Pistols at 25 yards

[hoosierdoc]

Fun day again at Atterbury with my dad. It was nearly deserted at 2pm by the time we got there and continued to thin out. We were mainly shooting the XD9 service and SC again at 7 yards but decided to throw it target stand back to 25 yards for the final session.

It's hard to not get a few looks when you put the target back 18 yards further than most people are shooting. It's like climbing up the 10-meter platform and having the pool start looking at you.

We put five 5.5" targets in a cross pattern and I started shooting. The second one was a bullseye (through no fault of my own). I shot about 40 rounds at this distance and 20 of them hit the five targets we had setup. 3 of the targets had bullseyes but I was only aiming at the center one

It was a fun thing to do and showed me I could hit a stationary guy with plenty of time to setup from 25 yards as probably 38/40 hit the silhouette.

One thing I found odd is I am more accurate with the SC using a 16-round mag from the 4" model than with the 13-rnd one. I didn't have the grip-extension mag with me. Maybe it just fits me better. The SC also seems to have less recoil when I fire it which doesn't make sense to me. I do have smallish hands and it just feels darned good shooting the sub.

I almost bit on a two-tone P22 they are selling but $300 seemed a tad high when they are going for less with thread adapters in our classifieds.

 

[schafe]

3 of the targets had bullseyes but I was only aiming at the center one

Never admit this!! ("I meant to do that.")... Opportunity lost

 

[hoosierdoc]

Never admit this!! ("I meant to do that.")... Opportunity lost

Yeah, but I wanted to show my humility and not look I was saying I'm good, just trying something hard

 

[bluewraith]

I've always thought of short range handgun shooting as cheating.. When we go out we're usually around 30 paces from the targets. I would like to see my accuracy on a target at 7 yards though. Might have to set that up next time.

 

[Lytlewaitandbleed]

At the local range here you only have the option of 25 or 50 yards would love to be able to train closer cause we all know the bg is gonna be close

 

[canav844]

At more than 10yards it can be hard to diagnose what's shooter fundamentals and what's wind and bullet drop, it's a skill to have, but if I'm learning or trying a new gun it's not my first choice. And I'll say my first trip to the range the guy next to me had a highpoint pistol and carbine, he could get decent groups with the carbine, but he did by his own admission say at the 15yard minimum they had, not a single one of his rounds from the pistol hit the target. Distance shots are a good skill, but I think they're more something to work up to than to start off with.

I like ranges with options, I prefer to shoot somewhere that I can shoot on the move starting at one or two yards and ending at 15 behind concealment (cardboard box), moving side to side in the process. I've found if I stand around and think about each shot, I tend to start flinching ad making tiny changes to my grip, but when I need to be thinking about movement and sight picture shoot sight picture shoot, my groups close up in a big hurry. I like to train in a manner that if it were to be applied to an actual situation I would be effective at getting rounds on target in a hurry, and being able to move from target to target, and hit one target when another is close by to it, and have that other target be "safe" often times it's used as that hostage senario, but for me it's more about controlling where and when bullets go down range. Most cases are short range, but I've heard od instances where a civilian may be called upon to make longer shots.

After seeing some targets on various forums I figure it's probably worth it to put more than 1 magazine or less in a target and go a full 50 box, to see if I can put a big hole in the middle of it. While I may like to train for a fight, weekly trips to the range are also my chance to blow off steam and relax, and you've got to have fun with it sometimes.

 

[dross]

If I can't throw a midget and hit you with him on the fly, I'm out of my pistol range and I want my rifle. Come to think of it, I want my rifle even if the midget can touch both of us at the same time.

 

[Compatriot G]

When I was a tanker in the Marine Corps, I had to qualify with my 1911 at 15 yards and 25 yards. I shot the Army pistol qualification course when I was at Ft. Knox for tank school. It was pop-ups at ranges from, I think, 7 yards out to 25 or 50 yards. I know for most of the short range targets, I just used my front sight and got hits every time. When the longer range targets popped up, I missed a couple because of the wonderful sights on a standard G.I. issue 1911. The fact that they were 40+ years old, at the time, and looked like they had been carried in WWII, Korea and Vietnam probably didn't help much either.

 

[iChokePeople]

The esrice range report has us all wondering about our 25yd skills. I shot the "#3" a few nights ago with a couple different pistols to try to validate my choices, too. It's easy to say self-defense shots will be inside 10 yards... until someone brings up a valid, realistic scenario like that one that makes you rethink and retest everything. And that's good.

 

[dtkw]

I had set up some balloons at the shortest distance target at 25 yards in the outdoor range. I had no problem hitting all of them with my Les Baur 45 or Browning Hi Power 9mm. The balloons were blew up to about the size of an grapefruit. But you hitting the bulleyes, more power to you.

 

[esrice]

It's hard to not get a few looks when you put the target back 18 yards further than most people are shooting. It's like climbing up the 10-meter platform and having the pool start looking at you.

That's a great comparison! For added fun you could've yelled "NO!" before you started shooting.

I shot about 40 rounds at this distance and 20 of them hit the five targets we had setup.

Wow!

Testing yourself like this is great. It may start of sounding kinda crazy, but at least you now have a better idea of what's possible.

 

[POTTSY]

You know it is very interesting reading what you guys say about shooting at the range i have never been to one it would ne nice to see how i can shoot a paper target , i must be lucky because i live in the country and when i shoot my pistol i never shoot under 15 yards i use to shoot at water bottles and coke cans and make them hop and never move from where i am standing and now that is getting old so i am shooting at spent shot gun shells i set up on their end and so far i am hitting them on every other shot , but i am sure if i was at a range my shooting would be different i guess i'll have to find a range some day and see how it is .

 

[esrice]

but i am sure if i was at a range my shooting would be different i guess i'll have to find a range some day and see how it is .

I sure hope it wouldn't be any different. I hear you can use paper targets in the country too.

 

[SSGSAD]

Many, many years ago, I could put 5 out of 6 rounds in the head of a shiloutte (sp) target ...... Now, I put 5 out of 6 in a paper plate .....

 

[Yup!]

I've never tried 25 yards. Gonna have to try it at my next outing. What shooting position do most use for a 25y handgun shot?

 

[esrice]

What shooting position do most use for a 25y handgun shot?

That's very dependent on the situation.

Try them all. Standing, kneeling, prone. See if it makes a difference for you.

 

[Yup!]

Yeah, I generally just go with the standing position. Seems to work for me. The more I read here, the more I suck....

 

[Wild Deuce]

When my main gun went down after the first shot at the last steel plate match, I found out what I could and couldn't do with my snubbie for the rest of the match. It's a humbling experience and reinforces the need for training. Congrats to the OP for seeking out his limits.

 

[esrice]

The more I read here, the more I suck....

I actually took a pistol class once called "You Suck, Its Not The Gun".

 

[Yup!]

I actually took a pistol class once called "You Suck, Its Not The Gun".

I do like when I'm at the range using my crimson trace and the guy next to me says, oh your group is tight because you have a laser. I always insist they try it out.