Topic: World record 22 revolver shot

[Rocking-M]

At least in my world, I do shoot a lot, at least in the past.
Groundhogs being my favorite, but I use the 7mag for that now,
used a 220 swift till i shot the barrel out.
Toted this 22 ruger for years and shot many a coon out with it, head shots mind ya.
But the shot I made yesterday took the cake.
One shot kill on a full grown deer at 180 paces. My wife was witness cause the
deer been eating her garden. 
The critter was suppose to run far enough to get out of my pasture,
but fell within 10 feet dead as hammer. I've had em run further from
7mag heart shots than that. I had to drag it out of the pasture and it was
all up a steep hill and 90+ degrees.

We're over run with deer here so I've been doing my own herd management plan.

[cbjunkie]

a head shot i assume?

[seaweb11]

I quietly walked 2 of them off the property last night.
Does that count? 

[Jugghead]

Good for you!  I bet there are quite A few sohc4 members who can appreciate that, I for one sure can  I love guns of all sorts, all calibers, esp the "evil ones"
Boy would I make Dianne feinstein Chuck schumer Rosie, and a the rest Really upset
Thanks for herd management, one less deer to hit with my bike or car!
I hope it tastes really good!

[upperlake04]

An awesome shot indeed.      Depending on how long your legs are that must have been at least 150 yds!      Knowing you guys have tiny little deer down there with  maybe a 1" circle to shoot for - well that would be a shot to remember.   Scope?  rest?  regular LR shells?  How much holdover?
  I would pay for lessons if you can do that twice though

[Rocking-M]

It was a heart shot, open sights, resting on the hitching rail, 22 Ruger single six with 10 1/2 barrel, held over its back
a foot. I use to regularly practice 100yrds with the 44 mag Ruger and could group a pie plate off hand. Having said that,
I'll let you know if I make the deer shot again.

Reminded me of the time 20 years ago a bunch were target shooting at shotgun shell hulls. I reckon it was about 50 yards
and they were shooting long guns off hand when I showed up. I said, "heck I can shoot that with my revolver, first shoot,
bling, second shot, hum, I should have just holstered it after the first shot. 

[Stormer]

Well done Rocking.
Love sporting shooting too, mainly IPSC/USPSA.

[dusterdude]

cooool

[BobbyR]

Just goes to show you that a well placed shot is more important than power. I no longer hunt for personal reasons, but I support Hunters rights. I now chase Varmints with a paintball gun. There are three Red Foxes with interesting Green markings running around the area. Congratulations on a well placed shot!!!!

[Noel]

In my world, shooting a big game animal with a .22 LR is illegal and -- more importantly -- immoral.

Also, in my world, heart shot animals survive for several minutes, regardless of caliber, as the brain can function 5-6 minutes without oxygen.

Laws, morals, and biology in your world may be different.

[Noel]

I'll back down on one point right away, though: I certainly have not seen everything, and I don't reject the idea that a big game animal could fall over and instantly die from a .22 caliber hole in the heart. Stranger things have undoubtedly happened; I've seen a wild hog run for 200 yards with its heart shot entirely away with a .505 Gibbs.

But possible is a far cry from expected, which is why the idea of pestering a deer with a .22 makes me pretty damn unhappy.

[cafehonda]

As I chow down on my ground animal patty sandwich, I think to myself...ain't it great that we can all be privy to the same information and yet come to such different conclusions. While I agree that shooting a deer with a .22lr is foolish, and assuming a pridefull stance about what can only be described as unmitigated luck equally so, I also find it silly that a person have a moral stance on the death of an animal based on a perceived degree of suffering. I wonder how much the bovine I'm consuming suffered when the pneumatic hammer popped a hole in its consciousness just prior to it's being blasted into shards of bone and slabs of steak. Moral relativity tastes like rib-eye to me..

[Rocking-M]

Wait a minute fellows, I am completely immoral when it comes to deer shooting.
Our neck of the woods is overrun with them, I had the 7mmag right at hand but didn't want
to drag the sorry varmint so I hoped it would run off and die. That's right off into the woods
out of my pasture and just die. No dragging involved.
Thus my choice of the 22 revolver and because the last deer I shot with the 22 rifle did the same thing,
died in my hay field and I had to take care of it.
Damn deer ain't as tough as they use to be, if you read my post, I've shot them with
7mags and had them run futher than the 10 or so feet that one flopped across with the
22 slug.
Sorry if this upsets your so called hunters ethics, I long ago decide deer hunting was not
hunting and took to calling it deer shooting.

[kghost]

Thats just wrong.

I'm gonna ignore the rest of this post.

