For you gents that are shooting sub 2.5” groups at hundred yards
with the .41 mag, what power scope are you using??
I have a .44 mag Bailey Hunter with a 2x Leupold and I feel like I would be doing good to shoot a 5” group at that distance. Do I need more power ?
*****
My
Freedom Arms M-83 .44 Mag barreled by Jim Stroh with
Shilen 1:16 twist, 10-inch barrel has recorded, with the
Sierra 240 JHC, 5x5-shot, sub-inch groups @ 100 yards. It has done so with
Weaver Quik Point 1x30mm (electrical red dot),
Nikon 2x,
Bausch & Lomb 2-6xx32mm, and
Leupold 2.5-8x33mm. May be omitting another one or two hitting inside 1-inch, the distance of a football field. None of my factory Rugers 1-inch revolvers (Ruger .357 Maximum not in discussion).
I’ve heard grown men speak dismissively of 1-inch groups @ 100 yards, as though it’s as easy as blowing your nose. Such accuracy on the Firing Line is not routine. Never. Sharpshooting is hard deliberate work. A mere breeze queers the deal. A slight glitch in BREATHING or drop in FOLLOW THROUGH throws a shot.
At 100 yards... * the difference between a 6” and 4” revolver is noticeable,
* the difference between a 4” and 3” revolver is questionable,
* the difference between a 4” and 2” revolver is huge,
* the difference between a 2” and 1” revolver is phenomenal.
One may demonstrate accuracy with one target. Performance requires enough targets to show consistency. A hit may be lucky. Accuracy is not luck.
Try as one might, it is hard to shrink a group after the first shot. Two shots form a pair, not a group. A group begins with 3-shots. When you know the revolver in your sleep, a single shot shows you’re ready. 2-shots proves it. 3-shots removes all doubt. Until the revolver and its ammunition are proven, a 5-shot group holds much more water than a 3-shot group.
5-shot groups are made with stamina. The shooter must have the stamina to squeeze 5 consecutive shots, squeeze each the same. If you feel HOT and your skull empty of molecular distraction, you
are hot. Targets become less cooperative when one’s ego generates the heat. TECHNIQUE & PRACTICE are the warp & weft of marksmanship. That, and an empty skull. The eye looks, the mind sees.
To build consistency from any & all shooting positions, shot-to-shot recoil repeats each shot, in the two to three-thousandths second it takes bullet in cylinder to exit muzzle. Thus, no shortcut to follow through.
A scope with parallax (reticle moves when eye moves) won’t provide a 2-inch group @ 100 yards. Even a 4” group is difficult, as parallax itself may equal 4-inches! Magnification is less important than reticle stability.
Ruger Bisley HunterMy own doubts about the Ruger Super Blackhawk Hunter caused me to speak to David Clements. In gunsmithing the SBH Hunter and Bisley Hunter, Clements encounters poor thread matchup between barrel and frame. In my shooting of several Bisley Hunters @ 100 yards, I group as tight, sometimes tighter, with factory iron sights. Than with four or five different scopes. Same when gun rests on one bag, or with butt & barrel bagged. Intend to examine subject in a photo essay. Various members of
Singleactions report impressive accuracy from the Hunter and Bisley Hunter. Ruger's Hunter concept is practical: easy swap from scope to iron, then back to scope; Maximum ejector; Redhawk sight; tough gun. Looking for refinement.
Leupold 2x19mm EER (Extended Eye ReliefOne of the great handgun scopes. The main instigator to make serious handgun scopes. Deserves re-introduction, preferably with 1/2-inch micrometer click adjustment.
David Bradshaw