Focus on the front site

F

Farrier

Inactive
I hear that is the thing to do. I guess I don't, not really sure though. What do you all do. Is there any time that it is better to focus on the target, or midway between? At all ranges? I do have some cross dominance issues, so if I do aim, I close my left(dominate) eye. Most of the time if i'm shooting close and fast, I just point and click. Just looking to better myself and my shooting.

Thanks
 
Advice from a High Master class shooter

I was shooting at a Bullseye competition one day.
Long line, 50 yards. The 10 ring is 3 inches. The black appears the same width as the front sight.
The guy next to me was a High Master Class shooter (97%+ average).

He gave me some advice.
"Focus so hard on that front sight that you could read an itty bitty poem on it."

Yes, yes the traditional method is to totally focus on the front sight.
So if you are just learning the basics, that would be the advice.

In combat shooting, and with my aging eyes, though, I am taking the opposite approach. I practice without glasses. I cannot see the front sight. I am focusing on the the target, with the blurry sights in my peripheal. I figure that in a combat situation, i want to be able to focus on the situation, not my sight. Since I can shoot really well in instinctive archery, where you use the arrow shaft in your peripheal vision for sighting, this will work for me.
My groups have opened up a tiny bit, but not enough in combat senarios to make any difference. combat is not 50 yards.
 
I agree, for target or long distance shooting focus on the front sight, but for combat shooting at medium-to-somewhat-close range focus on the target and maintain awareness of your surroundings. And for really close shooting, just aim roughly along the gun if possible, or point-shoot if necessary.
 
I don't have the option of focusing on the front sight. With my aging eyes the front sight is never in clear focus even with progressive lenses in my glasses. I've learned to compensate for that, and to shoot reasonably accurately, however, despite the fact that the front sight is, and always will be, a blur for me. Even with blurred front sights I can usually shoot quite accurately at 10-15 yards and respectably at 25. Recently, I acquired a fiber optic front sight for one of my guns, my Smith & Wesson Model 625JM. What a revelation. It's still not in clear focus, but the bright red sight stands out like a laser and, with it, my groups diminish by more than 50%. I will be putting fiber optics on as many of my guns as is possible.
 
If you're shooting inside 30 feet ...you can get away without really foucusing on the front sight.

At 30 feet and beyond ...if you are not looking at the front sight ( before and after you pull the trigger ) ...your groups will get bigger and bigger ....

Yes, we all need to really focus on the front sight / but as we get older it gets harder and harder - but there isn't really any other - well accepted way of shooting better.
 
Yes, we all need to really focus on the front sight / but as we get older it gets harder and harder - but there isn't really any other - well accepted way of shooting better.
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I agree. I also think its not as simple a question as it seems. Its more of a constantly varying and changing thing, than it is just a fixed, yes or no answer.

Even so, if you know where the front sight is, in focus or not, you know where the bullet is going. The only way to understand how things will work for you, is to actually try out as many variations as you can. I know this can sometimes be a problem for some, with the places they shoot and all, but its really the only way to know how things will work out for you, and things you may need to work on.
 
One thin that alot of people find helpful is to have the rear sight be solid black. If you have a 3-dot or "i" set-up you cna either paint over it or just scratch off the white paint.
 
I'm just the opposite there. I've been shooting three dots so long now, I see the dots first before I see a traditional sight picture. At most combat ranges, its a lot faster and easier to shoot the dots. The bullet goes to what the middle one is resting on. :)
 
Quantrill said:
The "in focus" front sight is one of the basics or marksmanship.
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This is the TRUTH. Front sight tells you everything about your shot. Even shooting combat sights, the front sight dot is the one you need to see clearly.
 
The eyes can only focus on one of the three: front sights, back sights, or target. When you have young eyes, they actually change focus quickly enough that it appears the front sight and back sight are both in focus. It's really an optical illusion but who cares.

Most of us lose this ability as our eyes get older and only one item will be appear to be in focus at a time. The best one for most people is the front sight. Target and rear sights will be blurry. But, if this doesn't work for you, then feel free to try another system.

BTW, at longer ranges, most bullseye shooters use a six o'clock hold to avoid the problem of the sights covering the target.
 
What about the target? And the rear sight?

I have been shooting recently at 25 yards, two-hand, sometimes supported sometimes not. My target is a 3" solid-colored circle. It is quite blurry as I am focusing on the front sight. Do I just do my best to "center the blur" of the target behind my front sight blade? Do I just do my best to "center the blur" of the rear sight notch around the front sight blade? Do I focus for a second on the target, then the rear sight, then move my attention to the front sight and concentrate on it? Is this whole "focus on the front sight" idea a zen thing? Do I need to "use the front sight, Luke"?

This is a actually a serious question. I can focus on the front sight for 10 minutes and totally miss at 3 yards if I am pointing the gun at the ground.

KyJim, I read your reply, and it nicely sums up all the other replies I think...but my question is still "So the other two things are blurry. OK, what do I do about that?"

-cls
 
frumious said:
...KyJim, I read your reply, and it nicely sums up all the other replies I think...but my question is still "So the other two things are blurry. OK, what do I do about that?"
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Nothing.

As KyJim points out, the rear sight, front sight and target are at different distances from the eye, and so the eye will be able to actually focus on only one. The other two will be more or less blurry depending on how good your eyes are, how much light there is and what the respective distances are.

So you need to pick one to focus on. You won't be able to focus on all three at the same time. And most shooters find that everything works out for the best if the one they pick to focus on is the front sight. And if the target is blurry, put the front sight in the center of the blur.
 