Justify it all you want. Its still wrong and I'm not gonna waste my time explaining or arguing about it with you.

Wrong Wrong Wrong.

[BobbyR]

I take back what I said. Shooting an animal so they will wander off an die is totally digraceful.

[Rocking-M]

We have permits to kill here. Deer damage on the farm is real. Fences must be repaired and crops lost.
It's a country thing I suppose and I shouldn't have let it out. City folks who haven't experienced the
country life might not understand it. Sorry bout that folks.

[Sam Green Racing]

We have permits to kill here. Deer damage on the farm is real. Fences must be repaired and crops lost.
It's a country thing I suppose and I shouldn't have let it out. City folks who haven't experienced the
country life might not understand it. Sorry bout that folks.

OK, I live in a farming community, I am a shooter and although I do not hunt (shoot live targets) I am not against others hunting or protecting their crops from invasion by animals.

Where you went wrong was braging about shooting a deer with a 22 pistol and the time, the start of summer when the deer could have had young.   Do you not have shooting seasons over there ?  IMO wrong on two counts.

I understand that different cultures have different veiws on things but I wouldn't have thought that yours would have been much different to ours in the UK.

Rant over, welcome to the forum.

Sam.

[Noel]

I also find it silly that a person have a moral stance on the death of an animal based on a perceived degree of suffering. I wonder how much the bovine I'm consuming suffered when the pneumatic hammer popped a hole in its consciousness just prior to it's being blasted into shards of bone and slabs of steak.

I've read this post several times, on the assumption I did not understand it. I now believe it means exactly what it says, and it horrifies me.

Those of us who eat animals have a moral imperative to minimize the suffering of those animals. ANY responsible hunter takes every precaution to ensure his animal dies a quick death. I have seen grown men cry at having wounded and lost a big game animal. The attitude of "Eh. Whatever." where animal suffering is concerned simply disgusts me.

[Noel]

We have permits to kill here. Deer damage on the farm is real. Fences must be repaired and crops lost.
It's a country thing I suppose and I shouldn't have let it out. City folks who haven't experienced the
country life might not understand it. Sorry bout that folks.

Ah, you've opened my eyes. My city upbringing has blinded me to the idea that plinking at deer with a .22, knowing full well that most such deer will run off to die lingering deaths to infection, is actually no big deal.

Also -- despite my 20 years of experience with handgun hunting and competition -- I now understand that hitting a big game animal's vital area of five or six inches with an iron sighted revolver -- itself mechanically limited to five or six inch groups at 100 yards -- at a distance of over 150 yards, with a cartridge entirely unsuited to big game hunting at any range, is really no big deal, even if you happen to have an accurate and powerful rifle handy. So thanks again for educating this ignorant city slicker.

[cbjunkie]

rage, rage against the dying of the light...

[Noel]

For those of you who are unsure, try my "standard test": head to the range with a full sized cardboard cutout of a whitetail. Bring a standard clay pigeon along, and your favorite iron sighted revolver.

Set the clay pigeon up at 150 yards and look at it over your sights. Decide whether you feel foolish. Try a few shots just for effect.

Now for the hard part: set up the cardboard cutout and place the clay pigeon behind it, at the juncture of the leg and body, about a third of the way up. NOW look at it over your sights. Try to picture the location of the clay pigeon and touch off a shot or two. Or twenty. Just remember: every broken clay is a deer in the bag. Every intact clay is "wounded and lost".

Maybe you're the best shot in the world and you break the clay every time. Or maybe you simply don't give a rat's ass how much suffering you cause and one out of ten is good enough for you.

Or maybe, just maybe, you've learned something about the realities of big game hunting.

[cbjunkie]

http://www.comedycentral.com/games/action_arcade/redneck_games.jhtml

two words...

deer

stacker

[Noel]

27 deer caught, 37 feet tall.

And anyone who shoots a deer just to make it wander off and die is still an A-hole.

[Gordon]

And anyone who thinks he can change someone elses mind on a subject like this by arguing over the internet is wasting his time.

[Noel]

You seem to be trying to change my mind about arguing over the internet.

