The "FAST" sight concept from Graham Combat

[octagon]

I am skeptical for the reasons given and that Caracal has already offered something very similar and even after they were freshly introduced and before the recall I didn't see or hear that the sights were so impressive that people wanted them on other guns. That said it was a short time and limited amount of testing/review and numbers of users. I will give them a chance and would like to try them out to see how they do with my aging eyes that don't get the front sight clearly focused. I wonder if they work better or worse for young eyes or aging,close range or far and how precise of hits/groups can be reasonably achieved at similar speed.

Plenty of hype in the video with some questionable claims but the proof is in the results.

Holster design and selection will be a real consideration for getting things going even if interest is there.

[modrecoil]

I had a Caracal C with these sights. As said upthread, it was fast to align and great out to 20 yards or so. I even got some decent groups at 25 yards. But what I did find at longer ranges (20-25 yards) is that if the alignment was off an almost imperceiveable bit the shot could be much further off than with traditional sights.

I looked up an old article I wrote for SWAT on the Caracal with these sights and found this passage:

"Although the Compact’s Quick See sights are true to their name, anything less than perfect alignment magnified vertical dispersion at longer ranges. Not only did the gun have a short sight radius, but when looking through the rear sight the width of the front sight did not allow for much light on either side. In shooting a group with some standard velocity Black Hills 115 grain hollowpoints, I managed to put four shots into three inches at 25 yards. However, my less than perfect vertical alignment resulted in the fifth shot hitting eight inches above the rest of the group."

For the record, Wayne Dobbs shot a 5 shot group of about 3" with the gun.

Graham combat may have designed the sights a bit differently to allow more light on the sides of the front sight as viewed through the rear notch.

After the first recall, I had Caracal install a thin, green fiber front sight before they returned it to me. That helped with precision shooting and didn't change acquisition speed. Still, they're not optimal competition sights, IMO. J.J. Racaza did well with the Caracal F in USPSA but he opted for traditional sights.

I'm open to trying out these sights, although I'm a little bothered by their marketing tactics and claims of groundbreaking, mind-blowing (AS SEEN ON TV!!!) breakthroughs based on "...pretty cool new science: focal bands." Which I don't think is a thing. But what do I know.

[BehindBlueI's]

There was a similar system circa 2001 that attached via the front dove tail. I've been trying to remember what it was called since I saw this post and haven't been able to remember. It seems like it was something like "C more" but not close enough to get sued. I don't think it lasted very long. Probably some combination of didn't work well and made the gun impossible to holster (pre-Kydex custom shops on 16" centers).

It was the same all-forward-of-ejection-port design and had rails along the side. The maker touted that the rails blocked your view of the front sight until it was aligned, so as soon as you saw the sight you were on target with no worries about sight alignment issues.

[octagon]

I knew I had seen the sight design before Caracal came out with their version but this thread got me thinking of where. I found it in the book Too Close for Complacency by Julio Santiago and Darrel Mulroy. Unfortunately the book has no print date but it does have a Library of Congress number that may help. It also appears to be from 1988 or later as that date is mentioned in the editor's bio.

Picture of Fire Fly EM- 110-AL sight invented by Santiago and patent number 4918812 listed in the caption.

Attachment 18291

and another on a Coonan Arms shorty 357 Magnum 1911 design.

Attachment 18292

That seems to put the design/concept to around 1988 or earlier for similar sight mounted in front of the ejection port.

ETA sorry for the upside down pics. Not sure how to correct that.

[BehindBlueI's]

I knew I had seen the sight design before Caracal came out with their version but this thread got me thinking of where. I found it in the book Too Close for Complacency by Julio Santiago and Darrel Mulroy.

That's either very close, or the actual product, I was trying to bring to mind.

[TiroFijo]

There is less angular deviation with longer sight radius (for the same sight picture)...

But the longer the sight radius, the more perceivable is the focus difference. The closer the sights are to the eye (arms not fully extended), the more perceivable focus differece.

It's been like that for 400 years, now, and forever.

I've never had a focus problem (decent vision, in spite of being 55), and never had problems hitting what I'm aiminig to. Heck, I hardly use the front and rear focus at short range and fast, just a good grip, crisp front sight and blurred rear, no problem.

I've also shot a lot of 100-200 m targets with all sorts of handguns, and I can tell you that with iron sights every single IHMSA shooter wants more sight ratio, not less.

[masternave]

I think my main thought was simply the claims of the rightness or newness of the idea.

I agree entirely. It'll work, or it won't.

So far I have really enjoyed the snippets of wisdom coming out of Mr. Graham. I've never had the pleasure of training with him.

[octagon]

Testing pictures upright.

Attachment 18299

Attachment 18300

[CCT125US]

Real curious what the notch dimension is, and how that translates to a traditional narrow rear.

[Ed L]

After the first recall, I had Caracal install a thin, green fiber front sight before they returned it to me. That helped with precision shooting and didn't change acquisition speed. Still, they're not optimal competition sights, IMO. J.J. Racaza did well with the Caracal F in USPSA but he opted for traditional sights.

I'm open to trying out these sights, although I'm a little bothered by their marketing tactics and claims of groundbreaking, mind-blowing (AS SEEN ON TV!!!) breakthroughs based on "...pretty cool new science: focal bands." Which I don't think is a thing. But what do I know.

I sent the Caracal out to Amerigunusa to install a white outline tritium dot on the front sight of my Caracal.