What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun - The Firearms Forum

45nut · 07-23-2012, 11:02 AM

Reflecting on last weeks tragic events, I felt I needed to shoot my carry gun - officer's ACP - further than close combat distance.

I set up a torso sized target and shot at 25', 50' and 75'. I put all but one round in the torso and one bulls eye from 25' and another from 75'. It really does a lot of good to know you can hit your target at greater than arms length.

What is the longest distance at which you regularly shoot a carry gun?

ka64 · 07-23-2012, 11:12 AM

25 Yards.......

jack404 · 07-23-2012, 11:14 AM

30+ i practice to do so from point blank out the where its ineffective

for my .40 thats 80 meters to get a hit or that close they feel it pass on a figure 11 mansize .. i generally get a hit
at 50 i'm centre mass
and 25 i'm which organ ? or knee cap

practice practice practice at as many differing targets conditions and draws as possible

put a coat on and draw etc etc etc , the more differing ways you send rounds down range the better you will be

night, day , practice

carver · 07-23-2012, 11:15 AM

Anything out to 100yds. Mostly less than 50 yards. According to the experts most
shooting involving police officers, and civilian concealed carry permit holders,
happen at a distance of less than ten feet, with average distance of three feet. I mostly practice these disances while moving. You can't do that at the public range, unless you are the only one there. I shoot at home. I practice strong hand, and weak hand, I just haven't figgered out how to draw my gun with my weak hand! I'm too big around!

JohnnyFlake · 07-23-2012, 11:20 AM

My carry gun is a Sig in .380 with Speer Gold Dots. I usually shoot at both 25' and 50'. At both 25' & 50' I can put them all within the center torso area on a silhouette target. At 25' I can put 6 out of 6 in the neck/head area.

chubcobear · 07-23-2012, 11:22 AM

Up close and personal, where I had better be shooting when I have to use it.....unless I want to go to jail. 10 yards or less, mostly less.

pkcgbifaid · 07-23-2012, 11:41 AM

For fun my buddies and I will shoot at clay pigeons out to what his range finder says is about 40 yards. Most of us miss more than we hit, but hitting that 40 yard clay with a handgun makes it worth it when we do see it shatter. To be honest we tend to hit more with our full size guns and not so much with our smaller carry sized.

jack404 · 07-23-2012, 11:46 AM

we do the same but with .22 rifles , its great fun , but the shotgunners call us "puerile "

carver · 07-23-2012, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jack404

we do the same but with .22 rifles , its great fun , but the shotgunners call us "puerile "

I don't see anything childish about it Jack, we do it too!

Old Grump · 07-23-2012, 02:06 PM

25 and 50 yard targets not shot this day but if you want to know what distances I shoot at this is my range and the gun I have been carting around since 1972. I almost have the hang of it but don't worry, I will keep practicing till I get it down and do it right. Sorry about the flyer on the 100 yard target, it started raining and my rain spotted glasses made it a little hard to see the front sight.

Quote:

Rapid Fire target

Rapid Fire Target

Slow fire target

My two handed and targets shot from a rest were a lot better but I wanted to show that shooting one handed isn't necessarily a handicap.

I think any well trained policeman, military shooter trained to expert level with a handgun, a handgun hunter used to taking long shots in uncertain lighting conditions or a top competitive bullseye shooter would have made short work of this clown and probably wouldn't have had to shoot more than 50' to do it.

Front of the theater dressed in black, back lit by the screen assuming they didn't shut off the projector, air conditioning would have pulled the smoke from his grenades up and away from him. A couple of shots into his gas mask would have saved a lot of people, especially since he had to change guns once and had to reload a couple of times. His attention would have been on his gun not you. Anybody who has ever had to shoot while wearing a gas mask know his visibility was limited. Advantage to OC or CCW person.

Nope advantage to spree shooter, Cinemark has such concern for outlaws welfare that they prefer their paying clients to stay defenseless. After all everybody knows that law abiding gun owners are more likely to shoot themselves or family members with their gun and if faced with a bad man the bad man will take their gun away from them. Just call 911, problem fixed, they will be happy to show up and make reports on the incident.

aa1911 · 07-23-2012, 03:37 PM

I shoot out to 75-100m most shooting sessions... as for hitting.... well, that's not always the case, hahaha. I always pick out torso sized rocks or post a cardboard popsicle stick and tap away at it. My little SP101 in .357 will easily hit human sized objects out to 100m (no stress, 5 tries), for a 3 1/8" barrel, I'm super impressed with it.

