PISTOL WEIGHTS, QUESTION.

[gomire]

AIR PISTOL
How does this pistol's weight distribution affect the overall " weight, stability, and balance " of the pistol vs. barrel weight?

• AND IS THE PISTOL IN THIS IMAGE ISSF LEGAL FOR THE REGULAR 10m?
  
  
  Thanks!
  p.s. feel free to get as nerdy as necessary.
  
  

[Gwhite]

It looks like it might still fit in the ISSF box.

Here's the nerdy bit: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=55605&p=268248#p268248

[marky-d]

I can't really speak from experience in pistol shooting, but from a physics perspective, moving weight away from the "center" will generally help to stabilize things. For an object of a given total mass, concentrating the mass at the "edges" will increase the moment of inertial -- i.e. it will be harder to rotate -- i.e. be more stable. So putting weight at the end of the barrel, or using the rods in your image, will have a more dramatic effect than putting weight near the trigger.

My impression is that "balance" is fairly subjective, or open to personal preference -- some people prefer a little barrel-heavy, while others do not. Obviously if you put a bunch of mass at the muzzle, you risk creating a barrel-heavy condition, unless you counter it by adding mass in the grip as well.

marky-d

[gomire]

Thank you, both @marky-d and @Gwhite for your insight and ref.

[David M]

Played around with weight and CofG while using a scatt machine.
Long story result was a balance just ahead of the trigger blade near the front of the trigger guard.
Nose heavy and increasing overall weight helped with trigger jerks but increaded overall wobble and slowed down the rate of movement.
If you have the trigger release under control then lighter and further aft gave a smaller high speed wobble and a higher score.

So start with weight and nose heavy to help with errors. As you improve reduce the weight and move the Cof G aft.

[thirdwheel]

David M
I concur with what your findings are via scatt

[Rover]

I find the whole business kind of subjective. That said, I like a little muzzle heaviness.

While experimenting with a Pardini K58, I starting sticking moto tire weights near the muzzle, but eventually removed them. With a Steyr LP1, I played with the stock weight, eventually removing it altogether to remove overall weight. With my Walther LPM1, I did nothing. The above was done over the course of about fifteen years.

[spektr]

Since nobody has mentioned it. Those small neodym supermagnets from Harbor Freight are really handy to stick on your pistols for small mass balance changes

[BobGee]

Andrew Berryhill (https://www.precisiontargetpistolgrips. ... ights.html) has developed a clip-on gadget which holds up to four .38 slugs and which clips over and can be slid along cylindrical barrels. These give quite a wide range of weight adjustments, especially with free and air pistols. I have no connection with Andrew other than using this product.

Sorry but his website did not have a clearer image. He does have another type which hangs down below the barrel but I believe his current version shown above is better and more flexible.

Bob

[JamesHH]

Played around with weight and CofG while using a scatt machine.
Long story result was a balance just ahead of the trigger blade near the front of the trigger guard.
Nose heavy and increasing overall weight helped with trigger jerks but increaded overall wobble and slowed down the rate of movement.
If you have the trigger release under control then lighter and further aft gave a smaller high speed wobble and a higher score.

So start with weight and nose heavy to help with errors. As you improve reduce the weight and move the Cof G aft.

I found the same thing with SCATT although that was a long time ago.

I think everyone is best off learning with a very light pistol and perfecting their trigger control, nose heavy will buy a few points in the short term