How far out are shooting your .357?

If you are on the target, you won't hit anything else...My guess

When I lived out on the farm we had a 200yd pistol range that got used quite a bit. Moved into town and joined a gunclub with a 100yd range. Anymore the longest distance I shoot a 357 is 50yds. I use a contender with a 357 bbl

I use that contender/357 bbl pictured above to practice 50m free pistol. The extra weight of the contender is good for the wrist & grip. The recoil is excellent for follow thru & the extremely heavy 14OZ trigger is god for correcting trigger pull issues.

Walkalong,
Great looking home range and permanent shooting bench! I love those hill and valley ranges. They have their own natural backstop!
I have to use a raised dirt mound back stop here in eastern NC to be safe. But then I also have the advantage of recycling my boolits!
Shoot on friend!

I normally shoot at 7 and 10 yards offhand, weak hand, rapid fire, etc. Handloads get tested from a rest at 25 yards. A day of shooting always ends up with a bunch of shooting at 100 yards! The Thompson/Center Contender always gets shot at 50 yards and beyond.

Waterboy3313 said:

Usually when I go pistol shooting I shoot at about 20-40 feet. Mostly practice shooting my compact carry pistols hitting a man sized target at 7 yards. Not much excitement there. My step daughter went with me today because she wants to learn how to shoot and go for her concealed permit.

While we were shooting up close for her to get familiar she pointed at what looked like a pie plate at about 50 yards and another target at what I would estimate to be 100 yards or just slightly closer. She kind of made a joke about it and asked me to try to hit it.

It was kind of muddy so I could clearly the ground splash up where I was hitting. I was shooting my Ruger GP 100 with a 6 inch barrel. I don't think I actually hit the targets but I was hitting pretty dang close.

I've never attempted to shoot this far with a pistol until today. I also tried it again with my Kimber just for an experiment and was pretty close.

So just out of curiosity how far out is everyone shooting with a pistol? The Ruger is new I have only had it out 3 times and did buy it with intentions of shooting out a little further than I normally do.

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Lately I've been pushing my 4.2 sp101 to 40-50 yds, once I'm consistently pleased I plan on stretching to 100, best group at 50 yds has been just under 4 inches but average around 6" from field positions, when 4 becomes average I'll stretch to 75 and then 100.

My backstop is setup at 50 yards from my deck, but I have a 12" steel gong, set at 175 yards, on the back hillside. My routine, with each revolver and handgun, is to start at 10 yards, then 20, and then the 50 yard. I will shoot out to the 175, with my BFR's, in 30/30, 44 mag, and 500 S+W, and also shoot the scoped SuperRedhawk 44 mag, but I don't make it a practice, to shoot the 357's beyond 50 yards. I don't have either 357's scoped, and that is probably the main factor.

buck460XVR said:

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.

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That said, 50 yards is reasonably accurate, for me, and 75 yards is attempted often, for the reasons stated above.

Walkalong said:

108 yards actually, when shooting here. Start close (second one at 53), then 75, then 108, then back in without missing. 6 shots, six targets.
View attachment 884359

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Can I get some details on that bench, please?

I need to build one for my "back porch" home range.

last time I shot at 'distance' was only 60 yrds.

Wife was really ringing that 10x12 steel:

Handgunning ... is handgunning. The accurate shooting of revolvers at distance is limited more by the shooter's skillset and abilities than the revolver.

When I shoot my J-frames on an outdoor LE range that has steel 'silhouettes', I like to take my J's out to 40-50yds and ring steel using them in DA/DAO. It helps me periodically assess my DA trigger skills at distances further than the usual 10-25yd maximum distances required in most of the common qualification courses-of-fire.

FWIW, there were 50yd silhouette targets in the older revolver courses-of-fire for firearms instructor classes, and when I did a LE instructor recert before I retired (using a compact 3.5" pistol) there was still a 50yd target for the scored course. This time it was scored with open sights, and then again with front & rear sights taped over. Shooter skill and familiarity with the weapon being used.

If someone can accurately use their revolver at distances further out than 25yds, then getting solid hits in closer distances ought not overly tax their abilities.

Then again, I grew up with my dad being a strong believer in Long Distance Handgunning as promoted by Elmer Keith. We used to go 4-wheeling in the mountains and set up long range targets for Magnum revolvers. He later taught me to consider consistently hitting gallon jugs at 125yds, shooting 2-handed, unsupported, using my .44MAG Ruger loaded with handloaded Magnum loads, to be a common practice drill. Expectation of achieving the desired results and a justified confidence in shooting skills can help.

