Why shoot Pistols over 20yds

[jsizemore]

As long as the shooter can hit the berm at whatever distance they're shooting at what's the big deal? I've shot the 500 yard range at Roanoke and did better then hit the berm. Some did better and some worse but everything stayed on the range. Shot IHMSA and NRA long range and hunter pistol for a long time. Closest target was the IHMSA hunter chicken at 25 meters and longest was the full size ram at 500 yards. On any day numerous shooters shot all 40 targets. If folks don't have the chance to practice at distance then they probably won't hit jack. Your shooting club is supposed to be there for that. If not, where?

[dverna]

With the climate of ignorance you are dealing with, you might be better off finding another range.

Rules that are not enforced will not increase range safety. There are too many idiots out there.

Wish you luck.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

in 22 pistol Silhouettes we shoot pistols to 100 meters targets are at 40 , 60 , 77 and 100 meters.

50 yards is a standard competition distance for National matches pistol shooting.

center-fire pistol silhouettes

tell them the main reason they don't think you should shoot past 20 yards with a pistol is because it makes them feel bad they have to have their ego crushed when the plate they were hitting ar 100 yards with their decked out AR you started hitting with a stock glock.

it is kind of fun to watch people pounding away at a 25 yard plate miss miss miss and you walk up and start nailing the 100 yard plate standing off hand , if you really want to show off start doing it 1 handed and you use a glock 19 you just pulled out of the holster the way you carried it in.

[mjwcaster]

Dverna I have thought of another range.
There is only 1 real option in my area and in many ways it is a nicer range.
But more structured, not a bad thing, but I enjoyed the freedoms here.
And the original selling point for this range when I moved into the area was the fishing pond and camping.
Probably did more camping and fishing than shooting the first few years, and still take my daughter and her friends out several times a year, as much as the kids busy schedule allows.
Her and her friends love to camp and fish and almost no one else camps there.
And the fishing is pretty reliable, although the catfish are too skinny now, the kids caught a few last year, some of them had never cleaned and eaten their catch.
After a few fish I gave up cleaning them, not enough meat to bother with.

The real problem is the other range goes in the extreme other direction with safety.
That in itself is not a bad thing, but some of the RSO’s are on a power trip.
And make up their own rules, contradict other RSO’s and are confrontational for no reason.

The bad apples are well known, not liked by fellow RSO’s, have caused good members to quit yet are still there, at least as of a year or two.

If I do something wrong I will take my dressing down like a man, but start yelling at me for things I am doing right and I will have a problem with that.

At least at my current range I can avoid the idiots, I just leave when they show up, or pull in, see too many people and go fishing for a while.

One thing I’ve noticed, the idiots never stay long.
Most people who come to the range for hours are decent shooters.


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[Hick]

Because over 20 yards is where the fun is! I had my Walther P1 out today and finally got a load that let me hit 12" gongs at 45 yards. I didn't hit many-- but the challenge made it way more fun than shooting closer targets.

[bedbugbilly]

Can't help you much . but . . the only time I have been "limited" at distance is when I've shot at indoor ranges. Fortunately, I have a farm I can shoot on back in MI - I don't shoot in competition - but I do shoot 390, 9mm, 38s and 45 colt - other than practicing CCW shooting at out to 7 yards - the minimum I shoot is 25 yards and usually out to 50 yards. I have no issues at 50 yards with my 45 Colt. Like I said, can't help you much but if your range is limiting to 20 yards . . . . personally I wouldn't go there to shoot. All depends on the organization but for most pistol shooters, if you limit it to 20 yards . . seems like members would drop out in favor of joining another range where they have the capability of practicing at 25 - 50 yards. I[m all for "safety rules" . . but the more restrictions the more irritating it is to members and before long, membership will drop. Rules are rules and there's a lot to be said for "self policing" . . . if someone is being a jerk about something - seems like the better option is to spell out that if you don't abide by the minimal rules inlace, you will be banned for . . say . . 30 days. Second offense . . 60 days. Third offense . .. . you loose your shooting privelndges.

[popper]

Club an LLC?

[mjwcaster]

One issue here is the lack of outdoor ranges for the relatively large population.
And the high land prices limit the opening of new ones.

When I worked at a gun shop it never failed, someone would buy a rifle/transfer a rifle then ask us where they could shoot it.
About all we could do was sigh.
There are a few indoor ranges that allow rifles, most 25yds max, a couple go to 50.

And only a few clubs with somewhat open membership.

There are only two maybe 3 viable places open to the public for rifles within a 75 mile radius of Chicago, one of them a DNR range in Indiana.

Most rifle pistol clubs keep a low profile and have a long waiting list around here.
Memberships are basically inherited at some of the clubs.


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[mjwcaster]

Since so many seem interested-
I missed the board meeting tonight, completely forgot it would be tonight.
Probably for the best it seems.

I accidentally timed my text message at the best moment.
Things have been dumped on a board member I work very well with.
We will be meeting up, tomorrow hopefully, to get some changes started.
It might amount to nothing, but at least there is a chance.

And as far as pistols on the rifle range there has been no formal changes, so I will keep abiding by the posted rules until further notice.

Thanks for all the help.

And if there are any RSO’s out there drop me a line, I could use all the input I can get.
This is not going to be an easy task.
Thankless yes, easy no.


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[bob208]

I shoot at 25 yd. plus. if you can hit your target at 25 yd. then you can hit the target at 10 feet. I have helped put up new posts on work day. come out the next weekend and found targets tacked to the posts with bullet holes. after that I made my own target stands .

