TargetTalk

If the following quote is true of short barrels …

"It tends to pull the 9.9/9.8's into the ten ring but any poor trigger control it will push a poor 9 out into the 8 ring.
The net result is that the shorter lighter barrel pistol is not as forgiving as the longer barrel, on a good day it is worth 4-5 points more. But a bad day can cost you points"…
with a positive mindset of a competitor who is out to win… then every serious competitor should be using a short barrel! One shouldn't "plan" on making mistakes and shooting with poor technique, at the very least, you should expect to make more "good" shots than bad. Why not reap the highest payoff for your excellent technique. Nor is it wise to choose gear to compensate for ones shortcomings. If you know you have poor trigger control, train to develop proper technique. If you're having a bad day, you're not going to win anyway. If a short barrel will add points on a good day, but cost you on a bad day, that is a fantastic deal; a legal to use piece of gear that helps you score higher when you do what you are supposed to do, and only punishes you if you make an error!
For the further sake of theoretical argument (yes, I know it's just theoretical, but my shoulder is injured so I can't shoot for a few days), in qualification, shots are not scored in tenths, so all those good 9.8/9.9 shots, if "pulled into the 10 ring" would add up quite nicely. If you shot, with a short barrel, 40 "good" 9.8 shots that pulled in the center for a 10, and 20 bad shots that were pushed out to an 8, that gives a total of 560. Without the advantage of the "pull" inward of the good shots, or the punishment out to the 8 ring, 60 shots left in the 9 ring would give you 540. Good trade! Even 30 shots pulled into a 10 and 30 punished to an 8 give you the same 540 as 60 9's; if you can shoot any better than 50% "good shots" you're ahead with the short barrel.
Again, this is just theoretical food for thought, except for the bit about expecting oneself to do well. When I release a shot, I expect it to be a 10. It isn't always of course, but I like to always think "what is the best I can do" not how can I limit my losses.
When my shoulder heals, I'll be less verbose, todd.

Nice to see the short vs. long barrel split off in a new topic. This debate made me reflect on the following : I've been shooting AP for three years with a Steyr LP2 compact and my score is in the 520 - 530 range (so nothing spectacular ...). I'm considering buying a Steyr LP10 or a Pardini K12 (hear a lot about it's nice trigger in this forum). My Steyr LP2 compact is not a recent model and I believe it does not have a ball bearing trigger.

Having an average score well below 555, I'm now wondering whether it would make more sense to stick with a short barrel and consider e.g. a LP10 compact.

Any thoughts on moving from a short barrel to a long barrel for someone with an average score in the 520 - 530 range ?

Marc, I expect that the advice you're going to hear is to buy nothing unless it be glasses to help you better focus on the front post, and to train/practice more, and or, train smarter rather than just shooting and repeating your errors.
You can't buy concentration, good hold, smooth trigger control or follow through. You can maybe buy better focus on the post if your eyes need it, but everything else will have to be earned, a ball bearing will do nothing for you.

I already have the glasses to correct for farsightedness, astigmatism and presbyopia of my right eye so that I can focus better on the front post. Smarter training will certainly help.

My understanding a couple of year ago was that a light weight pistol in combination with a short sight radius - such as the Steyr LP2 compact - was beneficial for starting AP shooters. Now it may be that one of my kids will take over the LP2 compact (with a smaller grip) and if this happens, I will be looking for a new air pistol. Since I consider myself no longer a starting shooter it seemed to me a heavier pistol with longer sight radius (and better trigger) would be a step forward in achieving better results.

With all the discussion in the other topic on short/long barrels, I'm now having second thoughts that my reasoning is not a valid one and is more likely to send my results down than up.

toddinjax wrote:If the following quote is true of short barrels …

"It tends to pull the 9.9/9.8's into the ten ring but any poor trigger control it will push a poor 9 out into the 8 ring.
The net result is that the shorter lighter barrel pistol is not as forgiving as the longer barrel, on a good day it is worth 4-5 points more. But a bad day can cost you points"…

Is there anyone who knows why short one can't compensate poor trigger control...?

Marc66 wrote: Since I consider myself no longer a starting shooter it seemed to me a heavier pistol with longer sight radius (and better trigger) would be a step forward in achieving better results.

Hello Marc, actually LP10 "Compact" version 's sight radius can be adjusted.
And Morini CM162 Short version's sight radius has the same length as long version's.