Dwight Stearns
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Posts posted by Dwight Stearns
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Let's face it, front sight focus isn't natural, especially with both eyes open. What is natural is target focus. Target focus shooting can be done with great success but requires increased concentration to make sure reasonable sight alignment is maintained. I don't recommend target focus shooting for everyone but for someone with vision issues, it's worth a try. My vision isn't in your league (mine is 4.50) but I still find it easier than front sight focus. I do find that some type of front sight enhancement such as fiber optic helps with seeing an acceptable sight picture. You mention seeing two sets of sights but that isn't a problem because your dominant eye will be aligned with the correct sight image. It's just like pointing your finger. It may be worth a try.
Good shooting
Dwight Stearns
I have been doing it for quite sometime and can get A zone hits at any reasonable distance. You have to really dial up the concentration.
Dwight
I've pretty much given up on iron sights. Any prescription that gives me a sharp picture of the front sight totally blurs out targets past 15 or 20 yards.
Using a target focus, how accurate can you shoot? Can you make "A" hits at 25 yards or is it just a case of getting some hits on the brown? Same question for steel plates at longer distance.
Next time I'm at the range I'll give it a try. Just don't want to get my hopes too high.
Thanks.
Bill
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Let's face it, front sight focus isn't natural, especially with both eyes open. What is natural is target focus. Target focus shooting can be done with great success but requires increased concentration to make sure reasonable sight alignment is maintained. I don't recommend target focus shooting for everyone but for someone with vision issues, it's worth a try. My vision isn't in your league (mine is 4.50) but I still find it easier than front sight focus. I do find that some type of front sight enhancement such as fiber optic helps with seeing an acceptable sight picture. You mention seeing two sets of sights but that isn't a problem because your dominant eye will be aligned with the correct sight image. It's just like pointing your finger. It may be worth a try.
Good shooting
Dwight Stearns
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Thanks Steve.
You are correct.
Now I have to 'decide to do it' firing Rifle.
The bang of the recoil spring makes me blink.
Funny because I can keep both eyes open with a 12Ga pump
To stop the blink, try a trick i developed several years ago. Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth as you shoot. That will stop the blink by distracting the subconscious.
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I agree with Eric, you can't do any better than a C more for steel and it works great on critters too. The tube sights restrict the vision too much. Plus C more is a great sponsor of the shooting sports. Dot size is a personal preference. I prefer the 6 minute dot for steel.
Dwight
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I shot against Daniel several years at the STI/Handgunner World Shootofs when he was a junior and i could beat him part of the time. He was a class act then and his shooting and character have just improved with age... Proud to call him a friend.
His withdraw is just another example.Dwight
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The first 10.... till the melt down.
Dwight
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Tim, I have to say it has been fun watching Matt rocket to the top in Ruger rimfire matches this year (13th at the world match and 2nd at the Arkansas state match). I don't think I ever seen anyone with the reflexes he has. Many stages it seened he was firing his first shot before the start buzzer quits. I like to joke about not giving Matt any more advice but when he asks, I will give him the best advice I can. That way if......(no I mean when) he beats me I can shake his hand and know we were on a level playing field. Just let him know that I'm not going to roll over easily. I am going to practice my a## off. I has been a pleasure shooting with both of you.
Stay safe
Dwight
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Scores are up on Nighthawk Training Academy's website
Dwight
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Hi Eric
It seems the scores still aren't posted yet but here are a couple finishes I have from memory.
The performances of the day go to:
Matt Ubl- 2nd overall open and of course top junior
Allie Barrett- 2nd open pistol, top lady and 5th overall
Other finishes:
Barry Steffen aka. Bearcave- 4th overall open
Lassa Boerre Limited Champion
Tim Ubl- 2nd limited
Cheryl Current- 9th overall Open
Rod Current- 10th overall Open
Yours truly scraped out the open championship
It was a great match. Wish you could have been there. See you at some of next year's matches
Stay Safe
Dwight
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Glad you tried it and glad it worked for you. You mentioned you have a flinch issue. Keep in mind that pulling the gun down at or before firing is not a flinch, it's recoil anticipation. There is a big difference. Blinking when the shot goes off is a flinch and is actually easier to correct than recoil anticipation. But, correcting the blink issue is a first step in correcting recoil anticipation (pre-ignition push).
