cvhoss,
I read your reply and I was compelled to ask you if 25 yards is a bit too far a distance for a handgun...especially the one which is compact and concealable. Essentially, you are saying that a guns accuracy should be tested with a range of 75 ft. I think I am a good shot at around 25-45 ft with any handgun, however, My shots go completely off with higher distances...especially with small, concealable handguns. With a full size handgun, i think 25 yards is a stretch, but I can still hit the target somewhat well, but; with a short barreled pistol, there is no way in hell I can hit anything at this distance. Let me know what your thoughts are or anyone elses if they interested in posting on this thread.
thank you
You asked what a standard was:
I have heard 25ft is standard for testing a firearm. Can anyone help me with this.
I'm just trying to give you what I perceive to be the standard based on what most published gun tests list as yardages when shooting for group size. I went on to say that because my eyesight isn't what it used to be, I now do
my handgun accuracy testing at 10 yds.
Accuracy testing involves two criteria. It has to be done at a distance and in a way (solid rest) that allows you to have the same sight picture for each and every shot
but at the same time it has to be at a far enough distance to allow for measuring group size. If you shoot from too short a distance, it's almost impossible to determine the gun's accuracy as the distance isn't great enough to allow the group to open up for proper measurement. To test the accuracy of the
gun, you should be firing from the farthest distance that you can consistently hold the same sight picture from a solid rest. If you want to test
your accuracy, then shoot from whatever distance you're comfortable with or the distance you anticipate your shots will occur.
In a perfect world where money were no object, all accuracy testing of the handgun itself would be done with a
Ransom rest. This would take the human element out of the picture and give a true representation of the handgun's accuracy. However, since most of us can't afford a Ransom rest, we do with what we have.
I do think it's important to determine the accuracy of the gun and load you are using
before you start worrying about your own shooting ability. If your gun or gun/load combination isn't accurate, then no amount of practice is going to help. This is usually much more important with rifles than handguns due to the distances involved. For my varmint rifles, I consider the maximum allowable 100 yd., bench rest 3 shot group to be 5/8". For 5 shot groups, maximum is 3/4". All of my current varmint rifles will shoot 1/2" or less with the correct load.
When my eyes were better, I did almost all of my handgun shooting at a minimum of 25 yds. There used to be this dry strip pit that we shot at and at one end of the pit, embedded in the bluff, was a sandstone that was about 4ft.X4ft. We used to practice handgun shooting at it. It was 425 yds.
Hoss