Focusing On Front Sight?

M

Mosin-Marauder

New member
I've watched a few videos pertaining to focusing on the front sight when shooting. I have always accepted that I've done this. I also heard that if you "do not consistently shoot good groups" you're not focusing on your front sight? I shot my AR today, and found that when I REALLY stared at the front Sight post, I could not make out a target at all. But when i did what I usually did, I could see the front sight and my target, the front sight being in fairly good view, and the target being slightly blurry. When i have fired other rifles such as my Mauser, K-31, my Winchester, I expect and usually get 2.5" out of my Mauser, about the same with my K-31, and about an inch and a quarter with my Winchester. I can get them into under half an inch pretty consistently with my Remington 514, sometimes I do worse and can do about an inch with my 10/22. All of these with irons Am I doing this right? Or have I been doing it wrong all this time. I thought it rather normal to have a bad day or a flier here and there that messes your group up every now and then,a s long as you are not consistently shooting 10" Groups. Sorry for the stupid question, just a bit conflicted as to what to do.

TLDR, do I have to stare right at my front sight and not be able to see my target to be considered "focusing on my front sight"?

Thanks for any help.
 
Seeing as most rifle projectiles are not "wire guided" you do have to have an idea of where the target is. ;)

I'm not 100% sure from your description of your technique but…. "Focus" is the key word in the equation. Strive for a clear / sharp image of the front sight [hence the word focus], you are still "looking" at your target but the focus is less sharp.

This is one of the reasons for the "pumpkin on a post" sight picture. Much easier to hold on the 6 o'clock of a slightly fuzzy bull at 100 yards than to determine the exact center of that same fuzzy bull.

I guess it can be a bit confusing to articulate but I think you're on the right track.

Your age and eyesight comes into play here as well…. much easier with young eyes…. but at 65 I'm still managing just fine, even with specks.
 
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Just focus on each of the three portions of your sight picture : rear, front, target, in turn, when you have them aligned, shoot. Your eye will be changing focus between the three objects continually.

There's a reason why some older folks like telescopic sights, they remove the need for the flexible ocular system of a twenty-year old.
 
It seems I have been worrying about nothing, a bad group scared me when this all happened today. Tomorrow I shall shoot once more using the way I usually do, and see what results that yields. Thanks everyone!
 
You can't hit what you can't see, so keep doing what you're doing. You should be able to see your front sight clearly while still seeing the target, albeit fuzzy.

Personally, I think the term "focus" can be overdone, since focusing on something too hard can cause everything else to disappear. Perhaps a better term is "awareness" - you're primarily aware of your front sight, but you're also aware of it in the context of a complete sight picture.
 
You may be able to do pretty well otherwise, but if you're not focusing ON the front sight, then you're not going to shoot your best. A small rear aperture will make a huge difference--it increases the zone of stuff that is in focus. And if you can't improve the sight, then go with a bigger bullseye.

When I shot competitively, we went to a pistol clinic where the USNA coach had us shoot two targets. One with the aiming black reversed so it was just a blank sheet of paper. Every single person on the line shot tighter on the blank target. Why? because there was nothing to look at except the front sight.

The front sight should be SHARP. The target should be blurry. If that's not the case, then no, you're not focusing on the front sight.
 
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If you're going to make a real effort at it, make sure you've got at least and equal distance to the edge of your target backer as the width of the aiming black. The NRA highpower targets would be a good place to start--you want something like a 6-7 minute aiming black (and that's if you have a nice rear aperture--if not, go with something even bigger). For 100yds, that would be the SR-1, the SR-31, or the MR-31--same general aiming black but with tighter scoring rings from first to last. If you were shooting a match, the SR-1 would be used for standing and sitting, and the SR-31 and MR-31 for prone rapidfire and prone slowfire respectively.

And blacken your front sight with a soot (match or candle).
 
30Cal…… you describe the most common PPC practice exercise [Blank target paper]… way to go I'd almost forgotten….. And you're correct it is a great exercise and sure tightened up my groups in the early days.

Thanks for the memories!
 
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