Many of my handguns will get rounds on target at some pretty amazing distances provided you have a full cylinder or magazine. The problem is doing it under stress and in less than ideal conditions. People miss at point blank range even. Stress shoots at even 25 yards are extremely difficult for even good shooters. Most of my practice is around 0-25 feet unless I'm plinking steel, then I back off to about 20yds.

practice, practice, practice...

gas mask would for certain limit his vision making him an easier target. Not sure if I would have survived depending on position but if I had a chance to get a 17rd mag of .40 off at him, I'm sure he wouldn't go unscathed.

Zane71464 · 07-23-2012, 03:38 PM

9mm, I shoot up close and all in between. 25 yards is the normal and 50 yards occasionally. The longest distance I've tryied and done OK was a 6" balloon at 60 yards.
We had 4 of them set up (60yds.) and hit the first two and a few shots later, got the other two.
I practice 10, 15, 20, 25 and 50 yards and make it a habit of shooting at the very least, twice a week, sometimes more. Always getting the .22lr handguns out shooting...'bought every day. I have my own place to shoot, so if I'm home and nothing better to get into, it's shooting time here.

76Highboy · 07-23-2012, 04:12 PM

I go anywhere from 7 to 100 yards. It's all relevant IMO. I also practice with both left and right handed.

buildit · 07-23-2012, 05:02 PM

I started a couple weeks ago at 15ft, I feel very confident at that range. Since then I have measured out 30ft mark. On a target printed on normal paper I can stay on the paper but am really all over the place. I keep learning new techniques for stabilizing the pistol, lining up the sights and getting a faster recovery. Maybe one of you 25 yard shooters could share some tips?

Oh, and the target below isn't with a pistol but a .22 cal AR7 at 100 ft on a 4inch diameter outer ring target.

skullfr · 07-23-2012, 05:13 PM

My range is only 15yds but I practice weak,strong one-handed and firing behind and contact and firing from retention.I work mainly on a bad breath distance as it is mainly where it will be.I even have an old jacket I fire my .357 from the pocket.It is pretty ragged now.

Zane71464 · 07-23-2012, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buildit

I started a couple weeks ago at 15ft, I feel very confident at that range. Since then I have measured out 30ft mark. On a target printed on normal paper I can stay on the paper but am really all over the place. I keep learning new techniques for stabilizing the pistol, lining up the sights and getting a faster recovery. Maybe one of you 25 yard shooters could share some tips?

Oh, and the target below isn't with a pistol but a .22 cal AR7 at 100 ft on a 4inch diameter outer ring target.

That's all good! One thing to get down and that is one shot at a time, getting that down and practiceing getting your groups tighter. And then faster shots.
One thing that is the MOST improtant, is your grip control, trigger control and consistency with your grip every time.

buildit · 07-23-2012, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zane71464

That's all good! One thing to get down and that is one shot at a time, getting that down and practiceing getting your groups tighter. And then faster shots.
One thing that is the MOST improtant, is your grip control and consistency with your grip every time.

Thanks, at the end of this video you can see my current average grouping and my stance and grip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G79A--ewrtk

Zane71464 · 07-23-2012, 06:05 PM

It's all good, and each person shoots with a differnt stance as long as your consistant and it feels right. I myself like the Boxing stance and it seems my balance is more spread out and equal. Practiceing Stance, Sight picture, trigger control and Grip control with every shooting over and over and it'll tighten up your groups. Its all about constancy.

RunningOnMT · 07-23-2012, 07:20 PM

Ten yards. Beyond that I'm lucky to hit the backing board

. You would think that if you can shoot a 5" group @ 10 yds, you'd be able to shoot a 10" group @ 20 yds. It doesn't work out that way for me.

firefighter1635 · 07-23-2012, 07:44 PM

I voted 25 yards. I carry compacts so anything ferther than that is a real reach. Even 25 yards can be a reach depending on which weapon im using at the time.

aa1911 · 07-23-2012, 09:54 PM

don't underestimate compacts! I took a nice deer two seasons ago with a Glock 23 (4" barrel) at about 25 meters; first round missed, second dropped him dead, only ran about 100m and bled out (torso shot). those were with low power reloads (rainier HP's) too.

