Sidearms & Scatterguns Need some Big Bore Help

[DocRDS]

Love shooting my big wheelguns (Ruger Clackhawk, 629, Anaconda).

Need help not sucking.

Coming from the semi-auto and particularly a light recoil in a big ass frame (Shadow 2 shooting min power factors) to big revolvers should I be trying to absorb all the recoil? Do I let the gun "slip" in my hand (the blackhawk seems to favor this method) and rotate upwards. Thumb pad (part of hand below thumb) takes the brunt of the punishment. In fact the Blackhawk is damn near unpleast to shoot at high recoil (cowboy loads are fine) cause it smashes your finger. The 44s are at least pleasant to shoot

Any tips for those who drove wheelguns in the past? I can keep up with the yocals at 15 yards, but that's not really good enough for a 629 or Anaconda. I'd like to be reliable at 25 and eventually push out for shots at 100 (hunting). RIght now---uh no.

 

[Old Man with Gun]

I find fighting the recoil makes it worse. The bore is well above your wrist, and you should expect a lot of flip. The flip uses energy that if fought goes to you. My wrist and elbow break to allow the flip, I dont fight it at all. My hand grip is mostly thumb and middle finger, bottom two fingers support, but have some give.

A good soft rubber grip can take away some sting, shooting gloves can help a long range day as well. Most of the monster revolvers today, ie. 454, 460, 480, 500 have breaks, so porting can be a help as well, but louder.

I once had a 357 airweight snub that kicked worse than my 629 6". If you are getting used to magnums, you might want to find a nice long barrel with full underlug for those long range days with hot loads.

 

[Choid]

Blackhawk is a single action, the others are double action. The grip angle and method of dealing with recoil are completely different, so you aren't imagining things. I can't shoot a double action to save my life, but shot target comps with single actions for a while. Totally different skill, other than that it is still shooting. With the single actions, yes, you aren't trying to shoot the thing flat, it is a bit more circular motion in recoil. But the grips force you to do that anyway.

I literally can't shoot double action revolvers. I can't grip them comfortably, my trigger finger rides the side of the frame. It's just awful. Embarrassing. I can literally miss the target with them. Generally, I don't care enough to get better, since I have convinced myself they are stupid guns.

 

[sjmpcc022]

Hogue rubber grips and a ported barrel help a ton!

 

[DocRDS]

So I am guessing people are not pulling 100 yard shots offhand but using rests and such.

 

[Choid]

So I am guessing people are not pulling 100 yard shots offhand but using rests and such.

Depends on the target size. I kind of think shooting a pistol from a rest is lame unless you are just working on trigger control. A pig is the 100 yard target, and it is a little smaller than full IPSC, wider but a lot shorter. If I don't hit a full IPSC target with a 1911 6/8 times, it is pretty annoying. Same goes for a single action 357 or 44. With a double action I literally would miss from 25 yards.

 

[DocRDS]

I gotta be honest, I have not seen a pistol shot accurate enough for a "hunting shot" at 100 yards offhand. I may be wrong, thats why I ask. I've seen guys do .45s on big ass plates, but long range handgun is kinda not a thing so I have many questions.

 

[Choid]

I gotta be honest, I have not seen a pistol shot accurate enough for a "hunting shot" at 100 yards offhand. I may be wrong, thats why I ask. I've seen guys do .45s on big ass plates, but long range handgun is kinda not a thing so I have many questions.

Well, large bore pistol is 12x12 at 50, 22x14 at 100, 19x23 at 150 and 32x27 at 200. I'd be much, much more conservative than that in taking a shot at a living animal.

The big thing is that shooting pistols and revolvers at long distances makes it a lot easier to shoot them at short distances.

 

[memtb]

DocRDS, I’m by no means a good handgunner, but, from shooting sticks as a rest....I feel pretty good on big game animals to 150 yards. Off of my bench at home, using a 3 moa reflex sight on my S&W 460 (400 grain cast bullets @1500 fps), I’m good for sub 4” (best was 2 5/8”) 4 shot groups @ 100 yards. I only use 4 shot groups as I have one chamber that throws a shot out of the group every time!

This is a Smith double action revolver.....I couldn’t hit a bull elephant in the butt with a single action! I’ve had a Ruger Super Blackhawk since the early ‘80’s. I embarrassed myself so badly with it.....it’s been retired for many years! I’ve always done better with a S&W double action. I guess that we all have our own gremlins!

I try to avoid an offhand shot on anything farther than 50 yards. I carry shooting sticks any time I’m hunting.....handgun or rifle! memtb