Shot Grouping at 25 yds for XP45's??

[Jim B]

Hi Everyone, I am getting ready for an XD45, looked at a lot of options (1911/other poly's, etc.) and frankly with the safety features, the grip angle and the warranty program from Springfield it's just a matter of time now. That said, I am trying to learn from the experiences of others here and the knowledge base is amazing!

Question tho, is there an average group size I should be able to anticipate from my '45? I'll likely get the tactical version just for the extra inch of barrel and sight radius tho I doubt it will be THAT much of a factor regarding grouping. Up until now I"ve been a revolver guy but shoot about a 4" group at 25 yds with my old model 15 s/w

Oh, use of the pistol......I have woods on the property, want to set up a small range, used to backpack with my .44mag during hunting season in northern woods.

Thanks for your input....very much!

Jim B
Northern Michigan

[Saggin]

Well I don't have pictures of it but I went to the shooting range Thursday and at 25 yards shooting my xd 45 tactical I shot 2.5 in. groups. My Kimber ultra cdp was shooting 3 in. group at 25 yards but it is a 3" barrel. And welcome to the forum from the southern part of Michigan.

[Magzilla]

Was your XD mounted or propped on something to get that 2.5" grouping? That's amazingly tight for any kind of free handed Weaver or other stance.

Other than knowing the inherent accuracty of the gun I can never figure out why the 25 yard grouping was such a big deal. Who are you going to be shooting 75 feet away?? I feel I'm pretty damn lethal in the 7 to 10 yard range, but I'm not steady enough to get that kind of grouping at 25 yards free handing the gun. I shoot more in the 7 to 10 yard range and sometimes 15 yards, but rarely.

Here is my most recent 7 yd. grouping. One 16 rnd. mag.

[Loves2Shoot]

With a stock barrel 3"-4" offhand, less than that from a rest. I have a good Barsto gunsmith fit barrel that will shoot 1" at 15 yards (.85 with good ammo) and it shoots a couple inches at 25 yards.

[Saggin]

That was shooting from a rest and the reason I was shooting at 25 yards is because the state ran shooting range I go to only has 25, 50 and 100 yard back stops. Standing and shooting from the Weaver style I can hit 8 out of 10 clay pigeons at 25 yards. I practice shooting a pistol the same way I have always practiced shooting a bow I shoot at a longer distance so that I am more confident at closer ranges.

[Archer1945]

Saggin, I agree completely with your theory of practicing at long distances to improve your short distance performance. As a former competition archer, recurve, I know for a fact you can make mistakes at short ranges that will put your arrow completely off the target at the long distances. The same is true with guns. You learn the basics at the short distances but you polish them at longer ranges. If you do discover problems at the long ranges you then go back to the short range to find out where the problem but move back as soon as it is corrected.

The 7 yards quoted in most literature is simply an average distance. I've have also been told most serious social events actually take place at bad breath distance, basically not much more than an arm length away. There is nothing that says somebody might not take a shot at you from 50 yards, or more. If you are being shot at from that distance your chance of running away is actually a bit slimmer than if you are being shot at from a closer range. The reason being if someone is shooting at you from that kind of range then they probably are using something that will reach you even further than than and probably have no qualms about shooting you in the back as you run away. In that case your best bet would be to find some cover and be able to return fire at least close enough to keep the shooter pinned down until help arrives or even chase them off. This means knowing you can hit within about one to two feet of where they are, and preferably much, much closer.

I recently read a report of an LEO, with a handgun, who had to take on a shooter with a rifle at 70 yds. He was able to take the shooter out with one shot. I don't think he learned to shoot like that by limiting his shooting practice to 7 to 10 yds.

Yes, it is much more likely that if you ever do have to use your weapon it will be at the much closer distances but just knowing you and your weapon are capable of shooting well at longer distances is a great confidence builder.

[ichy_trigger]

Shot Grouping at 25 yds for XP45's??

Who makes the XP45?
Kidding... I know you meant XD

[Jim B]

Thanks everyone!

yup, I picked the 25 yd distance because the range I grew up going to just had two ranges, if you were pistol, you had to go to the 25 yd range, if you were rifle, you went to the 100 yd (which rumor had it was actually only 80yds) range. We'd take a rifle case loaded with pistols and shoot each one.

as a young adult, a number of us that worked for an alarm company that did it's own guard responses (armed).....got involved in some indoor shooting....

It was there that a couple guys that took a genuine interest in us drilled us about focusing on front sight and letting the target blur......also some techniques on dumping our cylinders with left hand while at the same time reaching for the next speedloader to reload with the right hand, cupping the hand under the cylinder (for outdoor combat shooting in grass), and making CERTAIN about hand placement when re-gripping the pistol, even if it took a couple seconds to do it......all of the time saving motions they showed us were to buy us more time to slow down our rate of fire and keep our sight focus sharp......I'll never forget a pharmacist friend of mine that spent a lot of time with me at that age, he shot on weekends and ran the drugstore weekdays......anyway.......later we found another range, this time outdoor and my friend had a T/C Contender in 35 Rem. with 16" barrel and we'd go out with my 44mag and try to knock over steel plates.....more at the rifle range area.....it was a riot!

Anyway......that's all, yup, 25' range came to mind, and I figured it would be a good reference to use........during qualification for my CPL the range instructor told us about close range shooting.....and actually for one exercise, had us almost within two steps of the position of the silhouette's we used to do some instinctive stuff.....literally raising our shooting arm up from the elbow and shooting at the center of mass one handed while keeping our eyes on center of mass.....it amazed me, he said that some situations have called for it to be THAT close and THAT quick......if we used other stances we'd actually bring up the pistol so close in firing position that it could almost be taken away from us OR be turned back onto us....anyway.....

And yup, noticed my typ-o on XP after I posted it, oops!

Again, thanks bunches guys.......I can't wait to call my XD mine! Knowing it will shoot better than me for a long long time!


Jim B
Northern Michigan

[Krackels]

I don't shoot my XD much at 25 yards, but the last time I had a shotgun pattern on my target that measured 6-8". Granted my first target fell off the backer and I couldn't retrieve it, and I thought I did better on that one.

Edit: my XD is a service 9mm, but I hear the 45s are tack drivers.