Did you see the "Impossible Shot"" show last night? Jerry Miculek fired a model 642, upside down, with his pinky finger, 200 yards & broke a balloon!!! His hold was 20 feet over the target. I can't even fire the gun like that without it moving all over, but I have got to try it out.

I remember an article by Elmer Keith, firing a 1911 100 yds & hitting the target. He shot in the snow, & claimed he kept shooting till he walked the point of impact to the bullseye, watching the bullet hits in the snow. Would like to have seen that one, too.

I watch that show every week and am amazed every time.

Just for the record, and not taking anything away from the shots by Bob and Jerry, but the balloon was afixed to a metal plate about 2' square. The bullet splatter broke the balloons. Getting into a 2' square at that distance, offhand..........

It's all Practice,Practice and more Practice plus lots of ammo.


Ken

He HAS to have a good trigger job on that 642.

We shoot pistols at 100yards here at our range and it's easy.

We put clays on the red-clay bank, and you can easily see where the bullets impact. There is no reason that you shouldn't be able to hit within 6" either side of the clay, but hitting the clay is more difficult. I've hit four in a row with a 6" Model 19- that's the best I've ever done with open sights.

Then try it with a NAA .22 Magnum- I've hit one once with it at that range. It was luck.

Of course, a balloon is a whole lot larger than a clay pigeon.

Try it if you have a place to shoot- preferably a dirt bank so you can see where the bullets impact. Practice at it when you can, and it becomes nothing special. I've never tried it at 200 yards...only out to 150.

What is special is hitting the balloon the first time like he did. Usually takes most folks two shots or more to get the "range" because it's more like volley or directed fire rather than aiming.

__________________
Lost it all in a boat accident

Along the same lines, I watched an YouTube of a Big Dot shooter hitting a square steel target at 50, 75 and 100 yards. Just to prove the Big Dot sight can be accurate. Oh yeah, not with me behind the gun. Some got it, others struggle to hit near center at 25 feet.

I have shot my 44 mag at 150 yds, & even the 460 at 200. Getting more acuracy as I practice. But using a 38 with a 2" barrel is a whole different ballgame. I suppose it would be advantages to know that you could do it. I am gonna give it a try, Jim.

im pretty sure Jerry gets his ammo free from his sponsors.

not taking anything away form him, i would LOVE to be a professional shooter and get paid to practice all day everyday.

Not detracting from you, but a 2" snub shot DA upside down, one handed at 200 yards...

I shoot a lot at 125 yards (Sam's choice colas) just because I get bored shooting at 25 or 35 yds. You will be surprised how well you can do. 22 LR, 45 acp, 9mm..... Give it a try sometime. It will amaze the heck out of people at the range. Tends to waste a little ammo as well can be addictive

Now 200 yards with a snub.Upside down practice practice practice.

__________________
SC Army National Guard

About 35 years ago, I set up a silhoutte target at 235 yards and shot at it with a 1911 parts guns. I used the Keith sitting position, with my back against a wheel of my truck. This 1911 had the standard sights and I used the front of the ejection port as my front sight.

With a little practice, I was able to get 5 hits on the target out of 7 shots.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Way back in the very early '80's I was staitioned in the desert area of the SW, we had a spot we could shoot that was far from anything. We never measured distance to it but at several hundred yards was a chalky cliff studded with brownish rocks or clods. We found that by careful aiming and adjusting the hold over we could hit them with some regularity, the chalk would give off a whitish 'puff' and the 'clods' would really come apart.
We would have to use the sights by lining up the top of the rear sight at the base of the front sight where it met the barrel, not the most perfect sight picture, but after some practice we all found it to be fairly easy to at least get close.
We would take guys out who swore pistols weren't capable of hitting anything past 25 yards and with just a little practice have them hitting out at that range.
RD

__________________
Got a Phd from Hard Knocks U

Back when I was a firearms instructor, we'd get the occasional shooter who would say there was something wrong with the gun when they couldn't hit the target. I'd bet them I could hit the "kill zone" with their gun...upside down. Of course they wouldn't believe me until I did it the same way...little finger...single action. It's a lot easier than you think. The handgun always jumps to its "up", which is to the top. It got the shooter to recognize it wasn't the gun, but rather their flaws, which we could then work on. Giving them confidence in their weapon was always a pleasure to see. I should say this was with any revolver...never tried it with an auto.

__________________
Term limits!

When I am shooting long range, I prefer a hi capacity 9mm semiautomatic held sideways....

This is as good as I can do @ 100yards with my Colt XSE standing position. At one time I could shoot consistently some what better but in my 6th decade it is what it is. Growing old isn’t for the faint of heart.