Buildit, like mentioned above, start with one round at a time slow fire; once you are hitting consistent, turn it up until you start throwing flyers; then dial it back down a bit and repeat. You could practice extremely slow 100% of the time actually, when the stress is on in the moment, your muscle memory will take over and you will be amazed at how fast you can (accurately) shoot! Don't worry so much about speed unless you're in a self defense mode or competition mode.

this is kind of a joke now at the range but, "slow is smooth, smooth is fast"

gdmoody · 07-23-2012, 09:57 PM

I voted the 25 yards, too. I carry a Sig P238 (.380) and most of my shooting 25 yards or less. Every shooting session, I set clay pigeons up at 50 yards and shoot them with the P238. I hit them but I am not going to sit here and say that I don't miss 8 out of 10 times. No matter what I am practicing with, I shoot at 50 yards

stumpjumper · 07-23-2012, 09:57 PM

the range closest to me only has 12 and 25 yard setups. so i shoot both. at 12yds. with my edc, i can group everything in a 6x9 target. weak hand, due tp a broken wrist years ago, and lack of strength, maybe 70% hit that size. at 25yrds. about 60/40 hit. and forget about lefty. now my 380, 2" groups at 12. all in a 12x12 @25. have to figure it's the extra 3/4" of barrel. Hopefully, at anything over 20yds, you're running away from me, so wouldn't fire anyway

aa1911 · 07-23-2012, 10:07 PM

I've been practicing weak hand religiously for years and I still can't hit crap that way! Slowly getting better but jeez...

I guess one exception to my 100yd challenge rule is my NAA PUG .22mag revolver with the 1" barrel = max range of about 5 yards! most everything else can reach out a good ways though. (not sure why there's even sights on it, pretty much worthless)

buildit · 07-23-2012, 10:36 PM

Well, as of tonight I found a trick that works well for aiming and muzzle control on the glock. Using it I placed 20 rounds on paper at roughly 30ft. It had a weird grouping to it with half in the lower left and the rest upper right.

Is there a common issue that would cause groupings like that? Also, watching myself on video I see I am still flinching.

Any hints from the pros?

View Poll Results: Longest distance you shoot a carry gun?
10 yards	6	15.00%
15 yards	5	12.50%
25 yards	14	35.00%
30 yards plus	15	37.50%
Voters: 40. You may not vote on this poll

07-23-2012, 11:02 AM	#1
45nut Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,428	What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun Reflecting on last weeks tragic events, I felt I needed to shoot my carry gun - officer's ACP - further than close combat distance. I set up a torso sized target and shot at 25', 50' and 75'. I put all but one round in the torso and one bulls eye from 25' and another from 75'. It really does a lot of good to know you can hit your target at greater than arms length. What is the longest distance at which you regularly shoot a carry gun? __________________ A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that. Shane Nemo me impune lacesset We recall the case of the Shoshone war band which showed up complete with one 30-30 rifle per man the week after Pearl Harbor, and simply wanted to have the enemy pointed out to them. "We hear there's a war going on and we want to go fight it." Jeff Cooper *KCCO* -->

07-23-2012, 11:12 AM	#2
ka64 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Michigan Contributor Posts: 1,412	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun 25 Yards.......

07-23-2012, 11:14 AM	#3
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun 30+ i practice to do so from point blank out the where its ineffective for my .40 thats 80 meters to get a hit or that close they feel it pass on a figure 11 mansize .. i generally get a hit at 50 i'm centre mass and 25 i'm which organ ? or knee cap practice practice practice at as many differing targets conditions and draws as possible put a coat on and draw etc etc etc , the more differing ways you send rounds down range the better you will be night, day , practice

07-23-2012, 11:15 AM	#4
carver TFF Moderator/Host Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: DAV, Deep in the Pineywoods of East Texas, just west of Shreveport, LA Contributor Posts: 11,232	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun Anything out to 100yds. Mostly less than 50 yards. According to the experts most shooting involving police officers, and civilian concealed carry permit holders, happen at a distance of less than ten feet, with average distance of three feet. I mostly practice these disances while moving. You can't do that at the public range, unless you are the only one there. I shoot at home. I practice strong hand, and weak hand, I just haven't figgered out how to draw my gun with my weak hand! I'm too big around! __________________ Y'all be safe now, ya hear! Lamentations Chapter 5: 1. Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. 2. Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. 3. We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers [are] as widows. 5. Our necks [are] under persecution: we labour, [and] have no rest. 16. The crown is fallen [from] our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! 21. Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. Last edited by carver; 07-23-2012 at 11:22 AM..

