(Left) A look at how these pistols performed at 25 and 50 yards. For inexpensive ball, the Wolf ammunition performed quite well. (Right) Think 100 yards is too far for a service pistol? Think again.

Groups consisted of firing a minimum of four five-shot groups from the prone position. All groups were fired from the prone, rather than off a benchrest, to determine what these pistols were capable of under real-world conditions. After all, who carries sandbags and a bench with them?

Targets consisted of standard IPSC silhouettes, 30 inches tall and 18.25 inches wide. For ammo, I selected two loads from Wolf Performance Ammunition. The .40 S&W Glock and Walther were fed Wolf's 180-grain FMJ load while the .45 ACP Les Baer received Wolf's 230-grain FMJ load. Both of these loads are steel cased, Boxer primed and noncorrosive. Wolf ammunition was selected because it is quality practice ammo at an extremely reasonable price. And we all know that the less ammo costs, the more we can practice. I also selected it to show what these pistols are capable of with simple, inexpensive ball rather than fancy match ammunition.

Blade-Tech holsters and magazine carriers were used during testing simply because they're what I carry on a daily basis. I've found them to be rugged, well designed and comfortable.

To start out things, I began by shooting the Glock 23 at 25 yards. Here, the Austrian pistol easily plunked five rounds into a best of 2.5 inches and averaged three inches. Point of impact was right on point of aim.

Moving back to 50 yards, I noted that the front sight looked mighty wide in relationship to the silhouette. Of course, this was just a prelude of things to come. I fired a couple of groups to get a feel for this distance and then settled down to fire for record.

Taking my time with the Glock, I managed a best of 4.12 inches, and I averaged a very nice 4.81 inches at this longer distance. Again, the group was nicely centered and only slightly below my point of aim.

Stepping back to 100 yards, I indexed the front sight on the neck of the silhouette and wished for a better trigger. Still, even at a full 100 yards, the compact Glock proved capable of easily keeping all its shots on a silhouette. My best group was five shots into 8.5 inches with an average group size of 10.3 inches.

(Left) One hugely popular carry gun is the Glock 23 in .40 S&W. Our test pistol was in used but excellent shape with several thousand rounds through it. (Right) For our 1911, we chose a Les baer Prowler. Les Baer has a reputation for building extremely accurate 1911s, and this one lived up to its name.

Next I switched to the Walther P99. This tightened up groups a bit, with a best of five shots into two inches and an average of 2.65 inches at 25 yards.

Moving to 50 yards, the Walther surprised us with its accuracy. Here it posted a best of 2.37 inches and averaged a mere 3.31 inches. However, at 50 yards I did note that this pistol was grouping noticeably high and to the left.

This began to be a real problem at 100 yards. Here, I had to hold at the right edge of the silhouette. Yet even so, the Walther punched five rounds into 6.5 inches and averaged 8.75 inches.

Switching to the Les Baer was like night and day compared to shooting the Glock and Walther. The crisp trigger and well-defined adjustable sights made the 1911 substantially easier to shoot well.

Regarding accuracy, it was a shooting machine. At 25 yards, the Baer averaged an impressive 1.25 inches with the Wolf ball. Moving back to 50 yards, the Baer poked rounds into a best of 2.25 inches. Average group size at 50 yards was an impressive 2.62 inches. This is better than what the Walther averaged at 25 yards.

Our best group with the Walther at 200 yards out two out of five on target.

Going prone at 100 yards, I held on the head of the silhouette and let fly. The Les Baer Prowler responded by tossing five of those fat, 230-grain FMJs into 5.5 inches, and it averaged 7.1 inches. The 5.5-inch group was as good as some 100-yard groups I've fired with AKMs.

Secure in the knowledge that all three pistols were well capable of keeping all five rounds on a silhouette at 100 yards, I moved on.

Next I posted a circular cardboard backer 37 inches in diameter. Onto this I stapled a plain-white IPSC target. Then I moved back to 200 yards. This portion of testing was conducted in a gravel pit to simplify getting on paper at this distance. Dust from a bullet strike would allow me to quickly find the required elevation and windage. Then, once I knew where my point of impact was, I'd fire for record.

At this distance I decided it prudent to start with the Les Baer. After two sighter shots, I slowly fired five rounds. Two hundred yards is a long way for a .45, and there was a noticeable pause between the jump of the gun and a hefty thwak being heard as the FMJs struck plywood.