It was 50 mph wind from the back but I shot 4 for 6 on an 18″ gong at 600 yards in one magazine. 9 close witnesses I guess, a retired Marine Pilot Steve Davis also Range Master, Two Marine Sniper/ Instructors, Marine Gunner Charles Henderson, a Retired Navy and Air Force were who I remember standing close. I continued to demonstrate in spite of the Wind holding what appeared to be 5 feet into the wind and up 2. I did have a flier every once in a while but the Black Hills +P 230 FMJ HP seemed to group pretty well out at 600.

I fired three with the same hold and they hit together the size of a milk jug at 7 o’clock about 1-2 feet down with Charles spotting, so I adjusted for the wind and shot the gong. I loaded three later and made a call shot on the gong when someone noted an Afghan rise up at 600 and I took it down with one shot represented again by the gong. But I also missed a lot and think probably the average was 3-4 in 10 at the 600 but all agree that no man would stand up out there if a Combat NCO was shooting at you.

As there was SO MANY witnesses at the shoot I expect to have a lot of testimonials about the effectiveness of the Combat NCO and to confirm my claim that a man under adverse conditions can give supporting fire at 600 yards without much difficulty. What was amazing was to HIT the 18″ targets which would seem to confirm that this average sample pistol #26 does hold 3 minute accuracy or less at 100 yards even with a human shooting the gun AND the serious nature of wind present.

I continued shooting in the wind hitting the gong many more times for show during the day. The crowd loved it.

The wind was too bad and blew down target stands so the shooters had to shoot the NCO at 100 yards and most did pretty well. Wind was 5″ drift on the shoulder edge. Gave good groups for me in the ten ring or the chest area offhand. There were some other odds rounds that may take some research bu most likely shooter error. Charles shot well too and I think most people shot better than their ability suggested.

The women shot the gun fairly well at 100 and could use some instruction but all in all for a first time, not TOO bad. They thought the recoil was less than a 9mm and a .40 cal and none found the NCO unpleasant to shoot. I hope to collect their reviews to post under Testimonials soon on www.karllippard.com/military.

Fun stuff. A lot of pride today. It has been a long time since I shot the 600 with a pistol open sight and today I guess I hold the record at Ben Lomond Gun Club for open sight pistol, .45acp, six hundred yards, that will no doubt stand for a while.

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32 COMMENTS

  1. Sure you did, Karl. And yesterday, I banged all the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. At once. Film at eleven.

  2. You hurt my feelings Ralph, I wish you had saved a few of the cheerleaders for me.

  6. My, this is tedious. I guess the 400 yard claims weren’t sufficiently outlandish.

    I know! Jug-sized size groups at 600 yards this time. Next he’ll be out-grouping Barrett rifles at 1,2oo yards. Blindfolded. Off-hand. Nuthin’ but net. I wanna be like Karl.

  7. Every cell phone has a camera on it.

    I do not believe this to be an impossible feat, I just need proof. And how useful is a .45 at that range. It can’t have much energy left.

    • I bet you could catch it with a baseball glove. But at 400yds it will knock a man off of his feet.

    • Karl’s follow-up email:

      Proof is always needed for someone not there. The proof is recorded at this range by the Range Master and not the shooter. During the day I suspect there were more than 30-40 witnesses. Personally I have nothing to prove but rather shoot for fun. I did not hear anyone who wanted to try the 600 as frankly the targets were very small. I think what shooting would prove is one’s lack of skill not the pistol performance. Do you have a writer that has this skill? Probably not. Then what would a “test” report hold in value? To me none. This pistol WILL deliver. THAT is proven. Can the Man shoot, is the test.

      I shot 248/250 at Camp Mathews range on my first day of shooting a M14. Equaled the Range Record. Was the rifle being proved or was it me? And while many cannot duplicate this event one can say on that day of March 6, 1963 I shot that score. And on June 11, 2012, I shot this one; and again a Range Record. Like the M14 the Combat NCO has been proved. The only test that remains, is the man. My record stands today and awaits only someone armed with the proper tool and marksmanship to top it. And like at Camp Matthews, I did not record the score, the witnesses as judge did that and gave me their findings.

      So in my view the proof is recorded. The pistol performed well and so did I. It is now part of the history of the Ben Lomond Gun Club, and that 65 year old men, can still make young men smile.

      • “So in my view the proof is recorded.”

        Not good enough. IF there were 30-40 witnesses, let me see their cell phone video. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

        And, as I said, I think it is possible. I, and everyone else, just require proof.

  8. Big deal, I lob frozen turkey with my catapult at 600 yards and get better groups than that. Also, I’m delivering more kinetic energy downrange and can modify the turkeys for less cost than Lippard’s 1911s.