07-23-2012, 11:20 AM	#5
JohnnyFlake V.I.P. Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Henderson, Nevada Contributor Posts: 152	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun My carry gun is a Sig in .380 with Speer Gold Dots. I usually shoot at both 25' and 50'. At both 25' & 50' I can put them all within the center torso area on a silhouette target. At 25' I can put 6 out of 6 in the neck/head area. __________________ Of All The Things I have Lost During My Life, I Miss My Mind The Most!

07-23-2012, 11:22 AM	#6
chubcobear V.I.P. Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Central Arkansas Posts: 132	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun Up close and personal, where I had better be shooting when I have to use it.....unless I want to go to jail. 10 yards or less, mostly less. __________________ There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress. - Mark Twain "....life isn't fair. The central threat to freedom comes from those think they can use politics to make it so. " --Bradley Gitz

07-23-2012, 11:41 AM	#7
pkcgbifaid V.I.P. Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Charleston, WV Contributor Posts: 490	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun For fun my buddies and I will shoot at clay pigeons out to what his range finder says is about 40 yards. Most of us miss more than we hit, but hitting that 40 yard clay with a handgun makes it worth it when we do see it shatter. To be honest we tend to hit more with our full size guns and not so much with our smaller carry sized. __________________ "...As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks." Thomas Jefferson

07-23-2012, 11:46 AM	#8
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun we do the same but with .22 rifles , its great fun , but the shotgunners call us "puerile "

07-23-2012, 03:37 PM	#11
aa1911 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 3,112	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun I shoot out to 75-100m most shooting sessions... as for hitting.... well, that's not always the case, hahaha. I always pick out torso sized rocks or post a cardboard popsicle stick and tap away at it. My little SP101 in .357 will easily hit human sized objects out to 100m (no stress, 5 tries), for a 3 1/8" barrel, I'm super impressed with it. Many of my handguns will get rounds on target at some pretty amazing distances provided you have a full cylinder or magazine. The problem is doing it under stress and in less than ideal conditions. People miss at point blank range even. Stress shoots at even 25 yards are extremely difficult for even good shooters. Most of my practice is around 0-25 feet unless I'm plinking steel, then I back off to about 20yds. practice, practice, practice... gas mask would for certain limit his vision making him an easier target. Not sure if I would have survived depending on position but if I had a chance to get a 17rd mag of .40 off at him, I'm sure he wouldn't go unscathed. __________________ "Loud noises don't end gunfights.... well placed shots do."

07-23-2012, 03:38 PM	#12
Zane71464 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Ohio NRA Member Contributor Posts: 5,350	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun 9mm, I shoot up close and all in between. 25 yards is the normal and 50 yards occasionally. The longest distance I've tryied and done OK was a 6" balloon at 60 yards. We had 4 of them set up (60yds.) and hit the first two and a few shots later, got the other two. I practice 10, 15, 20, 25 and 50 yards and make it a habit of shooting at the very least, twice a week, sometimes more. Always getting the .22lr handguns out shooting...'bought every day. I have my own place to shoot, so if I'm home and nothing better to get into, it's shooting time here. __________________ Two Words; "Simple Man", song by Charlie Daniels sums up my thoughts on a "few things"!

07-23-2012, 04:12 PM	#13
76Highboy Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Meridian, Idaho Contributor Posts: 6,934	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun I go anywhere from 7 to 100 yards. It's all relevant IMO. I also practice with both left and right handed.

07-23-2012, 05:02 PM	#14
buildit Former Guest Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Cowtown, ohia Posts: 96	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun I started a couple weeks ago at 15ft, I feel very confident at that range. Since then I have measured out 30ft mark. On a target printed on normal paper I can stay on the paper but am really all over the place. I keep learning new techniques for stabilizing the pistol, lining up the sights and getting a faster recovery. Maybe one of you 25 yard shooters could share some tips? Oh, and the target below isn't with a pistol but a .22 cal AR7 at 100 ft on a 4inch diameter outer ring target. Last edited by buildit; 07-23-2012 at 05:06 PM..

