How far out are shooting your .357?

Mostly 7-10 yards with all of my handguns regardless of caliber.
But I impressed the hell out of my grandson the other day ringing a 10 inch plate at 100 yards with my HRR 4.5 inch. Only about 2 out of each cylinder but he thought I was cool.

50 and 100 yard shots at pie plate size targets, with a long piped revolver like your 6" GP 100, is much more realistic than most folks think. Since I hunt with my revolvers, most of them are shot at 40 yards or more, most of the time. Carry pieces and those bottom feeders, more for fun than practicality generally closer. I know for many folks with no place other than indoor ranges to shoot, 25 yards is a long shot. Folks that get into the rut of shooting 7-10 yards IMHO, are just that, in a rut. I've found that by challenging yourself to shoot at distances farther than you are comfortable, makes you much more competent at those ranges you are comfortable shooting at. Once you get beyond 7-10 yards you are more prone to actually aim than just point.

How far out I shoot depends on what I'm shooting, and why I'm shooting.

Mostly I use an indoor range which maxes out at 25yds. I shoot most of my .357 Magnum revolvers at that distance at least for part of my range session. I do the same with my .357 SIG autos. But I also now spend more time shooting at 15 yards and 10 yards for speed. On the more rare occasions that I take steel targets outside, I'll shoot 50 to 100 yards. That's where I have see a load that can make under 2" groups at 25 yards, begin to fail in the accuracy department.

I think it's good to know what you can do at farther distances, because although the average self defense shooting may happen much closer, that's just the average. Of course, the reverse is true: spend all of your time slow firing at distance, and you're not practicing for more likely self defense ranges and speeds. I've absolutely been guilty of doing this in the past, which is why I try to mix it up now.

So I think it's a good idea to decide what you're trying to accomplish, and then set out to do so.

I used to shoot my DW 357mag at 100 yds, just because I had access to a millitary range with that distance and even wind flags at 50 and 100 yds. That was yrs ago, but I can still get onto the gong at 200 yds within a cylinder load.

Usually at 11 yds, then finish at 100 to 200 yds at various objects. Years ago I shot at a 12 by 16 inch plate at 385 yds. Got so I could hit it between 2 and 3 of five shots, and once hit it 4 times of five.

At this point I only shoot iron sights. So I shoot and practice at 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards for self defense.

I do shoot out to 100 yards also, but past that I can’t really see the targets I have very clearly. Maybe some day, If I own property and can set up some larger, brighter targets I’ll try it out. I only have 6” steel plates and would like some 10s.

I shoot 100-300 yards about 6-10 times a year.

Here is a couple videos from a few weeks back at 155 and 210 yards.

I shoot 100-300 yards about 6-10 times a year.

Here is a couple videos from a few weeks back at 155 and 210 yards. Full size IPSC plate at 210 and a smaller 1/2 or 2/3 size at 155.

buck460XVR said:

Folks that get into the rut of shooting 7-10 yards IMHO, are just that, in a rut. I've found that by challenging yourself to shoot at distances farther than you are comfortable, makes you much more competent at those ranges you are comfortable shooting at. Once you get beyond 7-10 yards you are more prone to actually aim than just point.

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I agree. Once you try it and make it a personal challenge, it just becomes another goal that is achievable.

I also found that once I started pushing myself beyond my comfort zone, that my closer range defensive shooting became more accurate and much faster, even when shooting a gun with a shorter sight radius.

When you start aiming at small things further away, emptying a gun into a target at self defense ranges with well aimed shots seems easier and easier. At least it did for me.

The first time I went out shooting with my boss I hit the 100 yard gong at the shooting range with my Desert Eagle L5 on my very first shot... Like an idiot I proceeded to prove it was pure luck by missing the next 6 shots! LOL!

I like shooting longer distances with my hand guns. A pop can is great because the more you hit it the farther away it gets. Swapping shots at a pop can with a buddy is even more fun because of the friendly competition!

Cardboard targets at 10 yards... yawn!!!!!!

