Front Sight, Front Sight, Bang

This might be a controversial topic. Concentration on the front sight is long debated as effective. Well, I can only say that it works for me and front sight worked for many years while I was dong high level close quarter combat (CQB) in the Special Forces.

I learned to shoot in the military.  Started out in the infantry and while I could shoot fairly well, I was by no means a excellent shot.  Only until I went into Special Forces and got some expert “schoolin” by some guys who had been there and done that did I finally make the grade on accuracy.

I can’t quote the reference, but one day on the range I was told that a study was done on police officers who had fired their weapons in action.  Those who remembered seeing the front sight of their weapon 95% hit their target.  Those who didn’t; rarely hit their target.  That was the day I started concentrating on the front sight.

The concept is that the front sight should be in very clear focus.  The target will be fuzzy.  I don’t know what the physiological factors are involved but basically if you can get the front sight on target you are going to have a great chance of hitting what you want.

So, how to put this into action?

When I practice drawing my weapon, I bring it up to center mass of my body.  My thumb takes the safety off. I bring my left hand on the pistol at the middle of the body. As I bring up the pistol to the target (level), I am squeezing the trigger to halfway back and acquiring the sights.  Once on target, apply that fraction of pressure to drop the hammer.clear front sight

Front sight, front sight, bang

This concentration on the front sight dramatically, almost instantaneously improved my pistol shooting.  It also improved my rifle shooting.  Getting the front sight in crystal clear focus and the target blurry increased my hit percentage dramatically.

Now when you start this out, it is going to be slow. I suggest you dry fire.  Go out to the range and slow way, way down.  Only speed up when you are hitting the exact center.  Develop your muscle memory and you will be smooth, fast and accurate.

Other places have called this flash shooting.  Flash shooting is more accurate than just pointing and much faster than getting a full site picture.  Jeff Cooper was one of the publicists of the technique.

While I don’t know if this will work for you, I taught the technique to many over the years with great success.  Check it out.

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