07-23-2012, 05:13 PM	#15
skullfr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Beaumont,Texas Posts: 902	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun My range is only 15yds but I practice weak,strong one-handed and firing behind and contact and firing from retention.I work mainly on a bad breath distance as it is mainly where it will be.I even have an old jacket I fire my .357 from the pocket.It is pretty ragged now. __________________ If Ya cant stand up stand out There is no atheist in a foxhole Psalms 144:1 Blessed be the Lord my strength,which teacheth my hand to war and my fingers to fight

07-23-2012, 06:05 PM	#18
Zane71464 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Ohio NRA Member Contributor Posts: 5,350	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun It's all good, and each person shoots with a differnt stance as long as your consistant and it feels right. I myself like the Boxing stance and it seems my balance is more spread out and equal. Practiceing Stance, Sight picture, trigger control and Grip control with every shooting over and over and it'll tighten up your groups. Its all about constancy. __________________ Two Words; "Simple Man", song by Charlie Daniels sums up my thoughts on a "few things"! Last edited by Zane71464; 07-23-2012 at 10:46 PM.. Reason: added

07-23-2012, 07:20 PM	#19
RunningOnMT Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Akron, Ohio Contributor Posts: 4,720	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun Ten yards. Beyond that I'm lucky to hit the backing board . You would think that if you can shoot a 5" group @ 10 yds, you'd be able to shoot a 10" group @ 20 yds. It doesn't work out that way for me. __________________ "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

07-23-2012, 07:44 PM	#20
firefighter1635 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: US of A Contributor Posts: 1,837	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun I voted 25 yards. I carry compacts so anything ferther than that is a real reach. Even 25 yards can be a reach depending on which weapon im using at the time.

07-23-2012, 09:54 PM	#21
aa1911 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 3,112	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun don't underestimate compacts! I took a nice deer two seasons ago with a Glock 23 (4" barrel) at about 25 meters; first round missed, second dropped him dead, only ran about 100m and bled out (torso shot). those were with low power reloads (rainier HP's) too. Buildit, like mentioned above, start with one round at a time slow fire; once you are hitting consistent, turn it up until you start throwing flyers; then dial it back down a bit and repeat. You could practice extremely slow 100% of the time actually, when the stress is on in the moment, your muscle memory will take over and you will be amazed at how fast you can (accurately) shoot! Don't worry so much about speed unless you're in a self defense mode or competition mode. this is kind of a joke now at the range but, "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" __________________ "Loud noises don't end gunfights.... well placed shots do."

07-23-2012, 09:57 PM	#22
gdmoody Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Northeast Georgia Contributor Posts: 6,310	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun I voted the 25 yards, too. I carry a Sig P238 (.380) and most of my shooting 25 yards or less. Every shooting session, I set clay pigeons up at 50 yards and shoot them with the P238. I hit them but I am not going to sit here and say that I don't miss 8 out of 10 times. No matter what I am practicing with, I shoot at 50 yards __________________ NRA Endowment Member GeorgiaCarry.Org Member Retired US Army Postal Worker Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'.....author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

07-23-2012, 09:57 PM	#23
stumpjumper Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: swflorida Contributor Posts: 654	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun the range closest to me only has 12 and 25 yard setups. so i shoot both. at 12yds. with my edc, i can group everything in a 6x9 target. weak hand, due tp a broken wrist years ago, and lack of strength, maybe 70% hit that size. at 25yrds. about 60/40 hit. and forget about lefty. now my 380, 2" groups at 12. all in a 12x12 @25. have to figure it's the extra 3/4" of barrel. Hopefully, at anything over 20yds, you're running away from me, so wouldn't fire anyway __________________ after three rounds you're just making noise Guns have only two enemies rust and politicians

07-23-2012, 10:07 PM	#24
aa1911 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 3,112	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun I've been practicing weak hand religiously for years and I still can't hit crap that way! Slowly getting better but jeez... I guess one exception to my 100yd challenge rule is my NAA PUG .22mag revolver with the 1" barrel = max range of about 5 yards! most everything else can reach out a good ways though. (not sure why there's even sights on it, pretty much worthless) __________________ "Loud noises don't end gunfights.... well placed shots do."

07-23-2012, 10:36 PM	#25
buildit Former Guest Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Cowtown, ohia Posts: 96	Re: What is the longest distance you shoot your carry gun Well, as of tonight I found a trick that works well for aiming and muzzle control on the glock. Using it I placed 20 rounds on paper at roughly 30ft. It had a weird grouping to it with half in the lower left and the rest upper right. Is there a common issue that would cause groupings like that? Also, watching myself on video I see I am still flinching. Any hints from the pros?