Walkalong said:

Some sort of high tech material that was leftover from a project at work. It was part of a new entrance, was supposed to look like a waterfall. Ridged on one side, flat on the other. Cut two corners off and made the bench with it. The piece in the lobby is made from three pieces twice that size and cost us about 5 grand.

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I guess painted 2x4's will have to do then LOL

35W

Waterboy3313 said:

Google and yelp can be a little misleading. Most of the businesses here do not have their own range. The one gun club is only open to pistol and rifle shooting I think 2 days a week last a looked at it. They seem to do a lot of shot gun stuff. The indoor range is really expensive and not much fun. The range I frequent is on BLM land. It's not bad if you get there before the sun comes up and you are done shooting before the people show up to shoot at a couch or bring a refrigerator for a target.

If you count the gun club, indoor range and the BLM range there are technically 3. The police have one that is not open to the public I wish I could go there it's pretty nice. The majority of the shooting classes use the BLM range. Anything beyond what I've listed is more of a drive that I would really like to do for an hour or so of shooting.

I probably should look into the gun club again. I think the rifle range is only 200 yards max. I'm just not sure if I could their schedule work with mine. If I was retired it would probably be great.

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It's a bit of a drive for you but Oroville has an outdoor, uncontrolled, 9-concrete-table 500m range I frequent with my old tired .22s, '06s, .357 & .45s.
The burms are set at 25m, 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m & 500m.
It's on Rabe Rd off of Larkin Rd, South on Larkin from Oroville Dam Rd., turn Left onto Rabe Rd at the black mailbox - lol
It's a nicely laid out range, I'd say possibly worth the drive.

I regularly fire my old '36 Colt Woodsman .22 at 200 meters and my Ruger Security-6 at 400 meters - been doing it for decades - maybe someday I'll hit something

I usually leave my gongs up at 25yds.
I have one 20 inch gong at 100yds

These days most of my 357 revolver shooting is at 25 or 50 yards on NRA slowfire targets. Back in the late 1980s I shot a few NRA silhouette matches where there were 100 yard rams. I shortly afterwards switched over to the TC Contender in 357 and 22lr.

Waterboy3313 said:

I never been to that range in Oroville. My brother in law has a friend that lives close to that area and said next time he is up this way he will call me to go with them. It's a little over 2 hours away so I probably won't be doing that very often.

Since this post was created I have been working with my hand loads and have my 357 consistently hitting clay pigeons set up at 50 yards. I say consistently meaning I am probably a 60% hit rate. Not bad for such a small target at those distances for me. The 12" steel I can hit almost every time at about 75 yards.

I have not been to the range in about 2-3 weeks. I'm ready to get back out there.

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Good for you!

Uberti Pietta SAA said:

It's a bit of a drive for you but Oroville has an outdoor, uncontrolled, 9-concrete-table 500m range I frequent with my old tired .22s, '06s, .357 & .45s.
The burms are set at 25m, 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m & 500m.
It's on Rabe Rd off of Larkin Rd, South on Larkin from Oroville Dam Rd., turn Left onto Rabe Rd at the black mailbox - lol
It's a nicely laid out range, I'd say possibly worth the drive.

I regularly fire my old '36 Colt Woodsman .22 at 200 meters and my Ruger Security-6 at 400 meters - been doing it for decades - maybe someday I'll hit something

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A family member has a private range ....with 1000 yard rifle....maybe I need to step up my game.........

Back when I was a LEO we shot the standard PPC course out to 50 yards monthly. When we were finished we would shoot at paper plates at a 100 yards. Loser buys the beer. That’s when things got plumb serious.
While we lived on the ranch, I had a gong set up across the crick right at a 100 yards. I could sit out on the front steps and bang away at it with handguns or muzzle loaders.
Got pretty good at it.

Beach Bum said:

A family member has a private range ....with 1000 yard rifle....maybe I need to step up my game.........

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Sometimes I feel it would be a blast to shoot a thousand yards but I have enough challenge at 500m and I'm not a-gettin' any younger.

Uberti Pietta SAA said:

Sometimes I feel it would be a blast to shoot a thousand yards but I have enough challenge at 500m and I'm not a-gettin' any younger.

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We have plates at 200 , 340 , yrds ....your shooting farther than me , are you using a scope ?