[Jeff Higgins]

I just read a very interesting little treatise on all of this from Dave Scovill, editor of Handloader magazine. In it he recounts what one Walter Roper, of S&W, discovered when he was working for them in the 1930's. He found that a longer sight radius on a revolver (or pistol) to actually be a detriment to one's ability to clearly define the sights. Very simply, the closer together they are, the easier it is to make out the rear sight when focusing on the front. He found many shooters shoot better with shorter barreled hand guns.

I have found that to be the case in my own shooting, especially as my eyes have aged. For example, I have my "hunting" revolvers - a 7 1/2" Ruger Bisley in .45 Colt, a 6" Virginian Dragoon in .44 mag, a 7 1/2" Virginian Dragoon in .357 mag, 6" M29, and a 7 1/2" Colt single action in .45 Colt. My "acceptance standard" for a hunting load in any of these is to be able to stay on my 8" diameter gong at 100 yards from a field position. I'm finding that harder to do, with loads I have used for years.

So, on a lark, I broke out my 4" M29, 4" M19, 4 5/8" Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt, and 4 1/2" Virginian Dragoon in .45 Colt. I actually found it easier to stay on my gong at 100 yards with these shorter revolvers. I would have never guessed.

Now I get to decide if I'm willing to give up a bit of velocity for the tradeoff of being slightly easier to hit with. Ease of carrying certainly goes to the shorter guns. Minimum barrel length in our state for hunting is 4", so I would still be legal. It would just feel kind of odd to be hunting with such short guns.