Good shooting
Dwight
The blink reflex when the gun fires is a subconscious reaction. So the subconscious must be trained that the loud noise is not a danger to the eyes. To stop blinking you need to preoccupy the sunconscious with another task. In addition to the tricks already mentioned such as double plugging, bill drills, watching the sights lift or the brass exit, try one other trick. Try pressing your tongue up into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can while firing. The students i have worked with have been able to stop blinking in a matter of a few rounds with this trick. Once enough rounds are fired and the subconscious learns that the loud noise is not a danger to your eyes, the tongue press trick will no longer be necessary. Let me know the results if you give this a try.
Dwight
This really worked for me. I have a flinch that I'm working hard to get rid of. This helped tremendously.
Thanks for the tip!
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Looks like Barecave and I will be bringing a van load. 6 hour drive.... thats close isn't it?
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The blink reflex when the gun fires is a subconscious reaction. So the subconscious must be trained that the loud noise is not a danger to the eyes. To stop blinking you need to preoccupy the sunconscious with another task. In addition to the tricks already mentioned such as double plugging, bill drills, watching the sights lift or the brass exit, try one other trick. Try pressing your tongue up into the roof of your mouth as hard as you can while firing. The students i have worked with have been able to stop blinking in a matter of a few rounds with this trick. Once enough rounds are fired and the subconscious learns that the loud noise is not a danger to your eyes, the tongue press trick will no longer be necessary. Let me know the results if you give this a try.
Dwight
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I had the same thing start happening to me with a square deal.... check the shell plate. Mine was wearing out.
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Wow, you've got the bug bad... Welcome to the club and welcome to the forum.
The best place to work on speed is during your practice sessions. That is where you find out what your limits are. (A man's got to know his limitations) Then pull back to those limitations in matches and see what you need to see for every shot. You will find you can finish well ahead of "better" shooters by letting them crash and burn while you shoot within yourself. Most of my practice sessions (I'm mostly a steel shooter) include several runs at a plate rack that are so fast that i am safe but basically out of control. I do this to work on speeding my mind up. During the really fast runs I am consciously, activly looking for that sight picture rather than just pointing and shooting. At first everything seems like a blur but after several runs I find I am actually seeing that sight picture. When i pull back and shoot within myself I find that my runs seem slow but the timer tells me otherwise. So during the match shoot as fast as you your limits allow while activly seeing that sight picture and Seeing the front sight lift in recoil.
The other thing to work on is making use of what I call free time. Free time is time made up that does not effect accuracy. Watch the truely better shooters in your club. You may notice they may not shoot two shots on the same target much faster than you but their total time may be a lot faster. They make up their time between targets (transitions). By learning to drive the gun from target to target you can really speed up your run and still get the same hits. As soon as you see the sights lift on your last shot on a target, snap the eyes to the next target and you will find the guns will tend to snap to the next target as well. (driving the gun)
Dwight
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Without disturbing the sights, press the trigger as soon as you see an acceptable sight picture. By waiting any longer the conscious mind begins to over-think the shot and the mind becomes more and more uncomfortable with the shot. The more uncomfortable the mind gets, the greater the probability the mind will just say "%!&@-it" and yank the trigger. (Result= pre-ignition push, shots go low and away from the shooting hand) It sounds to me like you may be consciously thinking about the first shots but after the first target you are pressing the trigger without conscious thought as soon as sight picture is recognised. I'll bet the shot(s) just seem to go off.... almost by themselves. Now you just need to let that same thing happen on the first target. If I am correct, slowing down will most likely just make it worse.
