American Handgunner March/April 1981

Shooting NRA with theBy William F KrentzLearning'about newequipmen0 shooting)and mountingtechnique can bringadded accuracySince the advent of the cartridge revolver and the autoloadingpistol there has been very little real change inthe handgun. Along about the turn ofthe century a man bythe name ofE. Patridge introduced what we know today aspatridge sights, i.e., square front sight post and square rearsight notch. This was a big step in the development of theaccuracy potential of the pistol. Except for some sophisticationof windage and elevation mechanisms, progressstopped right there. There has been many new developmentsin most areas of firearms and ammunition interest,but sighting equipment on target handguns has been, forthe most part, at a standstill.Within the last decade however, the scope-mountedpistol has appeared on the scene in increasing quantities.Hunters were the first to use a scope on a pistol and morerecently shooters are discovering the advantages for bullseyetournament shooting. Optical sights are allowed inNRA competition, (rule 3.2, 3.3, 3.4). At the 1978 U.S.National Championship Pistol Matches at Camp PerryOhio, approximately 6 percent of the competitors wereusing some kind of an optical sight. One year later at the1979 National Matches, 13 percent of the shooters wereusing scopes.Since the scoped target pistol is relatively new, there ismuch to learn about equipment, methods ofmounting andshooting technique. Conversation with prospective scopeshooters at Camp Perry and some ofthe Regional Matchesindicate that shooters are having difficulty getting a scope32