I have took electrical tape and put a small peice on both the front and the rear sight, just enough to cover the sights and trim the rest. stand 5-10 yards from my target draw, point, shoot. double tap cause thats what ive always been tought. I dont do this as offten as i use to cause ive got so use to point and tap, tap, occasionly i will every now and then.

When I shoot to be shooting, usally at longer distances (15-25 yards), I focus on the front sight. when you get comfortable with focusing on the front sight when you draw the gun try this. Usally when you focus on the front sight you focus on the dot or whatever marking is on the sight. Try focusin on the very top and the dead center of the front sight. Aim small miss small!!! Youll see your groups coming together with a few rounds of this. I sure did!!
 
sight theory

I hope this doesn't get too long winded, but this understanding is pretty important to know why the front sight is so important.
This doctrine was "learned" to my by Bob Chow, one of the most note worth .45 gunsmiths of our times, and a National and World class pistol shooter.

SIGHT ALIGNMENT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SIGHT PICTURE.

Sight alignment is front sight to rear sight relationship.
Sight picture is the sight picture to the target alignment.

It is hard to believe when you are shoot at a tiny, tiny target fifty yards away, and the black looks like it is off center to the perfectly aligned sight that you will still shoot a ten. But.....

A pistol is a short weapon. The alignment of the front sight to the rear sight is the center line of a triangle. The tip of the triangle is the rear notch. The base of the triangle is how much the front sight is off that centerline. So with a four inch barrel, you are getting a bigger deviation than a ten inch barrel, because that deviation is the tip of the triangle extend out to infinity. At fifty yards that deviation is the triangle multiplied by the four inches out to fifty yards. Again, just imagine the tip of the triangle at the rear sight extending to the base at the target. The width of the triangle is the error by how much your sight alignment is off. Close combat range, it won't matter so much, but it might be the difference between inch groups and six inch groups.
SO SIGHT ALIGNMENT ERRORS CREATE A TRIANGULAR DIFFERENCE DEPENDING ON THE DISTANCE TO THE TARGET.

Now, if your sight alignment is perfect, or just a hair off, then the difference of the of the sight to shot error is more of a parallel line. More like a rifle.
So even if that tiny bullseye looks off to your eyes, the difference in the shot theoretically (if the sights are perfectly aligned) is the same as the wobble in your hold. Move a quarter inch and in a parallel line the shot difference is only a quarter inch. It might look off to your visual sense, but you have to trust in that fact.
IF THE SIGHT ALIGNMENT IS PERFECT, BUT SIGHT PICTURE IS OFF, THE ERROR IS A PARALLEL DIFFERENCE.

And so that is why in pistol shooting, it is taught that focus on the front sight is of the paramount importance..... BECAUSE SIGHT ALIGNMENT IS MUCH MORE CRITICAL THAN SIGHT PICTURE.

Even master class shooters will allow for the wobble and take the shot as long as the sights are aligned. They do not do the rifle procedure of hold and wait for the sight picture to be perfect.

There was a period where I no longer could see the fifty yard target bull.
It was a grey blur, and I had to wear close up glasses to clearly see the front sight. But by just centering on the target mass, I was still able to shoot 9's and tens by the focus on the sight alignment. It was total trust.

I am sure that many here already know this, but there are many new shooter who do not understand this theory.
Not trying to be the know it all here, just hoping to pass along some very valuable information that helped me to totally understand why focus on the front sight is so critical. Without this knowledge, it is just doing what has been told.
 
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Just my experience....

.... at IDPA matches, but when I could only remember focusing on the front sight, and not how well I shot the run, those were the runs that went smoothly, quickly, and with boringly redundant "Zero down, Zero down, Zero down........."
 
There was a period where I no longer could see the fifty yard target bull.
It was a grey blur, and I had to wear close up glasses to clearly see the front sight. But by just centering on the target mass, I was still able to shoot 9's and tens by the focus on the sight alignment. It was total trust.
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The last 4 words from High Valley Ranch are the most important in learning to shoot well. You have to get to where you "trust" your sights and your sight picture.

To prove this to yourself, . . . take a target with about an 8 or 10 inch black circle, . . . shoot at it with a .22 rifle, prone, open sights, . . at 100 yards. Don't try so much for dead center, . . . try for close together group by focusing on the front sight and putting it at the exact same spot every shot.

This is a good way to begin to trust yourself, your sight picture, and your abilities. It's really fun when you lay down and shoot next to a guy who has a 4 or 6 power scope, . . . and your group is as good or better than his.

Again it is not hard, . . . practice and trust. Practice and trust.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
In combat shooting, where you may not have time to line up everything and stand there and aim, you can focus on your target with your principle vision and line up your sights peripherally with point shooting techniques. I bring up my armsout and to just below eye level, focus my eyes intensely on the target area that I want to hit, and let my peripheral vision bring the sights on line, just below my focus. Most people ignore peripheral vision but it is quite capable of lining up sights within a field, as well as other jobs. Practice is required but it works.
 
Good info guys! THis is exactly what I was looking for. I guess when I was going though my concealed carry class they talked a lot about combat accuracy. They said that you want to hit a 6" circle several times, not a 1" circle, and in any situation of self defence you will be at fairly close range. Maybe in this situation, you might be better off focusing on the target(s). I do think ,however, that I need to practice shooting longer distance, and that to do that better I will start "Focus so hard on that front sight that you could read an itty bitty poem on it." ;) Sometimes I think that I missed out on something because I had scopes on all of my .22 when I was a kid. Might have missed some of the basics.

Thanks everyone, I know that this will help cement focusing on the fornt site in my brain, and I'll bet that it will help many others too.
 
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