Which caliber best for long range pistol shooting?

[CK_32]

Hahahaha I was going to say uhh any... Hitchcock hits that gong with any pistol.

And I think it's funny when I saw log range I expected 500 yards or maybe 400... Being a rifle guy anything below 400 is a pop shot for warm ups lol funny how the sameword can mean two totally differant things. But I can see how that would be a long shot for a 1/5 size barrel that I have on my 700 and less than 1/4 the powder lol

Still makes me chuckle calling that long range.

[axhoaxho]

Another vote for the 5.7x28mm

[JTROKS]

7-30 Waters.

[huckberry668]

you'll get a lot of different answers on caliber choices. the truth is they'll all do but it won't hit the gong at 20-feet if the 'gun' ain't accurate enough. '100 yards' shooting with a standard pistol round requires more accuracy than ballistics. So I'd say which ever 'gun' is more than accurate enough to hit the 'gong' at 100 yard will do. Especially since you don't reload.

[rshoemaker]

ar pistol? I hear good things about 10mm and there is always .45 super wich has similar velocity as the 10mm

[BigDogatPlay]

Regardless, most handguns and handgun rounds aren't capable of 200+ yard accuracy, epecially with an average shooter. I'm not saying Elmer Keith didn't do it, I'm just saying realistically handguns are better for 0-100 yard kills.

And I don't disagree with your point on 0-100 yards. I do think you would be very surprised what many handguns and handgun rounds are capable of at longer distances, even with an average shooter. After all, half the fun of shooting is learning the capabilities of the weapon(s) and trying new things.

Unless the gun is a complete POS, 99% of them are more potentially accurate than the person firing them is capable of being.

[Wicked Pete]

"Kentucky Windage" is when you have to adjust for sights that are misaligned, watch where the first one goes, then adjust your aim to the left or right. Or adjusting for high wind.

What would you call adjusting (up and down) for "bullet drop"? Seems like the variable in long range pistol, with blade sights. With a .45; aim 2 feet - above where you want to hit. Eh?

[jakuda]

....

What would you call adjusting (up and down) for "bullet drop"? Seems like the variable in long range pistol, with blade sights. With a .45; aim 2 feet - above where you want to hit. Eh?

Um....adjusting the elevation screw on my adjustable sights on my pistols? Assuming they can go up that high. If the sights are zeroed at 25 yards, it'll be around 16 clicks up to be on bullseye at 100 yards for an average factory 45acp round.

[jonzer77]

38 super, it's a suped up 9mm that has a flat trajectory.

[redcliff]

"Kentucky Windage" is when you have to adjust for sights that are misaligned, watch where the first one goes, then adjust your aim to the left or right. Or adjusting for high wind.

What would you call adjusting (up and down) for "bullet drop"? Seems like the variable in long range pistol, with blade sights. With a .45; aim 2 feet - above where you want to hit. Eh?

Thats certainly one way, but... the easier way is to hold your front sight high in your sight picture and keep everything else the same.

For instance you may raise your front sight by half it's height for your sight picture at long range; the advantage is you aren't "coverring" up the target you're shooting at with your gun. You simply stand your target on your front sight while raising your front sight half of it's height above the rear sight, if that makes sense.

Elmer Keith had special serrations on his front sights to allow him to hold front sight high with repeatable accuracy at different ranges.

[CSACANNONEER]

A friend of mine has a Contender in .12 squirrel that shoots about 1moa at 100 yards all day long. More common calibers would be 7 TCU, .221 fireball, etc.

[dfletcher]

I think even the loosest definition of a handgun round would include the 22 Jet and 256 Winchester, either does very well out to 150 yards - probably a touch beyond. Stepping outside the usual and entering the "rifle calibers in a pistol" I'm beginning to like the 350 Remington Magnum using 110 JSPs. They do 3,000 fps and velocities from a 15" Encore are near the original Remmington 600 offering with an 18" bbl.

[wu_dot_com]

wouldn't the question be can you shoot accurately out to 100 yds rather than what caliber?

as im sure you know, most people >80% cannot hit their intended target beyond 10-15 yds.