How many of our revolver shooters practice regularly beyond 100 yards?

Never know when you might have to make a shot on a crippled animal this far away because of terrain and/ or conditions.

Just curious.

I live in very open country. I hunt in S Texas where it is less open, but my revolver shots at game are usually 90-110 yds. I have a metal deer (actually a cut-out of a bull elk but 2/3 the size of a mature deer. I shoot it regularly from 130 - 150 yds with my hunting revolvers.

I occasionally stretch them out to 200 yds for the fun of it (swinging metal targets 10" x 8" or 10"x10"). I certainly gets to be a guessing game for me at 200. I also forgot to mention that the wind blows here.

I quite often shoot out to 200 yards with my revolvers. My 44 mag can ring a hanging steel pig at 200 with consitency. I use my back pack on a bench with a heavy piece of leather laid on top of the pack. It protects the pack from the cylinder barrel gap.

I used to..... Before I got mg encore, I had a scoped Redhawk in 44 that would print 3 inch groups at 150yrds. If I knew then what I know now, I would have kept that gun. Oh well. That's what the encore is for, and I like single actions better anyway. Still...I wish I had that one back.

I guess the reason I don't, is because since adding the Encore, I keep my sixgun iron sighted now, and those sights look HUGE on a Target over 100...

Think I'm gonna start again though. I don't "play" at the range enough anymore. Mabey having a 2 and 4 year old has something to do with it.....

MN

I have shot my 44 & 45 out to 350 before--I have a large 200M ram that I like to shoot at with My encore and from time to time I will see if I can hit it with the wheel gun. It is very small at that distance in the 2X scope-- also you have to shoot way beyond the thin duplex in the crosshair--so you sight is pretty fat. @ 200 I can hit it 10 out of 12 time off bags and sometimes even better. Once you get past 200--it is not near as easy-- you are aiming 6-7 feet over the target--so unless you adjust the scope it is tough-- If i hit it 2 out of the 6 @ 325 I have done pretty good.

Lots of fun to shoot at that distance-- do not think I would ever try a shot on game past 150 with those guns

I used to when I had the space but now I primarily have two areas to shoot and one is about 50yds and the other 100yds although I can stretch it out to 150. The only revolver I really spent much time with out that far was my 460. I will play sometimes by picking a rock or something at a longer distance. Most of my revolvers carry either irons or 2x scopes so I keep it under a 100 mostly. The other thing I'm up against is the nerve damage to my spine and hands has had the side affect of causing me to have hand tremors so I don't shoot as well as I used to which is another reason I use a ransom rest for my business.

I have got to where I can break quart oil bottles at 150 pretty consistently. Maybe tomorrow we will try some milk jugs at 200 and 250. I just want to be prepared if I need to get another bullet in something. A bad hit on an animal is something we all hate to think about, but we all also know that it does unfortunately happen and it would be a good idea to have the confidence to get another bullet in him if need be. Know what I mean?

This was my first time shooting past 100 yards with a revolver. I used a Ruger SBH with 2X Burris at 168 yards. I think I could shoot a tighter group than this with this gun. I could not see the "+" on the paper at that distance with the 2X scope so I held on the top edge of the paper and attempted to stay centered on it. This gun is more accurate with a 255 gr Cast Performance load but I like the 270 Gr GDSP for hunting.

Well that would certainly get another one in him if you needed to. Bench or field position?

This was off the bench.

pab1-That is some very good shooting! I think we must almost be neighbors...I am from SE Idaho.

I shoot to 200 yards in my woods but when I get to the range I take them to 500 meters.
Drop is something else and sights will not adjust enough so I use my 75 yard setting and aim at a tree branch. That can be 26' to over 30' above steel.
Now you need someone to watch the boolit through a spotting scope to see drop and wind.
Most of my big bores will only drop 16" to 18" at 200 but some boolits in the .44 will drop 35".
Accuracy can be good and it is great fun but if you have your sights set for 50 yards you need a lot of practice to know where to aim at long range.
Don't let it stop you, go have some fun!

430man,

Must be an addiction with you competitive shooters. A couple of years ago while visiting my friend in Ohio, we were shooting some of his stuff (BFRs & Encores) in 50 cals out at 500 yds. It was pretty funny to watch the tracers.

Heck we were even shooting 9mm pistols out to 200 meters. But as you stated, someone needed to be watching through the scope & call the adjustments that were needed.

I've killed many a rock out to 200 yards!

Even if you don't intend to shoot game that far with a revolver it doesn't hurt to be prepared in case you have to shoot that far (for instance wounded game).

I remember this one time I shot this mule deer at 600 yards with open sights revolver ...nevermind that was Elmer Kieth! Im lucky if I can see 35 yards in woods I hunt.

I remember reading about that somewhere.....

Once, long ago when I had my flat top, I shot at a dark spot on a tree---FAR. The sun was right so we could see the base shine like a tracer. I shot all 100 rounds just watching them.
Then a friend wanted me to sight his 30-06 and threw in a big pile of tracers to shoot up. I had a target on a large tree and seen the tracer go way up in the distance, said oh no, dangerous.
I played with them to find they would go through 2' of green oak. It is funny to see the nose stick out the other side of the tree and all the smoke pour from the entry hole.
How great it would be to have revolver tracers but they can start fires.

