I am simply unable to use iron's on handguns at all any more. Thus it is either an RDS (which I have been using now since 2010) and/or a green laser. I generally prefer the RDS...
I am simply unable to use iron's on handguns at all any more. Thus it is either an RDS (which I have been using now since 2010) and/or a green laser. I generally prefer the RDS...
Facts matter...Feelings Can Lie
As for front sight visibility and color, about ten years ago as I was stuggling to find that front sight, especially when I visited an indoor range with lower light levels, I built this gadget to test colors.
My optometrist told me that as light gets dimmer different people are likely to see different colors more clearly. She understood my problem and suggested I experiment seeing colors in lower light settings to "see what I can see" since it is different for everybody.
These are match sticks, I drilled some holes in a piece of furring strip with a piece of dowel rod as a handle, then painted the whole thing flat black and then went back and painted the tip of each a different color, and glued a piece of red and a piece of green fiber optic to the two ends. I took this gadget into parking lots at dusk and at dark, looked at it in interior rooms with dimable lights at various levels, etc. etc. What I came to learn is that for me the bright orange is visible in the greatest variety of lighting conditions. White and gold got honorable mention, the greens were very poor as was yellow, and the fibers disappeared on me very fast as light grew dimmer...anyhow, it was a worthy experiment for me that was cheaper than buying and installing a half dozen different sights on the real gun...
A friend who experimented with the same gadget came to a completely different solution for what he could see best.
The camera flash distorted the middle in this picture, but but my recollection it was left to right, green fiber, iridescent green, yellow, gold, white, iridescent red/orange, red fiber...held it at arms length for all my observations...match stick width approximated a front sight size very closely.
Last edited by fatdog; 10-22-2017 at 10:22 PM.
An example, albeit not super current, ... I was in that class with DocGKR (at least the 3rd time we'd been in a class together). We both shot Pick Your Poison aiming for the 150 score or all A zone hits. I was using close blur / far blur while he was shooting a RDS equipped pistol. While we both shot 150, there was zero comparision in terms of group size - he shot one, I filled the A zone. Using it on the the HITS/Wayne/DaggaBoy SuperTest I'm decent. Here's a pic from Wayne & Dagga's class at TacCon, with jlw watching, 25yds & in on some drills.Originally Posted by Redhat
I have been looking at blurred sights pretty much the whole 20 yrs I have been shooting. 6-8 yrs ago I learned about the Merit eyepiece.
http://www.meritcorporation.com/products.html
I haven't bought one but got the same results first w/ a piece of black tape w/ a 1/16 inch hole in it. Then I made a slip on piece from some 1/16 thick kydex.
IMG_20160212_094711824 by craig stuard, on Flickr
There are two holes in it because I got different glasses and needed to re-position. One of them is now covered. W/ this on, sights and target are all in focus at the same time. It is amazing how well it works. My other option is my computer glasses. I got the least expensive frame they had and asked for a prescription to focus at the end of my finger tip. Told them it was for the computer. W/ these on the sights are perfect and the target is slightly blurred. I am right handed and left eye dominate so I shoot pistols w/ my right eye closed.
Last edited by CraigS; 10-23-2017 at 06:11 AM.
At 62 myself and wearing transitional lenses I tried target focus and had decent success with it. I think this is what helped some when I decided to go to an RDS. I'm not saying I was good with the RDS right away but having used target focused shooting for a little while helped. Now I'm in love with the red dot and TFS.
I really liked Gabe’s sight thread as it got me really thinking and testing things for myself. The pictures are nice, but people really kind of need to try it out themselves in person as the pictures might not always be true to what you actually see.As for front sight visibility and color, about ten years ago as I was stuggling to find that front sight, especially when I visited an indoor range with lower light levels, I built this gadget to test colors.
My optometrist told me that as light gets dimmer different people are likely to see different colors more clearly. She understood my problem and suggested I experiment seeing colors in lower light settings to "see what I can see" since it is different for everybody.
