Fiber Optic sight on DR gun?

[EdM]

I'd like to get involved with the Distinguished Revolver program.

I admit to having some problems seeing the front sight on my revolvers. Was wondering if anyone uses a fiber optic sight for these events and did they find it an improvement?

Thank you.

Ned

[GOVTMODEL]

I'll go out on a limb here and say that since the Rules don't allow it, not many folks have tried it:-) See Rule 3.1.4 and 3.1.4.(b) for details.

Best approach, IMHO, is dedicated shooting glasses with proper prescription for seeing the front sight.

[EdM]

GOVTMODEL:

Ruger now has a SP101 that comes with the fiber optic front sight as standard equipment; my understanding would be that would be allowed since it is not an "add on"(??).

On the other hand I would want to stay within the spirit and not just the letter of the rule so perhaps I should avoid it.

Ned

[GOVTMODEL]

I stand corrected!

OTOH, these are outdoor matches. I do think you'll be better served with glasses with the appropriate prescription.

[EdM]

Thank you for your suggestion.

The more I think about it the less appealing the use of the fiber optic becomes.

I believe one of the great attractions of DR is the "back to basics" requirements. Hundreds of shooters have followed those requirements and I should do no less.

Ned

[Levergun59]

Glasses or Knobloch frame are the best bet to go, indoors or outdoors. Remember the focal point of the glasses is the front sight. Start with your regular nearsighted perscription and add .25-.75 diopter. Bring in an empty pistol and hold in your shooting position. Doc usually has an adjustable frame which can be set for your normal perscription and then add diopters in the frame. Whichever clears up the front sight the best is the winner. A little trick I use is to bring an aimpoint in. With my normal perscription the aimpoint ball looks like an hourglass with rays shooting off the figure. Add dioptors until the dot is dot shaped, then check your irons. Should be good. Reason I like Knobloch's is that round lenses are really cheap. The Knobloch glasses are expensive, but no more than a Bauch and Lomb frame. Hope this helps
Chris

[Rover]

Interesting...I commend your attitude towards "playing the game."

I also think you should get proper shooting glasses. I had my scrip plus the added correction to bring my focus to the front sight together in one lens.

For red dot use I recently bought a pair of prescription glasses (no bifocals). I though the astigmatism correction would "round up" the dot.

It didn't, but it helped. I had to take out 3 clicks of elevation because of the change. After looking through someone else's sight and seeing a perfectly round dot, I realized that the Ultra Dot is just not that good.

[EdM]

I appreciate the comments and will likely follow the suggestions regarding a proper prescription for glasses.

Ned

[Ambit Energy]

How durable are fiber optic gunsights?

I have thought about it and still can't seem to figure this out. How do those nifty plastic rods channel the light entering from the sides to the ends? All of the theory I know suggests that the light striking the sides would pass right through after being displaced from refraction, UNLESS the sides of the plastic object were slanted in a prism like structure which would make it a 'one-way' light channel. But the plastic rods used in gun and bow sights are just regular cylindrical rods from what I can tell.

Any ideas?



John Galt
Ambit Energy, Sales Consultant
St. Louis, Missouri

[kle]

I have thought about it and still can't seem to figure this out. How do those nifty plastic rods channel the light entering from the sides to the ends? All of the theory I know suggests that the light striking the sides would pass right through after being displaced from refraction, UNLESS the sides of the plastic object were slanted in a prism like structure which would make it a 'one-way' light channel. But the plastic rods used in gun and bow sights are just regular cylindrical rods from what I can tell.

I think what's going on is that some of the light entering the rod will bounce around until it strikes a transparent surface with a low enough angle of incidence that it doesn't completely reflect back inside the rod, and some of the light exits. For the round sides of the rod, the light that escapes will be more diffuse (larger surface area)...but for the end of the rod, the light that escapes is more concentrated, which will make it appear brighter.