How far can you a shoot a 357 Magnum revolver?

[jhalcott]

Many years ago a bunch of us sillywet shooters would practice/play at ranges that we would never hunt at. Several had 38 revolvers and loaded for them. We'd shoot at clay pigeons and drink bottles at 200 and 300 yards. Not many BULLETS will let you go that far (300 yds) accurately! It is surprising how far the slow bullets CAN go accurately. Of course , this is on a CALM day! One of the guys shot in a storm drain near his home to negate wind factors. He found the height of the drain to be a big factor in how far he could shoot before the bullets hit the top on the way to the targets. It was a 4' by 6' drain.

[44man]

I had a 30-30 model 94 here that shoots good but needed the rear sight moved .019" to center. I used a formula but just how do you move a sight .019"? i used pencil marks but it was hit and miss.
How do you move a sight in a dovetail .019"? Best to try and adjust as needed

[Beerd]

............. One of the guys shot in a storm drain near his home to negate wind factors. ...........

Bet that was kinda loud.
..

[ErnieBishop]

Many years ago a bunch of us sillywet shooters would practice/play at ranges that we would never hunt at. Several had 38 revolvers and loaded for them. We'd shoot at clay pigeons and drink bottles at 200 and 300 yards. Not many BULLETS will let you go that far (300 yds) accurately! It is surprising how far the slow bullets CAN go accurately. Of course , this is on a CALM day! One of the guys shot in a storm drain near his home to negate wind factors. He found the height of the drain to be a big factor in how far he could shoot before the bullets hit the top on the way to the targets. It was a 4' by 6' drain.

bullet stabilization is my main concern in this project.

[MtGun44]

1000 yds with good groups has been documented in the American Rifleman by some
shooters in Colorado with a Contender. Not the same as a revolver, but it does
show what is possible.

Bill

[ErnieBishop]

Are you talking about the article about Don Bower.
Had a quote something like this, "Shooting so far and groups so tight that not even his grandmother would believe him?" And the guy doing the article apologized because he thought Don was a fraud and had basically went out there to prove him wrong?

1000 yds with good groups has been documented in the American Rifleman by some
shooters in Colorado with a Contender. Not the same as a revolver, but it does
show what is possible.

Bill

[44man]

Guys have come here to prove me wrong too. Seems once you are stable, boolits will go very far.
It is not a game for those that get 12" at 50 yards. That stuff will not tighten as range increases.
This is not like over spin with a rifle where the rifle can group better after the bullet goes to sleep. This is a revolver that needs to be stable at the start. Even 4" at 100 is not enough for 500 meters.
It can be done even with a .38 or nine. It is not YOU, it is what the gun and load can do, but you still must be able to shoot. You can't steer a boolit so if you spray and pray at 25, don't tell me you can hit at 1000. Pock marks in dirt do not count.
Jerry is like Bob Munden, knew the loads and guns but shoots enough to see where to hold. If you watched Bob shoot you would see his hands were black from powder. It took more work and shots then we can afford.
We are lucky to have Jerry and the loss of Bob deserves a prayer from all of you.

[ErnieBishop]

I am not concerned whether folks try to doubt what I do in terms of shooting.
That doubt just simply inspires me even more in whatever project I am attempting
My distance shooting over the years has been done around a lot of folks in practice, various comps, and in teaching others.
I intend to video this as well.
I don't pretend to be a Bob or a Jerry.
I am not going to be attempting this from the off-hand position.
I am not trying to "hit a target," but rather shooting sustained groups at distance.
I have no problem shooting good at what would be considered close, mid-range, or at distance with a variety of weapons.
I am not going to be holding over for my distance shooting with a revolver-Why waste ammo needlessly?
I was shooting sub MOA at 100 yards shooting from the seated positions using the HD-3 Bog-Gear trip-pod and their PSR top.

