Slowfire at 50 yards and consistent sight alignment

[hambam105]

Arch of Movement

When you are using iron sights correctly there is always wobble.

Since most shooters can't stand wobble they choose to falsely adjust their focus to the target. When they watch the target the wobble disappears like magic every time.

Why 98% of shooters don't understand or refuse to believe or trust or execute this concept has remained a mystery since the invention of placing barrel mounted iron sights or for about 300 years give or take a few decades.

When your target has been identified, (rule 4 is always in effect), and the target is obscured or the target is at an extended distance or when you are so physically exhausted, labored breathing et al, and you remain determined to shoot, sight alignment is critical.

50 yard iron sight shooting:
Acknowledge you need to emphasize sight alignment.
Identify your target... Aim, (align the sights and accept the wobble), where you think the center of the target is... release the hammer as evenly as you can... follow thru.
Repeat as many times as necessary.

[javaduke]

Bullseye and International shooter here. The sight alignment drill is often done just against a blank piece of paper or a wall. There's no target, so you can focus on keeping the sights perfectly aligned when pulling the trigger. Keep practicing until you can consistently pull the trigger while keeping your front sight perfectly aligned with your rear sight.

As others said, sub-six hold works better than center hold for this type of shooting.

Make sure you have a good trigger job for your service pistol. I polished my hammer hooks and stoned and polished the sear using the True Radius jig. Trigger shoes are also legal for EIC, they help spreading the pressure more evenly, so that 4lb feels a bit lighter.

As far as 22 conversion, Nelson conversions are among the best ones. Of course, the downside would be that you will still have to use the same heavy trigger for your 22 shooting, but the advantage is that you will still have to use the same heavy trigger ))

[milotrain]

When you are using iron sights correctly there is always wobble.

I was having trouble explaining what I'm seeing. I think I have a better method: I know there is going to be wobble, my service rifle is 18lbs or so and in offhand and in the wind sometimes my wobble is bigger than the target backer. I don't have a problem with that, I take the slack out start the squeeze concentrate on the front sight with all I have and ride the wobble until it begins to enter the 10 ring in an expected fashion, then the shot breaks. With the pistol though there are two wobbles. There is the wobble of the pistol and then there is the wobble of the sight alignment. I've never seen that with the service rifle. My position is so stiff with the rifle that the sight alignment never changes, the whole thing wobbles. I know that I am losing points due to sight alignment, and obviously it's harder because there are not four points of contact with the firearm like there is with the rifle.

Javaduke,
I'll check out Nelson. Thanks for the sight alignment drill, that is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

I think I found one group in SoCal that shoots bullseye, I've got an email into them. There is also a guy in the Bay that I know of who is chasing his Distinguished Rifle badge (he's got a Distinguished Pistol and Distinguished International badge). I might need to try and rope him into helping me next time we are at a Rifle match together.

J1133s,
Thanks for the info about sandbags, makes sense. I'll see what I can do setup wise next time I'm on the pistol range.

[hambam105]

That 98% of shooters I quoted includes a lot 50 yard pistol shooters.

Rifle...Pistol...iron sights...same-same. Nothing magical here.

[milotrain]

That 98% of shooters I quoted includes a lot 50 yard pistol shooters.

Rifle...Pistol...iron sights...same-same. Nothing magical here.

I know bullgazing is a real thing, I've fought against it a lot! And I'm sure I fall into it with the pistol, as it's a new thing and uncomfortable. But it sure doesn't help; really working hard on front sight focus got me from Expert to Master.

[bwhited]

Come out to Prado and shoot their Bullseye, it is good practice.

[BrianRodela]

Got a couple of points for you Milo. 1911 shooters I believe have a little tougher experience with sight wobble than other pistols because the trigger is an immediate 4 lbs. In an effort to maintain perfect sight alignment while slowly laying on the trigger, you start to develope a wobble. I like to refer to it more as a shake! M9 users have a little cheat as they can make the trigger more like a 2 stage trigger as the trigger return spring can ad take up weight essentially making the first stage and reducing the needed pull weight of the second stage. What I do is use a bore laser to aim across the room at the wall. At first I ignore the sights and simply work on my trigger squeeze. You will be suprised at the deviation the laser indicates when squeezing the trigger. Over time, this wobble and deviation will be greatly reduced. Once your squeeze improves, then work on the perfect sight picture.
Also, there is a big difference between looking at the front sight and focusing on the front sight. I make a point to see the serrations on the front sight when aiming. I will even use a sharpie to place a mark on the sight and look for the discoloration.
Although the CMP has allowed many different pistols in the service pistol catagory, don't hesitate to consider trying something else. Prior to last year, I barely broke the 200 mark. This year I used my XDm 5.25 in 9mm and the longer take up in the trigger allowed me to maintain sight alignment and pulled of scores in the 230s and 240s. The last EIC match I pulled off a 244.

