a simpler way to reliably acquire the red dot -- MKI
My wife started shooting a red dot in competition in late November, and several friends have recently transitioned to a dot. This has caused me to reflect on my red dot shooting so as to be able to explain why I have been doing things a certain way. At the top of the list for shooters transitioning to a red dot, and even very experienced dot shooters, is how to reliably acquire the red dot when presenting the pistol.
Some folks rely on BUIS to find the dot. Others try to get the pistol into the sight line as early as possible and use vision to guide the red dot to the target. However, most more developed shooters are using index to get the pistol extended to their desired target. Compared to iron sights which are much more tolerant of some misalignment, a red dot requires near perfect alignment or the dot will be not visible in the window of its display. So the goal is to present the red dot with sufficient alignment that the dot is at least visible in the display, and ideally it is pointing at your desired target. To get that alignment, we focus on setting the wrist angle, both up and down and left to right. That is easier said than done, and I have been focusing on how to consistently and quickly set the correct wrist angle.
Something that I just stumbled on, through trial and error, is using the middle knuckle of my middle finger of my gun hand as an index point. If you look at your hands when holding the pistol, you will see that your middle knuckle is the furthest forward of all your fingers. When you present the pistol, if you try to drive the middle joint of your middle finger through the center of whatever you are wanting to shoot, it seems to quickly and repeatedly bring the red dot onto your desired target. If for some reason your gun is extended and the red dot is not visible, extending your middle knuckle on your middle finger to the intended aiming point also seems to make the red dot snap back onto the target. MKI equals "middle knuckle index," and is just my shorthand to describe it.
