Help me understand focusing on the front sight

[archerben]

I am reasonably new to handguns and have only sent a few hundred rounds down the tubes of my various handguns thus far. I have heard from numerous sources that when shooting handguns that you should focus on the front sight and let the rear sight and the target blur. Here's the problem...I come from a very strong archery background of 14 years where I have been taught to focus on the target and to let the sight float, and this sight picture works very well for me in the sport of archery. Due to this background, I simply cannot bring myself to focus on the front sight of my handguns. When I mentally force myself to focus on the front sight it absolutely confuses the heck out of my mind and I no longer understand or mentally comprehend my sight picture. However, if I focus on the target, I see the front and rear sights line up as they should and I can acquire a comfortable sight picture fairly quickly. I don't know if it's worth trying to retrain my brain to look at a different sight picture when shooting handguns, or to just roll with what works well for me with a bow.

Comments/Suggestions?

 

[dfariswheel]

Unfortunately, pistols and iron sight rifles are purely a matter of focusing on the front sight.

Focusing on the target will allow the shots to be off by quite a bit.
Unless you re-train to use the proper front sight focus, you'll never get any good at it.

The human eye CANNOT focus on more than one thing. You cannot physically see the sight picture that books often show with a nice sharp front sight and rear sight aligned on the clear target.

You MUST focus on ONE object, and in iron sights, it MUST be the front sight if you want any consistent hits on target.
The rear sight will be blurry, and the target will be blurry.

 

[Shawnee]

With your bow - the target is (essentially) the front sight.

With the handgun (or iron-sighted rifle) you've introduced a new visual element - the front sight on the weapon.

I don't know if continuing with the focusing mindset you developed in archery will really work for you with your handgun. I doubt it will work but you will have to judge that.

I do know that - with iron-sighted firearms - focusing on the front sight works better by far for me and for all of the shooters I've ever heard discuss it.

Good luck !

 

[LKB3rd]

I used to shoot a crossbow(edit: woops i meant to say compound bow) a lot and was a good shot with it, but when i started with handguns i was having a lot of trouble being accurate. I think that the recoil/noise and tendency to flinch and/or push against it is the reason that the front sight focus works with firearms. It forces you to really focus on the weapon and the importance of keeping it absolutely steady until the shot goes downrange. If you focus on the target, it is easy to let it move before the shot and not even realize it.
Are you having problems with accuracy, or did you just read about this and decide to try and fix it? "Point shooting" is where you look at the target rather than the front sight, and some people do well with that..

 

[archerben]

With your bow - the target is (essentially) the front sight.

I should probably clarify the archery sight picture I am speaking of as I am not shooting my bow instinctively. Rather, there is both a front and rear sight. The rear sight is a peep sight and the front sight is a sight pin, which could be analogous to the front sight on a pistol or iron sighted rifle.

 

[Owen]

if you are shooting mainly outdoors...

use a pencil to put a line on the front sight. you should be able to see the line when the shot breaks.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

Try shooting with both eyes open. This may be difficult if you are left-eye dominant.

 

[NoirFan]

Hello Archerben,

Like you, I shot longbow long before picking up a firearm. You are definitely correct that it is a confusing transition when focusing your eyes. My “eureka!” moment in archery came when I started looking at the target rather than sighting down the arrow, and a similar thing happened with handguns when I started looking at the front sight. Unfortunately, in my experience there really is no way around it; to shoot precisely with firearms you will just have to retrain your eyes to focus on the front sight.

 

[mjrodney]

A method that works for some is to assume a weaver stance with the barrel of the UNLOADED firearm touching a blank wall.

Back off from the wall just a bit and focus only on the front sight.

Dry fire while holding that front sight perfectly still.

Did I say make sure the firearm is unloaded?

 

[kludge]

archerben,

Keep doing what you're doing. Both eyes open and focus on the target. I don't ascribe to the "front sight" theory and I do just fine.

It's not only true that your eyes can ony focus on one thing, but with both eyes open, everything that is not in the plane of focus will be double vision.

With both eyes open you will have more light gathering and much better depth perception.

If you shoot with both eyes open and focus on the front sight there will be a double image of the target. If you are right eyed, you will need to shoot the target on the right, if you are left eyed you will need to shoot the target on the left. Either my brain doesn't do this automatically, or my right eye is not clearly dominant, but I am quite ambidextrous, and that may have something to do with why I can't do the "front sight" thing.

But, if you are ever in a defensive situation you will be focused on the threat so you might as well practice that way, IMHO. If you focus on the front sight and shoot the guy on the left, you just missed. My brain doesn't work that way under stress, and I don't have the time in my life to train "front sight" and undo everything my brain does naturally.