[milotrain]

Excellent, thanks for the advice. I'll try that with the laser. I also got Zins' workbook for the Marine Corps Shooting team so I'm going to start working through that.

I really don't want to leave the 1911, mostly because it's my only pistol. I do not shoot it as well as the XD9 I used to own, but I know I can get there if I focus and practice practice practice.

I used to use a pencil mark on the front sight of the rifle and look for the gleam of the graphite to know I was focusing. Now I know I'm focusing when the target goes from fuzzy to a milky haze. Oddly I peripherally notice the blur of the target in order to know I am focusing on the post. That got me my first clean on the MR31.

bwhited,
I'll check out prado, thanks!

[plsmyk]

If your trigger pull is upsetting your sight alignment, experiment with where on the pad of your finger you place the trigger. If the trigger is too close too the first joint of your finger, typically you will pull your shots to the right. If the trigger is too close to the end of your finger, you'll push the shots to the left. Experiment until you find the sweet spot on the pad of your fingertip that allows you to break the shot without disturbing your sight alignment, and once you find it, always make sure your finger is on that spot when you practice your dry-firing. Dry-fire against a blank wall or white sheet of paper, just concentrating on getting the gun to fire without disturbing your sight alignment. Also try live firing against a blank target as well. Once your start to get your trigger pull down, you'll be surprised how good of a group you shoot even without an aiming point.

When I shot bullseye, I found what helped me most was to initially not be concerned with where on the target the bullet hit. I made sure my natural point of aim (NPA) was aligned with the center of the target, and for each shot, I concentrated on breaking the shot without disturbing the sight alignment. I accepted that as a newbie, my "wooble/aiming" area was going to be large, but as long as I broke the shot without disturbing the sights, I was making the best shot I could i.e., if I was breaking good shots, my score was limited/determined by my large wobble area and not affected by bad trigger control. By training your arm/shoulder/hand strength, you will decrease your wobble/aiming area and as long as you are breaking good shoots your scores will improve.

Notice I say aiming area, not aiming point. It is impossible to hold the gun perfectly still. Even the best of the best bulls-eye shooters don't hold the gun perfectly still, so don't fall into the trap of trying to make the gun fire just when the gun is at the perfect 6 o'clock point on the bull. All this will do is teach you to jerk the trigger.

The secret is to convince yourself to accept your aiming area and break a good shot while the pistol is anywhere in it. Some will be on the outer edges of the aiming area, but a lot will fall in the center. Statistically, you'll be near the center more than the edges, so as long as you break good shots, without disturbing your sight alignment, you'll be getting better scores as your wobble area/aiming area decreases with practice.

I hope that all makes sense. Once I was able to convince my brain that it was alright to break the shot anywhere in my aiming area, even though I wasn't exactly aiming at the 6 o'clock point on the bull, my scores improved because I was no longer jerking the trigger trying to make the gun fire at that exact point. I was focused on one thing...breaking the shot without disturbing my sight alignment. I accepted the aiming area defined by my physical condition/shooting conditions (e.g., outside on a windy day you'll have to accept a larger aiming area), didn't worry about it, and just concentrated on breaking good shots.

[milotrain]

Plysmyk,

Thanks for your advice, it is similar to the workbook that Zins copied for the USMC that I'll link below. Essentially it focuses on shooting a blank target frame in order to encourage you to trust the natural point of aim and proper sight alignment/focus. This correlates well with the Service Rifle. It takes a while for new people (and it was true for me) to learn to trust the front focus and the NPA. You can't see the target for sh*t and that's just fine. The body will go into the same place as long as you are diligent about your initial setup, and your front sight focus will remove you personal fears from the process. This will produce 10s at 600 yards even when optically everything would suggest you would be lucky to hit the target.

http://www.brianzins.com/wp-content/uploads/USMCPistolTeamWorkbook.pdf

[plsmyk]

That's the idea! I think it's more difficult to accomplish shooting bullseye because without the body position/sling support you have in High Power Rifle, your aiming area/wobble is so much more (esp. for a newbie). It makes it harder to convince your brain that it's alright to break the shot, even though you may not actually be aiming anywhere near 6 o'clock on the bull!