Best long distance pistol caliber

[buck460XVR]

My two cents.

You are having fun and being successful shooting long range with a gun you already have. It is a caliber you already reload for. You don't need a longer range, you just need to use smaller targets. I have steel gongs I shoot at, that range in size from 12" down to 2". I have the hangers for them at designated 40, 70, 100 and 200 yards. All of my hangers are made to hold two targets. A larger one and a smaller one. Once one gets dialed in on the larger target, you don't always have to change your yardage, just change the target you are a shooting at. A 2" gong at 100 yards is a challenge for any caliber handgun.

Shooting at 100 yards or more with a revolver is not a big deal unless you are hunting. That is when you want something faster and flatter shooting than the ol' .357. But for the challenge of shooting at distances with a handgun, you really don't need anything else. Moderate recoil makes so you can shoot it all day, ammo is relatively inexpensive compared to some of the other calibers mentioned here and the platforms are generally more accurate than the shooter. Sometimes when shooting my Smiths in SA gets boring, it's a challenge to shoot the same distances DA. IMHO, you are just fine with what you have for now. If you want to get competitive down the road, research will tell you better than us what you will need to be appropriate.

Problem most folks have with shooting handguns more than 15-25 yards is all in their head. My closest gong at my range is 40 yards and even with a 12 incher hanger from it, many folks new to my range balk at shooting that far with their handguns and insist on moving the bench or standing closer. It's not after they shoot and realize that hitting a target @ 40 yards is not that difficult, even with their CWC, that they realize the idea that most handguns are inherently inaccurate past 25 yards is a misconception. Like you, they realize that shooting at longer distances is actually a lot of fun once you get your head wrapped around it.

 

[Waterboy3313]

Problem most folks have with shooting handguns more than 15-25 yards is all in their head.

I was in the same for a long time. I was actually getting bored with it.

 

[Rock185]

In a traditional handgun, I think your .357 is a good choice. I don't usually shoot over 100 yards or so with handguns. Beyond that, for me figuring hold over is the hard part. I would imagine mounting a scope and actually sighting in for long distance would be rewarding. But I never went to the effort since shooting at ranges of 100 yards and beyond was always just a lark for me. I've found the .357, 9MM, 38 Super, 9X23 Winchester to be fun to shoot out to 100 yards or so.

I've shot a fair amount of 10MM factory and reloads in semi-autos and revolvers since the cartridge was introduced . I haven't researched it, but the 10 seems to shoot as flat as some of the others I mentioned with the "real" 10MM loads. Anyway, have fun with all this.

 

[xphunter]

Waterboy,
Stick with your 357 Mag GP-100.
When I went to group my GP-100 at 500 yards, I used Sierra's 170 grain Target/Tournament (Can't remember the correct name) Master.
I have shot out 300 yards with just regular ole 158 grain XTP's on steel with great success.
If I was going to a single-shot platform like the Contender or G-2 I would lean toward the 357 MAX.
Burris Signature Zee Rings, picatinny rail for your revolver, and a scope like the Leupold 2.5-8 EER, you can easily shoot past 500 yards, if you so desired.

 

[Waterboy3313]

In a traditional handgun, I think your .357 is a good choice. I don't usually shoot over 100 yards or so with handguns. Beyond that, for me figuring hold over is the hard part. I would imagine mounting a scope and actually sighting in for long distance would be rewarding.

I have seen a scope mount for the GP 100 but I can't force myself to actually put a scope on it. The factory sights were horrible but I've upgraded to an aftermarket set of sights that have made a world of difference. I prefer iron sights in most cases even when shooting rifles.

 

[xphunter]

One shot right around 130 yards, and killed him quick-357 with 158 XTP's

 

[xphunter]

 

[Waterboy3313]

How long is the barrel?

 

[xphunter]

How long is the barrel?

10"

 

[xphunter]

I have seen a scope mount for the GP 100 but I can't force myself to actually put a scope on it. The factory sights were horrible but I've upgraded to an aftermarket set of sights that have made a world of difference. I prefer iron sights in most cases even when shooting rifles.

