Low bore axis advantage.

[bergwerk]

A competitor at an event let me try his Baikal target pistol and I've come away very impressed.

The pistol is designed with a very low bore axis minimizing the distance to the grip and making for a very natural pointing of the gun. Shooting is as natural as extending one's finger.

A low bore axis would be a great benefit to the recent mega-caliber handguns by reducing muzzle flip and recoil while improving sight acquisition during rapid fire.

So why haven't the leading manufacturers introduced anything along these lines?

[Hal]

A low bore axis would be a great benefit to the recent mega-caliber handguns Nope - heavy hitters (.44mag and up) need a certain amount of freeplay. Locking the wrist and elbow and choking up on the grip using a .44magnum makes for a very uncomfortable session.

Yes - accuracy and recovery are improved but at a very steep price in the number of rounds that can be comfortably fired.

[Double Naught Spy]

While Hal makes good points, a lower bore axis would make the larger calibers more controllable, especially for those who have trouble with controlling larger calibers. Many folks simply won't attempt to shoot the larger calibers because of the recoil and muzzle flip problems. If the bore was lowered relative to hand position, muzzle flip would diminish, but the energy going into muzzle flip would transfer more directly to the shooter. No doubt, that will take more toll on the shooter than with pronounced muzzle flip and so the shooter won't be shooting that caliber as much. Then again, I don't have an recollection of shooters heading out to the range to put 200 rounds of .500 S&W or .454 Casull down range in a single shooting session anyway.

Lowering the bore can be a real benefit, but gunmakers have some issues with trying to get bores down to a leverage-optimal level and still having a gun that can be held securely and can cycle (revolver and semi-auto). Plus, proper sighting gets more difficult if the sight axis is kept close to the bore height. So, the bores on handguns tend to be a little high to be optimal for recoil and muzzle flip control.

[bergwerk]

Sighting on the Baikal was nothing short of superb. Far better than my S&W 41 and better also than my Hammerli.

I don't know guys, I'd rather have the gun come straight aft on recoil rather than twist my wrist and take a long time to re-align properly. My shoulder can absorb linear recoil more comfortably than my wrist likes to twist.

As for locking the wrist, it is one of the fundamental elements I was taught in competitive shooting.

[VaughnT]

A lot of the differences in bore axis is because of the firing mechanism. Like a revolver, the Colt 1911 needs room for the long hammer to work, therefore the bore must be some distance above the grip. The glock has a pretty low bore axis because it is striker-fired.

Why the SIG is so high, I'll never know.

[Handy]

Most autos, the Sigs and standard 1911 among them, have about the same bore axis. They might appear higher, but usually aren't.

Beavertails of good design can lower the bore height of a 1911.

You can have a lower bore height in a hammer fired auto - take a look at the Pardini GT45. Other guns with nice low bore heights include the P7, P9S (hammer), Glock and Steyr M9.

For competition revolvers, several people have put the barrel on the bottom of the cylinder to decrease bore height. Overall, not as hard to engineer as some may think.


Do not confuse low bore height recoil control with recoil abatement. If anything, they are opposites. Higher bore heights put the recoil impulse at the end of a long lever, so it hits your hand less. However, it must twist in your hand. For this reason many prefer the grip shape of single action revolvers since they can more comfortably twist in the hand. With a very low bore you can absorb more of the recoil directly into your hand, minimizing muzzle flip but experiencing more recoil.

[bergwerk]

That is indeed a good point to clarify and we agree that in this issue recoil control and abatement are opposites.

As said earlier I was very taken by the natural pointing of the Baikal and the good sighting. Just as natural as pointing one's index finger. With this gun I would like to try taking shots at skeet clays.