Not seeing the sights

[1911jerry]

I shot a local match today. I tried to keep my head in the game thinking positive thoughts, even though my shooting did not equal my thought process. One area that I was weak today was actually seeing the front sight come back down and waiting for the sight to call the shot. I had many mikes.

Am I being impatient, rushing the shot, or what? I ran my game plans, I just didn't hit very much. One target was A/A, the next was A/C, then two mikes, in no particular order.

I get the feeling that I need to slow down the process, and improve calling the shots, because something is not working right.

On the postive side, I did have good reloads...

Had fun, but looking for improvement.

Jerry

[GentlemanJim]

Telling yourself to slow down may not be the thing to do,

Insted tell yourself to see the front sight before you break the shot

How fast you can see the sight on the A zone is how fast you can shoot.

JMHO

Jim

[BSeevers]

Jerry

I could probably post 10000 words on this subject.

Search the forum and read a years posts will give you 50% of the info you need. Get Brians book. Buy a DVD. Find a M to help you.

Shooting a handgun fast and accurate is a tricky task. Its fun though.

[B.Reid]

You have to approach stages differently. You need to be aware of what your split times are and how quickly you can transition from target to target. When doing walk throughs I kinda feel it out as to how I'm gonna shoot it. To me it's all about cadence or rhythm. A guy whose shooting quickly but consistently (nice steady rthym) should be doing better than the guy whose all over the place. I believe that a person can with a little work get their splits consistent enough so that they get used to the amt of movement of the gun to be able to track the sight with no problems. It just takes alot of practice. You've also gotta push it too.

[North]

Worry about calling your shots. As Bseevers said, get Brians Book.

Don't pull the trigger until you know where the shot is going to impact.

[G-ManBart]

All good advice above. One of the things almost all of the great teachers/great shooters talk about is shooting groups. It makes you stop worrying about speed and focus on the front sight. Many people don't realize they can't even track the front sight when they're shooting slow groups much less fast splits. Shoot some groups, see the front sight and let it tell you it's story.

Another great thing to do is to shoot some steel....plate racks from far enough away that you need to have a hard front sight focus to make your hits.

When I start to feel disconnected (not tracking the front sight) I'll turn off the timer and simply shoot multiple shots on a single target and alternate between the lower and upper box. Sometimes it's two to the lower and one to the upper, sometimes it's one to the lower and one to the upper, sometimes three to the lower, two to the upper etc.....just shoot and see the front sight without worrying about the time. I'm often surprised at how much I start seeing again...and it's fun to just sort of run the gun and see what happens.

[BlackBuzzard]

What has helped me a lot was long sessions with a .22LR semi auto pistol on steel, at mildly challenging distances.

Ammo is dirt cheap and one gets instant auditory feedback on hit/no-hit. Some days I fire over 500 rounds........used to do that with 9mm when blazer was $3.50/box.

Just focus on the front sight, going two shots on each steel.

Leave the timer at home and just watch front sight for this type session.

BB

[Jman]

Jerry,

Welcome! Here is a link to Matt Burkets timing drill. It has been linked to us several times. A great exercise would be an understatement. Grab up three target stands and at least 300 rounds. Follow the instructions. Real good stuff.

http://www.doublealpha.biz/tip_burkett.htm#Timing%20Drills

Jim M

Edited December 24, 2007 by JimmyM