Long range with a revolver

Will be heading down to the Whittington Center next week for some much needed shooting practice. I expect to be focusing on my 480 and 500JRH mostly to prep for hunting season. These guns have been very accurate at 50 yards (my range is somewhat limited in, well, range) and I an looking to stretch their legs a bit. I know there are tons of factors but theoretically, from your experience, what distances do you folks prefer to hunt at with a revolver? I will be practicing mostly off hand but I also will be using sticks/rests as well.

With my 357 Magnum, I practice out to 200-250 yards, when I am shooting it a lot. I am not shooting it much at all right now. Typically, 200 yards would be my max practice from field shooting positions/rests. Optics, and not irons.

What method do the handgun experts here use for extended range. My SBHH has noticable drop even at 100 yards. Do you zero at 50 or 100 and then keep a card for the drop?/rise? before and after your zero yardage or is it insignificant to you? My drop seem significant and I am shooting near max loads.

With my revolvers, I have a scoped Super Redhawk in .44 Magnum that I have sighted to be dead on at 100 yards. I might stretch is a bit to 125 or so, if I have a rock steady rest. But, for me 100 yards would be my comfortable range. I've taken deer out to 75 yards with this gun.

I have a non-scoped Super Blackhawk also in .44 Magnum but it wears a Burris Fastfire 3 red dot mounted on it. This is my short range handgun and I have it set to be dead on at 50 yards. I have and will stretch this out to 100 yards, again from a nice, solid rest.

THE OBJECT IS TO KILL 'EM AND JUST NOT HIT 'EM. PLAYING AROUND WITH TARGETS IS ONE THING, SHOOTING TO KILL IS ANOTHER. WITH OPEN SIGHT REVOLVERS I BELIEVE 60 YARDS IS THE MAX YOU SHOULD CONSIDER. WITH SCOPED 454's I LIKE TO ZERO IN ABOUT AN INCH HIGH @ 100 YARDS SO I CAN STRETCH MY DISTANCE A LITTLE IF I HAVE TO, BUT I LOOK FOR STANDS AND SITUATIONS WHERE MY MAX SHOT WILL BE AT 100 YARDS. IF IT IS OK TO MISS OR DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU MAKE A GOOD SHOT (MAYBE LIKE IF YOU ARE SHOOTING AT HOGS OR COYOTES), THEN, WHAT THE HECK, GO AHEAD AND STRETCH THE DISTANCES. IF YOU WANT TO BE A LONG RANGER HANDGUN HUNTER LOOK FOR ANOTHER HANDGUN, e.g. AN ENCORE, OR A BOLT GUN, REVOLVERS ARE ABOUT GETTING CLOSE.

X2

I have shot my 44 wheel gun out to 250 yards. Quite a bit of drop at that range. I had no issues hitting IHMSA Rams at that distance. Mine had a 2X scope. Hold over is about 4 feet if I recall at 250

I've shot my 460 S&W revolver to 100 yards, and coincidently that's the exact range I killed a doe at this past season. Assuming I'm shooting off my benchrest or a big hay bale, I wouldn't pass a 200 yard shot if conditions were right.

I practice at around 100-150 yards. Only tried while training, I never really used my revolver for hunting.

Thanks for the inputs. I'm all about getting close which is why I wanted to get into handgun hunting in the first place. I have taken my share of game at much longer distances with rifles but it felt more like just shooting as opposed to hunting. My 480 is open sights and the 500JRH has an ultradot. I don't intend on attempting any "hunting" shot over 100 yards with either gun but will attempt to get comfortable out to 125 or so.

Thanks again folks

Not much margin for error with a six gun because none of them shoot very flat beyond 60-70 yds. For hunting, especially with iron sights you have to be very careful about how far you are willing to pull the trigger.
Shooting a six gun at long range is great fun & I do it all the time but it's mostly rocks, stumps, varmints, Utah fisherman, etc.
I always paint my sights (old eyes) white with a felt marker, etc. let it dry & then bright orange, or red but I only paint it about 1/3 down the sight, the bottom of that paint I use as a long range reference. I shoot & see where that line zero's at & that gives me a second sighting zero. Makes it pretty handy for shooting out to 200-300 yds depending on how far down you've painted.
Forgot, I normally zero about 2" high at 50 yds, usually puts me close to dead on at 100 yds & around 7-9 inches down at 150 yds with iron sights depending on caliber & velocity. Probably my favorite is the 10.5" 357 Maximum with a 185 gr cast HP.

Dick

Sixshot,
I'm learning how different loads shoot in my 10.5" 357 Max and just started developing loads for a commercial cast 185 gr HP. What velocity do you like in your loads? Thanks.

On my 44 SRH I have a 4 power scope and I sight it in dead on at 75 and will shoot to about 125 max. Here in upstate NY where I hunt that?s about max distance anyways.

I equate hunting with an iron sighted revolver to bow hunting. About 40 to 50 yards would be comfortable for me. At 50 yards the normal front sight covers about 6 inches, and combine that with the fact that most factory guns, with the exception of Freedom Arms, will be lucky to hold a 2 1/2 inch group at that distance. If I mount a red dot sight with a 4 MOA dot, I might be tempted to push that to a hundred yards, but 70 to 80 would be a comfortable limit. If I'm using one of my Freedom Arms with a 4x Leupold or a 2-6X Bushnell, then 100 to 125 becomes comfortable, providing I have a good rest. Revolver/handgun bullets are stubby and drop velocity very quickly, so for me, 125 yards is pretty much max. When I'm shooting sub inch groups at 100 yards with my Contenders, I find it very hard to even consider using a revolver at that distance or beyond.

I practice out to 75 with iron sight revolvers. Max hunting shot, self imposed, is 50 yards. I like the 45 Colt and the 500 JRH, but either way, 50 yard max for me.

Scoped is another story, specially when it's my XP under the scope!!

Seminole Wind, without looking in my log book I think I'm running my 185 gr bullet at about 1580 fps with 4227 powder. I've taken several deer & I think 3 Antelope with the Ruger 357 Maximum. It's a real favorite. Not all 185 gr bullets are the same so work up your loads carefully.

Dick

In 44mag I sight in my gun at ~78 yards.
This puts it about +1.5" @ 50 yards and -1.5" @ 100 yards

Granted my normal hunting shot is ~50 yards but I prefer to set my gun up and leave the sights alone during the run-up and during the hunting season.
I can't forsee myself taking a shot beyond 75 yards in the field but it is nice to have bullet drop to 100 in the event I need to make a followup shot.

I have an UltraDot on one pistol and a Leupold DeltaPoint on another.

I've been shooting a FA .454 Casull for several years now. I sight in dead on at 100 yds and have shot a lot of ground hogs out to 160 yards. My hold over at that range is 5-6 inches. I practice out to 200 yds, and drop there is a foot. Hunting big game I'm comfortable out to that 160 yard mark with a good rest. Mostly I've been using crossed sticks and rest my hands on a backpack. Using a Vortex Venom with the 3 moa dot. Load is 300 gr XTP over 31.1 gr H110. The 2 elk I've shot with it have been under 100 yards.

Had a great week with the hand cannons. Was able to get comfortable with both the Ruger 480 and 500JRH out to 100 yards. Was able to shoot both supported and off hand and was able to hit the mark pretty consistently. Thanks for all the information and tips. I am much more confident in my abilities with these 100 yard hammers than I was a week ago. Looking forward to hunting season and hopefully filling up the freezer.

Thanks again folks!