Aiming the pistol (Focal Points)

In this topic I would like to cover aiming the pistol correctly at the target. Now everyone knows that you should point the gun at the bullseye and fire. When using open plain sights to aim there are 4 main focal points that you can achieve. Please read the material below to correspond with the images.

Focusing on the target. This allows you to see the target clearly, in the hopes of seeing where the shots lie. It's an instinctive need to look at what you want to hit, and in the case of pistol shooting very wrong. If you are looking at the target, then you cannot be looking at the sights (which is how you aim accurately.)

Focusing on the rear sights. This is a little closer to what you want. The target will appear blurry because your focal point is so close, but this is to be expected. The problem here is that the front sight is not well defined, which means it will be hard to consistently center the front sight within the rear sight,

Focusing on the front sight. This is what you want to achieve. The front sight is the focal point for aiming that all else should surround. The target is a blur, but its an even round blur, so that is ok. The rear sight is a little out of focus, but not too much, because the distance is small between it and the front sight. With the front sight sharp and clear it is easy to see the spaces are even to the left and right of the front sight. And easy to see if your sight is level, creating a nice bookshelf to rest the bullseye above.



Focusing Anywhere Else inbetween. You'll just get a headache and hit anything but what you want ;)

Sight Alignment.
Alignment is every bit as important as focus. without a correctly aligned sight, you shots will not break in close groups. as with the last image, you want to create an even geometry between the pistol and the target. Most people aim a little below the black centre ring so that the sights are easily seen. trying to focus blacksights over black target is very tricky business! A lot of the sight positioning comes from head, foot and body alignment. Match these 3 things with a steady arm and steadier wrist and you'll be banging out the 10's. Even a 1/2mm variance on the front sight (so that the width is greater on the left/right/top or bottom of the rear sights can create a 2cm (1 inch) difference on the target.