What's Your Setup for Shooting Groups?

[FergusonTO35]

On a good day with a handgun I'm very familiar with (Glock 19/26/42, BHP, S&W 10-5, Ruger single action) I can usually do something like a 2-3 " group pretty consistently at 20 yards slow fire unsupported. I will have some fliers that are totally my fault but I don't sweat 'em. Fired the Glock 19 and 26 this afternoon and made neat clusters at this distance with a few flyers from shaky hands.

[fourarmed]

A friend who does the stats at our gun club bullseye league saves the used .22 targets for me, and I recycle them for bigbore use. Thinking of making some stencils to spray paint various sized squares on the backs of them. The front sight of my SA-35 subtends 4.5" at 25 yards, so that will be my first one.

[steve urquell]

A friend who does the stats at our gun club bullseye league saves the used .22 targets for me, and I recycle them for bigbore use. Thinking of making some stencils to spray paint various sized squares on the backs of them. The front sight of my SA-35 subtends 4.5" at 25 yards, so that will be my first one.

I hole sawed some stencils to dot my steel swinging targets and they work great. I tried it on paper targets and didn't like it too much. I like the tape better.

[gnoahhh]

I use a Ransom Rest for load/accuracy testing. After finding the best load I put the ransom Rest away and get on with the shooting.

[fourarmed]

I am thinking about Ransom adaptors for this SA-35. None of the benching techniques I've tried so far seem to do much better than I can do standing isoceles. Yesterday I had 15 rounds of a handload left, so I shot two groups over my V-notch rest and one standing. The standing group came in second.

[rintinglen]

Yeah, but the bench rest groups were next to last.)

[Abert Rim]

Here is a rest I came up with for use with a CVA Scout pistol. I will modify the next one with a V rather than the U.

[MT Gianni]

https://mtmcase-gard.com/products/pi...l-plastic-rest

This looks too cheap and chintzy to work but I have used my Outers brand one for 30 + years.

[R-71]

I cannot shoot a decent group with a handgun from a bench, I use a braced standing position when working up loads. I start at 10 Yards and shoot one round and then shoot the rest at the bullet hole. All other practice is done off hand at varying ranges out to 50 yards. My primary handgun use is hunting and self defense.

[toxophilus]

I typically use the Caldwell Handy Shooting Rest along with an older pair of shooting bags that will support my forearms when I do testing of different handloads that I've developed or I'm testing out a new tool.

In the example below I was testing out a new to me .45 Blackhawk convertible using my .45 ACP handloads at 20 yards; the targets are 3" in diameter and getting harder to see at a distance

[Abert Rim]

Nice targets, Toxophius. And welcome to the forum.

[Arthur Roy]

With iron sighted guns I have always done the Keith method. I just use a beach chair instead of a tree or other object. With a scoped handgun I use a classic sandbag type rest setup.

[white eagle]

me I use a Bog tripod that was designed for bench work works for handguns and ar's an I use it in my deer stand for sniping whitetails
back to handguns I use that with a sandbag under the rear like most of you all do
keep after it
your a inspiration

[FergusonTO35]

I practice with handguns from a standing or kneeling position since that's what I would use if I had to kill something. With my little Charter Arms Undercover or S&W 637 I can make about a 3" group pretty consistently single action at 15 yards. Double action at around 7 yards. I may try the classic gunfighter crouch sometime.

[FergusonTO35]

I typically use the Caldwell Handy Shooting Rest along with an older pair of shooting bags that will support my forearms when I do testing of different handloads that I've developed or I'm testing out a new tool.

In the example below I was testing out a new to me .45 Blackhawk convertible using my .45 ACP handloads at 20 yards; the targets are 3" in diameter and getting harder to see at a distance

That Blackhawk is SWEET!

[fourarmed]

I appreciate all the information that I have gleaned here. I finally came to the conclusion that my pistol was one from the minus tail of the bell curve, and asked about returning it. Somewhat to my surprise, I was informed that accuracy was covered by the warranty, and I was issued a prepaid return label. It is already on its way back to Geneseo.

I had heard so many stories of people returning clunkers and getting them back with a note saying they met factory specs that I almost didn't bother asking. I hope their gunsmithing is as good as their customer service.

[Abert Rim]

Fourarmed, I hope they fix you right up. That's a nice pistol.

[Photog]

When I was running USPSA practices I settled on a "groups drill" that I think matches the "practical" aspect of handgunning. I never enjoyed sitting at a bench, so for those of you that enjoy 50yd slow fire super accurate fussyness, you can stop reading now.
At the beginning of practice, put 5 black pasters on a USPSA target (some one needs to call "BLack Tape" now).
Starting position is gun holstered, standing, unsupported firing. 3 x 10 rnd mags on your belt.
Step back 7 to 10 big steps.
Draw , load, and Fire 5 rounds at one of the black tape pasters.
Change mags.
Re-holster. Breathe.
Repeat for last 4 targets.

Repeat this drill at the end of practice.
Yep this is 50 rounds total and you have 10, 5 shot groups, fired offhand, unsupported. You also used all your mags if you rotated them, and you can see the effects of being tired from the practice. Speed on this is done at like 1 shot every 3-7 seconds. Not rapid not slow. Find your sights, call your shots.

Handgunning is a tough skill and its the interaction of you, your gun, and your ammo. How you hold the gun, how you look over the sights, and a good number of other factors change your accuracy. Its real hard to learn much by only shooting off a bench or rest.

[steve urquell]

Its real hard to learn much by only shooting off a bench or rest.

This entire thread is about mechanical accuracy, not practical accuracy. The OP wants to find a load that the gun shoots accurately. Rested slow fire is the proper way to do this, not blasting away from 7 yards offhand.

After mechanical accuracy is achieved and determining that the gun shoots to POA, practical accuracy can be tackled. Pretty basic steps in being able to hit what you are aiming at.

[FergusonTO35]

When I bail out my Super Wrangler I'm going to try resting it on shooting sticks like I do with rifles. Will be interested to see how well it does. I hope it is accurate with Aguila Interceptors, those are really fast and I would trust them for self defense.