How to aim

J

JimL

New member
The most accurate firearm I ever fired was a British Enfield 303 with blade front sight and "peep" rear sights. I put my target point on the very top of the blade and centered the blade in the ghost ring by aid of a tiny ghost formed "magically" in the center of the ring. This is how I could knock off a fly.

I'm confused on aiming auto-loader pistols. I read about "sight picture," etc. I point the gun at the target, align the tops of the sights and cross the vertical center of the aim point with that line and miss the point.

Reading further I find someone saying that you are actually supposed to hide your aim point behind the dot on the front sight - and I read that a huge dot is better than a small one. So the correct procedure is to hide what you are shooting at behind a huge dot.

Well, OK, you aren't aiming at a small point, you are aiming at the very large torso of a BG that you have allowed to get much too close to you! Question answered. Sort of. I then read that the correct way to handle deadly situations is put your shots into the right lethal points! A gut shot certainly won't take down a raging BG who's hopped up on PCP or whatever.

But I don't want that raging mass right in my lap before I shoot. I want him far enough away ... that the huge dot on the front sight ... How about putting a hole there instead of a dot, so you can actually see what you are shooting?

Then I read something else. The best sights put large amounts of space between the sides of the front sight and the sides of the notch in the rear sight! To me that means another task to do - guess when the front sight is exactly in the middle of this new improved large space! Well, I don't see a ghost dot to tell me where the middle actually is ...

Of course I read other things that tell me you really don't need accuracy in a self-defense weapon ... Hm, I just spent thousands of dollars on a tractor to make it go right where I want it to go. I guess a gun doesn't need to hit where I want it to ...

OK, shooting at longer distances means you have to "aim high." That means your sight picture changes to ...

I guess I just don't get it. I read about Mas or someone winning a trophy as "Most Accurate Shooter." Wait a minute! You don't need to be accurate!! Or do you ... !

Oh, that's another decision to make at crunch time. You decide whether to hit the spot you are aiming at. Some times you shoot to hit a certain point and some times you shoot to miss a certain point ...

I just saw a picture of a sight picture. Of course you can't depend on copy writers and photographers, but the picture showed the center of a bull half way between the top of the sight and the center of the huge dot. Wow.

Help me out here! Mas? Anybody?
 
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I put the tip of the front sight right under the spot I want to hit and I want the thinnest front sight I can get. Your eye will automatically center it in the rear sight if you don't consciously try to center it yourself. If I'm shooting beyond what I'm sighted in for I don't hold over, I raise the front sight in the rear. With pistols that includes using the barrel itself as part of the front sight. I never lose sight of the target while aiming and the tip of the front sight is always on it.
 
I don't know if this picture will help Jim, but I'll post it for your consideration.

As you know, different handgun sights are set up for these three variants.

For example, HK pistols should be fired with the "Dead On - Cover Up" hold.

sightpicture.jpg
 
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And it will change with different ammo.
Faster, slower, lighter bullets, heavier bullets, all will change the point of aim.
Even the way you grip the gun.
Your gun will tell you, though.
 
I use the same ammo for each gun unless I need new brass then it really doesn't matter where it hits. It gets plinked away anyway. I use the same hold for every gun and if it doesn't hit where I want it to I change the sights or learn where it does hit for my hold. BTW I don't use H&K or Glock or any DAO. I mostly use SA revolvers or DA revolvers in SA mode.
 
You need to take into consideration the situation. If you're shooting at targets, trying to 'hit a fly', you need to spend a significant amount of time shooting that weapon. The ammo, wind, trigger pull, your focus... all play into how accurate you are at greater distances.

In a self-defense situation, you want to hit your target, but you should not care about the gnat's ass placement. Acquire your target, front sight always on the 'area' you want to hit (CENTER MASS) pull the trigger 3 times.

With drastically different situations, you need to adapt to the situation. Keep in mind, if you train your mind/body for accurate target shooting, that's what you will revert to in a self-defense situation (slow, acquire target, slow breath...). That's not a good thing. Practice, practice, practice self-defense techniques so you have them when/if you need them.

My 2 cents...
 
