A longer barrel
Who remembers the advertisement: “a silly millimeter longer?”
This was an ad made in 1967, according to a guy named Alex on The Retro Site. He further explains that in 1967: “the rage in cigarettes was to make them longer. Chesterfield was one of the biggest brands at the time and they countered with the “Silly Millimeter Longer” as the brand and catch phrase.”
Of course, what they were implying is that the longer the cigarette, the better.
I hear the same thing about handguns. The gun with the longer barrel is supposed to be better and the most accurate.
For instance, Joe and I are visiting the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range.
He has brought a FN 509 and I have a FN Reflex.
His 509 has a longer barrel at 4 inches. My Reflex’s barrel is 3.3 inches long. Joe maintains his shots will be more accurate because, hey, he has the longer barrel.
“Length isn’t the only consideration,” I object.
“My longer barrel has a longer sight radius,” he says (like this ends the discussion.)
Newbie is sitting near us.
“Riiiiight,” she says, imitating Bill Cosby. “What’s a sight radius?”
The sight radius is the distance between the front and back sights.
According to our friends at Wikipedia: “The longer sight radius gives you more space to properly line up your shot.”
OK.
So, you’ve had three cups of coffee this morning. Your hands are shaky. You’re aiming at the red X-ring on your target. Notice how the sights on the gun are twitching with every jerky movement? You line up as best you can and shoot at the target. Let’s take that 509 as an example to see what happens.
Now, hold a short-barreled gun with its short sight radius. Here comes the Reflex. Because of the short distance between front and back sights, you’ll probably notice that your shots are further apart on the target. Your caffeine rush shows that the longer distance on the 509 gives you the ability to line up your shot more accurately.
However, sight radius isn’t the only consideration.
Length of barrel is important too.
Back to Wiki: “A longer barrel will also increase the bullet’s velocity because it has more time to propel the bullet before it’s released. While there are benefits to both long and short-barrel pistols, long-barrel pistols stand far ahead in accuracy.”
Besides having a wider sight radius, the 509 has the longer barrel by more than half an inch.
The projectile (bullet) is travelling further down the barrel on the 509 than it will on the Reflex. All that power in the charge has built up and stayed the longer distance in the 509, giving the bullet more speed as it comes out of the muzzle.
It’s like when someone has their hands on your back. You’re on the edge of a cliff. There’s a big difference if he gives you a quick push versus if he keeps his hands on your back and gives a nice long shove.
So, now…
Between the longer sight radius and the longer barrel, we expect the 509 will “beat” the Reflex in accuracy on our 8-inch targets.
Here is where we’re testing if the longer “silly millimeter” theory is correct.
The reason I’m comparing these two is that they are both made by the company FN. They are both 9mm handguns. Their magazines hold either 10 or 17 rounds.
The Reflex is a lot lighter at 18.4 ounces. It’s a micro-compact.
The 509 is a compact gun and weighs in at 26.9 ounces.
I look at the back of both handguns. “Striker-fired,” I say to Joe.
He grins, knowing my preference for striker-fired guns.
“Nope,” he corrects. “Although it doesn’t show from the rear of the gun, this Reflex has an internal hammer.”
Drat. He’s usually right. I lock back the slide and look at the underside. What do you know? There’s the firing pin. Yep. It’s hammer-fired.
Like always, we rate the guns by trigger pull, length of trigger pull travel, recoil, grip, and ease of pulling the slide. A “1” means it is easy, or we like it, and a “5” means it is hard or we don’t like it.
First, we shoot the shorter Reflex. We like the trigger pull, and we think the distance the trigger travels is quite short. Both pull and distance get 2s from each of us.
We rate recoil next. Often, shorter guns have more recoil, and we both agree this is true on the Reflex. We give the Reflex a 3 for kick.
Grip? The Reflex fits my smaller hand. I give it a 1.5, while Joe gives it a 3, even though we put in the longer magazine to give him better grip. He’s just not crazy about the grip, but I like it a lot.
Ability to jack the slide? I find it easy and give it a 2. Joe finds it even easier (he’s a lot stronger) and he gives it a 1.5.
On to the longer-barreled 509.
Again, trigger pull and trigger travel are quite easy. Both of us give pull and travel a 2.
Kick? Everyone wants to know if the gun has a lot of recoil.
Joe gives the 509 a 2, and I give it a 2.5. I feel it has almost as much of a kick as does the Reflex.
We both like the grip, giving it a 2.
Ease of racking the slide? I find it a 2.5, while Joe gives it a 3. It’s not too difficult.
Overall, both triggers are easy, but recoil is stronger on the smaller Reflex.
We both find the slide on the Reflex is significantly easier to jack than the 509.
The Reflex’s grip is more comfortable on smaller hands, and the 509 is wider and more comfortable on larger hands.
Keep in mind this is simply a sample of two people, and we’re wondering if the longer barrel is going to make a difference in our shooting these two handguns.
The top two targets belong to Joe. Left is the Reflex and right is the 509. You can see that his grouping is much better with the 509. Yes, he does get all bullets on the target when shooting the Reflex, but notice how the grouping is not tight; the holes are scattered. On the right, with the 509, he has a tight grouping of 3.
When I’m shooting the Reflex, 4 shots are somewhat grouped. On the right, my shots are closer with the 509.
Shall we ditch the Reflex because we’re closer to the X-ring than with the 509?
Guess it all depends. Both guns are pretty accurate. Do you want to lug around one that is wider and half a pound heavier? Do you have large or small hands? Are you really worried about recoil? Do you want an easy slide to rack?
If the Great Gun Fairy comes down and offers me either of these handguns, I’ll take the Reflex. I don’t like recoil, and it does have a fairly substantial one, but I love the grip, the easy slide and the nice trigger.
“What about that longer barrel on the 509?” she’ll ask. “It’s not a silly millimeter longer: it’s more than a half inch longer. Isn’t longer better?”
“Not for me!” I’ll tell her. “This’ll be a carry gun; not a lugging gun. I’ll take the Reflex.”
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.