  9. I use Cornish game hens. I find them more aerodynamic than turkeys. I typically get 1/2 minute of hen house out to 800 yards. My groups are actually better at 200 yards than at 100 because it takes them a while to stabalize out of the catapult.

    I grant you that there is not as much energy transfer as a turkey, but I can take someone’s eye out at 500 yards if I do my part.

  10. At 600 yards, a 45 would have to be aimed 100 feet above a 600 yard target according to my balistic calculator

  11. “At 600 yards, a 45 would have to be aimed 100 feet above a 600 yard target according to my balistic calculator”

    Which would mean that the gun would be useless at distances closer than 600 yards if sighted in at 600 yards.

    Testimonial, shmestimonial. Send a TTAGer there with a camera, RF. 2 cameras, even, in case one breaks.

  12. We should have Wayne from AFS test this gun, because this man can pick up any gun and shoot it accurately. If Wayne likes this gun then I’ll place my order, because it really is a nice looking 1911. I only need it to shoot with extremely great accuracy of up to 75 feet, cuz that’s my favorite distance with the Army L target.

  13. “I bet you could catch it with a baseball glove. But at 400yds it will knock a man off of his feet.”

    Always remember Newton’s third law of motion. If a pistol bullet will knock a man off his feet it must also knock the shooter off his feet.

    jd

  14. Why doesn’t the NCO use all possible sight radius? Especially given the 600 yard claim.

    Also, has anyone else noticed Lippard’s consistently careless writing? I guess his shooting must be better.

  15. Why won’t Mr. Lippard throw that particular 1911 he’s so proud of in a box, ship it to Robert and let TTAG & Co. see what they can do with it?

    I find Mr. Lippard’s communiques verbose, flowery and filled with rhetorical statements. Distracting.

    When I sit here and try to visualize some guy holding a 1911, firing it and (repeatedly) hitting a target that’s six football fields away, I get a headache.

  16. 50 MPH wind??

    As a Veteran that previously served as an Intelligence Specialist with the United States Navy, I spent thousands of hours analyzing photographs as well as other data. In addition, I lived in Florida and have been through several tropical depressions, storms, and hurricanes with winds in the range of anywhere from 20 MPH up to 150 MPH; the wind has blown me around before. I know about the winds effect on things like hair, hats, and table covers outdoors, and I can tell from looking at the photos that no such winds were present when those pictures were taken. Table covers are perfectly hanging with no wind whipping even the loosest, well draped corners; hanging perfectly and unmolested. No wind visible. Individuals not wearing hat have hair that has no signs of wind blowing, individuals wearing hats do not seem to be concerned either. It just does not appear that so much as a breeze is blowing; not from any direction.

  17. I agree with most of the comments here about this seemingly impossible feat.
    It would be far more believable to shoot a 45 at 100 yards, and show us the target.
    100 yards is a long shot for a 45 acp coming from a pistol barrel. Even if you have it loaded to go 1000 fps. That’s a long shot for a 230 gain bullet. From the picture he’s aiming pretty much level at the target. The bullet would hit the dirt before it ever reached the target. Some of us know something about bullet trajectory. I just checked a trajectory table a 230 grain bullet drops 2.5 inches in 50 yards. Of course it continues to drop at a much faster rate as it travels.

  18. Lets look at the proof. This feat, if real, would be a world record and have been repeated in the witness of a recording official. That recording by said official would be all the proof one needs. Until such a recording can be shown, it is all just talk.

  19. Michael Bane tells about Karl Lippard shooting the Lippard 1911 A2 .45 ACP pistol with fixed, open sights, and putting 8 of 10 shots on target for a score of 38, at 600 yards. Shots were on the MR-1 600 yard NRA High Power Rifle Competition 10X target, shot at the NRA Whittington Center. Bane videoed all of the record shooting that day, including 10 for 10 on target at 200 yards, shooting one-handed, NRA National Match Offhand Stance, shooting a 10 inch group on a 20 inch silhouette. The shooting will be aired on Shooting Gallery, on the Outdoor Channel, in February. Bane tells about it now on his Blog–Down Range Radio. http://www.downrange.tv/blog/down-range-radio-284-600-yard-world-record-shoot-with-an-iron-sight-1911-45-acp/17465/ Again, all shooting from 200 yards and 600 yards was with fixed, open sights. Guns used were both Lippard 1911 A2 pistols and other brands of .45 ACP pistols Upgraded with the Lippard A2/A3 operating systems. Ammunition was Black Hills 230 grain +P .45 ACP Jacketed Hollow Point, and Hornady Custom +P .230 grain .45 ACP Jacketed Hollow Point. The shoot was also covered by NRA magazines and Soldier of Fortune magazine.

    • Thanks for the information Mr. Henderson, it takes a real marksman with superior skills and equipment to pull a feat off like this. Unfortunately it only takes and idiot with a computer and internet connection to snipe at him. Well done Mr. Lippard!!!

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