The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Maximum "combat" range of a Snub Nose .38 Special?

amd6547 · June 29, 2013, 05:33 PM

It is not rocket science to shoot any handgun combat accurately to the far reaches of its intrinsic range.
It is certainly nowhere near as hard to accomplish as it would be to equal Bill Jordan.
First, it takes the realization that it is possible.
Second, it is a matter of the fundamentals...
Sight picture
Breathing control
Trigger pull
Knowledge of how POA relates to POI at longer range.
Solid field position
If you are at a range with a dirt berm which allows it, just try picking out a visible feature like a weed, or toss a couple clay pigeons on it. Try shooting at it watch for the impacts...
I use the Elmer Keith method...hold at six o'clock, then raise front sight until the rear cuts it in half...unless the pistol is very flat shooting, like my Tokarev.
For me, I consider myself capable of hitting out to 50yds with my Model 38 Bodyguard Airweight.
The need for taking such a shot may be infinitesimal...but I have a friend who had such a shot, a shot the responding police told him they wish he would have taken. He did not because he had never shot his Model 10 snub farther than 20ft.

June 29, 2013, 05:33 PM	#55
amd6547 Senior Member Join Date: May 27, 2006 Posts: 2,313	It is not rocket science to shoot any handgun combat accurately to the far reaches of its intrinsic range. It is certainly nowhere near as hard to accomplish as it would be to equal Bill Jordan. First, it takes the realization that it is possible. Second, it is a matter of the fundamentals... Sight picture Breathing control Trigger pull Knowledge of how POA relates to POI at longer range. Solid field position If you are at a range with a dirt berm which allows it, just try picking out a visible feature like a weed, or toss a couple clay pigeons on it. Try shooting at it watch for the impacts... I use the Elmer Keith method...hold at six o'clock, then raise front sight until the rear cuts it in half...unless the pistol is very flat shooting, like my Tokarev. For me, I consider myself capable of hitting out to 50yds with my Model 38 Bodyguard Airweight. The need for taking such a shot may be infinitesimal...but I have a friend who had such a shot, a shot the responding police told him they wish he would have taken. He did not because he had never shot his Model 10 snub farther than 20ft. __________________ The past is gone...the future may never happen. Be Here Now.