Author Topic: Accuracy expectations (Read 793 times)

Feldhege · « **on:** March 13, 2006, 03:50:09 AM »

Hey guys,
This weekend my buddy and I got together for a little trap and skeet shooting. When we were done, we went down to the 100 yd range for a little plinking with the 44 mag. Now I didn't bring mine cause I didn't know we were going to do this. He has a 6" colt anaconda. We setup a target at 50 yards which he said is what he sighted his gun in at. We put up a target and put a 6" shoot-N-C on it. It became apparent that my accuracy is not what I expected. Using his gun, with iron sights, I could not hit that shoot-N-C. SO obviously I need some practice but this really shook me up. I hear you guys talking about shooting groups at 50 yards but what should I be able to do at that distance? Primarily I want to hog hunt (and later deer hunt) with mine (when the 8" barrel gets back) but I need to practice now. The guide service I will be using says they usually get a shot around 35 yards average but up to 50 is possible.

So I guess I am asking.

1. Is sighting in at 25 yards ok?
2. When practicing (up to 50 yards) what kind of grouping should I expect starting off.
3. What kind of accuracy should I be attempting to get? (Not all in one hole I hope)

Thanks guys and gals.

Robb

Ahab · « **Reply #1 on:** March 13, 2006, 05:34:14 AM »

Off hand, you should be able to get 3-4" groups at 25 yards and 4-6" at 50. Practice using sandbags on the bench first. Then, when you know that the gun you are using is capable of decent groups practice off hand. Yes, I know there are people out there who can do better. Just trying to give a realistic opinion. :-)

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 13, 2006, 06:00:11 AM »

I do a lot of handgun shooting, but I am a red-dot or scope shooter for hunting. I go however practice at 25 Yards to 5 yards with my CCW with open sights. Practice is the key to good shooting, practice at the range you intend to do your shooting from.

longwalker · « **Reply #3 on:** March 13, 2006, 06:08:04 AM »

I am assuming your problem was not grouping the shots. In my opinion start with some 44 special ammunition, practice shooting with your elbows on the bench and your forearms s resting on "sand bags". The idea here is to establish what you can shoot by developing your trigger pull. Shooting single action will make it easier. After you have established your trigger pull adjust your sights so that you are hitting the portion of the target you want to hit. You should be able to look at the target and say I fired each shot correctly. No flyers no pulls. By using low powered ammunition you concentrate on trigger pull and not anticipation of recoil.

once you have a good trigger pull buy a box 44 magnum ammunition. From the bench as before shoot at your target. When you have a group that you have shot well, no flyers. measure the group and adjust for impact point. Maybe an inch high at 50 yards. You should be able to shoot a group that is with in 2-3 inches pretty easily. Try different ammunition makers and bullet configurations you will find a combination that your gun will like best. Shoot these and you will find your group size will decrease and your confidence increase. I have found that by resting my forearms on the bags no adjustments to the sights are needed when shooting "off hand". When Shooing "off the bag" I generally need to adjust my sight down about an inch at 50 yards.

I can't stress enough the need for practice. Handguns are not hard to shoot but require you to shoot differently than shotgun shooting. It is a gifted marksman that shoot shotguns rifles and pistol all well. Me I'm a fair to poor shotgun shooter. Develope you trigger pull and you will shoot all handguns better. The point of impact may not be there but you should be able to group them better than before.

Next fall when you go out deer hunting you won't have to worry if you can hit the deer, it will a matter of finding the deer and getting in to range.

Good Luck

longwalker

Feldhege · « **Reply #4 on:** March 13, 2006, 07:21:36 AM »

Thanks for the info guys, it will be very helpful.

I have lots of pistol experience. I shoot idpa with .45 and practice with my G19 in 9mm. I also have plinked around with my DW .357. The .44 is new to me as far as big bore handguns are concerned. I also have limited experience in revolvers. I totally agree that I will need a LOT more practice. When my 8" barrel gets back from my brother (making me a muzzle brake) I will be adding a Bushnell Holosight on it. I am hoping that this will help me. It just freaked me out a little that I was that Bad a shot. Guess I just need to settle down and concentrate a little more.