If I close one eye and focus on the front sight (eliminating the double vision) my scores don't get any better. If I open both eyes and focus on the front sight they get much worse.

I am not a trained combat expert, and I've never been in a gun fight, so my opinion might be worth every cent you paid for it.

 

[DevilDog0402]

I shoot fairly well while focusing on the target, but when I realized I was doing it, and made myself focus on the front sight, my groups improved dramatically!

 

[texas bulldog]

my experience is similar to what kludge just said, including the ambidextrous bit and the lack of a clearly dominant eye. but i am trying to train myself on the front sight method anyway. so far i see no clear advantage, but i think more time might be needed.

 

[1911NM]

Front sight, front sight, front sight. At least I keep repeating that to myself. I wholeheartedly agree with dry fire practice focusing on the front sight, also, go out to a pistol range with a berm, or if your in the country any good old dirt bank where you won't get a ricochet, and burn a few magazines into the bank only focusing on the front sight, no target, just feel the gun, when the shot breaks, and see the front sight

 

[chupacabrah]

I need to try this front sight thing. I didn't really know to focus there (I went to the shooting range the other day for the second time ever, and it'd been a few years since the last) and I was focusing on the target and then trying to line up the sights. it was very hard for me, and I didn't really hit squat.
I think focusing on the front sight would be much easier.

 

[Shadow1198]

You do NOT have to focus on the front sight to still be accurate, at least at closer ranges from 0-15yds. It takes practice and may not be for everybody, but it works great for me. I've heard of point shooting past those ranges but, IMO I would think it would be quite a bit less accurate at those ranges. What I do myself from 0-7 or 10 yards is somewhere in between point shooting and aiming. I've found that I have a serious problem attempting to focus on the sights with both eyes open (I practice close range purely for self defense purposes). If I close my non-dominant eye, I can focus just fine however I want both eyes open. If I try to focus on the sights or front sight with both eyes open, basically I see 2 targets incredibly blurry. I have tried and tried and I just cannot get a proper focus at close range. Maybe it has something to do with wearing glasses, I don't know. Shooting at 0-10yds, for me, is practice for self defense purposes. I aim past that and consider it more for target shooting. What I do at close ranges is focus on the target while still paying attention to the blurred sight picture in my periphery. For me, it is still very easy to see the sights are properly aligned, even though it's blurry, and then you just point at your intended POI and shoot. For those saying you can't do it accurately, I do. I don't ever shoot any 1 hole groups, however I have a heck of a lot more speed than using a sight focus, and speed with relative accuracy is preferred for a close range self defense situation IMO. I find it to feel much more instinctive, it allows me to keep both eyes open so I can maintain a better field of vision, and for me it helps maintain much better speed than a sight focus. Longer range is a whole different story.

 

[cmidkiff]

If you are talking about defensive shooting, I don't figure my brain is going to let me focus on anything but the bad guy. At typical SD distances, I figure point shooting is the way to go.

If you're talking about target shooting, it took me years to figure out the old guys who kept telling me to focus on the front sight were correct. I always figured since I was hitting the target, they didn't know what they were talking about. Problem was, I wasn't really getting any better, no matter how much I practiced. When I started really concentrating on the front sight, my accuracy with iron sights started improving dramatically. I'm no crack shot by any means, but at least I'm improving again.

 

[MrBorland]

Due to this background, I simply cannot bring myself to focus on the front sight of my handguns. When I mentally force myself to focus on the front sight it absolutely confuses the heck out of my mind and I no longer understand or mentally comprehend my sight picture.

You're onto something here: Yes, you see with your mind and it can get confused. The good news is that it doesn't like confusing images, so eventually it adapts. Here's my suggestions, for what they're worth:

Practice lots at home by holding the gun, aiming at nothing in particular, but focusing on the front sight. Practice lots at the range while aiming at a big piece of target paper turned backwards, showing white only, so you're really not "aiming" here as well, just concentrating on the front sight and sight picture. The idea is to get rid of a "target", which, at this point, ironically enough, is a distraction. So why a big piece of white paper rather than nothing at all? If you shoot at an indoor range, and didn't mount some kind of target and just started shooting downrange at nothing in particular, you may get some ugly looks (or worse) from the ROs.

And speaking of target distraction, if you're using Shoot-N-Sees, don't. The temptation to take your focus off the front sight and look at the target between shots is just too great.