You can be fairly precise out to about 200 yards with iron sights.
With a scope it is a whole new game

 

[Waterboy3313]

I was just looking at some scopes and mounts online. I've never shot a pistol with a scope. Part of me wants to try it. The other part of me doesn't want to deal with setting it up and getting it dialed in. I might have to think about it a little more.

 

[xphunter]

It is not that difficult.
You will have to adjust for distance, once you get it zeroed at a specific distance.
Who knows you might end up getting another handgun...Then you can have one with a optic, and the other irons sights.

 

[Varminterror]

I was just looking at some scopes and mounts online. I've never shot a pistol with a scope. Part of me wants to try it. The other part of me doesn't want to deal with setting it up and getting it dialed in. I might have to think about it a little more.

I’ll share my experience starting out ~25yrs ago trying to learn long range Revolver shooting, specifically to this point.

At the time, I was very young and my eyes were perfect. I drank a gallon of milk and a gallon of orange juice every day, so by the weekend, I had plenty of targets to place in fields at various distances, or hang from T posts. I would drive out with a shooting table in the bed of a Chevy S-10, drop off my targets, then drive back whatever range I thought was my limit at the time, squint over the iron sights, blocking my targets with my barrel, holding over the targets by feet and yards. At best, even when holding a conventional sight picture, the front sight blade of most revolvers is ~16moa wide, with a 4-6moa float in the rear sight notch - so it’s a wing and a prayer when groups are small, or hits are made on truly small, or far away targets. But I had access to and owned iron sight revolvers, so I shot iron sights. I stuck this way for several years because I didn’t have a scoped revolver, or even one D&T’d for a mount, and none of the smiths around my local area were willing to do any revolver smithing, including D&T’ing.

And then my eyes changed, and my astigmatism worsened to the point I could no longer resolve a tightly fit front sight in a rear notch. I tried various replacement sights, but finally bought a scope and mount - a cheap no-drill Weaver 301 to put on top of one of my Super Blackhawks. Life was good! I could see my targets, confirm perfect hold on target in my reticle picture, and could dial for range without losing sight of my target. My groups shrank, and my effective range extended instantly. My perspective that revolvers were 100-125 max range options revised to double that within a few trips afield. I was shooting farther within weeks with a 44mag than my uncles were comfortable shooting with their lever action, iron-sighted rifles. Scopes don’t make firearms more accurate - but they absolutely make firearms more shooter-friendly on a wider array of target profiles and sizes.

I wasted a lot of time, money, and energy on shooting iron sights at long range. “Setting up and dialing in” was a matter of 10min on a workbench to install the no-drill scope mount and boresight the optic (laser arbor), and about 10 rounds on target to zero. I spent far more time and wasted far more ammo trying to walk my way onto targets with iron sights. Since then, I’ve realized the slack and slop in the rear sights and rear sight screws simply precludes the system of repeatable resolution in adjustment, and I’ve realized it’s near-luck to develop sub-4moa groups with an iron sighted revolver past 100yrds, simply due to the scale of the sights. Even a red dot on a micro mount, replacing the rear sight, will offer an extreme upgrade in precision potential. Aiming with a 3moa dot is far more precise than doing so with a 16moa blade. A 1/4moa crosshair even moreso.

 

[horsey300]

It's interesting to hear different thoughts and ideas from a whole group of people on this subject. This is relatively new to me and I appreciate the input.

I reload my 38/357 stuff and have tried several bullets from lead cast swc, plated rnfp and Hornady xtp. I have used these bullets in 158gr and 125gr. With a lot of time doing workups and making adjustments I have found they all work relatively well to at least the 100 yard mark without loading to the recommended max powder charges. Most of which are actually very comfortable to shoot.

I didn't realize that this was going to get into custom built rifle caliber type pistols. That's not exactly where I want to go with this. I'm more into something off the shelf. I was thinking about possibly buying a new pistol soon probably a revolver that would be a step up over what I already have for reaching out to about 200 yards max.

.460 s&w in an optic mounted bfr, I'm sure someone else already posted this, but as of this moment, too impatient to scan through all the replies, this is the answer to your question.
Also the .41 mag is a blast for this purpose. Suppose anything mag bigger than .357 would make life easier, as I say that I'm planning on stretching my single 7 to long distance with some spitzer 120s......hmmm maybe I need to go to a meeting

 

[Waterboy3313]

Varminterror

You do have a pretty good argument. I'm not old and my eyes are good.

