Fun Day at the Range w 4" 629

[Duster340]

Hey Folks,

First off, I love my 629.

My brother wanted to sight in his new bull barreled Howa 243 and asked me to join him. I had a bunch on handloads to test for my 4" 629 so we loaded up his jeep and hit the outdoor range. I messed with a bunch of different handloads at 25 yrds and found the 629 shoots much better with all the loads I tested than I can shoot! Lol! Ate everything mild to wild, from cast 208 gr WC to 260 gr SCW, as well as 240 gr PFP and 240 gr XTPs.

After sighting in my brother's 243, we moved to the 100 yrd range. I've never shot handguns at 100 yards, but figured what the heck. Loaded up some hot 240 gr XTPs and after a cylinder of ranging shots was hitting an 18" target 5 out of every 6 trys. Sitting position w open sights. Burned through 50 + hot XTP loads before trying my go-to mid level load of 240 gr PFPs over 9.6gr Unique. Results were even better and I burned through another 100 rounds. For kicks I loaded up my little 2 1/2" Bulldog w my pet load of 7 gr Unique pushing cast 200gr RFN. I'll be darn if I wasn't able to hit 3-4 of every 5 shots. Crazy.

I am now hooked on long range pistol shooting! Next time I will sit at the bench w a sandbag to see if i can actually shoot groups! I know many folks routinely shoot handguns well at 100+ yrds, but for my first try, I'm happy as pigs in dirt.

Be well all
Pat

 

[CWH44300]

Sounds like you had a blast!
Glad you enjoyed your trip to the range.
The 4" 44's are my favorites and are great fun for long range plinking.
Those fifty round ammo box's just don't seem to last.

 

[jdlii]

Shot my 629-5, 4'' today as well. The accuracy is very impressive with 240 gr. Speer Flat points. After reading Duster 340's post, I want to stretch it out beyond 25 yards!

Happiness is a warm .44 magnum!

 

[WPWarhawk]

Hey Folks,

First off, I love my 629.

My brother wanted to sight in his new bull barreled Howa 243 and asked me to join him. I had a bunch on handloads to test for my 4" 629 so we loaded up his jeep and hit the outdoor range. I messed with a bunch of different handloads at 25 yrds and found the 629 shoots much better with all the loads I tested than I can shoot! Lol! Ate everything mild to wild, from cast 208 gr WC to 260 gr SCW, as well as 240 gr PFP and 240 gr XTPs.

After sighting in my brother's 243, we moved to the 100 yrd range. I've never shot handguns at 100 yards, but figured what the heck. Loaded up some hot 240 gr XTPs and after a cylinder of ranging shots was hitting an 18" target 5 out of every 6 trys. Sitting position w open sights. Burned through 50 + hot XTP loads before trying my go-to mid level load of 240 gr PFPs over 9.6gr Unique. Results were even better and I burned through another 100 rounds. For kicks I loaded up my little 2 1/2" Bulldog w my pet load of 7 gr Unique pushing cast 200gr RFN. I'll be darn if I wasn't able to hit 3-4 of every 5 shots. Crazy.

I am now hooked on long range pistol shooting! Next time I will sit at the bench w a sandbag to see if i can actually shoot groups! I know many folks routinely shoot handguns well at 100+ yrds, but for my first try, I'm happy as pigs in dirt.

Be well all
Pat

Have you read any of Elmer Keith's books?

 

[SuperMan]

Long range shooting is a lot of fun... Mackay Sagebrush and I did a lot out in central Idaho in 2013 and 2014...in the same area Elmer Keith used to roam...

Mackay Reservoir 2013...



Targets were 200-450 yards out...



Hits on 200 yard target...




.41 Special...







3x3' target behind Mackay's cabin...



780 yards to home...



Mackay shooting at target with Glock 21...the target is way up on the hill...the lower one is a large gong at 100 yards..





Hits on target with .41 Magnum and one hit from Mackay's .45...



Beyond fun...Bob

 

[Duster340]

Long range shooting is a lot of fun... Mackay Sagebrush and I did a lot out in central Idaho in 2013 and 2014...in the same area Elmer Keith used to roam...

Mackay Reservoir 2013...



Targets were 200-450 yards out...



Hits on 200 yard target...




.41 Special...







3x3' target behind Mackay's cabin...



780 yards to home...



Mackay shooting at target with Glock 21...the target is way up on the hill...the lower one is a large gong at 100 yards..