Shooting with both eyes open can add to the mind's confusion. For now, rather than learning to shoot with one eye closed, place a small piece of translucent scotch tape on the non-dominant side of your shooting glasses - just enough to block the vision of front sight with that eye. Keeping both eyes open helps your depth of focus, and blocking one will at least get your non-dominant eye physically in the habit of staying open while shooting, but without the double vision. Eventually, reduce the size of the tape, then get rid of it entirely. Again, the brain doesn't like confusing images, so it'll adapt.

 

[nwilliams]

Almost all the defensive and marksmanship classes I've taken always have stressed watching the front sight. It works for me but I'm not here to tell anyone how to shoot.

 

[michiganfan]

When I stopped trying to line up the sights, front and rear ,and simply started aimng soley by concentrating on the front sight my groupings became light years better.

 

[dfariswheel]

The late New York City Policeman Jim Cirillo was famed for his MANY shootings while on the NYPD Stakeout Squad.

The cops would hide in a store likely to be robbed and when it was, they'd step out and confront the bad guy.
A GOOD many of them tried to shoot it out and Cirillo was involved in 17 deadly shootouts, killing most of the bad guys.

At a meeting of cops, Cirillo was asked if he looked at the bad guy or the front sight.
He said "There are 8 serrations on my front sight".
That meant he not only looked at the front sight, he REALLY concentrated on it.
He said focusing on the front sight was way he always won and stayed alive.

He also coined the term "New York City Reload". When his gun was empty, he dropped it and pulled another one.

Something all rifle and pistol target shooters know: If you don't focus on the front sight, you don't score.
All the real life man shooters will tell you the same thing.
Cooper, Jordon, Askins, Brice, Weaver, all said to focus on the front sight.

 

[32winspl]

I have to agree with all the folks here re focusing on the front sight... and here's what'll happen when you've practiced it awhile. You will make good hits. Let me explain. I shot USPSA/IPSC competition for several years. We used "humanoid" targets- one side the color of cardboard, the other side is white. The cardboard side is considered a "shoot" target, with various scoring-zones on it... and required 2 hits, and you get points for your hits ; the white side is considered a "no-shoot", or "hostage", and if you shoot it, you lose points. In very little time (by always focusing on your front sight), by where your front sight was when you fired, you'll KNOW whether, or where, your bullet struck, without ever taking your eye off the sight. Most of our shooting scenarios involved engaging multiple "shoot" and "no-shoot" targets, rapid fire, and usually requiring at least one mag change. By practicing "front sight, front sight, front sight", my scores went up and my times went down VERY QUICKLY. In a few months, I went from being an unclassified shooter, to a solid B class. When I was forced to quit (by family problems), I was a whisker away from A class.

 

[Kind of Blued]

I'm gonna do my usual punk@$$ move and say...

LASER GRIPS BABY!



But no, you should learn how to use iron sights. Try different techniques (there are only three in this situation arguably) and see what works for you.

I've been doing range exercises where I put ten rounds on a target at about 15 yards focusing on the front sight, then another ten on another target focusing on target, and the differences have been drastic. It was a bit of an epiphany the first time I tried it a while ago.

Also, do a search on "shot calling". Try it at the range and you may be impressed with yourself. It involves focusing on the front sight, and taking note of where it was immediately before the gun recoiled. For me, 95% of the time, I can accurately tell you, even if I can't see the hole, where the bullet passed through the target.

Its something akin to being reminded you're a sally white boy at the precise moment the basketball leaves the tip of your fingers.

 

[MrBorland]

Simple trigonometry & statistics tell the tale...

Place a 1" black disc at 15 yards, point the gun at it, and you'll probably be able to keep your wobble close to or within this 1" circle.

If you have a 5" sight radius, and your front sight is misaligned by even 0.01", however, you'll add 2" to this 15 yard group (and that's assuming perfect trigger control).

And since there are nearly an infinite number of "wrong" sight picture combinations, but only 1 right one, statistics shows that if you focus on anything but the front sight, you're virtually assured of a misalignment.

And remember, the front sight has to be aligned when the shot actually goes off. The millisecond beforehand doesn't count.

 

[pbearperry]

Hey dfariswheel ?

Did you know Jim Cirillo ? I met him many times during the 70's at many of the Police Combat matches.He was a great friend to all shooters and a funny guy.

 

[dfariswheel]

Nope, I primarily did gunsmithing type meetings when I traveled, so I was never around when Cirillo was.

Unlike most people who blather on about gunfighting techniques when they never engaged in any, Cirillo was the real thing.

Kind of reminds me of the line from Bill Jordon.
He was introduced to a man who told Jordon that he was a Survivalist expert.
Jordon asked him, "What did you survive"?