just my opinion---when your 76 years old you don't have to explain WHY.

I read all this and get to here......and no resolution??????

I know this thread is old, but I know exactly what he is talking about (front sight so tall), I am 60 years old now, but when I was kid (been shooting since I was 6yrs old) my Dad had just such a gun, a tiny S&W 38 snub nose revolver, like an airweight with an exposed hammer, and a very tall front sight. I know all about sight picture, I have been shooting over 50 years, I am an excellent shot with iron sights. I’ve shot in IHMSA competition; shooting iron sighted handguns at 200 meters. And I am telling you that little 38’s front sight was so tall that if you pointed the gun down far enough until the top of the front sight was even with the top of the back sight that you would be shooting into the dirt under the target at 25 yards using standard 158 gr 38 specials. I have searched the internet extensively as to why they made it this way, what the purpose was but have been unable to find anything on it other than this thread. So yes, all these years and still no answer. Maybe someone in their 80's or 90's that used to work for S&W can answer this.

I agree- after 3 years of shooting many pistols, I finally figured out I was looking at the target wrong... I was focusing in on the sights on my gun vs looking at the target with the sights slightly blurry in my vision. I know, it's elementary and I should have known, but sometimes your stubborn mind can't do what you know you need to. My point of aim and targets match pretty stinking well now.

Of course I was talking about lining up the sights the way a target shooter, or precision shooter would line them up, but I guess they figure a little snub nose .38 is meant for fast action point blank “point it in the general direction and pull the trigger” type shooting, so who would care what the sights do. ;-)
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A belly gun ain't an aiming gun. It's a pointing gun at very close range. A large front sight probably was an aid for shooter to point shoot using front sight only.

SD pistols are sighted at POI. Target pistols are usually sighted at the 6 o'clock position of a circle on the target, but the POI is the bullseye.

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