How do you accurately shoot your handgun?

[teddy12b]

Hello Everyone,
   It never fails that when I read posts on forums that there are always people talking about incredible shots they have made with a handgun.  I’m a decent shot, but I have to admit that a 100 yard shot is a huge challenge for me and I think it’s because I have never been “properly” trained on how to accurately shoot a handgun. 

What kind of grip, techniques, and habits do you need to be able to hunt with a handgun and be able to shoot it accurately?

[Redhawk1]

With a handgun for my long distance shooting, it is either done off of a bi-pod or some sort of a rest in the field. The key is practice.

[jro45]

I have rubber grips on my S&W 500 to absorb some of the recoil. I do like Redhawk1 said for long range shooting.

[jhalcott]

 what handgun are you using? What sights? Are you trying to shoot standing offhand? I almost NEVER shoot without a rest of some kind. Your grip on a revolver HAS to be the same for the accuracy to be there.For long range (usually more than 100 yards) a scope is better than irons.I've proven to more than one person that it is possible to hit soda bottles at 200 or even 300 yards.WITH A SCOPED HANDGUN AND A GOOD REST! Buy an air pistol and practice in your basement, backyard or garage. Use smaller and smaller targets till you can hit aspirins regularly.There are some books about competive pistol shooting around ,they can help more than a post on the web.

[Questor]

This is an excellent question. My answer is that I worked up to longer ranges by gradually gaining confidence and ability. Grips, stances, etc., don't matter much as long as they are steady and comfortable for you. Basic pistol fundamentals apply, and there are several books that help.

Most helpful was shooting in silhouette matches because that taught me that shooting a pistol at 200 yards accurately is not that difficult with a bit of practice.

Then prairie dog shooting with a pistol helped a lot because I was shooting small targets at long distances (200+ yards) in a windy environment and at unknown distances.

Then there was really mastering the idea that a shooting rest is almost always available and that you should equip yourself to have and use a rest. That rest may be the trunk of a tree, a hay bale, or a day pack, or any of a number of other rests. The important thing is to avoid taking shots at game without a rest unless you're a great shooter.

Long shots aren't what handgun hunting is about, although for some it can be. It's really about the satisfaction of doing something that taxes your skills.

[safetysheriff]

develop a consistent placement of your hand(s) on the firearm; develop a consistent hold/strength of grip when using the firearm; use a rest whenever possible.   you'll see good results with practice.

my shooting "goes out the window" when i use caffeine or asthma inhalers beforehand.   i can't hold still then.   otherwise, with the above 'proviso's, and with my elbows being bent to allow the handgun to recoil without punishing me, my shooting at 100 yards is very good.   with a .44 mag' i'd hit a deer very readily at that distance with open sights...........and no 'stimulants'.   my hits on 8 1/2" by 11" pieces of paper at 100 yards tells me so.

i believe you can do as well, with practice, if your eyesight is good.

good hunting to you,

ss'   

[Dusty Miller]

The most important thing about shooting a handgun is trigger control.  The finger stroke that pulls the trigger must be smoothe and positive, not jerky.  The next thing in line is to concentrate on the front sight and let the target go a bit fuzzy.  Those two things coupled with a rest and lots of practice will bring your groups down considerably. 

[Cheesehead]

Dusty Miller is so right. I shot bullseye competition for years and I believe these two things, trigger control and front sight focus  are the most important. Stance and breath control come into play also. Extreme concentration is a must. In my competition pistol box I wrote down in order the thought process for every shot. I used the press instead of pull the trigger to aid in concentrating on correct trigger control. This worked for me for years.

1. Grip
2. Breath
3. 10 ring
4. total concentration
5. press the trigger

Cheese

[Jerry Lester]

To sum up my method simply in a nut shell...

If I want to shoot good at 25 yards, I practice at 50 till I'm pretty decent. If I'm wanting to shoot good at 50, then I practice at 100 yards till I'm hitting reasonably good. When I started getting pretty good at 100 yards, I started shooting quite a bit a 150+ yards to try and get even better at it.

After thousands of rounds like this, I now feel confident of hitting a squirrels head at 20+ yards offhand, and a groundhog is in serious trouble at 50+ yards.

[Glanceblamm]

I was one who had the problem of keeping the sights (two short radious objects) and the target out at a distance all in focus. They looked good to the eye, but that is not where the shots were going.

This improved GREATLY several years ago when I learned to keep the sights in sharp focus and to let the target blurr to an extent.
A blurred target (even a small one) can easily be picked up and has a large center when practicing this.

 

[xphunter]

Teddy,
You have been given some great advice.  Be patient with yourself and remember to keep having fun.
If it is possible find someone who is a good handgunner and have them watch you.  They may catch something you don't even percieve you are doing, like popping your head up after a shot to see where it went.
Stance is important.  Whether standing, at the bench or in a field position there will be a stance/posture that will naturally point at the target and will keep you from fighting against yourself.
ONe way to do that off-hand is to stand comfortable facing the target with your handgun unloaded, pointed down.  Now shut your eyes and bring the gun up and point straight toward the target.  When you open your eyes, many times you will be aiming to the right or the left of your target.  Now shift/rotate your feet to naturally align yourself with the target.  You will also be able to shoot longer this way since you are not fighting against yourself.
The goal is to take yourself out of the process as much as possible and let the gun do its work.

[Mikey]

teddy12b:  the first thing I do with every pistol or revolver I own is to 'bench' them to see what sort of groups they are capable of with the sights and loads I am using.  Once I know the gun is capable of whatever sized groups I can manage from a rested position on the bench then I will know what I have to do to group the same in the field. 

