Would it be best to tape over or remove the front sight all together when first learning?
When rifle red dots first came out we used to close the front lens cover to help students learn to keep both eyes open. The rear BUIS was also kept down.
Sage Dynamics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HloKf9WifJg
Last edited by Redhat; 02-16-2020 at 12:27 PM.
Originally Posted by zaitcev
Since you are a fan of SIG, here is a video from the SIG academy on this topic. In the beginning of the video the instructor talks about people using the front sight to acquire the dot, a technique known elsewhere as “casting” for its similarity to casting a fishing rod.
Since you are in central TX, PF member Asian Jedi will be holding classes near San Antonio in March and October.
Another solid option for RDS training in central TX is Bryan Veliz of Slytac training.
I can't give a complete answer because I've never taped mine. I do know that removal works just fine, and does force you to start paying attention to index / kinesthetics etc in a way that I've never done before. Generations of open shooters have been able to learn how to do it withoiut even having an option of irons. I now have setups that all my guns, carry and competition, have at least a front sight, and I never use them to get to the dot. I am unconvinced that it is even worth the time to use them as an intermediate learning aid.
Separately, in regards to SIG optic: I think that discussing the Romeo hood properties is a bit too early. I think we need to start with finding out if SIG electro-optics products, as they call it, are worth putting on duty / carry guns. From my limited observational experience, I would put a DPP on a duty gun before I trusted a Romeo.
Finally, not to nitpick but the dots are two focal plane sighting system, not single. The dot exists within focal plane of a lens. We're target focused but the eyes still have to be able to collect information from two different planes. This has been largely a theoretical thing for me but recently I got my first pair of progressive glasses, encouraged by @GJM, and they brought out that thing.
Doesn't read posts longer than two paragraphs.
Using irons to find the dot is a crutch to make up for a weak presentation. The answer is to train more.
Irons are there only for the very infrequent occasion that your RDS isn't working.
I have at the moment only one RDS equipped pistol. And because it's a competition firearm, it doesn't have sights tall enough to be seen through the glass. Never had any problems finding the dot. Probably because I've had presbyopia for so long that I learned to rely on my index to align the sights for me in order to have any semblance of a quick draw.
Last edited by Alpha Sierra; 02-16-2020 at 03:34 PM.
One thing that helped me tremendously was to give up the tactical turtle/hunched over posture. Having your head erect, slightly bent elbows, and looking out the center of the eye socket made finding the dot on the draw and tracking it through recoil much easier.
Long thread, didn't read it all. This pretty much sums up my feelings. Ever since Ron Cohen took over Sig and did the same thing to the brand that he did to Kimber, it's hard to get behind the company's products. The P320 is awesome in concept and represents a real step forward/revolution in handgun design that I think other companies (including Glock) will likely attempt to copy in the future. Unfortunately, the execution has been awful. Being a .gov customer doesn't get you any better product QA either, as DoD is painfully learning.
There is a lot of truth here. If your index is consistent and repeatable, the dot will be there. Hunting for irons to find the dot is a bandaid to an inconsistent index and will lead to hunting for the dot in any kind of non-standard shooting position.
With a long gun you have four points of contact so index and the dot being in the window to a quite is not really a thing. You were talking about a different issue or issues.Two eyes open is preferable but you can run a red dot with one eye.
The pistol issues are 1) retraining shooters who spent years or decades training to look for the front sight to
Look at the target; 2) Getting those shooters to admit the reason the dot is not in the window is because their prior index with iron sites is a lot sloppier than they want to admit.
Usually the issue is casting. They are presenting the handgun picking up the front sight then dropping it into the rear notch then shifting focus to the target because now the dot is in the window. They are taking what should be a one step process of looking through the optic at the target and making it a four step process.
The real proof of this for us mortals being how much faster the sites appear when you return to iron sites after training with a dot.
It'll be interesting to see what happens if I shoot Production after 6 - 8 months of shooting nothing but Carry Optics this year.
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