short vs long barrel

[spiza]

Hello everyone. I understand that long-barrel air pistols are more commonly used in 10-meter events. However, I’m curious to hear your thoughts and experiences with short-barrel air pistols.
Thanks

[Ramon OP]

I personally don't see the use for them umless you have so little strength due to age or sickness/injury that you can't shoot with a regular one, and even taking this into mind there are lighter and heavier pistols with a bigger weight difference than between the long and short models (eg: 67 grams for Steyr Evo and its compact version) and weight distributions which would be more advisable.

If you've ever shot a Pardini K12 and a Feinwerkbau P8X the weight difference according to catalogue is a bit under 100 grams, but the Pardini is noticeably heavier in the hand.

The lightest gun I've used is the Hammerli AP20 (900 grams) with the cylinder directed down, which reduces the lever effect.

Some people are using mesh grips to reduce weight, while others use all the weights available with their pistol and add a lot of custom weight.

Coach Dina Aspandiyarova has classified 4 times for the Olympic Games and swears by her compact pistol.

At the end is a question of personal preference. The best you can do is try them for at least for a few shots.

[Gwhite]

Depending on the pistol, the sight radius MAY be shorter on the compact models. Morinis have the same sight radius, but they do that my moving the rear sight back. It's no longer over the pivot point of the wrist, which means it moves more as you wobble, but you get used to it.

Steyrs have a shorter sight radius, but you can move the rear sight back. I'm not sure it can move to give you an equivalent sight radius. The team I help coach has one compact Steyr, and 5 full sized ones. If we get more, we will get the full sized ones and issue short cylinders if students have trouble with the weight.

It's also not just a weight issue. The center of gravity and balance are quite different. If you add barrel weights, having them further forward maximizes the moment of inertia, which reduces wobble.

[David M]

Depending on the pistol, the sight radius MAY be shorter on the compact models. Morinis have the same sight radius, but they do that my moving the rear sight back. It's no longer over the pivot point of the wrist, which means it moves more as you wobble, but you get used to it.

It's also not just a weight issue. The center of gravity and balance are quite different. If you add barrel weights, having them further forward maximizes the moment of inertia, which reduces wobble.

I have shot both for a number of years and the main differences are in the balance and inertia moment.
The further aft the sight actually moves closer to the wrist pivot point (as the wrist joint is behind the grip, hence no wrist support) but because the wrist is supposed to be locked who cares. It does however change the eye distance (as well as the foresight eye distance) and may need a very small lens correction for your shooting glasses.
The big one is balance, the shorter barrel /tank moves the weight rearwad closer to the trigger.
On the Scatt the lighter barrel shows up as a smallermovement but at a increased frequency. The heavier or weighted barrel has a greater but slower movement in the trace.
The net result is that the shorter barrel will pull the 9.8's/9.9's into the 10 ring to increase score but the downside is that any triggered shots will be pushed out further into the 8 ring.
If you have really good trigger control and don't need the barrel weight to correct thetrigger errors then the short barrel is good.
For me the short barrel was worth a few points per match, now that i am older I use a carbon long barrel with a short tank for best balance.

[spiza]

Thank you for the great responses. There are so many variables to consider. The reason that I am asking is that I am about to buy my first air pistol, and there is a scarcity of models in long barrels. In addition, I read that compact air pistols are more newbie-friendly compared to long barrels. I am considering either an P8X or Evo 10E.

[Rover]

For a while, our host here was refusing to sell long barreled APs to newbies. I haven't seen anything about that lately.
Why don't you call and talk to him. I bet he'll sell you a Steyr.