At best, even when holding a conventional sight picture, the front sight blade of most revolvers is ~16moa wide, with a 4-6moa float in the rear sight notch - so it’s a wing and a prayer when groups are small, or hits are made on truly small, or far away targets.

This is probably where I start to really think a scope will make a good difference. You said it better than I could think it in my head.

 

[xphunter]

Using a large bore with a lot of powder, and big heavy bullet looks good on a ballistic sheet.
It is harder to shoot consistent with heavy recoil, and revolvers are very sensitive to grip changes.
Show me consistent groups at 250 yards-400 with a big revolver (FA 454 Casull/460 BFR), and I will be impressed.
No doubt some folks here are capable of that.
But even more are capable of equally good groups with a revolver that costs as much as the two revolvers mentioned in 357 Magnum.
357 Magnum: Low recoil, easy to shoot, and flat shooting.

 

[Waterboy3313]

I have a range finder on order as well. I think getting a scope zeroed in at x yards and figuring how many clicks to X yard's would really improve my shooting. Some careful testing with some notes would probably make life a lot easier.

All of my loads are worked up at relatively close distance. I could see this going back to the drawing board and making my loading much better in the long run.

 

[Trashyshoots]

I was just looking at some scopes and mounts online. I've never shot a pistol with a scope. Part of me wants to try it. The other part of me doesn't want to deal with setting it up and getting it dialed in. I might have to think about it a little more.

A lot of good points have been made, you have a gp100 so you can grab a no drill mount, and pop on a scope relatively easy and economically.

And you can shrink targets, aim small miss small.

 

[Varminterror]

I'm not old and my eyes are good.

I’m jealous - I’m not old, and my eyes suck. And they HAVE sucked since I was inarguably “young.”

I did resto-repairs to a couple old 22LR rifles for a guy from my hometown this summer, both with irons, and itty bitty front beads. The owner is in his late 60’s, and he favors these rifles for their smaller beads... despite being ~30yrs his junior, I can’t shoot the rifles worth a damn, as my astigmatism causes the tiny beads to completely disappear when sunk into the narrow rear V. I do shoot iron sights fairly frequently, but I don’t own anything with such small beads and notches, and my accuracy absolutely suffered! Made me very grateful when I got back behind my own rifles with great big scopes on top!

 

[Waterboy3313]

I have good eyes but I can't use a red dot. I did quick search on Google and it said if the dot looks fuzzy but you can take a picture with your phone through the scope and it's round and clear you might have some kind of astigmatism. Other than that I am good. My 11 year old is blind as a bat he gets his eyes from my wife who can't see the digital clock on the oven at 5 feet without glasses or contacts.

Maybe putting a scope on my 357 will allow him to shoot it decently as well. For the longest time I just thought he wasn't picking up the concept of iron sights. After getting in trouble at school because the teacher thought he wasn't paying attention he went to the eye doctor and found out his eyes were horrible. I noticed his shooting improved 100 times better as well.
I know my eyes won't get any better with age. Like a water leak they don't get better as time goes on. If I set up my pistol with a scope I will only be setting myself up in the future. So I guess that's another pro to the situation. Lots of good points here steering me in the right direction.

 

[joneb]

I reload for 357 Mag so a logical option for me would be a Contender chambered in 357 Maximum.

 

[dickydalton]

When the Contender isn't available...

DSC00005 (1)

• dickydalton
• May 13, 2020

460

 

[Bob Meyer]

I have about 5 pistols that qualify here:
TC contender in 223, TC contender in 17 Remington, TC contender in 30-30, XP-100 in 7mm-08, and a Dan Wesson Supermag in 357 Maximum. If wind isn't really a problem I'd go with the 17 Rem.Recoil is light and trajectory is flat. If wind is a problem I'd go with the 7mm-08 with a light weight bullet to cut down on the recoil.

 

[xphunter]

Waterboy,
If you jump into the specialty pistol class with rifle cartridges, it is almost beyond your imagination....

 

[Waterboy3313]

I think with my experience and skills level the standard 357 is still beyond my imagination.