Aiming point?

[Jon]

Embarrassingly simple question, but what is considered the "correct" sight picture? Should it look like the black is sitting just above the sights, or should the sight picture be aligned with the x-ring? Thanks!

[Guest]

You will get various answers to this question..Holding for the X area (center hold) is favored by some in Timed and Rapid fire events..Using it in slow fire you will find that the all important front sight blends in with the black background of the target (not good)...Holding at the very bottom of the black bull (6 o'clock hold) was taught for a long time...What happens is the eye ends up focasing on the bull (aiming at it)rather than the front sight,again not good..Tody's thought is to hold with the white of the target showing between the front sight and the bottom of the bull...Some people say some white (below 6 hold), some people favor a lot of white (deep 6 hold)...I would suggest either of the last two as a starting point,and see what works for you...

[Chris]

You should try out sub-6, 6, and center holds and use what works best for you and how your mind translates the data that your eyes are seeing.

The important point that should be made is when trying it out give yourself plenty of time to adjust to the change and try not to change anything else in your process of shooting a shot. It may take a few months to get used to a change. For some people the first time you make a change your scores will impove and then fall to a steady state. Hopfully the steady state is above where you were before the change.

I have asked this queston of some of our top shooters and several of them use center for free and air.

If your front site is the same width as the target you are shooting then you will be able to always see your front site and the gaps to the side of it.

Good luck

[tommyg]

This is a matter of personal choice and it can change between disciplines. For example. For AP , stanadard and free I use a deep sub six hold, my front sight is somewhere in the 3-4 ring. In these cases I am using a visual pattern to establish my area of aim.

But for those events with dueling like sport, centre fire or the NRA 2700 i use a center of mass hold. The targets used for these different events cause the change. Usually they have a large black area that makes a sub 6 hold useless. I do this because i do not like changing the settings on my sights for the different targets.

[Guest]

I use to use a center hold (when I also shot BullsEye, which features Timed and Rapid fire), with either a replacement translucent orange front sight ... or with a white dot painted to my front sight ...

... but now I'm back to a sub-six hold ... because it's easier to area aim in the white below the black ... without getting fixated or at least distracted by the target. Concentration should only be on the front sight and sight aligment. I still use a white dot to help me focus my attention on the front sight.

The amount of white above the front sight should equal the amount of white on either side of the front sight ... and those side amounts should equal some even fraction of the front sight width ... or be equal to the front sight width. The older one gets, typically the larger the side spacings "should" be ... for easier viewing. Read the Nygord Notes on sighting on the Nygords web site ...

[Killabyte]

My front site is about the same width as the bullseye. Right now I've been putting my front site where it covers the bull, then just focussing on the front site from that point on, and making sure that the front site and the rear site are even on top and on the sides.

I've been doing this for just two weeks

But since I don't have a coach, and practice makes permanent, I really should ask if this is correct.

I just read this thread, and some parts confused me. Maybe someone could help explain the whole sub 6 and aiming above or below the target?

I guess if you had the black above the sights, then it'd be easier to tell where the X ring is?

Anyone want to draw using MS Paint? :)

Anyways, I'm sure enjoying this sport.

-Austin

[David Levene]

Killabyte, have you tried looking at the "Hitchhikers Guide" on The Pilguns site or the coaching documents on the Target Shooting Canada Site.

The latter has a good document on sight picture.

[Nicole Hamilton]

Maybe someone could help explain the whole sub 6 and aiming above or below the target?

I guess if you had the black above the sights, then it'd be easier to tell where the X ring is?

Anyone want to draw using MS Paint? :)

Putting the black above the sights isn't about seeing the X ring, it's about being able to better distinguish your sight alignment (i.e., the alignment of your front and rear sights) and getting a more consistent sight picture (i.e., combination of the sights and the target.) Some people (including some very good shooters) do prefer center hold, but the problem is that with the front sight covering part of the black, it's harder to determine whether you're really in the same place in the middle each time and also, with black against black, it's harder to see if your sights are aligned.

Six o'clock hold is the traditional method for target shooting and it's the one that's taught in the NRA basic pistol classes, where they also call it "pumpkin on a fencepost." The idea is that it's easy to see if you're just touching the black with your front sight, so it's very repeatable. And because your sights are over the white, you can easily focus on your alignment.

But sub-6 is gaining popularity because a lot of shooters argue that it makes it easier to focus on alignment without your eye drifting to the target. The issue here is that sight alignment is way more important than sight picture, and all of us are constantly fighting the tendancy to allow our focus to drift from the sights to the target. When that happens, you'll almost always get a miserable shot.

Here are the pictures you asked for. The front sight is black because that should be in best focus. Next is the rear sight. The black on the target should be out of focus.

[killabyte]

Thanks!

I won't embarass myself by further explaining what I was doing wrong before, but now I get it.

Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!

I think 6 o'clock will work best for me for now, hahaha I'm so dumb.

Thank you - I'll pass along the help to another when I'm able!
-Austin

[Mike Taylor]

When I started target pistol (circa 1961), I, too, was taught the six o'clock hold. Some 10 years later, as "international" shooting (UIT/ISU) took hold in my sphere, I moved to centre hold. The argument was that it was more readily apparent when you were not focussed on the front sight. If focus was lost, the front sight would effectively 'disappear' against the black bull. As I aged and my eyesight deteriorated, I switched to sub-six hold. Still, I find my focus being drawn to the target.
I've considered trying a supra-twelve hold; that is, with the front sight in the white above the bull; that is, like shooting against a blank target. Unfortunately, none of my rear sights have sufficient downward travel to permit my groups to centre on the ten-ring. At the moment, I have not gone so far as to raise the front sight in order to lower the shot group on the target. Has anyone else experimented with this "supra-12" hold?