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Tell me why I need a six inch please


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Ahh but the 6 inch gun gets you one inch closer to the target.

Has NOTHING to do with that... Its all about what your eyes see.

20% more sight radius means that the the differentiation of the front sight in the rear notch provides far greater detail. It also pushes the front sight out further to help far sighted folks get a more crisp sight picture. The bonus is that it can provide a softer felt recoil.

As for the acceptance at a national level, Todd Jarrett has shot his pretty much exclusively when he's shooting L10/ Limited. Same for TGO. I shot Todds on his range for a while and was so amazed at the difference in shot calling that everything else was icing. Almost immediately after shooting his I ordered mine. With both a 5" and a 6", I can pick and choose. I shoot the 6" EVERY time. They're both full custom guns... hell the 5" is way fancier... but the 6" is better.

The difference is incremental, not overwhelming. Its not as if a 6" gun is going to take a B Granny and make them a GM Granny. That is on you.

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I wish I had more 6" guns near me to try.

I have tried a few and didn't care for them.

I am guessing because they were not lightened/balanced enough as commonly discussed on this forum.

Now that I am getting ready to build another one, I wish I could spend some quality time with a "properly" built 6".

Because I don't have such a resource I may be building another 5".

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Like a couple of the guys have said, I am in the boat where I need to make a decision about 5" vs 6". I get bench time with Matt Cheely next month and have to decided real quick about what I want. Had my heart all set on getting a sight tracker 5". I have shot a 6" but it felt like a tank. I also feel this way about full length dust cover 5" guns. Not sure what to do. This is my 1st limited gun as I have been shooting production last 2 years with a poly gun. Hence why I probably feel like the heavier steel guns feel like tanks. My thought is that I am also have another smith make a 5" SS. I should be able to use the same load for both and make major. If I buy a 6" then I would have to come up with 2 loads as the longer barrel would be easier to make major and I would probably want to back it down to take advantage of everything the pistol has to offer. So many tough decisions. A 6" sight tracker would be yummy. Have to wait till 2013. Sorry for the rant. I just keep thinking about this, um sorry obsessing about this.

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a 6 inch factory feels heavy. the 6 inch with the slide lightened feels like a totally different gun. I had a stock eagle that would wobble almost when shot. Had bobby tri top it, do a "hi-power" cut and gills to take weight out of the nose and the tri-top to lighten the whole thing up. Feels like a different gun. If you try/feel a 6 inc feel a lighened 6inch

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20% more sight radius means that the the differentiation of the front sight in the rear notch provides far greater detail.

can you put some more detail around this? I'm curious how for someone that is near sighted how this is any different than going with a smaller notch size so that there is less room for deviation of the front sight within the notch itself on a 5 inch gun?

I'm really curious how it could provide more detail.

thanks

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20% more sight radius means that the the differentiation of the front sight in the rear notch provides far greater detail.

can you put some more detail around this? I'm curious how for someone that is near sighted how this is any different than going with a smaller notch size so that there is less room for deviation of the front sight within the notch itself on a 5 inch gun?

I'm really curious how it could provide more detail.

thanks

The rear notch is a fixed point. The further away from the rear notch the front sight is (assuming a constant sized front sight) the more minute movements cna be observed over the unchanged width of backdrop of a target.

An example. Setup a target at 10 yards (or just pick a fixed point on the wall).

Take your left hand and create a rear notch. Hold it about 6" from your dominant eye and look down it like a sight picture. Now take your right hand and hold up your first finger like a sight post.

With your right hand about 6" in front of your left hand move the "front post" side to side in the notch. Observe the amount of side to side movement the front post can travel between the notch.

Now move the front post a couple of inches further out and repeat.

If the rear "notch" remains fixed, you'll be able to see more front sight deviation in the rear notch and be able to more precisely "call your shot". A small rear notch effectively lowers the room for deviation, but doesn't increase fine adjustment. A longer sight radius will give you more of a fine adjustment of the sight picture.

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Do a search engine for the terms "bloop tube smallbore prone rifle". This will bring up the most extreme examples of what Seth is explaining in the previous reply. Bloop tubes are used to increase sight radius on metallic sight only rules rifles that have short barrels to improve balance. Nobody cares about the bloop sound. Only purpose is to increase sight radius.

Bobby H.

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even if 6" guns fall out of favor I'll continue to shoot mine. the advantages to one are real to me, at least at my current meager skill level. I honestly dont think its a passing fad. and I was definitely a skeptic/nonbeliever till I got my own

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  • 2 months later...

Do yall notice any difference in recoil say compared to a five inch?

If the slide is lightented properly the recoil should feel about the same... My Camerons 6" recoils the same as my 5" para.

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Mine is slightly snappier, but is flatter than the 5". I shot both guns in a match last weekend changing between stages and found the 6" to be... different. In a good way...

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  • 5 weeks later...

OK, didn't want to start a new thread, so i will ask my questions here.

On a properly built 6 (meaning lightened, etc..) What are the cons? If they weigh the same (5 vs 6) what are the disadvantages? I am on the verge on buying a 6 inch, but want to be sure... if you are doing a quick classifier (like can you count) where the targets are so close you aren't really aiming (so to speak) will the 6 inch take longer to cycle because it is longer? will that even make a difference?

sorry for the dumb questions but i want to be sure before i drop the cash...thanks

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OK, didn't want to start a new thread, so i will ask my questions here.

On a properly built 6 (meaning lightened, etc..) What are the cons? If they weigh the same (5 vs 6) what are the disadvantages? I am on the verge on buying a 6 inch, but want to be sure... if you are doing a quick classifier (like can you count) where the targets are so close you aren't really aiming (so to speak) will the 6 inch take longer to cycle because it is longer? will that even make a difference?

sorry for the dumb questions but i want to be sure before i drop the cash...thanks

A lightened 6 inch will not be any slower on a stage like Can You Count. It will not be any faster either. It might be a slight advantage on longer shots if the extra inch of sight radius will make it easier on your eye to properly align the sights. I think they are a definite advantage for older eyes in most cases!

Mike

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