Acquire your target, front sight always on the 'area' you want to hit
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There's my point. How to define "on the area."

The diagrams posted by coltman clarify that. In a phrase, "every manufacturer does whatever strikes their fancy." That seems simple and clear and probable enough, but I guess I had never heard it before despite over 50 years of shooting.

I like the one called "center mass hold." It doesn't hide your "target" (by target I don't necessarily mean a piece of paper or steel) but it does give you a specific point to use. That is to say, given a defined distance, aiming below the point I want to hit doesn't make any sense to me personally.

Of course all this regards only the vertical component.
 
I don't use ... any DAO
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Of course that rules out most or all of the wildly popular feather guns. :D

My dream is to shoot a .357 MAG that weighs 3.57 ounces. :eek:

But, then, I digress from my own topic.
 
Your aiming method is fine, now its sight adjustment time for the way you see your sights and the ammo you are using. There is no single correct way. I was taught 6 o'clock hold for bullseye competition but I use point of impact hold for hunting. Depends on what you are doing. If you are training for SD then point of impact is what you want and what you you were trying to do. Get both eyeballs on the front sight, focus on it and shoot it till you get groups. Then adjust your sights.
 
There's my point. How to define "on the area."
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Different strokes for different folks I'm thinking. My goal is to hit COM 3 shots out of 3 inside 20 feet. Consistency in delivery is my goal, not precision marksmanship.

If I am shooting at longer distance (25+ yards) then the sight picture becomes more important to me. Then whichever method I use (I prefer 6 O'clock hold', I am comfortable with because I have practiced it many times, at many differing distances. I adjust for the estimated distance my subjective mind figures it is.

Overanalysis seems to me one sure way to be off target. Fill that time with a little practice. It seems some DA trigger practice might be useful.
 
I put the tip of the front sight right under the spot I want to hit and I want the thinnest front sight I can get. Your eye will automatically center it in the rear sight if you don't consciously try to center it yourself. If I'm shooting beyond what I'm sighted in for I don't hold over, I raise the front sight in the rear. With pistols that includes using the barrel itself as part of the front sight. I never lose sight of the target while aiming and the tip of the front sight is always on it.
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That's pretty much it. I use a center hold, and expect my bullets to hit where the tip of the front sight meats the target.

Bear in mind that sights are basically a reference used to predict bullet impact. It's not so much how you aim, as long as it works well for you and you can do it repeatedly. In the end, it's all about hitting your target.

Daryl
 
There is no single correct way. I was taught 6 o'clock hold for bullseye competition but I use point of impact hold for hunting
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I'm perfectly willing to allow everyone his variations, but for myself I have to know in my head what I'm trying to do.

But one variation is totally puzzling for me. Why would you use a completely different method for winning a match from what you use to win a battle? In both cases the idea is to actually hit where it counts. And do you set up some guns to use only for match and some to use only for self-defense?
 
It's not so much how you aim,
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Apparently you and I have different meanings for "aim." _In my head_, and I mean no disrespect to you or your statement per se, that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Sorry. :(
 
So is the general consensus that you need to experiment with whichever gun your using until the proper "hold" is determined? Then practice that repeatedly?
 
So is the general consensus that you need to experiment with whichever gun your using until the proper "hold" is determined? Then practice that repeatedly?
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Pretty much.

You need to know what the guns used for and how the sights are regulated, and what you can expect from it, at most of the distances you intend to shoot at.

If youre not "regulating" the sights to your needs, then you need to shoot the gun at whatever distance, or average distance you plan on shooting. If you have adjustable sights, you can do it at will and make adjustments as needed, fixed sights require more work.

Most all my pistols have three dot night sights on them, and I only use the "dots" to sight with, most of the time. The bullet goes where the center dot sits.
 
The type of sights is only part of the quest.
Even with see through sights, the gun itself is blocking the view of the target, and the gun is a lot larger.
If both eyes are open and the shooter is focused on the target through and past the sights, the sights will still be quite visible and become kind of transparent.
The entire target will also be visible beyond the gun, with the gun and sights layered on top.
The gun and sights only block the target if one eye is closed.
Try it, with the sights you have, before chasing sight designs.
 
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