Accuracy Expectations

[Riptide]

Given the following situation what should the general expectations regarding accuracy be please. Not sure what I should be expecting.

New production 629. 6" Barrel.
Ammunition is factory 240g 1180fps Magtech, Winchester, etc..

Assume the owner (me) only gets out to shoot it 2-3x per year. About 150 total through the gun over a year.
Assume the owner has never taken a class.
Assume the owner is not a natural talent and in fact may not really be that good.

What kinds of groups should I expect at 15 yards? Because the first time out I was ever loving terrible let me tell you. Think 3-4" groups at 5 yards. Probably flinching. Etc..

 

[Will Carry]

I train with my carry pistols at 21 feet. 3"-4" groups at 5 yards really isn't bad. Most people at the range I go to can't keep their groups inside a garbage can lid at 5 yards. I know a few shooters who can make one jagged hole at 10 yards and I know 100 shooters who claim they can on internet forums. Don't sweat it. Just practice the basics: stance, grip, trigger pull and don't worry about the groupings.

 

[dusty3030]

3" or 4" at 5yds ain't shabby.

Don't sweat it and only believe groups you witnessed fired or fish you witnessed caught.

When you have a shot break outside of where you expected it to hit, pause and reflect on what you think might have caused it.

Take lots of breaks, a 6" 629 is hefty piece and .44 mag has some pretty good recoil. A long range session will open anyone's group with one of those.

 

[JAREDSHS]

Congratulations on a fine firearm. I used to own a model 29-2 in 4 inch about twenty some years back. It was a fun gun to shoot and is one of those "why didn't I keep that one" things. I have never really been a super good pistol shooter. I was always able to qualify for LE certification, but that doesn't make you a real good pistol shooter. The 29 series is S&W's finest offering in my opinion. Do not fret about your 629 , you will grow to love it, just don't get discouraged. It is a big heavy gun and you will get tired while shooting it. When you do just stop and rest up for the next time . You are going to have a ball.I predict that you will probably get into hand loading. The 44 mag is easy to hand load, and you will be able to shoot more that way. Best of luck to you.

 

[Tom S.]

Without knowing your previous shooting experience, it's impossible to say how you'll do. Have you shot a 44 mag before? Are you asking about rapid or timed fire? For someone who doesn't shoot much, shooting 50 rounds of 44 mag at one sitting probably won't be very enjoyable.

Shooters I've seen with that caliber who weren't very good would do well to shoot a 4" group at 10 yards, slow fire and all over the map (literally) rapid fire, even missing the target. On the other hand, those who are good shots will slow fire 2" to 3" groups at 25 yards.

Firing a gun, especially a 44 magnum, doesn't usually come 'naturally' to anyone, at least not anyone I know. It's just like playing a musical instrument, unless you are some kind of savant, you must practice to get good at it. Once you get good with one pistol though, you can usually make the transition to another caliber pretty well. If you are starting out with a 44 mag as your first pistol, you are making it hard on yourself. While with discipline, it can be done, you are trying to master the same techniques it takes to fire a .22 rimfire accurately and adding fire, brimstone and massive recoil to the equation.

It would not be surprising to see this pistol get shot at one outing, you get totally discouraged and have it either getting sold or set in a drawer for the rest of it's life. I'm not saying that to be mean, it's just a scenario I've seen play out many times. If you do decide to make a go out of it, start not by shooting the pistol, but by dry firing it. Dry firing will enable you to concentrate on squeezing the trigger instead of jerking it. Double action shooting is good, but I'd recommend sticking with single action (manually cock the hammer, then pull the trigger). What you will be trying to achieve when dry firing is two fold: besides leaning to squeeze the trigger without jerking it, learning to keep the gun steady when doing so. When properly done, your sights will not move when the hammer falls.

Only when you can dry fire it and obtain the results outlined above, should you try shooting. Ideally, I would recommend starting off with reduced loads and working your way up to the high performance loads.

That's my $.02 for what it's worth.

 

[scooter123]

There was a time when my standard for acceptable accuracy was 1 inch for every 10 feet, so at 5 yards I would expect to be shooting groups of 1.5 inches or less. There was also a time when I had 20/10 vision and could read 2 point type without any optical aid.