Hits on target with .41 Magnum and one hit from Mackay's .45...



Beyond fun...Bob

Wow! Now that's some long range shooting! Great pics of what looks liike a great time. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Duster340]

Have you read any of Elmer Keith's books?

I've heard the stories, but haven't read any of Elmer's books. That's gonna change real soon

 

[Helderberg]

I don't think I could have brought enough ammo for that shoot. That looks like a fantastic day. You would have to tie me up and drag me away kicking and screaming from that spot. Thanks for sharing.
Frank.

 

[ElToro]

What was your hold over at 450 yards ?!

 

[629shooter]

Any day you're at the range it's a good day. On the days you have a S&W N-frame in 44 or 41 Magnum it's a great day.

 

[SuperMan]

What was your hold over at 450 yards ?!

It depends on the gun/load... Mackay had to use a passing cloud to hit the target at 780 yards with his Glock 21/.45 ACP...and no I am not kidding...

My #1 long range revolver is a Freedom Arms 654 .41 Magnum with a 6" barrel and a Keith Long Range front sight by David Clements. With a 255 grain bullet at 1400 fps if I put the rear notch at the bottom of the blade it just happened to be dead on at 800 yards. Davis Clements also built the above .41 Special from a USFA .357 Magnum Shooting Master. It also has a Keith Long Range front sight blade...



FA 654



Clements front sight...



50 yards...



5.5" group at 100 yards with 300 grain boolits...



With a S&W it gets hard to get a good sight picture after about 500 yards as one is having to use the barrel as holdover...

Put up a big target and start practicing...Bob

 

[T. McIntyre]

Fun times with Bob, playing the long range game. I is true, with the pedestrian .45 acp, I was aiming over the hills, into the clouds to get a hit.

Bob on the other hand with his tall Clements front sight was dialed in. If you were a bad guy standing at out at 780 yards, you would be in real danger if Bob had his Freedom Arms and a solid back rest.

 

[SuperMan]

In 2013 when Mackay and I shot out at the Mackay Reservoir all I had with me was a 1980 vintage S&W Model 57 4" with 210 Berry's plated bullets pushed by 8.0 grains of Unique that runs 950 fps from a 4".

Mackay was using his 4" and 5" 29s with I think 10 grains of Unique with a 250 Keith for probably 1100 fps.

With those loads we could use the front sight blades elevated in the rear notch to make hits out to about 450 yards. Beyond the front sight has to be elevated to the point of getting into the barrel...

What I have not tried yet is running the rear sight blade all the way up elevation wise and see what kind of increase in distance one can get...need to try that soon...

Bob

 

[CWH44300]

Love that Clements front sight. I had Magnaport do something along those lines on my mountain revolver.

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

Wow! Sounds like a lot of fun.

I need to get to loading up some .45 Colt and try to stretch my Blackhawk.

 

[jaymoore]

Once you start shooting at "rifle" distances with a handgun, it's tough to go back to an indoor range. Unless you like watching folk struggle to make hits at 21'.

 

[counter-clockwise]

I also have a 629-5, but it is a 6". Got it, shot it.... shot it some more... now I can't stop.
It shoots better than I can by far... but that's the challenge- to get as good as the gun.

 

[Rick_A]

My long range blaster was this 629.

I was good for 2-5" groups at 100 depending on how I was feeling.

It has been missed, but the next time 'round it'll be milder with a 38spl.

 

[Smoke-Wagon629]

i recently purchased a 6" model 57-1 and having never fired a .41 i took it to my outdoor range and i was pleasantly surprised to find these results at 50 yards. i'm sure the bullseye was a fluke. i was trying to see how far low the rounds would impact so i held a normal sight picture and i couldn't believe the elevation didn't change.



here are 2 shots at 100 yards, the bottom larger holes in the 8 and 7 rings. the smaller holes are rifle.

finding ammo was tough so i didnt shoot it much, i do plan to eventually reload for it.

 

[T. McIntyre]

Once you start shooting at "rifle" distances with a handgun, it's tough to go back to an indoor range. Unless you like watching folk struggle to make hits at 21'.

This is true. With that said, I do like practicing at more conventional ranges, working on fundamentals, and making sure I am doing things the same every time.

As far as I am concerned, making sure you get the EXACT same grip every time, when shooting long range is paramount. This allows the gun to recoil the same every time. I have noticed even slght changes in grip manifests itself into rather large group dispersions at long distances. Not really noticable at 25 yards, but really noticable at 250+ yards.