Fixed vs. adjustable sights - Handguns

Guns Magazine, July, 2003 by Massad Ayoob

When I was young, the conventional wisdom was that you might want adjustable sights on a target pistol or a hunting revolver, but you definitely wanted fixed sights on a defensive handgun. The theory was that adjustable sights were fragile, while fixed sights were rugged and reliable. However, it didn't explain why so many cops carried service revolvers with adjustable sights.

Today, the auto pistol rules in law enforcement, except for snub-nosed backup revolvers which almost invariably have fixed sights. SIG and Beretta offer fully adjustable sights only on their target autos; their service automatics, like those of Ruger, wear fixed sights. Ditto the majority of pistols sold to police by S&W, the one maker that still offers fully adjustable sights as an option on their standard line of police pistols. Glock's adjustable sights are rather frail; police departments almost always order this make with fixed night sights.

Not-So-Fixed Sights

Interestingly, things have changed. Fixed sights are more adjustable than they used to be. On the ubiquitous old Colt and S&W service revolvers, fixed sights were truly fixed. The rear sight was a groove milled in the top strap of the frame, and the front sight was machine-carved out of the barrel's original steel blank.

For windage adjustment, an armorer had to bend the front sight or whack the frame with a babbit. To bring shots higher, he would file down the front sight and, for the much tougher task of making it shoot lower, he would have to weld up the front sight higher. No wonder so many cops carried adjustable sight guns back then.

Today's auto pistol is likely to have a dovetail rear sight and often a dovetailed or pinned-in front. A factory approved sight-moving tool can take care of your windage adjustment. Replacing the front sight allows you to get the elevation perfect for the load in question. No, it's not as quick or easy as simply putting a screwdriver to an adjustable sight. But once zeroed, these "semi-fixed" sights are likely to remain so.

My Kimber Custom II was nearly perfect out of the box. It was utterly reliable and grouped well, but it shot high left. Pistolsmith Andy Cannon "registered" the fixed sights for me so it shot center with a six o'clock hold at 25 yards and on the money at 50 with 230 grain .45 ACP. "Nearly perfect" had become "perfect." However, it also left me pretty much stuck with standard 230-grain ballistics if I wanted the shot placement to stay true to the sight picture.

Merit Of Adjustable Sights

While our fixed sights are better than ever today, the two rationales for adjustables still remain. One is getting the point of aim/point of impact correlated for our particular eyes and shooting style. The other is adjusting for different points of impact in the increasingly wider variety of ammo we have in every caliber. I recently tested a pair of the Taurus Stellar Tracker Model 455 revolvers in .45 ACP, a fixed sight two-inch and an adjustable sight four-inch. Both were pleasingly accurate.

The snub shot dead on with 200-grain loads at 900 to 950 fps, but way high with standard 230 grain. I solved the problem by using 200-grain handloads for practice and standard pressure CCI 200-grain JHP for carry. However, that was limiting; the adjustable sight version shot great with everything, and needed only a gentle kiss of the screwdriver on the elevation adjustment when I changed ammo. No question, that was a bonus.

Look back at the history of, say, the .357 Magnum. It was introduced in 1935, and not until the 1970s did fixed-sight service and defense revolvers become regularly available in the caliber. Prior to that, the only fixed sight .357s were Colt's pre-war New Service double action and their Single Action Army, and neither was popular in that caliber. Firing ammo that ranged from .38 wadcutter to Magnum rounds in the 1,500 fps range, adjustable sights were necessary to get elevation that matched the given round's trajectory with point of aim.

The only readily available factory .38 Special ammo back then was 148-grain mid-range wadcutter and 158-grain lend "service," which both shot to about the same elevation. The popularity of adjustable sight .38s during that period tells us that getting the gun to shoot straight for the shooter was seen as the big advantage of that sighting system.

Adjustable And Tough?

The adjustable sights of yesteryear were, in fact, relatively fragile. Today's are much more sturdy. Check out the protective "ears" on the adjustables S&W provides for their standard duty autos. MMC offers a similarly configured heavy-duty adjustable that is particularly well suited to the popular Glock. I have the latter on one of my Ruger P90 police service pistols and have been very happy with it. Novak has recently brought another heavy duty adjustable sight to the market for auto pistols.

The choice of fixed or adjustable is still there. The arguments will continue. But, with new technology the arguments have changed.