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Post by 2 Dogs on Nov 25, 2019 13:44:05 GMT -5
Why does fermincgarza.com offer so many different blade widths and why is that important? How do I decide what is best for me? Do I need to change my current blade width? I am going to try to answer these questions as I am asked for blade width recommendations all the time. The first thing is while the USA is chock full of championship level shooters, not all of them can tell you how to be one. I have spent most of my adult life teaching people fireams skills. Always pursuing a better simpler way I thought I had it narrowed down to 3 different things: A) the student wasn't looking at the sights right or B) the student wasn't pulling the trigger right or C) both A and B. Now I am 59 years old, wear trifocals, and have cataracts coming to dinner. I have discovered another malady. THE STUDENT CANNOT SEE THE SIGHTS RIGHT. So how do you know if you need a different front sight blade width? Well you have to do some shooting. Sit down and shoot the sixgun you are most accurate with at the farthest distance you feel comfortable shooting a good group. If your group is round then you are OK. If however you have a horizontal pattern or you are getting the errant left or right wide hit then you have a problem. Defined it is that your eyes cannot reconcile the amount of light on either side of the front sight in the rear notch. Or put another way, the front sight is crowding the light available in the rear notch. Now, some guys want to jump from the standard front sight width of .125" all the way to .100" because Skeeter Skelton liked to thin his blade thus. The problem is that if you go too thin too soon it can lead to left and right wide shots. Why? Well you still have the same problem which is not being able to reconcile the amount of light between the front blade and the rear notch. There are no absolute rules here. Everyone is different. My good friend, brother, mentor and teacher Dick Thompson is some 74 years young and recently surprised himself with a 1" group at 50 yards with one of my thin .100" blades. By contrast John Taffin also a dear friend, brother, teacher, and mentor shoots ragged hole groups with the standard .125" blade. John Taffin has purchased 12 sights from me. So this is something we have to sneak up on a bit. Some of my front sights go on with a screw and these are extremely popular because they are so easily modified. We started building these sights in 2010 and screwing them on BFR 475 Linebaugh's and haven't lost one yet. What's best for you? I don't know but we can find out together. I can tell you by now I have worked with many many shooters well up in age who thought their days of shooting well had past. These guys are back shooting and not sitting on the sofa watching TV reruns. What a privilege this has been. I am looking forward to working with you. Additionally, I write this recognizing that some of the best firearms instructors and shooters in the US will read it. I look forward to their comments and thoughts. There's no telling what we might figure out together.
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Post by sixshot on Nov 25, 2019 15:03:39 GMT -5
First off, I agree you can't say one size fit's all & one of the main reasons is barrel length. I like .100" on all of my short guns because that factory front sight fills in all of the rear notch. Now, if I'm shooting a longer barrel....longer sight radius that .100" sight can be .110" or a tick wider, even .125" as John Taffin prefers. On my 10.5" guns I've never had my son mill them or tried to make any changes because as Fermin mentions you have now ask for too much daylight. Front sights are like shoes, get that perfect fit & you'll be amazed how well you can do. Fermin is making some great front sights to suit anyone.
Dick
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lah
.30 Stingray
Posts: 421 
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Post by lah on Nov 27, 2019 21:12:36 GMT -5
Good stuff. Width is very important.
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Post by bagdadjoe on Nov 28, 2019 8:59:14 GMT -5
Thanks again for the information
Can't ever get too much knowledge. I'll be scrutinizing things more closely next time out.
Doctor is trying to sell me a pair of cataract surgeries...didn't know I even had a problem until he told me. Now I have an emergency. Must be car payment time. ;-)
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Post by grandpa on Nov 29, 2019 12:14:47 GMT -5
Even after cataract surgery, I still need trifocals. It's complicated. My complaint is that when I use the lens that puts the front sight in focus (and the target is "semi-focused"), then the rear sight is almost impossible to see. This is with .125 width front blades and the standard Ruger rear blades. Does anyone else have this problem and would a narrower front blade be of any help?