I am learning (or at least I think I am) that handgun bullet once it is stable from the muzzle stays stable even through transonic and subsonic.
Will be doing some reduced load testing to confirm this soon.
Guessing a 170 grain Sierra Tournament Master at 1400-1500 fps MV.
At 1500 fps MV with a 100 yard zero, my impact velocity is 937 fps at 500 yards with 50 MOA of drop, and 891fps at 600 yards with 65 MOA of drop.
If I am not consistently shooting MOA or under at 100 yards, there is no sense even trying.
Since the two Franken-Ruger's I shoot several weeks ago both shot sub MOA @ 100 yards, I am real confident mine will too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTfh6OKvIgk
My first time to shoot the 8" Franken Ruger was to zero it at 50 yards on paper.
We then set up an 8" piece of round soft steel at 100.
Not knowing where it would hit, I aimed a little high on the first shot.
Saw steel move, but couldn't see the hit.
Then I raised my point of aim and fired four more, seeing where it was hitting.
I could not bring myself to shoot the last round as the group was so good. This was shooting from a camp chair and Bog-Gear.

[williamwaco]

I could not bring myself to shoot the last round as the group was so good.

Don'tcha just love it when that happens?

[rlb]

That's the kind of shooting I would expect out of you. This will be a really interesting project for you. I hope it all comes together and works out. I bet you get to 500 or better.

keep us informed.

[MtGun44]

Yes, I believe that they went out to disprove the stories, and wound up
verifying them.

Bill

[ErnieBishop]

Don sadly has passed from this life, but he was a friend. I do miss him
He was shooting his Super Bower or 30 Alaskan cartridges.
These were not straight-walled cases but Ackley Improved cartridges with a rim for use in the Contender, based off of the 44 Marlin and hte 307 Winchester.
Burris optics came out with their 10x IER scope because of Don.
Him and his brother John definitely plowed some LR ground back in the day with specialty pistols.

Yes, I believe that they went out to disprove the stories, and wound up
verifying them.

Bill

[44man]

Some great shooting shown! But we will see stability counts and even a WFN will shoot astounding distances.
I agree with Ernie, my off hand shooting suffers BIG TIME now. Groups like that are 1000 yard shooters, nice job.
But the scope might not reach adjustment out there and what let me hit were trees in the back ground so I could pick a branch. No trees and it is tough. I would look at a tapered base to allow adjustment.
The posts that always bothered me were those that say a FN goes unstable. It is always the twist rate/velocity even if the FN drops more.
Now Ernie, how about cast boolits?

[ErnieBishop]

I have 2 different guys sending me some cast bullets, for shooting at distance
Remember, I don't even have my Franken Ruger yet.

[dubber123]

I have 2 different guys sending me some cast bullets, for shooting at distance
Remember, I don't even have my Franken Ruger yet.

Let me know if any are sending you some of the RCBS 180 Sil's. Also let me know what your cylinder throats measure, I am sure your gunsmith will be making sure they are all uniform.

[BCgunworks]

Bullets sized to 358 will work in his cylinder. I know the gunsmith

[dubber123]

Bullets sized to 358 will work in his cylinder. I know the gunsmith

I bet you do.. I have a fair pile of .38"s and .357's, and .358" works well in all but one.

[BCgunworks]

The biggest issue with lead is the fact we don't have a true bc calculated for any of the bullets.

Most of these bullet companies send their stuff out to an independent lab/tester to come up with their bc.

Confirming drops isn't a big deal. But getting wind calls down it would help to have the data.

[BCgunworks]

And yes I am aware that you can use several different online calculators to get a somewhat close bc for lead bullets

[country gent]

The load is important it has to be accurate and perform well. Also as important is finding the correct elevation changes and reading correcting for wind and changes. Some of the early long range testing done with 45-70s used a target 6-8 ft tall and 3 times as wide. Learning wind is a big plus as is finding the "come ups for long ranges. With accurate information 50 yd velocity and 200 yd velocity BC can be figured with most ballistic programs making it possible to get a close idea of come ups and wind corrections from the ballistic program. Long range is a true combination of firearm, shooter, load, and experience. Also dont always expect a load that perform close to continue to perform at extended ranges, I have seen rifle loads perform at 200 and fail at 600, and loads that perform at 600 fail at 1000. Elevation above/below sea level weather conditions light temperature will also have an effect.