Shooting the FBI Handgun Qualification With No Sights

[Tactically Fat]

So... The better and more experienced one is WITH sights seems to have a direct correlation to how good one is WITHOUT sights - due to the building of neural pathways and overall hand/eye coordination. Imagine that.

Also - not that anyone cares about my opinion (I'm a nobody) - is that fast "point shooting" was just not noticing how much you really were using your sights due to neural pathways having been built, hand/eye coordination, and the fact that our eyes receive WAY more information than our bran realizes it's receiving.

 

[Randy Harris]

Pretty much.

Your grip and drawstroke get the gun pointed where you want it ( if that is something you practice and if you are doing it with the gun pretty well lined up with the bones in your arm) . The sights are then used to verify alignment just before the shot breaks.The better you get ( more experience doing it correctly) the less you HAVE to verify.

Now before anyone loses their mind , I’m talking about shooting at distances under 7 yards because for MOST people about 7 yards is where actually seeing a pretty decent sight picture is needed to Guarantee “A zone “ hits. And certainly so for a head shot. And while yes I know that plenty of people fall down after getting shot in the gut, there are enough that do not ( and still go on to kill their opponent even after being shot in the gut, butt cheek or big toe) that we really need to strive for hits in the nipple to neck area .

So if your practice regimen has you driving the gun to where the sights come up on target where you wanted them to be over and over and over and over again, eventually you can “trust yourself” and be able to accept the alignment is good without having to visually verify a front sight level and with even amounts of light through a rear sight. At that point seeing “something” on the gun superimposed on the target is probably adequate and it then comes down to pressing the trigger with enough finesse not to miss. ( again we are talking about straight on upper torso shots at typical civilian engagement distances....not down a 40 yard long aisle in Walmart).

 

[BehindBlueI's]

is that fast "point shooting" was just not noticing how much you really were using your sights ...

I think that's contraindicated by folks doing this sort of comparison with pistols completely lacking sights or the cowboy trick shot guys who never bring the gun up to within their sight. Those guys are legitimately "point shooting" based solely on consistency. Consistency of grip, draw, etc. They get to be real good at those tricks. The downside is they also need consistency in distance, being squared up to the target, etc. If either is inconsistent, it's going to fall apart.

A perfect example is Bob Munden. On his "quick draw" type tricks at a stationary target he's definitely not getting the gun up high enough to see the sights. He is 100% using the consistency of his movement and the consistency of his location vs the location of his target. When he flips a coin in the air and shoots it, you see him get on the sights.

Now, that's a pretty binary example and in reality there's a sliding scale of how much you use the sight. The "see what you need to see" comes into play based on the shot you need to make. One thing we have to do in training on occasion is purposefully shoot with the front sight at various positions in the rear notch at various distances. It gives you an idea of when you need a "perfect" sight picture, when you just need to find the front sight, when you can just index shoot, etc. based on your particular gun and skill level. Valuable info.

 

[jlw]

Shane Gosa and I taught a class at the 2015 Tactical Conference in which we used alternate sighting methods, and I do that same block in my Exigent Pistolcraft class. One of the methods was written about by Jim Cirillo, and in encompasses using the entire pistol itself as a sight. It works pretty well out to 7-yards if you consider the -0 area as an acceptable target zone.

I have tested the technique in force on force, and it works well.

I have never tried to run an entire qual course using.

 

[Tactically Fat]

jlw - ever have any classes this direction?

VA and GA are a far piece from here.

 

[jlw]

jlw - ever have any classes this direction?

VA and GA are a far piece from here.

All it takes is a host... and students.