Dennis, thanks for posting those photos! That does more to explain what a .45 can do at 100 yards than 10,000 words. I hope everybody noticed that you did this STANDING as in with no support. We used to shoot a reduced range silhouette match on a 100 yard range and an accurized .45 was all I had to shoot. It could and did win matches.

I was given a few assignments at Range NCO over the years and a few of those assignments included pistol ranges. Quickly those if us running the ranges got tired of hearing the "you can't hit anything with a 1911A1" mantra that many of the new 2nd Lts seemed to have had drilled into them.

We set up some military knock down targets at 75 meters and as part of the safety orientation I would shoot those targets. Meanwhile the other Range NCO or Range Officer would explain that the shooters would only be expected to shoot at 25 meters.

We tried setting up the targets at 100 meters, but found 75 meters was the farthest distance I could consistently hit the targets using military stock pistols. I didn't want to take a chance and miss a target during a demonstration.

Lots and lots of guys here have hit the nail on the head. First off is regular old practice - a lot more than most people consider sufficient. Pistols (and shooting rifles unsupported standing) require more practice to keep skills sharp, than other kinds of shooting. (Not taking anything away from them - breaking 25 straight and shooting .5" groups from a bench takes skills too, but in my experience, there's not as much going on, and they are somehow easier for me.)

When I was younger (didn't have a family, regular job, or money worries) I had all the time (plus the inclination) to shoot as much as possible. I shot virtually every day (even some of the rainy ones). I often shot in the morning, reloaded in the afternoon, and shot the same cases that evening. Most of my handgun shooting is and was at 15-25 yards, but occasionally I would back off and work at longer ranges.

I recall when I was in my mid-20s and my skills were sharpest, that a friend and I were at the range alone one day, and I was gloating a little too much over my prowess with my new-ish S&W 357. After shooting shotgun shells and 45 ACP cases at 15 and 25 yards (with a pretty high hit percentage), my friend decided I needed to be brought back down to size. He saw a 3-lb coffee can against the rifle berm (on the range next door to the pistol range) and challenged me to shoot it from where we were. Because we were shooting from one range across to another, I didn't have a real good idea of the range, but it was probably close to 160-175 yards. I held up a good bit of front sight in the rear sight notch (I think I held the bottom edge of the orange insert even with the top edge of the rear blade) and fired a shot that hit just under the can. I adjusted my hold a bit and proceeded to roll the can with four more shots (all that was left in the cylinder)...

I quit gloating and seriously told him that this was simply the result of shooting so much that I KNEW the gun and the ballistics of the load so well, it became second nature. And, this, I think is a good description of what happens when you get to that level. The professional shooters just take it even a little higher, because of the volume and discipline that they apply to the skill-building. This was also Elmer's secret. He wore a gun every day, and shot a lot. Not as much as some others (he was never rich, and a significant part of his life was during the depression), but I think he also analyzed every shot, rather than just pulling the trigger immediately again. This also helped him develop his skills.




Scot, you're WAAAAY too nice. In my department, the range officer would shoot the gun upside down, hand it back to the (poor) shooter and say, "you're holding it wrong..." ;-)

Ever hear of shotshells? BT

re: "Ever hear of shotshells?"

sure....how far do the handgun calibers shoot them anyway?

__________________
Dum vivimus Vivamas

makes you wonder how far they shoot there rifles dont it?

__________________
WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

Why, I do that all the time for practice. I did it this morning from 400 yards while I was out shooting with my good friends Clint Eastwood, yeah, and Tom Selleck... Clint even had me show him how to do it, yeah, that's the ticket...

__________________
Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

CW Spook, can I come over and shoot with you guys ?

Sure. My girlfriend, Morgan Fairchild would like to meet you...

__________________
Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

we shoot our pistols at rifle range, and our rifles at a howitzer range!

__________________
WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

I've seen some fancy shots in my life. The "ultimate" was by an old USMC sgt that was teaching the Florida CWP course (Back in 1988 there was a 4 hour range requirement). After the class (12 of us) wasted a box each with our .38 revolvers and hung fresh targets, he said "Load 1 cartridge, spin the cylinder, close the gun and put it down facing the target. After we ran our targets out to the 50ft line, he walked down the line, picked up each unfamiliar weapon, squeezed double action till the round fired and finished in about a minute. Each of our targets had one neat hole in the center of the forehead. All he said was "The guns don't miss." He also said "When you strap on a gun, you become your brother's keeper", something else I never forgot. Joe

__________________
Wisdom chases me; I'm faster