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Post by 2 Dogs on Nov 29, 2019 12:58:33 GMT -5
Even after cataract surgery, I still need trifocals. It's complicated. My complaint is that when I use the lens that puts the front sight in focus (and the target is "semi-focused"), then the rear sight is almost impossible to see. This is with .125 width front blades and the standard Ruger rear blades. Does anyone else have this problem and would a narrower front blade be of any help? PM me your contact information. I can narrow the front all the way to .085” thickness. This has gotten some of my senior clients back onto the range. Fermin |
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Post by bradshaw on Nov 29, 2019 13:31:24 GMT -5
Even after cataract surgery, I still need trifocals. It's complicated. My complaint is that when I use the lens that puts the front sight in focus (and the target is "semi-focused"), then the rear sight is almost impossible to see. This is with .125 width front blades and the standard Ruger rear blades. Does anyone else have this problem and would a narrower front blade be of any help? ***** The more shooters who articulate vision difficulty aiming an iron sighted handgun, the more we stand to learn. This much we know: Focal priority1) Front sight----SHARP. 2) Rear sight----medium fuzzy. 3) Target----FUZZY. Oxygen clarityFOCUS----The eye needs fresh oxygen from every breath. As we draw in a breath and hold it to squeeze, the eye quickly consumes oxygen. Too place an accurate shot and to achieve all-important shot-to-shot consistency, one must know how long the front sight appears sharp.As we age, the eyeball’s expiration date on each intake of oxygen shortens. If your front sight remains sharp for 7 seconds, complete squeeze within 7 seconds. Each of us is differs in this clarity span. The measure of seconds an eye chisels the front sight may vary from hour-to-hour, day-to-day, minute-to-minute. FOCAL DEPTH----Short duration of clarity isn’t the only challenge. Just as the span of clarity changes, sometimes we have greater depth of field, other times much shorter. Or, more specifically, our depth of focus. This entire business of marksmanship involves specific steps, which come together as a coordination of: 1) Orient body to target. 2) Stance or position. (Adjust position to target, not gun.) 3) Inbreathe. 4) Sight picture (includes sight alignment & front sight focus). 5) Squeeze (includes follow through). While the eyes are on the sights, the mind is on the target. A prescription for shooting glasses should be measured with the eye(s) focussed on the front sight. Front sight width, a few notes* Wide front sight----plane of front sight easy to see, especially over long strings of fire. * Narrow front sight----plane of front sight tends to fuzz out over long strings of fire. Visual proportion of blade to rear sight notch more critical than with wide front sight. * Rear window (rear notch)----provide enough light on sides of front sight to see front sight clearly. Too much light makes windage imprecise. A deep notch helps keep eye on the plane of the front sight. * Personal preference for sight width determined at the target. I have shot well with front sights from .100” to .140” width on revolvers, generally doing my best with a blade measuring .110 to .125-inch. Tired, with much younger eyes, .080-inch, but could not level the plane of front & rear sight for very long. (Single shot pistols are another subject, where a narrow blade seems to hold up longer.) My old brass grip frame Super Blackhawk had the standard .125” ramp, with a .109” window on the rear. The narrower notch proved a great aid too consistency. After introduction of the Security-Six, Ruger made a huge mistake in throwing a .142” notch on everything; too much light for precise alignment. David Bradshaw |
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Post by ChiefTJS on Dec 2, 2019 8:46:10 GMT -5
I bought a couple of Single Six front sights from Fermin and went with .100 for no other reason than "It was good enough for Skeeter" and I was well pleased and my shooting improved. Actually have a new Single-Six on order just to use the second sight. I've since had Fermin thin down a couple of Blackhawk sights and put store bought blades on a GP-100 and a S&W 67 and I'm very happy with a thinner front sight. I honestly never thought much about a front sight having that much impact on my shooting but I'm a believer now. Thanks Fermin!
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Post by 2 Dogs on Dec 6, 2019 9:49:31 GMT -5
I bought a couple of Single Six front sights from Fermin and went with .100 for no other reason than "It was good enough for Skeeter" and I was well pleased and my shooting improved. Actually have a new Single-Six on order just to use the second sight. I've since had Fermin thin down a couple of Blackhawk sights and put store bought blades on a GP-100 and a S&W 67 and I'm very happy with a thinner front sight. I honestly never thought much about a front sight having that much impact on my shooting but I'm a believer now. Thanks Fermin! Thank you Tim! |
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lobo
.327 Meteor
Location: SE Mississippi
Posts: 536
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Post by lobo on Dec 7, 2019 18:12:32 GMT -5
How have I not seen this great info until now! Thanks for sharing  |
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Post by Burnston on Dec 8, 2019 19:05:01 GMT -5
Here is a fine example of a guy who has no time for himself because he's too busy helping everyone else. As a many time recipient of this guy's good will, I might suggest taking him up on his offer, as we'll find no finer friend in the handgun world. The more you learn from Fermin, the higher the chance of one day being able to pay it forward for someone else.
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Post by alukban on Jan 12, 2020 12:01:44 GMT -5
I am finding that outside lighting conditions really throw off my POI on a short barrel. More specifically, sunny conditions on the front sight creates a glare/glint which makes its outline fuzzy. I am guessing that the net effect is that I steer the front sight towards where the sun is, i.e. generally up and towards the side the sun is shining.
Is there a front sight design or feature that can help with this?
Do front sight hoods help?
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dennyl
.30 Stingray
Old guy
Posts: 156
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Post by dennyl on Mar 2, 2020 16:54:33 GMT -5
Just got my sight for SBH 71/2 " barrel
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jt
.30 Stingray
Posts: 113
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Post by jt on Mar 3, 2020 0:46:40 GMT -5
I am finding that outside lighting conditions really throw off my POI on a short barrel. More specifically, sunny conditions on the front sight creates a glare/glint which makes its outline fuzzy. I am guessing that the net effect is that I steer the front sight towards where the sun is, i.e. generally up and towards the side the sun is shining. Is there a front sight design or feature that can help with this? Do front sight hoods help? On mine, I find the depth and aggressiveness of fine serrations on both the front post & rear-flat of whatever rear sight you have is what cuts that glare and sharpens up sight picture best. Tough to be rid of it altogether, but sure seems like the serrations are what diminishes it about the greatest-- at least to my eyes |
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Post by contender on Mar 3, 2020 10:08:57 GMT -5
I have one of Fermin's front sights on my 357 Maximum. I had it out shooting sunday evening,, late in the day,, and with the sun positioned about 7 o'clock,, shining over my shoulder,, and fading,, the front sight stood out VERY clearly!
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