The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post

**44 AMP** · July 9, 2010, 01:55 PM

Mechanical accuracy refers to the accuracy of the handgun and its ammo, without any human or environmental factors. Use of a machine rest is the usual way of testing this.

If your gun and ammo will group 1", but you can only shoot them to 3", then the mechanical accuracy is 1", while the actual accuracy is only 3", because that the best you can do with it.

Service style autp pistols, using tilt barrel lockup, with the sights on the slide, generally do not have the same degree of mechanical accuracy as fixed barrel guns, or guns with moving barrels where the sights are rigidly mounted on the barrel.

Service type handguns are not built for extreme accuracy, but for servicability, reliability, and enough accuracy to do the job. For many years the basic standard of "accurate" has been a sub 3" group at 25yds. 4-5inch groups are considered adequate, for a combat/defensive pistol.

Remember that group size is the measure of the furthest apart shots. Shoot a 3 in group and any particular shot will only be 1.5" (avg) from your aiming point.

July 9, 2010, 01:55 PM	#6
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 30,452	Mechanical accuracy refers to the accuracy of the handgun and its ammo, without any human or environmental factors. Use of a machine rest is the usual way of testing this. If your gun and ammo will group 1", but you can only shoot them to 3", then the mechanical accuracy is 1", while the actual accuracy is only 3", because that the best you can do with it. Service style autp pistols, using tilt barrel lockup, with the sights on the slide, generally do not have the same degree of mechanical accuracy as fixed barrel guns, or guns with moving barrels where the sights are rigidly mounted on the barrel. Service type handguns are not built for extreme accuracy, but for servicability, reliability, and enough accuracy to do the job. For many years the basic standard of "accurate" has been a sub 3" group at 25yds. 4-5inch groups are considered adequate, for a combat/defensive pistol. Remember that group size is the measure of the furthest apart shots. Shoot a 3 in group and any particular shot will only be 1.5" (avg) from your aiming point. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.