standard pistol sight hold

[elliott]

I've just taken up standard pistol and would like to get a concensus on where experienced shooters hold for their sight picture. The slow fire portion seems to be fine with a sub-six (as I use in free pistol) or six position with which I experimented. But what is the best hold for getting off an accurate first shot in two seconds from the international position?
Elliott

[David Levene]

But what is the best hold for getting off an accurate first shot in two seconds from the international position?

You wouldn't normally want to get the first shot off that quickly. The fastest series is 5 shots in 10 seconds. A first shot at around 4 seconds would still leave ample time for the other 4 shots.

One thing to beware of when using the sub-six in the 10 second series (which I fully recommend) is that there is sometimes a tendancy to let the sights drift a little closer to the black resulting in high shots. Being aware that it can happen is usually enough to counteract it.

[Steve Swartz]

Because of the phenomenon David mentions, I rend to use a "Line of White" (barely sub-6) sight picture as a trade-off between speed and precision.

We could switch from sub-6 for precision to center hold for timed/rapid too I guess.

I don't.

Steve Swartz

[Nicole Hamilton]

You wouldn't normally want to get the first shot off that quickly.

David Levene is a better shooter than I am, so there shouldn't be any surprise that I'll agree with him. But amplifying on the point, my experience is that getting a good string in timed and rapid depends on getting off a good first shot. If you can do that, you can expect the gun will settle back each time to nearly the same spot after the recoil and you'll get a nice rhythm going: settle, click, settle, click. But if you rush the first shot resulting a poor placement, you'll end up struggling with the whole rest of the string.

[F. Paul in Denver]

I also agree with David.

I note that he said striving to fire the first shot in 2 seconds may be too fast and that 4 seconds will still leave enough time. Notice he made no mention of exactly at what point you should get the first round away.

I think the first shot should happen when your sights line up to whatever aiming point you have decided upon. And I also agree that for me, the first shot tends to set the stage for the rest.

I like to practice shooting the timed and rapid fire stages by not using a timer at all. Just shoot five shots without regard for any time but instead concentrate on getting five shots off with the sights properly aligned in a relaxed and rhythmic manner. You will be amazed at how the time factor will take care of itself once you attain the confidence of being able to get 5 great shots away.

Rhythm is very important and in the words of Erich Buljung, "Smoother is faster"

F. Paul in Denver

[RobStubbs]

In the UK we have to shoot it with air but I've also been shooting it now with 22 abroad. I pretty much use 4 seconds for the 10 and 20 sec strings whatever gun I'm using and as others have said it's the rhythm that really matters.

As a point of interest we have an 'odd' rapid fire event in the UK shooting at 10 metres with air guns, with only slightly bigger targets than the 10M precision targets. We shoot these with a sub six hold and scores can be very good (although we shoot 10, 8, 6 on these for some reason).

So my point is that sub six is fine but do take your time getting the frst shot right.

Rob.