Sighted v. Unsighted Fire

[JustOneGun]

Just so I'm clear, you have experience in gunfights?

I was in just one. But I ended up with tunnel vision a couple other times. Once when I should have been in a gunfight but had a bunch of kids behind the crackhead trying to hit me with a 40# pound rock. Good thing I didn't shoot him as I was farther away than he could throw the rock. LOL. So off the top of my head I've had it three times that I can say, yeah I was this far away and later realized I was much farther away. But at the time I would have been glad to go to court and swear under oath that I was X distance away.

[Trooper224]

Plenty of excellent marksman can point shoot well, but few dedicated point shooters can exhibit excellent marksmanship on demand.

The truest words in this thread.

[JustOneGun]

(1) People who think there is never a place or benefit to shooting without a hard front sight focus are off their rockers. JV's specific addressing of this point is worth considering.

(2) People who think you lose situational awareness because your front sight is your focus instead of the gun in someone's hand (or whatever) are also off their rockers. Tunnel vision occurs in fist fights. If you've never experienced this, go to the nearest biker bar, find the biggest and meanest looking guy you can, and spit in his drink. I guarantee tunnel vision will be experienced very shortly thereafter.

FWIW IMHO, the best way to develop good unsighted shooting is to spend your time working on good sighted shooting. This builds up a repeatable index to have your gun properly aligned in the proper place when you make it go bang. Plenty of excellent marksman can point shoot well, but few dedicated point shooters can exhibit excellent marksmanship on demand.

Todd I agree with you. I am wondering if we can expand when to point shoot or to use a soft focus on the front sight? I believe in soft focus because of the size relationship I see between the sight and target. But because of how poorly I tell distance under stress the only time I would shoot without seeing the front sight is to retention shoot and that's when I can touch them. Otherwise I need to see the front sight, even if it is for a fraction of a second.

[23JAZ]

I have a feeling a dying horse is about to get beaten.

That horse you're talking about has been dead for a while. But you right about what's going to happen to it.

[JV_]

I am wondering if we can expand when to point shoot or to use a soft focus on the front sight?

Unless I'm trying to hit a low probability target (small and/or far away) I find myself using something other than a hard front sight focus a significant portion of the time, at least that's what I do in matches. For example, an 8" targets between 5 and 10'ish Yards, I often use a mid-focus.

[JV_]

That horse you're talking about has been dead for a while. But you right about what's going to happen to it.

Let's start talking about the technical aspects of shooting, more specifically - things about this topic, rather than your impressions of this thread.

[23JAZ]

I was in just one.

I love this forum.

[JustOneGun]

Unless I'm trying to hit a low probability target (small and/or far away) I find myself using something other than a hard front sight focus a significant portion of the time, at least that's what I do in matches. For example, an 8" targets between 5 and 10'ish Yards, I often use a mid-focus.

Okay and that makes sense. As my boss used to say, put the front sight on the target and shoot. But the guy is 7 yards away how long do you need to look at that sight before you shoot it? I have no problem with that. I was amazed at the amount of feedback that the size of the sight gave me in relation to the target. I shot relatively slow and it felt like I did when I shot at 50 or 75 yards on the range, even though my mind was telling me it was 15 yards. I believe that occurred because I was used to the sight target relationship at that distance and shot accordingly. No way I can prove that, just my opinion.

My comments were directed to the idea that we can just shoot without seeing the sights because of peripheral vision. I know from experience that I can't do that. Research, talking to fellow officers led me to believe that I wasn't that much different. i.e. they had similar problems.

I know those who know me will suggest I am really, really different.

[JustOneGun]

I love this forum.

You have a different opinion on the subject?

[Phrog107]

Unless I'm trying to hit a low probability target (small and/or far away) I find myself using something other than a hard front sight focus a significant portion of the time, at least that's what I do in matches. For example, an 8" targets between 5 and 10'ish Yards, I often use a mid-focus.

That was something that was stressed at the class I was just at with Frank Proctor. He encouraged us to see more, the front sight in the rear sight and the target, and the relationship between all three. Very different concept than I had ever been taught before, but I do like it, and have been practicing it lately.