These are match sticks, I drilled some holes in a piece of furring strip with a piece of dowel rod as a handle, then painted the whole thing flat black and then went back and painted the tip of each a different color, and glued a piece of red and a piece of green fiber optic to the two ends. I took this gadget into parking lots at dusk and at dark, looked at it in interior rooms with dimable lights at various levels, etc. etc. What I came to learn is that for me the bright orange is visible in the greatest variety of lighting conditions. White and gold got honorable mention, the greens were very poor as was yellow, and the fibers disappeared on me very fast as light grew dimmer...anyhow, it was a worthy experiment for me that was cheaper than buying and installing a half dozen different sights on the real gun...
A friend who experimented with the same gadget came to a completely different solution for what he could see best.
The camera flash distorted the middle in this picture, but but my recollection it was left to right, green fiber, iridescent green, yellow, gold, white, iridescent red/orange, red fiber...held it at arms length for all my observations...match stick width approximated a front sight size very closely.
In my experiments I’ve found that red fiber in a black serrated front post with a black serrated rear sight works best for me. The fiber is a nice and fine aiming point when I don’t need to supply my own light and the overall package works better than most when I do need to supply my own light. It’s not perfect, no sight system is, but this gives me the fewest cons vs pros for how my eyes work.
Sent from mah smertfone using tapathingy
Lots of decent advice in here already.
In my experience, teaching your mind to target focus on appropriate targets is crucial for developing consistent, high-level speed. The reason this is faster is because you don't have to waste time bringing your visual focus back from the target to the front sight and then back out to the next target. You can leave your visual focus on the targets and transition it from one target to the next, with your sights following but always blurry. Note: If you are not moving your eyes to the next target you're going to shoot, and instead keeping your focus on your front sight and dragging your front sight to the next target, you are doing it wrong. Like anything else shooting related though, you have to improve this skill beyond conscious thought if you want to master it. You can't just rely on telling yourself, "I'm going to target focus on this next drill." Ideally, you want to look at the spot on the target you want to shoot, bring your sights to that spot, and sub-consciously decide to stay in target focus or adjust back to front sight focus depending on the difficulty and precision needed to make the shot. There are all kinds of drills you can work on to help develop this sub-conscious skill, and they all involve setting up multiple targets at varying distances to shoot in the same string. I like two of Ben Stoeger's drills, one with three targets at varying distances from 5-25 yards, and another with two close paper targets on either side of you and a small plate at about 20+yds in the middle.
With enough practice, you can get to the point where you instinctively know what you can get away with based on the difficulty of the target. I can target focus a 25 yd open target, but I will have a front sight focus on 10 yd partial head shots.
Last edited by Gio; 10-23-2017 at 08:35 AM.
Wonder if we are using the right terms. In discussion with Tom Givens last night and several others over the years, Tom said he "puts the fuzzy black thing in the fuzzy notch in the middle of he fuzzy target". I think better terms may be "Unfocused" or "Non transferred focus". Basically, transposing sights over your eyes without any conscious focus shift. I use focus shift to get out of being reactive to a target. I want to see my foe, I want to stop reacting to them once a decision to shoot is made and that is my biggest take on not staring at it and bringing that "attention" back to the front sight that is really driving/confirming the shots and placement.
I have a suspicion that what many here are saying is target focus is actually front sight attention with no focus. I have a suspicion that the inability to see sights in perfect focus is forcing "trigger focus" and is also helping to get rid of some trigger snatch.
Last edited by Dagga Boy; 10-23-2017 at 09:44 AM.
Just a Hairy Special Snowflake supply clerk with no field experience, shooting an Asymetric carbine as a Try Hard. Snarky and easily butt hurt. Favorite animal is the Cape Buffalo....likely indicative of a personality disorder.
"If I had a grandpa, he would look like Delbert Belton".
I'm okay with whatever terms as long as they're defined. I don't think anyone should misconstrue what I'm saying for some type of point shooting. I use the sights as well as I can which means; I see a fuzzy rear sight + fuzzy front sight + clear target or...fuzzy rear + fuzzy front + fuzzy target. I can attempt to shift focus to the front sight as in a traditional sight picture but there is really no change.
Excellent comments, as always.
What’s happened to me recently is the inability to bring my focus back to the front sight. Since I can’t do that anymore, I’ve been working on seeing fuzzy sights on top of a target that is mostly in focus. I’m finding that I’m getting better hits than I would have expected outside the 10 yard range.
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