WHAT IS THE asp? Behind the design - 2
If you look at the pictures of the ASP 2000. You will notice that the front sight blade is missing. Look at the rear sight. Looks very strange? It is a Guttersnipe sight (an Advanced Sighting Plane sight). The tapering bottom and two sides of the gutter appear fore-shortened to the shooter as three triangles. When the gun is aimed straight at a target the three triangles all appear the symmetrical. The eye and the brain achieve this instinctively. Armed Forces all over the world rely on a similar principle with the rear peep sight and tall front sight post on the M-16. The eye and brain line things up without conscious effort, allowing you to sight with both eyes open. No need to match up a front sight post within a V notch rear sight while also adjusting for height. And the lack of front sight let's you view what you are trying to hit, which is excellent if the target is a moving one. The 'Quell'system that Paris Theodore developed focused on the dominant use of the left eye, which gave a more accurate and faster acquisition on target. This has been proven as being effective by many psychologists since.
Notice the grips on the gun. They have a transparent Lexan (stronger than Plexiglas and will never yellow, but also much more expensive) window. Through the grip you can see the side of the magazine has been cut away. You can actually SEE how much ammo you've got left. FBI tests have proven that in a firefight no one can really count how many rounds have been fired. The brain doesn't work that way. Study after study shows that to be true. So how can you tell if you're about to run dry? Conventional wisdom says you can't. The FBI advises their agents that at the first lull in a shooting engagement they should dump the magazine and load another. That advice means you could be throwing away a considerable portion of your ammunition; ammunition that you may need later to save your life. Wouldn't it be nice to tell at a glance how much ammo you've got left? Paris Theodore made it possible when nobody else had. Today the Austrian Main Battle Rifle, the Steyr AUG, comes standard with translucent polycarbonate magazines that allow the shooter to see the amount of ammo left. Nice that someone else finally followed Paris Theodore's simple, elegant solution he'd come up with decades earlier. The magazine safety has also been removed, creating an advantage when changing magazines.
Those revolutionary grips are also smooth. Most guns boast about all the checkering they offer to keep the gun from sliding around in the hand. Paris Theodore knew better.
This is why. When drawing the gun quickly in a stress situation it is important not to waste time fumbling for a proper and correct grip. It has to be right the first time. You don't have time to waste adjusting your grip. You could be dead. But that first grab on the gun as you draw it is rarely exactly right. All that checkering really does keep the gun from sliding, just as it s designed to do. But that mean's that wrong grip stays wrong. Now that checkering is working against you. Theodore knew that a well designed gun naturally fits properly in the hand. With smooth grips all you have to do to get the gun to slide into just the right hold is simply squeeze your hand. With no checkering to keep it from moving, a proper grip comes easily. All edges have been removed from the pistol creating a smooth and snag free design that has a similar feel to a bar of soap.
If you look at the triggerguard you will notice a relief has been cut out on the right hand side, this reduces acquisition time for the trigger finger.
