Walt Sherrill
Member
Jim Watson said:FLG and I once ran a test with a moderately well fitted 1911 in the Ransom Rest. Tight barrel fit, merely close slide fit.
We shot it like that, then we ran a string of fire laying the gun for each shot with a scope sight in V blocks on top of the slide. Accuracy was markedly better when the gun was aimed.
If the gun is otherwise well fit and locks up consistently, aimed fire can give stellar results -- if the shooter does his/her part.
If the gun in the Ransom Rest had a "merely close fit", and the target is far enough away from the target to justify a scope, there can be a enough slide movement from side to side to greatly affect group size!
A slide with 6" sight radius that is fit such that there is just .007 of an inch movement in either/both direction(s) in a Ransom Rest test, fired at a target 25 yards away, that amount of movement can increase group size by as much as 2" more than the same gun doing aimed fire. That's because in aimed fire -- using a gun with the optic mounted on the slide (not on the frame) that slide/barrel/frame position variance doesn't come into play (as it would in an unaimed Ransom Rest evaluation). The shooter, however, has to be nearly as consistent as the Ransom Rest mechanism, and that's easier said than done.
With a frame-mounted optic, you may see the target more clearly, but you won't necessarily be more accurate -- unless slide/frame fit is very tight.
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