Wisdom And Seeing The Light

[paulg]

So I was having some issues with my favorite .38 load the other day. Meaning I couldn't hit the broad side of the barn with it. So I started tinkering with charge weights and even went with a different powder in a few different weights. The first being Bullseye the second being Unique. All with the same result. My shots were going all over the place. The bullet was Matt's 160gr round nose flat point. I've been getting excellent results with this bullet. But not that day. I knew it wasn't the bullet or powder. I checked for leading, there wasn't any. I knew it wasn't the gun, my SP. Then I tried another load I had waiting in the wings that I hadn't shot yet. Matt's 150gr full wadcutter with 3.5 grains of Bullseye. What a great surprise. That shot exactly to the sights! So after I got over my giddiness I went back to my other favorite. Matt's 160 RNFP over 3.9gr of Bullseye. Still couldn't hit a damn thing! So a message to my go to shooting mentor went out on the wire. This guy is an encyclopedia of shooting info and can diagnose a problem perfectly even though he's over a thousand miles away. As long as I give him complete , honest and accurate information. He knows the gun I'm shooting so his diagnosis was one I'd read him and Mr. Thompson discuss before but it never hit my brain. I have a XS Big Dot front sight and the master suggested that my problem was that sight kind of mirages in the light, which was full sun. Different lighting makes a sight like the XS and fiber optic sights appear bigger, smaller or just right depending on lighting. Causing shots to go high or low. So I go out yesterday evening to test the diagnosis. My range is in complete shade by then. And sure enough my favorite load was back on time! I have to pay better attention to lighting conditions in order to know how my gun will perform at that time. So thanks to my go to shooting wise guy (you know who you are) and his willingness to take time out of his busy day to help an ignorant doofus like me.
Paul

[dougader]

Good to know! Dick's a winner!

[bulasteve]

Yeah, with an F/O on the M69 I thought I was going nuts the other day. Was in the basement sighting on the dryer across on the far side of the basement and noticed two glowing dots ! Thought I was seeing double ! Tried one eye then other, didn't help. Then realized my overhead, behind lighting is a row of bulbs down the joists. Doh !

[bigbrowndog]

That's one of the reasons why fiber optic rods used in IPSC pistols has gotten smaller and smaller, it helps to mitigate the amount of light getting to the FO rod. A sharpie has been used on big bright sunny days, especially when the flo. Green rod is used, a black dry erase marker is a good addition to my shooting kit, as it is much easier to remove when not needed.

Trapr