reaching out there

[reloader28]

Anybody doing any long range pistol stuff?
We have 12" steel plates all the way out to 1000yds for rifles here at the house. My brother is into extreme long range. I mean out to 3000yds. I almost went that way til I started casting boolits.
400yds is so easy with a rifle that a kid can do it with very little practice. We use our 22's sometimes for a challenge and thats fun.

I took a 44 Vaquero and a 45 Colt Bisley Blackhawk out the other day at 400yds. Man that is fun. Both those loads shoot so good that once I got the elevation down I was just missing it by a tiny fraction. About 20-25 rounds apiece and I did hit the plate a couple times with each gun. I figure 1 in 10 or 12 aint bad for my first attempt. VERY addictive though.

[Scharfschuetze]

I see that you are in Wyoming. I'll be in Fremont County for a shoot a thon in another week at a family reunion.

Yes, it's the best place for long range shooting with either a rifle or a Handgun. I really like shooting old Trapdoors on steel or targets of opportunity to a thousand yards or so and my 6" revolvers out to about 200 yards, although from a prone position I can stretch that out a bit. Lots of fun that.

[leadman]

Ernie Bishop is in Gillette, a preacher, he does long range shooting but with a bolt action pistol. Last I checked on Speciality Pistols he was beyond 1,800 yards with his shooting. There are videos there of him shooting.
In 2010 I went to Casper to hunt with some of the members of SP. We shot at the gun range there the day before the antelope hunt started. Saw Ernie shoot about 3" to 4" groups at 600 yards, the farthest targets on the range at that time. My Contender in 6.5TCU was affected by the wind at that range and only hit the steel plate once.
I have shot my Encore 6PPC at 485 yards and got groups around 5".

[Walter Laich]

Wow, I can't see that far let alone put sights on a target that far way!

Great job guys

[reloader28]

Very cool. 1800 is a serious stretch. I'll have to see if I can find some videos. Its very addictive.
More snow last night so probly no shooting this weekend. Cant see where the boolit lands.

[reloader28]

Nobody else??? Its kinda fun. Its the best way to check the consistancy of your load thats for sure.

I checked out Ernie Bishop videos and he is good. That gun hes shooting is way more like a carbine than a pistol though.
I'm old fashion I guess. I like using factory iron sights and six shooters.

[Scharfschuetze]

Nobody else???

Before I retired from the service, I stretched the range a bit with Mk 13 SWS (300 Magnum) and the M107 (50 Cal) rifles. No cast boolits in those though, but it was interesting. A good spotter is a great help for both recreational shooting at long range and at work.

I once took a class from Antioch University on the Indian Wars campaign of 1876. It was two weeks long and covered the main battlefields of that campaign. Part of the class was a demonstration of the various weapons used by both sides of that fracas in the vicinity of Buffalo, Wyoming. I knew from the class synopsis that a day would be spent demonstrating period weapons so I brought one of my Trapdoor rifles with infantry load duplication ammo. It opened a few eyes as to what can be done by a marksman at ranges beyond what most people consider long. I shot from the kneeling and prone positions as an infantryman would have done in 1876.

[44man]

I have gone to 600+ when I belonged to the club and always wanted to do the 800 yard but they would not allow slower guns on it, cow pasture behind the berm and they feared boolits going over.
1000 sounds like fun.

[reloader28]

A friend brought a trapdoor and 3 or 4 other old rifles out one day and that was a blast. Lobbing them in at 1000yds. It would take 3 1/2 - 4 seconds for the boolit to get there and it would be with very suprising accuracy.

[kawasakifreak77]

Man I feel good about hitting a five gallon pail of concrete at 350m with a rifle!

Guess I need to step up my game...

[Andy]

I am glad people are doing this, so many people think that pistols are inherently inaccurate when in fact they are just really hard for us to shoot accurately. I can't wait to do longer range stuff with my 45 colt once the opportunity present itself.

[Scharfschuetze]

Here's a shot at our annual spring shoot-a-thon this last weekend in Central Washington. Steel targets to the horizon.

I was in Wyoming a week ago and we did the same thing there.

