I've got something to add to this. I've practiced it for years after hearing the Mossad did it, knowing the old gunslingers did it, and seeing a guy point shoot a Luger blind folded (it has the best ergonomics supposedly and facilitates point shooting easily due to hand-eye coordination). He aimed first and got his position, then did a point shoot and hit the target, then did it again from the same position but blindfolded. Same mark.
Believe it or not, for lack of an easier way of putting it, your eyes work kind of like a built in laser sight. Really, they do. When you think about it, we evolved over thousands of years shooting arrows and throwing rocks and spears, what do you think this all was? It was all point shooting to some degree. It all depended on hand-eye coordination.
There really is no trick to it. Yeah practice helps, but you know what? Playing video games will increase hand-eye coordination very well, and this is more important with point shooting I would argue. It is also really best for close range, and having a flat shooting round really helps. A lot. I do well with 124gr. 9mm and 200gr. 10mm rounds. Others work, but those shoot like laser beams for short ranges.
To practice, you can use your unloaded pistol and holster. Fix your sight on a target somewhere across the room, I pick a very small target, but that comes from the army, aiming at buttons instead of center mass, aim small miss small or whatever. So I'll focus on a light switch or some such and draw fast --then freeze. Without moving your hand, look behind the sights. You should be right on target or very close to it. Close enough for CQB, again, if you aim at a button and miss by an inch or two, you are still COM. The whole time, from the draw to the pull, you are fixated on the small target, never looking at the weapon or sights.
Now when bad things happen, they happen fast. The adrenaline kicks in and most people jump up and down when they shoot, particularly when caught in the open. Even trained cops, I've seen too many videos of it. What it looks like to me, is they were trained to aim, probably great shooters at the range, but when it went down, they were already taking rounds and didn't have the time to aim or take cover, just return fire. They panic when their training fails, and do stupid stuff like jumping up and down. Obviously the rounds they returned weren't going anywhere near the intended target.
With point shooting, as soon as you are unholstered, focused on the target, and have the weapon where you want it (some folks shoot from the hip, the fastest way to pull the shot, some go halfway up, some fully extend the arm --I'm sort of in the middle of halfway and fully extended) you engage the target. Fast. The way I do it and the fully extended method help make the following shots aimed shots, but I've seen a guy shoot from the hip, the middle, fully extended, and then the fourth and later shots are aimed shots. All were on center. I think this guy was a SEAL doing reflex training or something on a Science Channel documentary.
My advice is to try it at home like I said. Know that it may take practice to hold the pistol in such a fashion that the hand -eye coordination works. The Luger is supposed to be natural. The 1911 not bad either. The Glock, as I remember it, is off 20% compared to the Luger or 1911 grip angle, and it makes gripping it awkward for point shooting for some. But the Glock is my perferred weapon and I use it just fine. Essentially what you want, is for the sights to line up with you forearm when you hold it. If you don't do that at a minimum, it may not work so well. Since firearms are brought up, I'd like to say I've had the most difficulty doing this with a DA trigger pull. I always pull the shot to the side with a heavy, long trigger, like a Beretta or Sig. But maybe that is just me, I don't know.
I'm sure there are books on it, but the technique is so natural and built into us that all you really need is a basic understanding of how it works, a little practice, and good hand-eye coordination. This can be built up a number of ways, but outside of shooting, video games and pitching baseballs come to mind. It is kind of like muscle memory training, but much more natural. Muscle memory is training the body to do something somewhat unnatural and/or complex rapidly without thinking. Point shooting is just training the body to do what it already does naturally, ie, the more you do it the better you get. And dry firing at home works just fine for this, just fine.
If I only knew one method of pistol fighting, this would likely be it, since most encounters are over after the first shot or two from a sufficient calibre to the COM, because they happen fast and at close range, and because the person that shoots first usually wins.
With rifles, we used to do this some in the army. For clearing a small room and say you are an SDM with an ACOG. Those top iron sights suck, and the mini reflex didn't exist then. So we trained to aim down the side of the barrel --sort of-- it was more like point shooting and using the barrel to complete a triangle formed by the target, the barrel, and your head. A little more complex, but doable at short distance for which it was intended. SAW gunners also held their SAWs like RPGs with the stock on the shoulder and aim down the side of the barrel in a similar way. Usually the smaller guys that had the older, longer ones used this method. I could shoulder a SAW no problem, and those Mk46's made it even easier. Still, in close range, sometimes it is best to use just the front sight of a rifle. Lots of different methods for different shooters and scenarios.
Good topic to bring up. Well aimed shots are always talked about, but in reality, for self defense shooting, there simply isn't time in every scenario. Well executed point shooting will put the shots on target fast and more accurate than you'd think. I think it is a good tool to have for the conceal carry crowd in particular, and most useful with semi pistols in general that are comfortable and have a fairly quick trigger.
