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Eye focus at plate rack


BlackBuzzard

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Heres the situation: plate rack of ten, 10" dia steel, spaced 24" apart, about 18 yards away.

Draw with eyes focused on first plate, focus snaps to front sight and first shot is fired on plate. I then find it faster to keep eyes focused on the front sight for the remaining plates since they are all equally spaced and close together, as opposed to refocusing on the next plate and again back to front sight............until all plates are down. Basically I am just following the front sight from target to target, but only for plates.

Does anyone else find this to be a faster way to do plates?

BB

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took a Bill Rogers class a couple of years ago. if you don't know, check out his target system.....his thing was to stay on the front sight, but every thing was pretty close together, so you could do it without looking where you were going, like a plate rack. i always argue this point with everybody.....

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I find plate racks or shooting a row of plates at close distances to be about getting an exceptable sight picture....without being too focused on the plates.... :blink:

almost like using my peripheral vision a little more can make everything seem slower...and get a sight picture that will allow a pause long enough to carry thru the rack. It is the worst place to be tense...

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No No No, look at the plates, that way you get to shoot so many more bullets. More bullets equals more enjoyment -- right!

The error most people make when shooting plates, a rack or Texas Star, is that after about the second or third hit, their eyes start looking for the next plate, they lose focus on the front sight and then misses occcur.

Our sport requires so many different types of discplines. That is why it is so challenging, frustrating, and enjoyable. The maintaining front sight focus when there is the natural urge to start looking for the place is just one example.

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Heres the situation: plate rack of ten, 10" dia steel, spaced 24" apart, about 18 yards away.

Draw with eyes focused on first plate, focus snaps to front sight and first shot is fired on plate. I then find it faster to keep eyes focused on the front sight for the remaining plates since they are all equally spaced and close together, as opposed to refocusing on the next plate and again back to front sight............until all plates are down. Basically I am just following the front sight from target to target, but only for plates.

Does anyone else find this to be a faster way to do plates?

BB

Evenly spaced targets that are close together...shot all in a row...

I call those "muzzle bump transitions". On those, it is often easy enough to stay on the front sight and "follow the bouncing dot" from plate to plate.

Is it better?

Getting the eyes moving that quickly on those types of targets is not an easy task. It may be a very advanced skill set, both mentally and physically. Probably one worth developing? :)

Exploring it is tough too. It far easier to just say staying on the front sight is better...cause it often is good enough.

I've worked on a drill...got it from Brian...I'll see if i can dig up the thread.

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As Flexmoney implied (?), riding the front sight across plate rack may instill or reinforce bad eye-focus techinique..........this is my concern with this practice.

I know I often stray (in matches) and get lazy on crisp front-sight-focus after target image......and I need disciplined practice in this area.

Perhaps the plate rack, where temptation is greatest, is the place to work on this?

BB

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Getting the eyes moving that quickly on those types of targets is not an easy task. It may be a very advanced skill set, both mentally and physically. Probably one worth developing?

Yes, that ability is worth the time and effort to develop. I spent a couple of years (off and on) working on shifting my focus from the plate, to the front sight, to the plate, repeat, vs. staying on the front sight and riding the recoil to the next plate. When I was shooting my best, it was just as fast (if not faster) to shift my eyes, but doing so made the shooting seem incredibly intense, I became fatigued, and sometimes I came away almost feeling dazed. Six plates in under 3 seconds with that much eye movement is a rush if nothing else. Maybe it was my lousy vision or the way my eyeglasses are set up. I suppose I got lazy, so I went back to staying with the sights and I just nudge the gun over.

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Hmmm,,,kinda the opposite for me, I think.
I wouldn't be suprised. When I was practicing the shifting of focus I was actually picking a "spot" on the center of the plate. Think of it as having your vision turned way up. Anyhow, my eyeballs are so goofy I probably shouldn't have muddied the waters.
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  • 9 months later...

I never had a reference point on this cause I ride the dot. I ran some racks last night and, at speed, I kept dropping a plate. The problem was I could not get my eyes to keep up from sight to plate and back. I was starting to get a bit peeved and fell back to what I have herd many times here. Front sight front sight front sight. Next run, was the fasted run and no misses. The next three were all clean as well. 2.78 seconds shooting a two on a partial paper and the plates from about 30ft. This was also helpful with the problem of watching for plates to fall... a nasty habit I've had huge issues with. Since the plate was so blurry, I couldn't rely on seeing movement anyway. :o

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