March/April 1983 - American Handgunner

Right 'dope' = clean killsSIGHTING-INHUNTINGHANDGUNSRequires basic knowledge of ballisticstables and proper techniques for zeroinginvarious loads at different ranges.By Bob McMickenIt doesn't matter if you're handgunningfor bunnies or bears, you can't kill 'emif you can't hit 'em. And not just arty hitwill do.Unless you're zapping mice with .44Magnum hollowpoints, the bullet must beproperly placed to be effective. Ifyou hit abear in the paunch with anything short ofa105mm howitzer, you've either got a fightor a long and dangerous tracking jobahead of you; perhaps both. Hit a bunnytoo far back, and you may have hash insteadof hasenpfeffer, assuming there isenough left ofthe poor beast to fill a skillet.For the purposes of this discussion,how'ever, we'll assume that you're a goodshot using an accurate handgun chamberedfor an effective cartridge, and thatyour ammunition is both accurate andadequate for the purpose intended.Almost any Gl .45 will throw hardballinto six inches at 50 yards from the bench.Target pistols clamped in a Ransom restwill consistently print one-inch groupswith match ammunition. Three-inchgroups at 50 yards is excellent hunting accuracy,easily attained from a solid fieldposition with almost any modern Americanrevolver and good ammo.But that three-inch group, good enoughto nail bunnies or bears at normal handgunningranges, won't do you much goodunless it happens to coincide with yourpoint of aim. For example, I recently acquireda new Combat Masterpiece, one ofthe better .38 Special service revolvers.Eager to try it out, I went to my favoriteindoor range and, from force of habit,zeroed-in at six o'clock on a standard 50­foot slow fire pistol target with a 3 1 .4 inchbull.I put my screwdriver away after puttingfive factory wadcutters in one hole notmuch larger than a nickel and exactly inthe center of the 10 ring, a mere 1% inchesabove the point ofaim. That, my friends, ispretty fair country shooting; but, outdoorsat 50 yards, the same gun and the sameload printed more than six inches high.Had I been hunting, I'd have shot overanything smaller than a giraffe with that50-foot zero.Paper-punchers can zero-i'n for therange at which they usually compete, aridthrow their screwdrivers away. Silhouetteshooters must reset their sights for 50, 100,150, and 200 meters; but it is relatively easyto wor\( out the number of clicks required,and the services of a spotter are availableto call each shot if fine tuning should berequired. .Those stalwarts who elect to hunt with ahandgun are not so fortunate. They generallyget just one chance to hit a target ofThis 7Y:z-inch, 30-shot group on a life-size deer target consists of JO three-shotgroups fired from braced sitting position (above) at ranges up to JOO yards.Four guns were used, with barrels rangIng in length from 3 to 6 inches.36 AMERICAN HANDGUNNER· MARCH/APRIL 1983