If your gun is a 'kicker' you may need to load it down a bit to practice your shooting techniques.  Once you know how it shoots you will need to practice your trigger control, focusing on your sight picture and your breathing to get it to shoot the same in the field as from the bench.  You should practice your grip (don't change it to recock a revolver, use your other hand and maintain your grip), your sight picture and your trigger control.  Breathing is important - you do not want to be 'winded' or tired or stressed when you are trying to practice as it does not help you group well.  Give yourself a regular break during your shooting routine, it should help.  Also, try and remember that, unless you are practicing self defensive shooting where your stress levels should be almost as high as they woould be during a deadly encounter, you should try and have some fun with this, it gives you a better mindset for self improvement (jmho). 

As xphunter said, have someone who is a good handgunner watch you, and help you with your shooting techniques.  This can be important - if you get the wrong guy who turns out to be a blowhard and can't hit his target you won't get good advice.  A good shooter should be able to help you.

OK, now go practice some more.  HTH.  Mikey.

[jhalcott]

 A video recorder is a valuable tool to help you SEE what you are doing wrong. This method was used to improve the accuracy of several police officers I know . Of course you need some one ABLE to spot the mistakes and show you them.The videos showed a couple officers anticapating the shot ,and at leastone closing their eyes when they pulled the trigger.

[Dusty Miller]

Hey, I like that video recorder idea.  I'm gonna give that a try. 

[jimatcat]

depends on which gun i'm shooting.... xp100 7-308 with king tube is shot creedmore.... flat of mmy back, with barrel resting on my right leg.... 45acp, is shot either weak hand or strong hand, standing, shooting arm supported by other hand, gripping the wrist.... 44mag is shot either way, prefer creedmore.... 22, 25, 38 super, and 9mm follows 45acp.....t/c contenders are shot standing, 1 hand holding the grip, the other supporting the fore-end.....i know the capabilities of each gun, each load, and shoot accordingly.....i'm comfortable shootiing the 7-308 out to about 300 meters....

[PaulS]

With my four inch Ruger I shot silhouettes off hand - no support to the arms or support from the arms to the wrist or gun.
When I am hunting I find a way to support my forearm to steady the shot. The closer I can get to the wrist, the better it is. I never rest the gun on anything - it changes the point of impact. At the range I will fire off hand and with my forearm supported. the point of impact changes very little.

[jhalcott]

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob85.html  I googled "shooting handguns accurately" and ONE of the responses was this one.

[Lloyd Smale]

I do a fair amount of long range handgun shooting and a few people hit it on the head. First thing you have to do is shoot about 10000 rounds to learn trigger control! You also need to work up an accurate load. If your gun is shooting 3 inch at 25 your not going to hit much out far. Once you get an accurate load move it out to 100 yards and work it up again because lots of loads that shoot well at 25 dont at 100 and if your shooting past 200 you need to do it again as alot of bullet designs just dont fly past that range accurately. Then what you need to do is place targets out at all the ranges your going to shoot in a spot where theres sand that allows you to see your hits so you can tell where your hitting and then shoot another 10000 rounds and by that time you will be doing a fair job of long range shooting. Heavy for caliber bullets usually fly the best and swcs and lfns are usaually the best. You want a load that you will not flinch in the smallest amount because if you arent perfect with your form you will be all over the place. YOu also want a load that has at least a little snort to it as Ive found that most of the time loads under 1000 fps dont do that well. Id bet youd be amazed after this how well a sixgun set up right will do even off hand. I can pretty much hit steel out to 500 yards as well with a handgun with open sights as i can with a rifle. One more thing if your shooting off hand (at least for me) leave the scope off. Its just to hard to hold steady enough to trust your instincts. In my opinion its a matter of training your brain to take over and squezze the trigger at the proper time and that will come with LOTS of practice. Also never hold over on a target. Allways drop your back sight instead as you cant hit what you cant see. Now dont take this as me condoning shooting live targets out at 200 yards with an open sighted handgun. Could i do it? possibly would i do it NO! Can it be done? Yes but  not by shooters like you and I. Theres just to many variables in skill equiptment and load behavior and field conditions. I place a maximum range to shoot a live animal at 100 yards with open sights and 150 with a scope and thats rested. Cut that in half off hand. Now that may not be your limits but its mine

[teddy12b]

I have two 44 magnums that I can hunt with.  Ones a desert eagle that I've had for years, and the other is a ruger super blackhawk that I've had for less than a year.  I have been handloading 180 jhp over H110 following the sierra guidelines.  I've also loaded up to 300gr rounds but I like the idea of a lighter faster bullet, not than any 44 mag wouldn't perform.  Do any of you have a favorite load for your 44 mags?

[jhalcott]

  I have had bad luck with the lighter bullets in the 44 mag revolver on deer. The 240's seem to do a much better job of anchoring deer. I TRIED to work up over 19 gr of 2400,my gun shows HIGH pressure signs at 19.5 grains with Speer 240's. I shoot a lot of cast thru my handguns now. It gets the job done and gives me a sense of satisfaction that doesn't come with store bought ammo.There are SOO many powders that work very well in the 44.grab a manual and check what's on your shelf .START LOW and work up till you find the accuracy you need.

[safetysheriff]

i'd try either Alliant's Blue Dot with the 180's, or i'd go with possibly IMR's Hi-Skor 800-X, which Ed Matunas years ago found to be an excellent powder in the .44 Magnum.   Matunas wrote the handloading column for the NRA's American Hunter in the early 1990's.   He also wrote in the Gun and/or Handloader's Digests.   

He did not like to shoot the .44 Mag'; but he learned that it was Very Accurate and that Hi-Skor 800-X was one way to make it 'sing'.

I also like the use of Alliant's 2400 with either cast or jacketed bullets.   But i'd generally go with the jacketed bullets for whitetails.

take care,

ss'