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jstyer
04-23-2012, 04:15 PM
I've always shot a pistol so that the area I want to hit is behind my front sight.

So that during the pressout, I'm literally pushing my dot directly into the target and finishing breaking the shot upon full extension.

Is this what a "driving the dot" sight picture is?

And on a side note, is this technique utilized by many competition and combat shooters?

ErnieB
04-23-2012, 04:34 PM
jstyer,

I believe your definition is correct as I am noticing that some sight companies set their heights so that the dot covers the center of the target at XX distance. Just a side note, I have never shot this way. I come from the "align the sights and cut the bullseye in half" school of marksmanship. I like that type of sight picture as my sights do not totally occlude what I am aiming at and I feel the "6 o'clock" hold leaves to great a margin for error with a handgun. Just my opinion.

EMC
04-23-2012, 04:47 PM
This is the sight picture I use as well. I was told this was also called a "combat sight picture". Adding the word "combat" makes it cooler.
I started aiming this way back when I ran an FNP since supposedly they are set up that way from the factory according to all the guys on the FN forum. I'm finding it works ok on the stock glock sights for me as well.

LOKNLOD
04-23-2012, 05:00 PM
It can be range dependent. On my P30 with Heines I'm on the dot inside 7-10 yards, somewhere in that range it starts hitting on a "cut the bullseye with the top edge of the post" picture as ErnieB describes. If it changes again at a further distance it's farther than my consistency will allow it to be obvious.

Long tom coffin
04-23-2012, 07:21 PM
It can be range dependent. On my P30 with Heines I'm on the dot inside 7-10 yards, somewhere in that range it starts hitting on a "cut the bullseye with the top edge of the post" picture as ErnieB describes. If it changes again at a further distance it's farther than my consistency will allow it to be obvious.

Range is one of the things it can be dependent on. Ammo type/weight is another one, but I've seen more evidence of that with revolvers of different sizes than I have with semi-automatics.

Since I put my Ameriglo hack front/pro operator rears on my Gen 2, I've been "driving the dot". Namely, that big fat orange hack dot. I rather like it, actually. Previously I was shooting POI=POA using my old meprolight sights, but I like the Hack sight picture better. One of my instructors told me he thought that driving the dot was an "inefficient" sighting method, but admittedly he has more experience in target/markmanship shooting than anything else, so I can understand his reasoning, at least.

ErnieB
04-23-2012, 09:30 PM
Is this the way Ameriglo sells their sights? I am about to order some I want to make sure I get the right front/rear height combination to hit the way I aim. For those that "drive the dot," does covering the part of the target you are trying to hit make it tough to make precise hits on small targets and targets at distances beyond 20 yards? As I mentioned in my previous response, I have never had a set of sights set up to drive the dot. I've been shooting the "cut the bull in half" method for so long I don't think I want to change at this point but I am willing to try anything.

ToddG
04-24-2012, 08:58 AM
I've always used the dot as my expected POI and when I've had guns set up for the top edge of the front sight it's required a conscious mental shift to get max-accuracy hits.

Ernie -- yes, covering the target has its drawbacks especially when the dot covers the entire aiming zone. For example, past 10yd I have a hard time with 2" dots using the fairly wide CAP front sight on my G17. Nonetheless, I've hit poppers at over 200yd while driving the dot.

ErnieB
04-24-2012, 09:20 AM
Thanks Todd.

Do you think the trick is to find a sight that places the dot close to the edge of the sight? Last year I was squadded (is that a word?!) with Mike Voigt and Taran Butler at a pistol match in CA and had an interesting conversation about this same thing. Taran mentioned that he would file the top of his front sight until it was a close a possible to the fiber optic rod then adjust the POI to the desired setting with his rear sight. I believe he was running a Bomar style rear.

ToddG
04-24-2012, 12:37 PM
EB -- If I were Taran or Mike maybe that would make a difference. For me at my skill level and the shooting problems I'm dealing with -- most of which are not nearly as difficult or complicated as what those guys are doing at national-level matches -- it's never been much of an issue.

Another factor may be the FO sight itself, as many of them are poorly designed in terms of POA/POI... it should be the dot, but often it's the top of the sight. I'm not a big fan of FO sights to begin with as they're useless in low light.

ErnieB
04-24-2012, 01:53 PM
I'm not a big fan of fiber optic sights either as the models I have purchased have had the dot significantly lower than the edge of the sight. Sometimes it's hard to tell when all you have is a pic on the internet to reference.

Todd,

I found your company from my old friend Jimmy Creed who attended one of your courses a while back. I really like what you are doing and there are a great bunch of people here. Keep up the great work and good luck!

ToddG
04-24-2012, 02:14 PM
EB -- Thanks! The Staff really deserves the credit for doing all the work around here, and it's the membership that creates all the worthwhile content.