Long-range gunnery.

[MosinM38]

Okay

Braving the Mosquitos (Mainly on days with a light breeze. Enough to blow them off without affecting bullets) I managed to get in my "In depths" I wanted with my Sig.

Sig 226.
Primary Concealed carry loads=155 Fiocchi XTPs.
Primary carry loads (Ranch work) American Eagle 180 grain FMJs. Both had about identical accuracy, which either means AE is very good bulk ammo, or Fiocchi is junk

Now this is roughly As a great deal of it is guestimating by using the sight as referance (This also included random range target placing). I went through each stage of testing 3 seperate days, just in case I had an off-day.

Went through about 400 rounds in total.

Just had a blast doing my "Research" if it could be called that and figured I may as well share


(Note: All targets are 2" dots at 25-50 yards. 3" at 75. 125-175 yards is a 35 gallon barrel).
25 yards:
2.5-3" rested, 3-4" offhand. 155's shot POA or a fraction higher, while the 180's shot about 1" high. (Held a sliver of sight on the target with 155's. Perched target on top with 180's).

50 yards:
4-5" rested, 4-6" offhand. 155's again shot POA, while the 180's were still dead on. (Held sliver of sight on target with both)

75 yards:
6" (almost always) rested, 5-7" offhand. 155's shot just a couple inches low, while the 180's dipped to about 4". (Held at the top of target).

125 yards:
9-10" rested, 12-14" offhand. 155's shot about 12 inches low, and the 180's seemed to mirror them. (Held at top of barrel, rounds went through just below the top ring. So about dead center).

175 yards:
I only tried these from a rest. I couldn't really count accuracy here I held about a foot over the barrel and dropped most of the rounds into the very middle section. I was able to keep 3 out of 4 rounds on the 35 gallon barrel. Most still hovered around 14" wide, but the groups were strung out up and down the entire length of the barrel.

It was a HUGE blast shooting at those types of ranges, and at least I sorta know the drop and stuff now!!

One thing I don't get, (And this is with witnesses), is that my groups don't seem to expand as much as they should at range. I mean if I get an offhand group of say 8" at that same range, it SHOULD shrink considerably shouldn't it? If all I can get is 8" from a rest, theoretically, offhand should be far worse?

Leastways. had fun blasting the ammo, and although I doubt it will, figured it may be usefull somehow

 

[darkgael]

OK

50 yards:
4-5" rested, 4-6" offhand. 155's again shot POA, while the 180's were still dead on. (Held sliver of sight on target with both)

75 yards:
6" (almost always) rested, 5-7" offhand. 155's shot just a couple inches low, while the 180's dipped to about 4". (Held at the top of target).

Those offhand groups (one or two hands?) are nice. What is surprising is that the are essentially the same as the "rested" groups.
Shooting "holdover' distances with a handgun is great fun. One of the problems that you may run into is the bullet slowing down and destabilizing at longer distances. Just something to be aware of if performance becomes erratic.
Pete

 

[Dingoboyx]

Ya dun well mate....

It goes to show, HG's are still to be feared at long distances (150+ yards or so)

I always laugh when I take HG noobs (even experienced rifle shooters) to the range for a shot (their HG first) one for the look on their face and two, they always say "wow, I didn't think HG's could be accurate so far!".... This especially happens when shootin Black with my ROA's or Pietta 1858's.....

My favorite 'party trick' is when they say this about HG accuracy, I load up one of my Ruger Vaquaro's with my standard rounds (44 rem mag, 5 1/2" barrel, 200gr flat round nose, full case of Trail Boss) and hit the 200 METER marker (a steel 3' x 4' plate) with 5 shots out of the six

The standard response is "***"

Shootin different targets at different distances make shootin HG's fun, I reckon

 

[LoneStarWings]

How many shots do you conside a "group"?

I can get 10-shot 6" groups off-hand at 25 yards but that's about the best I can do. I think I tried 50 yards once, and was on paper, but that's about it with my m&p .40. I've never even bothered shooting it from a rest.

 

[Regular Joe]

I think sight picture and radius become the more deciding factor at longer ranges. I've been trying to conserve ammo with my Glock 17 lately, but when I do shoot it at random junk, the results are usually a little shocking. Today, it was a bowling pin at 125 yards. That's exactly what I wanted to find in a defensive handgun with a 33 round magazine.

 

[Nanuk]

I love shooting at longer distances. One thing I learned from my PPC days, at 50 yards your sight errors are magnified 768 times. it does not take much at 50 yards and past to miss. I usually shoot my 29 and 686 S&W at 100 yards. I like to shoot my H&K P2k at 100 just to stay sharp. Your results with the 40 S&W drop are the same as mine.

 

[MosinM38]

Those offhand groups (one or two hands?) are nice. What is surprising is that the are essentially the same as the "rested" groups.
Shooting "holdover' distances with a handgun is great fun. One of the problems that you may run into is the bullet slowing down and destabilizing at longer distances. Just something to be aware of if performance becomes erratic.
Pete

Two-handed, 1 handed is far worse, and weakhand is just a passing thought past 50 yards.

I agree about the rested VS offhand groups. That is sortof what bothers me. I was almost sortof wondering if the Sig was capable of marvelous groups, but there's only so low my eyesight will allow the groups.

Bullet performance: Lol. I looked it up, and at 175 yards, the 155's would only be going about 850 FPS. I had one enter one side, hit the top of the barrel and it flipped around. Most seem to be going straight when it goes through, but I was sorta expecting alot of wobblers.


Group shots are 5 per group. 3 is too little, and 10 is a little overkill although I do it cometimes.

I agree with everyone here. Long range shooting is first fun. Second, if you get a good rest, it's sorta shocking what a handgun can do.

Although he hasn't group shot it, about the best long-range handgun I have seen is dads .500 S&W. Oh man that is one accurate gun at long range. When shooting at treetunks,etc, at 300 yards, everything can be kept on roughly a deer's torso size groups. Got some pretty lengthy shots on deer and antelope with it, and feels confidant with it.