[6622729]

I only recently watched a video of someone using 9mm handgun as a defensive option at 100yds. I watch people hammering a paper target at 7yds and wonder, "why"? I practice at 25 yds and people think I'm stretching it. After watching the guy in the video doing well freehand with 9mm at 100yds, I decided to start working my way out. I'm working on hand loads for 9mm handgun at 50yds. I know, very amateur compared to what I'm reading here but you have to start somewhere and I'm already a novelty at our shooting range as no one else is shooting handgun beyond 25yds.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I've been watching some guys in Canada, on utube, shooting coyotes consistently at 1,000 yards and beyond. The longest shot on video was about 1,300 yards. The guys name is "dartman76" I think. Granted they use modern weapons and accessories, but they are great shots. They show the misses also. One of the calibers they use is the .243 Win, and it's not unusual for them to get a coyote and 600/700 yds with it.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[reloader28]

Very cool, guys.

Sharf, it would be fun to just travel all over and shoot.

[Scharfschuetze]

Very cool, guys.

Sharf, it would be fun to just travel all over and shoot.

I make two to three trips a year for shooting like this. I have good friends and family in Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming so finding places to shoot is pretty easy. It's great when you can shoot in any direction as far as you want and there is no one around to even hear you fire. We often include prairie dog hunting into the trips, although I use a modern 22 Hornet or .223 rifle for that long range challenge.

Here's a shot of the Gas Hills in Central Wyoming. Lots of little rocks that make great targets at long range. It really tests your range estimating and wind estimation skills with the old military rifles that I like to shoot. Long range really makes you appreciate the old military and Lyman/Redfield aperture sights that allow for adjusting for trajectory out to very long ranges as well as for making fast and accurate adjustments for deflection due to wind.

[Iowa Fox]

Ernie Bishop is in Gillette, a preacher, he does long range shooting but with a bolt action pistol. Last I checked on Speciality Pistols he was beyond 1,800 yards with his shooting. There are videos there of him shooting.
In 2010 I went to Casper to hunt with some of the members of SP. We shot at the gun range there the day before the antelope hunt started. Saw Ernie shoot about 3" to 4" groups at 600 yards, the farthest targets on the range at that time. My Contender in 6.5TCU was affected by the wind at that range and only hit the steel plate once.
I have shot my Encore 6PPC at 485 yards and got groups around 5".

I'll be in Wyoming in June shooting with Ernie and the guys. Also be at the MOA cold Turkey in Sundance. Lots of fun & great guys.

[reloader28]

Sounds like fun. We like to turkey hunt Sundance/Hullet.

[bbqncigars]

Dang, I would love to shoot at long range targets with my peep sighted Marlin cowboys and the Beast (Windrunner in .50bmg). Y'all are lucky to have that option.

[35 shooter]

I came up reading Elmer Keiths adventures in shooting his six guns at long range.
Since there was no one around to tell me it couldn't be done, i purchased a mod. 29 smith with a 6 1/2" bbl. and hit the local gravel pits.

It took some shooting, but i eventually learned how much front sight to hold above the rear for ranges out to about 600 yds.
I eventually made light file marks across my front sight and had a jeweler actually file them in more and fill in the lines with gold (real gold or paint? don't know). Anyway i wound up with 4 gold bars across my front sight for 100, 200, 300, and 400 yds.

I eventually wound up with a 8 3/8" and a 4" bbl. mod 29 also. As i got older i could see the sights on the 4" better than the others and did all of the same type shooting with it.

It's amazing what can be done with a six gun with just a bit of practice. Most folks won't believe it though...at least untill they actually see it done.
I won a lot of bets on the weekends from non believers as a young man back then.

[runfiverun]

Scharf.
Gas Hills......... like the ones just outside Casper?

[Scharfschuetze]

Scharf.
Gas Hills......... like the ones just outside Casper?

Yep, although I was about 30 miles SE of Riverton. There's a lot of empty area out there between Casper and Riverton.

Here's a few visitors that wandered by to see what we were up to. It's odd that they are considered a long range target. I've never had to shoot one at more than a 120 yards after a good stalk during the hunting season for them.

[Scharfschuetze]

It took some shooting, but i eventually learned how much front sight to hold above the rear for ranges out to about 600 yds.

I also read Elmer Keith's description on this back in the day when he was still writing in the gun magazines. I immediately tried it out and to this day use the technique with my 6" S&W revolvers. It's a hoot to hit steel at long range that some of the rifle shooters can't hit.

[Mtnfolk75]

I just recently traded into a Pristine S&W Model 19-3 6", I have been debating trading or selling it for a 4". This thread has my curiosity peaked, I guess shooting it some won't hurt .... :razz: The weather is finally warming up, a day at Cyrus Canyon sounds fun.