[Jugghead]

Yo noel,
With out any reference to all the stuff about the morality of shooting the deer, etc.  (I have no desire to argue either side of the issue)
I just want to point out the physical/mechanical capabilities of a 10.5" barrel on a ruger single six. 
Rugers are world reknowned for their inherent accuracy... iron sights or optics does not affect the gun's accuracy, only the shooter's.  From a bench rest, with a cold barrel, you could put all six rounds into the black at 50 yards, no problem. he was shooting from a support (some kind of fence rail?) anyways, the guns are much more accurate than most of their operators.
I have two ruger .357mags: one GP100 and one bisley blackhawk.  both with iron sights. I make no claims at being an expert pistoleer, and even so...
that blackhawk is one hell of an accurate revolver, leaving all six magnums under the outline of a quarter, off hand (albeit at indoor ranges of 45'-much less than the stated deer shot)
The 4" barrel GP100, shooting outside with my forearms braced between the windsheild and open door (cop hiding behind car door style,) knocks down 5 bowling pins with 6ix shots 9 times out of 10 at 25 yards.
i guess my point is is that the GUN is capable of the accurate, humane shot.  it just depends if the operator is...
thats all.  no flame intended, i hope no flame was received

[Noel]

I'm incredibly upset at that!

Just kidding. I guess I'd disagree that Ruger has a general reputation for accuracy. I'm a huge Ruger fan, and I'm not saying that they have a reputation for inaccuracy, but with the possible exception of the .22 auto pistol I'm not aware of any great big accuracy claims. We could talk about the barrels Ruger used prior to making them in-house, which could be pretty bad...

Anyway, I never met a single-six that I thought shot very well. Average at best. So I rounded up some reviews.

Chuck Hawks averages 1.5" groups at 25 yards. http://www.chuckhawks.com/ruger_single_six_syn.htm

Jeff Quinn reports "less than two inches for most brands of ammo" with one brand making 1.5" groups. http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger_Single-Six_50th.htm

And here's a group of folks that seem to feel 2" at 25 yards is about what to expect. http://www.groupsrv.com/hobby/about47943.html

This all gibes with my experiences, although I don't doubt there are some "accidentally" super-accurate ones out there.

So even assuming he's a "perfect" shooter -- i.e. shooting to the limits of the gun -- he's going to be printing 8 to 10 inch groups at 150 yards, which exceeds the size of a typical whitetail heart by several inches at least.

I'll put it this way: I know a fellow who holds a high master rating in NRA bullseye and who regularly places in national level 10 meter air pistol competitions -- which are incredibly demanding in terms of accuracy. His personal limit with a custom hunting handgun is 100 yards, and that's his ultimate limit. He won't exceed 75 yards without a damn good reason, and prefers to stalk within 50 yards whenever possible.

Maybe Mr. Rocking is a better shot than that, and also had the great good fortune to end up with a $200 mass produced .22 revolver capable of shooting into 5 inches at 150 yards.

[Jugghead]

Quote:
This all gibes with my experiences, although I don't doubt there are some "accidentally" super-accurate ones out there.
So even assuming he's a "perfect" shooter -- i.e. shooting to the limits of the gun -- he's going to be printing 8 to 10 inch groups at 150 yards, which exceeds the size of a typical whitetail heart by several inches at least.
End Quote:

could be!
But i guess i was comparing apples to orange with a .22 LR vs. 357 mag
I gotta say you and your evidence is right.  all i know is that my ruger handguns ( revolver not autoloaders) are all WAY more accurate than I could be.
i think i need to work less on my bike and more on my marksmanship
LOL. take it easy, bro.
Every now and then a real prize makes it out of the factory.  And you are right.  i guess the rugers are know more for RELIABILITY than accuracy. 

[Dusthawk]

First off, Rocking-M, Great shot. Big props to you for it.

Secondly, I have said it before and I'll say it again, opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one and they all stink. Well, this is my stinky, I love shooting, I love hunting, I try to get the job done with one shot but nobody is perfect. I don't hunt for the thrill of a big loud bang. I hunt because it is a God given right! I hunt to eat. I have no problem with hunting to remove harmful animals, such as deer who damage property and crops, especially since I'll have a great dinner afterwards.

I have only owned three rifles but have had an extensive amount of experience with most types of firearms, including revolvers, automatic pistols, rifles, and shotguns, every caliber from .22 to .45 and gauges 10 to .410. My rifles, were an AR7 Explorer .22LR, an Enfield .303 sniper Mark4, and an R&H 45-70 breech break with a walnut stock and blued barrel. The AR7 was great for plinking and Varmiting, the .303 was an outstanding hunting rifle, and the 45-70 kicked like a 10gauge on massive steroids but was fun on the range at 300+ Yrds.

Anyone who has a moral problem with hunting better be a documented Vegan, because otherwise, you are nothing more than a poser on a soapbox. Just because you think something is wrong, doesn't mean the rest of the world has to agree. I for one don't.

To all the hunters and shooters out there, Keep Pulling that Trigger.

The only part I agree with others about is not wanting the animal to suffer. A one shot, one kill is definitely the best, but it doesn't happen every time, we just try our best.

Good Hunting,

Jeff