Five Ways to Improve Non-Sighted Fire.

Almost all handguns have open sights. Aiming an open-sighted gun effectively depends on the alignment of the rear sight, the front post, and the intended target. The process is familiar to almost everyone who has fired a gun (and many who haven’t, thanks to video games).

This 870 has a longer radius than most pistols, and a big bright dot to make shooting fast more efficient.

In defensive shooting scenarios, though, proper sight alignment is complicated by adrenaline and an urgent need for immediate action. It is difficult to keep your focus on the front sight, while also coordinating the alignment of the rear sight with the blurry image of a target (especially if it is moving). That’s when a passing familiarity with point shooting can become useful.

How do you keep three separate points in focus when you’re moving fast? It is all-but-impossible, which is why some favor the front sight.

William Fairbairn and Eric Sykes, two British combat experts and weapon designers who trained Allied special forces before WWII, wrote a book called Shooting To Live With The One Hand Gun.

“Target shooting has its place and we have no quarrel with it…There probably will be a quarrel, however, when we go on to say that beyond helping to teach care in the handling of fire-arms, target shooting is of no value whatever in learning the use of the pistol as a weapon of combat.

“The two things are as different from each other as chalk from cheese, and what has been learned from target shooting is best unlearned if proficiency is desired in the use of the pistol under actual fighting conditions.”

A gun like this 686 is great for precise shots, but slower out of the holster.

It goes without saying that you must follow the precepts of proper gun safety. When shooting at close distances, use cardboard or paper targets. If you shoot steel at close distances you risk a ricochet, or may end up picking bits of full metal jackets out of your forearms. Don’t ask me how I know this.

With safety in mind, begin by practicing dry fire. Work on presenting the gun to the target and pulling the trigger without jerking the gun. Rack the slide for a quick trigger reset (the gun is empty, right?) and do it again. Get the feel for where the trigger breaks. Watch for any jerky movements and work to eliminate them.

Shoot targets that aren’t going to kick back bits of lead or copper jackets.

The next step is to add live fire. Shoot from close distances. Leave three feet between the end of your extended gun and the target. Begin at low ready, gun drawn. Raise the gun, keeping your motion smooth and controlled, and fire. Start slow.

This isn’t an excuse to begin shooting from the hip. If you were to take your eyes off the target to focus on your front sight, you would still be able to do so. Work on placing your shots in center mass.

From this distance, work single shots into double taps, and then strings of three. Then add a designed mag change into a string of three by shooting two from one magazine, then making a change and firing one more.

Work from the holster. Practice the same drills above from your concealed carry holster. When it comes time to practice the mag change, be realistic about it; pull your magazine from concealment, too.

Good concealed carry sights, like these that come on the Honor Guard 9mm, are visible, even when you are focused on the target in front of you.

Add some distance. After you have run a few magazines at close distance, back up a bit. I will typically practice at 3 feet, and a 10 feet. Then I go the opposite direction and get up to where I’m touching the target when I start.

The last step comes with practice. As you get comfortable with the feel of the gun, and the way it moves, you will develop muscle memory that allows for you to begin to combine elements of using the sights with the motions of point shooting. The best way to hone these skills is to run similar drills with very small targets on top of your larger ones. In other words, shoot for a 1″ dot in the middle of that torso target.

Even at speed, you’ll begin to use your sights more and more. And you’ll be able to pick up on when you’re not aligned like you want.

Your accuracy will improve. Remember, though, accuracy is relative in a defensive situation. Don’t be hard on yourself if you can’t cover three shot strings with a quarter. Well spaced holes in center-mass aren’t always a bad thing.

David Higginbotham is a writer and editor who specializes in everyday carry. David is a former backcountry guide in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and Boundary Waters Canoe Area who was a college professor for 20 years. He ultimately left behind the academy for a more practical profession in the firearms industry and was (among other editorial positions) the Managing Editor for a nascent Mag Life blog. In that Higginbotham helped establish The Maglife's tone and secure its early success. Though he went on to an even more practical firearms industry profession still, he continues to contribute articles and op-eds as time and life allow.

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