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9mm is perfect for 3 gun. Especially the outlaw matches. The minimum caliber is usually 9mm and most plates will fall with the 9. Although there was this one time at the 09 Ozark.... dead centered a plate on a Texas star with a factory 9mm and it just sat there and looked at me.
Dwight
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I see my error when I read the question.... I guess my eyes are going... couldn't tell the difference between ' and ". I guess I would need to know the distance to the targets. For longer distance targets I can't imagine what would cause the accuracy differences. For close targets a short target may cause the shooter to lean slightly forward giving them a stronger stance.
Dwight
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If I got the question correct, you accuracy is better when shooting at a smaller target as opposed to shooting at a larger target.
If that is the case, the larger the aiming area, the larger the group. It's the old aim small, miss small. When you shoot the larger target, don't just hit the target, try to hit the center of the target. The center of a target is the same size no matter the dimentions of the target.
Dwight
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When I have watched other instructors using the ball and dummy drill (known some places as the screw your buddy drill). Students that "succeed" with the dummy will display muzzle jump in the 45 degree angle range when the gun hits a live round. Not conducive to rapid fire. In my opinion it just doesn't work for teaching high speed shooting.
G-man, I like the idea of the body wanting to stay in ballance. I'll probably steal it and use it down the road. (I'll gime you credit for it though.)
Dwight
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If one doesn't blink and consciously sees the sights lift, the person will also see the front sight dip immediately before ignition and recognise that pre-ignition push. (I hate the word flinch) The mind is an amazing computer and will try to correct the pre-ignition push (If it sees it) by delaying the subconscious muscle contraction the mind uses to compensate for recoil. The pre-ignition push becomes a post-ignition push.
Absolutely! I get to work with this on a regular basis (unfortunately). If I see someone has a pre-ignition push, or what looks that way, I'll trick them. I'll say "here, shoot my gun" and hand them my Glock with an Advantage Arms .22LR conversion kit on it. I tell them "it's got some milder ammo in it that will help me see what's happening". The very first shot is almost always "oh, now I see what's been happening"....as soon as they see it, they can fix it. I'll let them get all comfy, then have them go back to their gun...when they pre-ignition push, they'll stop and say (often turning to smile) "okay, I saw that one". Bingo...we have a winner
Exactly.... one can only correct what they can see and recognise.
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I have to agree with the G-man on this. The ball and dummy drill or coin on the slide are great bullseye training techniques but in my opinion don't transmit to high speed shooting very well. More important, in my humble opinion, is that the shooter fires without blinking and actually consciously sees the position of the sights at the instant of firing (sees the sights lift). If one doesn't blink and consciously sees the sights lift, the person will also see the front sight dip immediately before ignition and recognise that pre-ignition push. (I hate the word flinch) The mind is an amazing computer and will try to correct the pre-ignition push (If it sees it) by delaying the subconscious muscle contraction the mind uses to compensate for recoil. The pre-ignition push becomes a post-ignition push.
So don't blink and speed up the conscious mind so it recognizes what the eyes are seeing. The pre-ignition push will start to go away. Don't be surprised if you have to readjust your sights sometime in the future because you are suddenly shooting high.
Dwight
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Entries sent for barecave and myself for rimfire magnified. Should be lots of fun...... Drive for 9 hours and shoot a .22. You don't have to be crazy but it helps.
Dwight
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I have one Rimfire shooter now, So I need at least 2 more for a division, 4 more would be better.
Trapr
Trapr
My sghooting partner and I will be sending in our apps this week. We both plan on shooting rimfire magnified.
Dwight
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A few years ago I had a problem with breaking the bolt that holds the shellplate on a Dillon square deal. I called Dillon and they asked if I lubed the cases and i thought how stupid, that's why I have carbide. But, I took their advice and started lightly lubing the cases and haven't broken a single bolt since. As a bonus, the press is a whole lot easier to run. And of course they replaced my part for free.
Dwight
His withdraw is just another example.
BAD Nearsighted shooter HELP PLEASE
in Handgun Techniques
Posted
Oops... messed up the reply.
Dwight