Sight Picture ...

When I first started shooting, instructors covered all the fundamentals of shooting, stance, grip, sight picture, sight alignment, and trigger control. Through my experiences I find that sight picture and trigger control have changed the most when trying to shoot for faster times.


Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals by Brian Enos is one of those books that goes into great detail about how sight picture changes. The short of it is, that the more difficult the shot, the more sight picture you need. Closer more wide open targets need less sight picture, allowing you to not spend so much time aiming.

Here's the trick, next time you are at the range, set up an IPSC target and shoot two shot draws from increasing distances. In order for this to work, you have be honest with yourself about what you read on the sights. At 5 yards, my focus is on the target with a blurred sight picture. I still have orientation of where the sights are, I'm just not taking the time to bring the front post into focus. This is where having a Warren Tactical red fiber front sight and all black rear sight help me.

As the distance begins to increase, you must start to apply more focus on the front sight. The key is to try to get a far as you can without total focus on the sight. In the in between distances, you still have to have orientation of sight alignment but sometimes the target is blurry and the front sight is starting to become more clear.  So many times in a match the stage will cause you to change speed and so many times I see shooters time and time again shooting 7 yard targets at the same speed as 20 yard targets. The hits just will not be there and they can not figure out why? When I ask them what happened, they say "I don't know." You should be so in control of your sights that you can tell the RO where the hits are on the target before they are scored.

When you change distances in targets, you must change your sight picture along with the amount of time you spend on the target to get the required sight picture.

Practice Tip:
   Setup targets that are increasing in distance. If you are shooting on a fixed distance range (indoor), setup bigger targets and smaller targets. Begin by shooting the targets slow and play around with what you read on the sights. Make sure you shoot multiple rounds on the targets so you can ensure that you follow the sight back down from recoil. Build up to a "match run" for time and see if you can control yourself to shoot the "A" box in each target at every distance. Ensure that you are being honest with yourself about what you read on the sights as well as giving yourself enough time to aim on each target.