got a Lyman 41 apertured peep on the Model '95 30-06.