Precision. Handgun sights
- Thread starter BoogieMan
- Start date
Your instincts on that red ramp sight are good. If you want to do anything serious with a 686, it's gotta go. Personally, I'd recommend having a gunsmith install a Weigand interchangeable sight base, then experiment with different front sights. FWUW, the Patridge sight has long been a standard for target shooters.
buck460XVR
New member
Are you using a center hold or 6 o' clock hold? A wide front sight with 6 o'clock hold works best because your eye naturally tries to center the target on it.
NoSecondBest
New member
For shooting fine/small groups with a handgun like the 686 (any revolver really) a gold bead is NOT the answer. The very best/smallest groups you can fire with a handgun will be fired by a post or solid black ramp front sight with a "U" rear sight. Fiber optics, red inserts, beads, etc will not shoot as well as a simple post or black ramp front sight. Using a six o'clock hold will work best. I own two 686's and a 586. I can shoot five shots out of those guns at 50 yards off sandbags of an inch or less. I once used a post front sight on a Browning Buckmark 10"bbl to shoot a 9x10 shoot off at 100 yards shooting at rifle chicken silhouettes. Those targets are less than 1.5moa at their widest. That was done in front of a lot of witnesses at a major shoot. I couldn't have done that with any other sight combination. Put a solid black ramp sight on the front.
I got a William's Red fiber optic front sight on my Gp100. It's a little thinner and a lot easier to pick up than the stock one. I then added a narrower channel blade on my rear adjistable sight from a mark II. This set up tightened up my groups a decent amount. Shop around a bit.
I use a POI sight picture. I have considered a 6oc hold. But, this doesnt really work if the target changes size and shape. I have considered thinning blades and smaller rear notch to try and get a finer sight. If I use a 1-2MOA red dot or a scope I am pretty good. My thought is that a similar thin line in a set of irons would give me similar results. I dont even need to be splitting x-rings. I want to consistently hit the black at 50yds.
Everywhere I look I can only find "battle" sights for handguns. I dont have a problem hitting any target anyplace I want at close range with pretty much any gun. At distance I actually prefer the tiny little sights on my 1903 over the big 3-D sights on my Beretta 96.
Everywhere I look I can only find "battle" sights for handguns. I dont have a problem hitting any target anyplace I want at close range with pretty much any gun. At distance I actually prefer the tiny little sights on my 1903 over the big 3-D sights on my Beretta 96.
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This is the sight picture I use. The bullet is always on top of the front sight. Early on I was told this was the 6 O'clock hold. I don't care what people call it, but this is what works for me. I do not use the dots, I use the sights themselves. I prefer sights without the dots.
Attachments
Yep. But it depends on what you're shooting at. If you're punching paper targets, the flat black sights as presented by a Boughman (a ramped front sight that appears as a post when sighted) or Patridge (a straight post) sight are the recognized iron sights to use and have been for more than 75 years. But if you're using a center hold on any material that doesn't allow you to see the front sight centerd, vertically and horizontally, you're going to lose some precision.
The problem with a gold bead front sight is that it does not allow you to get good solid elevation precision due to the rounded top. Too, the round gold bead reflects light from the side and will play havoc with your windage, generally moving groups away from the light source. A flat faced gold bead does better in that regard but still has the elevation problem. (Hard to tell when it's exactly level with the top of the rear sight.)
If you're interested in hunting, in varied light conditions, and where the finest, pin point accuracy is not needed, or for SD use in dim light conditions, then a front sight that's more visible is needed (colored paint on the post, a tritium or white dot, etc. It allows you to pick up the sight, faster and to center it better in the rear sight notch, than one that's blending with the backround due to it's coloration.
For my field use guns, I paint white out typewriter correction fluid on my front sights to help me pick them up in dim lighting conditions. Works well with my lever guns for deer hunting here in KY's timbered ridges as well as my short guns. The difference in precision with the handguns is less than 1/2" at 25 yds in group size, a trade off I gladly make.
HTH's Rod
I find that virtually all new guns have front sights that are much too wide; too wide for the width of the rear notch, and too wide for the target.
When I'm aiming at a target, it's at a point on the target, so I want a narrow front post.
For a 6" bull, a set of big, wide sights might work, but if you are trying to hit a golf ball at 20 yards, a typical front sight is going to be three times as wide as the target, so how can you get any precision?
I like a .10" front, but some of my buddies us a .09".
Beads and dots and colors are generally for speed, not precision.
When I'm aiming at a target, it's at a point on the target, so I want a narrow front post.
For a 6" bull, a set of big, wide sights might work, but if you are trying to hit a golf ball at 20 yards, a typical front sight is going to be three times as wide as the target, so how can you get any precision?
I like a .10" front, but some of my buddies us a .09".
Beads and dots and colors are generally for speed, not precision.
NoSecondBest
New member
I've shot metallic silhouette with the post/blade and notch and won five state shoots in Int. class, two Region 1 shoots five gun aggregate, and have shot over fifty deer with the 357mag alone, plus many more with 44mags, 7tcu, 30-30, and a couple of other calibers. You can use the hold that Nanuk shows to good effect in any of those situations.
Oh yeah, almost forgot: 3rd place IHMSA Internationals revolver Int. class using a Ruger SS with a 77x80....way back when. It works.
Serious target handguns have flat black front sights with the partridge being the most commonly preferred. Some of the high end target pistols have different widths of front sights or rear sight notches that can be quickly changed. The thought being that it makes it easier to precisely center the sights as the light on either side of the rear sight notch can be made very narrow.