Robb

hoggunner · « **Reply #5 on:** March 14, 2006, 01:09:42 AM »

the holo sight will help and make adjustments easier. I am new to handgunning but not to hunting or shooting. my setup is a taurus raging bull 44 mag 8.5 inch barrel the gun is less than 3 months old and has roughly 500 to 600 rounds through it. with the holo site last friday i had a 5 inch group off the bench at 100 yrds. i sited about 1 inch high at 25 yrds with the federal 300 grain hard cast. this put me about 2.5 inches high at 50 to 60 yrds and a 100 yrd zero. with my old eyes the holo sight is a blessing.
hoggunner

Feldhege · « **Reply #6 on:** March 14, 2006, 03:07:01 AM »

I saw your post with the picture of your hog (that was you wasn't it). Pretty impressive. Hope mine looks nearly that good. I was thinking about setting my zero at 50 yards and then knowing where it will hit on shorter shots. This of course is subject to change if testing proves differently. Thanks for the pep talk!

Robb

simplicity · « **Reply #7 on:** March 14, 2006, 08:29:32 AM »

I have to aggree with the above post and I wanna add as above practice practice practice find out what you can do and practice and the ranges you are planning to hunt. Shoot you gun off a bench and find out what it can do. Then start off at 25 yards practice and then move the targets further away What I do is set up clay pigeons at what ever range and try for them they are easy to see and you can tell if you hit them. I'm to the point Where i set up 5 clays to a time at a 100yrd bank and shoot them off hand with open sights I 90% of the time and take out 4 of the 5. I'm shooting a Smith 500 8 3/8 barrel. Thats pretty much all I do for practice now. I figure if I can hit a clay at 100 yards then I have no problem taking a deer with it at that range.

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 14, 2006, 10:34:43 AM »

simplicity. impressive shooting. Off hand at 100 yards with a 500 Mag, I wish I could do that, and I shot the 500 Mag a lot.

doncisler · « **Reply #9 on:** March 14, 2006, 11:47:11 AM »

there must be some magic to open (iron sighted) shooting. with my scoped s&w 460 two inch groups are average at 100 yards but when i try the same with iron sights i am lucky to get eight inch groups. i know it is my ability to use the sights. my bfr with longer sight radius is better for me, six inch or smaller groups at 100 yards. the sights and our eyes make a huge difference.

PaulS · « **Reply #10 on:** March 14, 2006, 04:40:00 PM »

With my 357 I found that matching the front blade to fit very closely to the rear sight opening keeps me from drifting right / left and keeping the top of the sight set to the point of impact at 25 yards was the "magic" that I needed. It required making a custom rear sight blade but it is nice to be able to have a consistant sight picture and the small groups that it brings.

WL44 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 14, 2006, 10:10:57 PM »

Paul, that's very sound advice.

I went the other way on my IPSC pistol (a norrower front blade), to "see more" and it's made group shooting and 50 yard standards a lot harder for me (and my slooowly deteriorating eyesight).

Obviously a "tighter fit" blocks more of the target, but for slow off hand work that's no problem.

Wim

Mikey · « **Reply #12 on:** March 15, 2006, 02:12:55 AM »

Feldhege: sighting in at 25m is OK - once you have your groups set through practice you can raise your sights a bit so you would hit dead on at 50m. After you have established how well you can group at 25m you can start moving your targets back about 10m at a time until you can group at 50m. Then you should be set.

Since you have a DW in 357, you can follow the advice given by the other responders - shoot some 38 spl through that 357 until you get confident with the revolver and then go to 357 loads. Do the same with the 44 mag and you should be able to hit where you want to.

Your revolver should be able to group within 4" at 50 m - whether you can shoot that well is a matter of practice. You may wish to practice with metallic silhouette handgun targets if you can - I believe the chicken (target) at 50m allows for about a 6" target at that distance and if you can consistently hit that target and knock it down then you should not have any problems with minute of hog/whitetail.

Practical accuracy is what you should try for at the distance you would expect to take your game. Please remember that the revolver will almost always outshoot your skills (for the time being) as it takes a good bit of practice to make consistent hits on small targets with an open sighted handgun. If you can hit within 4-6" at 50m standing with some assistance from shooting sticks or nearby trees to lean against you should be alright. HTH. Mikey.