accuracy irt 5 vs 6" and sights broad vs narrow

[Mr Unnatural]

Hi

I'm confused about a gun set up. I want to use it for 'action shooting' that requieres a lot accuracy, like ppc.

As I understand there is no proven accuracy improvement in a 6" slide. The differences would be in balance and recoil behaviour.

Some say that a 6" would be more accurate then a 5" because of the longer sight radius. But is this real?

Isn't this about the realtionship between the front sight an rearsight, how much light one sees when aiming? This effect seems larger then can be gained by a longer sight radius.

Please comment on my assumptions?

Rick

PS moderators

I tried the search function but the other threads didn't make sence to me.

[Joe4d]

Yes the increased sight radius is real,, If you locked both guns in a vice you may or may not get a difference in group size but not many matches are shot from a gun vice.

If it wasnt about sight radius go shoot 100 yard targets with a compact pistol, now try it with an open sight rifle.

Most action sports take speed power and acuracy into the scoring formula in some way, A six inch gun is more acurate in use, will be faster, and probably make powerfactor with less powder.

[G-ManBart]

The additional sight radius helps you shoot more accurately. Most of us would set up a 5" gun and 6" gun so that the relationship between the front sight width and rear sight notch appear the same (smililar/equal gaps on both sides). If you keep that similar, the longer sight radius means that a smaller error in alignment will be noticeable. R,

[Mr Unnatural]

So if I understand correctly even though the front sight is more distant with a 6" sightradius I'll notice misalignement better/sooner.

I thought that the shorter the distance the sooner/better I would notice misalignement. Is this correct?

or

Is this the result of what happens if you compensate the front sight dimensions to appear the same for a 5 or 6' setup.

some more clarification would be welcome?

Joe

For ipsc I use a standard size frontsight with a green fibre optic and a larger then usual rear sight notch. I chose this set up because I want to be able to pick up the front sight as soon as possible. For me this is harder when the front sight is narrow. So I choose a larger rear sight notch. I have some more then 1/2 width of the front sight o both sides. This is too much for real accuracy work beyond 25 meters (we shoot mostly at indor ranges).

I want to have a second handgun or topend for training (shooting matches) accuracy. IPSC is trading accuracy for speed, without accuracy i have nothiong to trade for. That's why I like to shoot accuracy matches as well (as long they are not boring, I need some time pressure).

regards,

Rick

[Seth]

Let's see if I can make this intelligible.

First, you have to assume that the distance from your eye to the rear notch is fixed. So the amount of information in the target 'picture' doesn't change from short sight radius to long sight radius. The only thing that changes is the distance to the front sight. Ok?

The next thing to wrap your head around is this: the further the front sight is from the rear sight, the smaller the front sight appears in the rear notch. Makes sense, right?

So the improved accuracy comes by virtue of the front sight appearing smaller, you can see more gradation of misalignment --- in essence, smaller movements are more 'readable'.

At speed, its easier to tell where the bullet is going EXACTLY. Calling your shot (reading the sights to know your bullet impact) becomes more precise because there's more detail in the sight picture.

Imagine drawing a dot on a target with a sharpened pencil vs a magnum sharpie. Thats the difference.

[ima45dv8]

Also consider....if the longer sight radius provided no advantage, rifles would have sights spaced the same as a handgun.

[G-ManBart]

Take a wooden match stick, and try to line it up perfectly straight at a distance object (20ft or more). You can be off quite a bit, and it won't look too bad. Do that same thing, but use an aluminum arrow that's 28" or so long....any tiny little bit of misalignment will be obvious. The same holds true with gun sights...the longer sight radius is like the arrow versus the match. R,

[Erik S.]

Let's see if I can make this intelligible.

First, you have to assume that the distance from your eye to the rear notch is fixed. So the amount of information in the target 'picture' doesn't change from short sight radius to long sight radius. The only thing that changes is the distance to the front sight. Ok?

The next thing to wrap your head around is this: the further the front sight is from the rear sight, the smaller the front sight appears in the rear notch. Makes sense, right?

So the improved accuracy comes by virtue of the front sight appearing smaller, you can see more gradation of misalignment --- in essence, smaller movements are more 'readable'.

At speed, its easier to tell where the bullet is going EXACTLY. Calling your shot (reading the sights to know your bullet impact) becomes more precise because there's more detail in the sight picture.

Imagine drawing a dot on a target with a sharpened pencil vs a magnum sharpie. Thats the difference.

EXTREMELY well-said!!! The longer sight radius doesn't help the gun, it helps the shooter. I'm not sure if it is true that a 6" gun will be faster than a 5" gun...UNLESS it helps the shooter get shots off faster because they are confident that they are on target. I know guys that really like commander 1911 frames for that reason. They feel they can weild them around quicker.

Another thing you can try to help explain this concept to yourself is do what G-Man-Bart said, only using a laser pointer. I'm not implying that guns are lasers (although many of us long range rifle shooters wish they were!), but it will shoot straight every time, it's just the perception of straight to the shooter that makes the difference.

Edited December 22, 2010 by Erik S.