Oh ya that Elmer Kieth guy. He is a story in himself. It's just a good thing for him that his writings were the only thing to come out of Salmon, Idaho.; )

As I remember the Elmer Keith story, he was shooting at a wounded deer. He was surprised that he hit it, however, he did a lot of shooting at long range. Certainly, luck was with him. I for one will not automatically discount the fact (probability) that it really happened. I have seen things done with revolvers by those that are very good shots that are difficult for me to believe and I saw it happen.

Like the time that I had part of a 1" wide gate hinge hanging between two T-posts at 100yds. My friend from Ohio pulled out a FA M97 in 357 mag with open sights & proceeded to hit it -- offhand. It was 1" wide & about 6" long. Just to prove that it was not a fluke, he hit it three more times in a row. I could never do that but he can.

430 -- the tracers are fun up in that part of the world (where it rains & everything is green). Here, they would be very dangerous. We have had a outdoor burn ban in this county for about a year not.

Ya speaking of tracers. I was at our local range last summer with my son and one of the employees. He was closing up and we were moving our gear to my truck. The employee was shooting some surplus rounds through his 38 that the owner had given him. Well on my last trip back up to the range to pick up my Para ord 45 I noticed smoke rising up behind the burm. I got the employee(a friend of mine) and showed him. We locked the guns and range up and ran the 225 yards to the burm only to see the fresh cut over burning like crazy. Luckily the firs was contained within some old skidder tracks. The fire was moving quickly towards some old growth timber and moving darn fast. The conditions couldn't have been any better very dry air and hadn't rained in weeks. I jumped ahead of the fire trying desperately to make a fire break but the fire caught up before i could get it done. My buddy and my son waited for the fire dept and the forestry folks to show up. Meanwhile there I was wearing shorts sneakers and a nylon Columbia river fishing shirt. I jumped way ahead of the fire the second time and took out my pocket knife and started hacking at standing small pines and brush then picked up a log and dug a trench with it as the fire approached a small dead pine that was 5 feet ahead of the fire just burst into flames from the heat. My nylon shirt became like a piece of heat shrink wrap. I ripped the shirt off and continued fighting the fire. I held it at the break for another 30 minutes until the fire dept showed up. They dragged their hoses out to it and finally got some water on it. Then the Lt in charge makes a radio call saying his men had it contained. I looked at him and said who had it contained? He said they did. I said oh really, see that fire break right there, I made that 35 mins ago and have held the fire in check till you got water on it. He didn't even thank me. Jerk!

Every chance I get I'll try longer shots at steel drums and stuff that goes ding when you hit it. I was skeptical about shooting distance until I had the opportunity to do some shooting at someones house and we shot at disc blades set out at 256 yards. I quickly realized with practice the only limit to distance is the shooter. Not everyone can shoot long range well,but with practice you can build your confidence. My range session usually is 1 cylinder at 25,50,75 and then I spend the rest at 100. Each time I inch out before I am done. 16oz bottles work well and skeet also. I took a deer this year over 100 and never hesitated, because I knew the deer was within my capabilities. I do my shooting with irons only and with my guns the only limits I see for them is me.

This is what I was curious about. I was just wondering if I was really practicing or just having fun.

Thanks to all who have responded.

me and my oldest do alot of long distance practice on our land out to 300 yards with the pistols. he's gotten quite good and can hit a 10" gong off hand at 150 yards 12 out of 15 times on average. went 15 for 15 the other day. he's officially better than me.

I start out on the bench and once I have confirmed that everything is "on," I shoot offhand at 100 yards. It has improved my shooting considerably.

I take all my handguns several times a year to the farm and set milk jugs I save( the wife is always happy to see them go) fill them with water and set them around the farm at different ranges and places and practice getting into position to shoot them. I start at 25 yards then work my way out to 100. At the end of the day I will set the remaining out to 200-300 yards and practice. You would be surprised at proficient you can become. The biggest thing I find that helps is making an exact mental note of where the front and rear sights aligned for the long distance shooting. I use the lines on the front ramp to correspond with the top of the rear sight. I count the number of line I am using and tuck that away in my shooting book.

Works like a charm. I used to inlay silver wire into the front sight but for a while now some gremlin made off with my open sights!

I regularly shoot out past 200 yards when practicing. The Muledeer i shot this last fall was 216 yards.I shot the buck with my 10" FA's in 454 and 260gr. partition bullet. I chronograph my loads and worked up a drop chart on the JBM ballistics program,and verified the drop chart at the range.

This is not the first deer that i have taken out past 200 yards with a revolver. I don't talk about it because of what others might think. For myself i have no problems with it, because i do my home work. And everything has to be perfect for me to take the shot.

It makes all the difference when you have been practicing at those distances & know the distance to the intended target. Those revolver bullets drop pretty fast when you start getting "out there."

wheelguns, you don't have to allow anyone to question anything you do, especiallywhen you've practiced and are capable and i agree with your shot choices when you've practiced from there. when i first started this handgun hunting stuff it was a rare day i shot out past 25 yards cuz all my shooting was at an indoor range. i thought i was pretty good, first time out on the outdoor range and i was all over everywhere. whereas 50 yards was once a long shot, now it's a chip shot b/c of the way we practice.

now, no one questions anyone shooting a rifle at 200 yards or even 300 yards whether the hunter has ever practiced shots that far.

Amen to that! I agree. No justification is needed.

Gee, seems like I have a long way to go to catch up to most of you guys.