Save empty milk jugs and 2 liter pop bottles. Fill them with water and set them at 100 yards. They make great exploding targets. Of course pick up your trash when done. It will surprise you how quickly you get to where you can do this at will.

For SD practice it's 7 to 10 yards. Everything else starts at 25 yards and goes farther from there. Except for carry guns, I prefer longer barrels on my revolvers: better sighting (I'll take all the help I can get) and better balance. A challenge I set for myself is to get better on targets out to 200 yards with each of the calibers using iron sights. Just having fun.

As was mentioned above, better long distance accuracy and trigger discipline translates into faster, more accurate shooting at SD ranges, at least for me.

Jeff

Years ago I started out shooting IHMSA with a 6" S&W model 19.
60lb Rams at 200 yds were not easy to hit and just as hard to knock over with 180gr .357 bullets. My 2nd or 3rd season I went with a .41 magnum Ruger. My model 19 thanked me for it and my scores improved.

I hardly ever shoot at less than 15 yards unless I'm shooting competition or doing retention drills. Most of my practice is 25 or 50 if outdoors occasionally I'll shoot at 100.

My first revolver was a 6” Taurus 689 bought used at a pawn shop. Bought solely for the purpose of hunting as I had passed shots on deer so close I couldn’t see them well in the scope on my .270. I practiced a lot and since I was used to a 100yd zero with a rifle that’s where I started. I got GOOD with that gun and I shot it a lot. 100 yards I was 2/3 on a softball which I proved repeatedly (and won some bets on) currently I don’t get to shoot much so much skills are greatly diminished and that particular revolver got traded away when it shot loose and started having accuracy issues (from repeatedly eating nuclear handloads). I now have a .357 contender and a 16” .357 buntline single action that I shoot out to extreme handgun range, but neither are practical as a secondary gun to a rifle (too big to be secondary, so they are primary guns for thick woods with shorter shots). Again, I’m rusty, but I am very comfortable out to 100 with either. My best shooting handguns though are my 9” single six and my 7-30 waters contender. The single six shooting 22 mags is just a baby rifle and if rested well i can ring the 8” steel plate at the 150 yd mark very consistently with most misses being called due to ammo variability (weak shots from old junky 22 mag ammo I’m still using up). The 7-30 is scoped and is about a 2 inch gun at 150 if rested well. Shot standing 2 handed it’s a 6” gun at 150. When I was a member of a local range I would enjoy being the jerk who rang the 12x12 gong at 320 with the 7-30 while guys around me were missing with fancy rifles. figure out what fires you up about a tough handgun shot, and repeat it until you are good at it and use that motivation to keep achieving goals that build upon each other.

Handgun hunting is a lot of fun, and it’s what has driven me to practice with the tools I have. I wish I could afford more, and better tools, but that’s just not the case right now. Raising 2 (soon to be 3) little princesses eats up time and money pretty quickly, but they have taken interest in shooting so we will soon be working our way towards branching out to more than just a bolt action 22. There are a lot of guys on here that are big into highly accurate and functional hunting sidearms.

Have hit quart oil containers at 75-80 yards.
Like any it will shoot as far as the charts say and as accurate as you know them.

skeeterfogger said:

Have hit quart oil containers at 75-80 yards.
Like any it will shoot as far as the charts say and as accurate as you know them.

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And can judge range. Knowing the charts does nothing to help a person make hits at range when they grossly overestimate or underestimate range. At least shooting at a fixed target from a fixed location you can “walk it in” to make hits, but for a functional need type scenario (hunting, cop pinned down by shooter at a distance...) you need to be close to make shots count. Practicing on judging range very quickly becomes equally important to physically making the shot once you get to a point where you are calculating drop rather than simply shooting to point of aim.

For me its like shotguns. You perfect your skills on the skeet field and apply those skills on the sporting clays course. Perfect your handgun skills at 25 yards, and apply it to 100 yards.

I usually shoot my .357 Magnum @15 yards but for fun I sometimes push it out from 50 to 100 yards.

@xphunter has photos and video shooting sub-Moa with a rebuilt GP100 out to 500 yards.

200 yards