Today I have to use reading glasses at any distance under 7 feet and because I shoot without the assistance of reading glasses I sight my handgun by using the shape and instinct. Because all I can see with iron sights is a fuzzy white blob in the sight features white dots large enough. As a result my standard has changed. What is acceptable is hitting well enough to stop an assailant.

So, take that 4 inch circle you are hitting within and put it in the center of your chest. Do you think you would be able to continue an assault on someone after taking 2 or 3 hits from a 44 Special within that circle. I suspect you know the answer, for Defense 4 inches is plenty good enough.

BTW, I would suggest that you slowly start moving your target back a bit. I do most of my practicing at 10 yards because at that distance I have some time to take evasive steps if necessary. I'll also admit that I'm probably shooting 5 to 6 inches in rapid fire at that distance, but that's still good enough to stop an assault. I also practice head shots in slow fire and when I take my time I can usually keep 80% of my shots within a 4 inch circle.

 

[Riptide]

I appreciate all the well thought out and typed responses.

I agree the groups I made with it are within the realm of "good enough" for close in self defense work.

Maybe I am being a bit hard on myself. My only other pistol was a CZ75B 9mm. While a fine weapon for what it is it really cannot compare to the .44 magnum. Perhaps I bit off more than I can chew but I think there is still room for doubt.

Appreciate the dry fire suggestions. I am ordering some snap caps and I intend to do some work with those. When I do go back to the range maybe it would be a good idea to randomly mix a few of them in the cylinder. See if I can catch myself screwing up.

 

[Rpg]

In shooting without time limits, you should be able to make consistent 2" groups at that range, assuming reasonable shooting skill.

May take a fair amount of practice, depending on beginning skill.

Don't try to shoot a bunch of ammo each range trip.

Less than 50 rounds per outing is probably more useful.

You shook be able to halve a 2" group at 15 yards as skill improves.

 

[steelslaver]

Dry fire it a bunch and concentrate on that front sight! Keep it level across the top of rear and centered. Get some 44 specials and use them for a while. Your brain naturally does not like the noise and recoil. Spend some time conditioning yourself. If you have a buddy have him load your gun and leave some random chambers empty. If you are jerking and flinching, it will really show when you "fire" an empty chamber. Plus, makes you concentrate on the trigger work.

Do a good chamber cleaning when going from the specials to the magnums.

 

[Inusuit]

I've been shooting for over 65 years and am often amazed by the groups achieved by shooters from behind their keyboards.

The NRA recently changed the Basic Pistol class to include an accuracy requirement. To pass the class, the student has to put 20 rounds into 3.75 inch circles from 10 feet. Some do it easily, some don't. At my age and having recently experienced cataract surgery, I think I'm doing pretty well to keep my shots in a 6" circle at 15 yards. That's not with a .44 Magnum, but standard .38 Specials and 9 mm.

 

[Lobster Picnic]

.44 magnum is a lot of recoil. Your groups ought to be tighter with a box of .44 Specials.

Lots of people practice with .38 Specials in their .357.

 

[jimbo728]

The best way to realize your true accuracy potential is to concentrate on basics like front sight and good trigger control and practice often.
If you are never satisfied you will achieve.
That`s true in most things in life.
Your 629 is capable of great performance and with the basics in mind and practice, so are you.
Good Luck
Jim

 

[shouldazagged]

I don't think anyone has asked your intended use of the gun.

If it's for self defense or home defense, my personal opinion is that it's way more gun than you need (unless you may encounter large bears or hogs) but your groups are quite acceptable.

If you mean to hunt with it, some serious work in accuracy is in order.

Strictly for the personal challenge and fun at the range, I would want to shoot .44 Specials, with occasional magnums for the big fireball and boom if you enjoy that.

But you know what they say about opinnions.

.

 

[Riptide]

Mainly home defense with some casual target shooting. Will go with us camping. I have some garret hammerheads for the (hopefully) unlikely chance we have a close encounter of the ursine kind.

I have speer gold dot specials when it is in the night stand. For target shooting it will be a mix of magnum and specials.

I have some snap caps on the way and will get serious about working on dry firing practice. I also have a bag and will see what happens firing from a rest next time.

I would be pretty happy with a 4-6" group at 25 yards honestly. That would be enough for me to be satisfied. Quite a ways off from that yet though.

 

[bigggbbruce]

A 629 6" is a 50 yard plinker.. 100 yard with practice..

25 yard is warm up..