[44Blam]

At my range there's two steel targets at 15 yards, two steel targets at 25 and 4 steel targets at 50 yards. One of the 50 yard targets is 1'x1' but there is a 2" flapper in the middle. It's really satisfying when you see the flapper go.

[fredj338]

Illinois has a shooting qualification section for our concealed carry license. The distances shot are 5 yards, 7 yards, and 10 yards. When I took my class, we had people who could not keep all their rounds on a full size NRA silhouette target at 7 yards, let alone keep them in the 9 ring.
Scary to think about that there are people out there with guns, who have issues keeping shots on a silhouette at 10 yards.
I have seen police officers shoot who were not much better.
I have seen some police who are superb shots. They tend to be the ones who practice a lot.

Yes, sim here in SOcal/OC, 3,5 & 7y, B27, 70% hits on target to pass & I see guys/gals fail. I did not mean to imply that civi are better shooter than LEO but many times that is true. Just because one is issued a badge & gun does NOT mean they can actually shoot. Consider most of the top LE pistol trainers are civilian competition shooters as well.

[Bigslug]

Not only are 25 and 50 yards the standard pistol distances for the NRA and CMP matches, those distances are commonly used for competing with STANDARD SERVICE AUTOMATICS, which pretty much any reputable manufacture in good tune is mechanically capable of putting in a fair showing. For sake of comparison, the aiming black on those targets is about human head size - and they only let you hold the gun one-handed.

Restricting rifles to over 50 yards is a bad call - ESPECIALLY in this age of AR-15 ubiquity. Because of the 2 1/2" offset between your bore and the height of your sights, you NEED to practice at shorter ranges to learn the "room clearing" holdover appropriate to your zero distance. The guys shooting pistol caliber carbines or lower velocity black powder need to learn the points of impact for their more curved trajectories.

As to the "More Rules" contingent of your membership, you might ask those members how their run for a Senate seat on the Democratic ticket is going. With any luck, they'll get your point.

[44Blam]

Restricting rifles to over 50 yards is a bad call - ESPECIALLY in this age of AR-15 ubiquity. Because of the 2 1/2" offset between your bore and the height of your sights, you NEED to practice at shorter ranges to learn the "room clearing" holdover appropriate to your zero distance.

I put 45 degree irons for really short range shooting on my ARs. I got some flip up ones that hold zero and are nice and accurate.
I shoot my AR15 in matches and I actually sighted it in at 50 yards instead of 100 yards because most matches I have shot shoot fairly short range: generally 40-75 yards. The scope on that rifle is a 2-7x, so it's not so good past maybe 200 yards anyway. If the rifle part of the match is going to be longer, I bring the .308.

[P Flados]

I got my first hand in more than 30 years ago.

It was a 357 mag contender.

In the 1990's I got into IHMSA and bought a new Dan Wesson 8" in 357 Maximum.

For me, 50 yards with iron sights is a good target distance from a rest for working on loads. I have to use targets with bigger bulls-eye at 100 and the walk to the targets is kind of long.

For standing, I do most of my practice at 10 yards. I use targets with a 1.5" square and it just works good with iron sights at this distance and it is easy to see where I am hitting.

I still shoot IHMSA a few times a year. I should probably practice more at long ranges since I am missing too many of the 200 meter rams.

For a handgun at more than 50 yards, I can see not wanting let folks to use the typical short barreled fixed sight gun. A select few may be able to shoot these guns and stay on target, but most would be more likely to not even get close.

On the other hand, any gun with a 4.5" or longer barrel and adjustable sights deserves to be given a go at longer ranges if the shooter thinks he can get on target and then stay on target.

[David2011]

Every time I take my Contender to the range I shoot .44 Mag and .22 Hornet at 200 yards. It's such a hoot to ring steel at 200 yards with the .22 Hornet. In USPSA competition 50 yard targets are not unusual. I used to shoot at a range that had USPSA style steel targets with swingers in the middle at about 35 yards. I shot the swingers with my compact .40 carry pistol offhand. I've shot IMHSA out to 200 meters offhand before all of the stable positions were introduced. Why shoot a handgun farther than 20 yards? Because you might NEED to some day.

[44Blam]

because you might need to some day.

^^^this^^^

[lotech]

For those that like to test handgun ammo for accuracy using a benchrest, 25 yards works well (and is really the minimum distance) for doing such work. Shooting at shorter ranges will only tell the shooter that even sorry ammunition is accurate.

Additionally, for general handgun shooting and the improvement of shooting skills and technique, 25 or 50 yard shooting is far better than 10 or 15 yards. Up close shooting is very forgiving of poor shooter skill. Conversely, learn to shoot at the longer distances and you needn't practice up close. The short ranges become very easy. I realize there is the tired excuse that "gunfights occur at close range". It seems that many have bought into this weak justification not because there is some truth to it, but rather as a good reason not to put forth the time, effort, and expense to improve their skills.

Yes, there is a "need" for 25 and 50 yard handgun ranges, but only for those interested in shooting well. However, this doesn't seem to be a large group.

[beagle]

First thing. A lot of the folks on here are older shooter that grew up to the gospel of Saint Elmer where long range revolver shooting was preached long and hard. Second thing, long range revolver shooting is fun especially when you have a dusty backstop to kick up dust and mark hits. Third, I practice long range shooting for old Emer's reason. Be accurate enough with a handgun until you can get a rifle. Fourth but not last in importance is that long range shooting is the true test of a load's accuracy. I have spent years shooting at 100 yard berms, 200 yard berms and out to 300 yards with no adverse affects. If there is a problem, it's with the shooter not being a responsible shooter./beagle

[Wayne Smith]

To answer your question. MetSil is Metallic Silhouette competition.