 

[cowboy4evr]

That was a pretty big jump to go from a CZ75 to a 629 . You can do it , just be patient . It would really help if you either practiced for awhile w/44specials or started reloading and made some good practice loads .
The 44 is not hard to conquer , just work up to it and you should be fine . It's an easy cartridge to reload if you want to start reloading , big case lots of room . When I bought my first 44 I bought the Lee Classic Loader Kit for about $25 . It's easy to use , makes good rounds and gives you the opportunity to find out if you like reloading , or not . Have fun , good luck

 

[Riptide]

Uh yah I don't ever see 2-3" groups out of me at 50 yards no way. Just not going to be practicing often enough for that to happen even if I had the natural ability needed in the first place. My "sights" are set much lower than that. Hah!

$25 is all it costs for the equipment? I thought it was a lot more than that. I'll have to google it.

 

[da gimp]

if you are going to start reloading, a must do hobby if you are going to do much shooting... look around & pick up a good used RCBS Rockchucker, scales, a powder thrower from RCBS or Lyman... & carbide die sets for both your pistol calibres...Depending on how much shooting you do you might want to get a good Dillon .550B or Square Deal machine & good scales ( good scales are a must have if you are going to reload.. not using them is very reckless & they do not cost that much...) other guys here like the RCBS brand progressive machines & there are even a few who like the Hornady Lock & load...Check the reloading board here for the many threads on all these fine reloading machines...

We'd always used a similar set up for reloading until 2000, when our youngest daughter started shooting center fire handgun & it was so tedious & time consuming to load 10 boxes of .38spec lead wad cutters that I looked around & bought a good used Dillon 550B already set up for .45Colt, .45ACP with an extra .38spec/.357 mag caliber conversion ...

The next night after reading the instruction booklet we switched one of the tool heads over to .38spec using our RCBS .357/.38spec carbide die set.. I loaded up the primer tubes for the my wife & daughter as they did the loading.. my wife inserted each empty case, worked the handle & advanced the machine after each stroke, while our daughter eye-balled the powder level to make sure it was of consistent height in each case after it was filled at station 2 & put the bullet on the powder filled case at station 3... (yes we ran & weighed multiple cases of powder to assure that the powder thrower was accurate & consistent) the girls loaded 485 , .38special's, in right at 1 hour... working as a team... with me refilling the primer tubes for them...

At that time, if we had bought those (nearly) 10 boxes of .38 spec ammo at retail, from our local gun store.. it would have cost as much as what we paid for that used Dillon 550B...any ammo produced on that machine after that only cost us the price of the components.

Long after the wife & I both pass away, our kids, grandkids & great grandkids can all load their rifle & handgun ammo on it....For that matter.. if I sold the machine now, with one caliber conversion set up.. I can get way more out of it than I paid for it... & then sell the other die set ups & caliber conversions as extra boot...the Dillon's hold their value dern good.

 

[da gimp]

By the way.. I forgot.. I .generally carry a .38spec Colt Agent snub EDC adding a S&W Chiefs snub for back up if needed...

but if serious social work is anticipated, I carry our old blued 4" S&W model 29, .44mag... loaded with ammo running about 850fps .. those loads allow for fast, accurate shooting with easily managed recoil.. yet are great stoppers without being worried about over penetration that might endanger innocent people... they are also good deer & hog loads too... & to my way of thinking.. 6 fast accurate shots in a kill zone are way better than 2 or at most 3 shots when you have to fight heavier recoil.

Being able to tailor your ammo to your needs & being able to save huge money while producing great quality ammo is why dern near all of us got into reloading. The more you practice... the better you will become....

 

[gwpercle]

Shooting a 44 magnum is not easy for the beginner. Your groups should be on par with the groups you shoot with a 22 LR or 38 special with 148 grain target wadcutter loads. The model 629 is not an inaccurate gun. If I can't put 6 shots into a 2 inch circle at 50 feet , slow fire, I'm having a bad day. But I have always been proficient with a hand gun.
A buddy would shoot 6 44 magnums from his Ruger and get to flinching so badly he would have me finish sighting in his gun.
The gun will shoot , the shooter is where the ability comes in.
I have been shooting for years , three times a week , and there are still a lot of guys who are better than I .
Get some light 44 specials and practice with them...you must overcome the flinch to become a decent shot .
Gary