sighting_methods

HANDGUN SIGHTING METHODS
By Tom Crawford
Copyright 2012 By The Author

In the context of defensive shooting, three methods of aiming are possible with any weapon equipped with
notch and post sighting equipment. Each method has its place in certain situations, and the shooter should
be aware of each of them, as well as in what context each is most appropriately used. These three methods
are listed and discussed below, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as an
indication of the best general range applications.

POINT FIRING (0-10 feet)

“Point firing” or “point shooting” refers to aiming the defensive firearm without actually resorting to the use
of the weapon’s sighting apparatus. Rather, the weapon is brought to some consistent body position and
fired, while the shooter’s eyes are still focused on the target. Point firing is most successful when the firearm
is brought close to eye level, and in the case of handguns, the shooting arm is almost fully extended and
raised such that the gun intrudes into the cone of the shooter’s peripheral vision from below. The main
advantage to point firing techniques is that they are faster for most shooters to use than true aimed fire
using sights. Further, they do not require the shooter to take his visual focus off the threat to align sights,
which runs counter to survival instinct. Some minimally trained shooters find this difficult to do under stress.

Alternative point firing systems have been developed in which the shooter vaguely appreciates the
distinctive silhouette of his properly aligned firearm from the rear superimposed on the target, such as in
the Cirillo Silhouette Point Fire Method developed by the late famed NYPD Stakeout Squad member,
multiple gunfight survivor, and firearms instructor Jim Cirillo. While this system seems to work well enough,
it does pre-suppose that the shooter will always be using the same or similar weapon from day to day. In the
case of some armed professionals, especially those who work outside the country, this may not be a valid
assumption.

There is also a point firing technique for extreme close-quarters situations in which the weapon, most often
a pistol, is drawn to or pulled in close to the body at a standard reference point such as the pectoral muscle
and fired from this position. This offers the advantage of a strong weapon retention platform, allowing
minimal opportunity for an adversary to disarm the shooter or prevent the deployment of the firearm. Such
techniques do typically result in shots impacting the target lower than with an eye-level technique, but at the
extreme close quarters in which such methods are used, not seriously so.

Point firing is emphatically not “hip shooting”. Shooting from the hip as seen in movies and as demonstrated
by exhibition shooters almost never works in the real world for most of us, and can result in clean misses at
impossibly close ranges that could be dangerous to innocent bystanders. This is due to the unpredictable
angle assumed by the flexible wrist joint when hip shooting techniques are employed in an emergency by
most shooters.

Point firing techniques are at their best from contact range out to about ten feet, when extreme precision of
shot placement is not critical, and where speed is deemed more important. Certainly, if the pistol fits the
shooter’s hand extremely well and good trigger control is exercised, the range of this technique could be
extended beyond 10 feet. Some have suggested that since most altercations involving handguns occur
within very short range, point firing techniques are all that are needed. While this certainly seems like an
attractive idea from an expense and effort standpoint, my experience and that of others argues that there is
still good reason to learn sighted fire, which will be addressed next.

While the major advantage of point firing techniques would seem to be speed, those extensively trained in
the use of sights for every shot, such as competitive and advanced tactical shooters often find that adapting
to these so-called “quick” techniques can actually result in slower times from reaction to first hit for them
when test measurements are made.

FLASH SIGHT PICTURE (10 feet – 10 yards)

The “flash sight picture” is best thought of as a “semi-aimed” method of sighting the defensive firearm, and
is in fact how most handgun shots in the tactical setting are actually made by those properly trained and
practiced. Most handgun encounters clearly fall within the ranges at which this technique is most useful, and
the method offers a great compromise between speed and precision in most, but not all situations. Elite
shooters who must use weapons under severe time constraints, but who still have a need for some
precision will most often resort to the flash sight picture rather than selecting a true point firing method as
previously described.

When using the flash sight picture, the shooter quickly brings the weapon fully to eye level as in any form of
aimed fire. However, just prior to trigger press to release the shot, the operator then takes quick notice of
his sights, with primary emphasis on the front sight, to insure that the sights are roughly aligned and
superimposed on the area of anatomical interest prior to breaking the shot. In practice, this process is as
quick as thought and adds no realistic time delay to the first decisive hit on target. It does however do much
to insure that the all-important first hit will in fact be on target, which is why professionals rely on it. When
used within its range limitations, the precision afforded by properly acquired flash sight picture is near
surgical.

If there is any disadvantage to the use of the flash sight picture at all, it is that it requires the operator to
have the mental discipline to divert his attention momentarily from the threat to perform a quick check of his
sights before firing. Despite whining from lazy trainers to the contrary, this is no more rigorous than
demanding that a parachutist have the presence of mind to pull his ripcord while plummeting to earth, or
that a diver control his rate of ascent while attempting to reach the surface of the water from below. Each is
simply a matter of training and practice. Finally, it is important not to confuse the flash sight picture with
more formal methods of sighting, which will be discussed next. To do so would be to give away one of the
technique’s chief advantages, acceptable precision coupled with speed.

FORMAL or “HARD” SIGHT PICTURE (>10 yards)

The “formal” or “hard” sight picture is the one most often seen in marksmanship training aids and diagrams
of sight alignment, including the one you have been provided in your notes. With notch and post sights of
any kind, the proper formal sight picture features the front sight “post” visually centered in the rear “notch”
with approximately equal amounts of light showing on either side, and the top surfaces of both front and
rear sights aligned flush with each other. This combination is then superimposed on the point of anatomical
interest that the shooter wishes to hit, normally directly, in what is known as a “dead-on hold”. The shooter’s
visual focus is placed on the front sight, not the target.

The vast majority of defense-oriented handguns come from the factory adjusted for such a dead-on hold,
but paradoxically, many instruction manuals that come with these guns show a more or less standard
diagram that has been in use for years, showing the sights superimposed on a point several inches below
the point the shooter probably wishes to hit. This is due to the fact that in the past, most attention was
focused on the recreational and target shooting aspects of handguns, and in formal “Bullseye” pistol
shooting, consistency of the aiming point leads to higher scores. On a standard Bullseye target, the center
of the target is a round black mass surrounded by a more or less white background. Competitors found that
by adjusting sights such that they held on the lower Bullseye border, where there is a distinct line between
the black and white areas of the paper, they would achieve greater consistency, and therefore higher
scores. This aiming point exists at the six-o’clock point on an imaginary clock face, and so this point of aim
became known as a “six-o’clock hold”. While there are some target firearms and a few European military
and police pistols that actually are sighted for this “six-o’clock” aiming point, you should be aware that the
vast majority of defense pistols are actually sighted for the more straightforward “dead-on hold”.

Since most handgun owners are notoriously poor shots, this discrepancy often goes unnoticed, but for the
professional, situations do arise where the difference between point of aim and point of impact amounting to
several inches truly do matter. For this reason, armed professionals and serious citizen self-defenders
should verify and bear in mind any differences between point of aim and point of impact for the weapons
they use or carry every day. In some cases, a competent gunsmith can resolve these differences. In others,
merely switching ammunition will do the trick. Somewhat counter-intuitively, with regard to handguns, when
heavier bullets are used, shots normally impact the target somewhat higher, when lighter bullets are
selected, normally point of impact drops a bit. Whenever working with a new weapon, or new load, actual
point of aim versus point of impact should be verified by the shooter using the formal sight picture method.
Very small differences may, in practice, be ignored or simply noted.

The formal sight picture is best utilized in handgun encounters that fall outside of the typical ranges seen in
pistol fights. For best results, most shooters should resort to the formal sight picture in cases where the
distance to the target exceeds about ten yards, or in any case where extreme precision is needed and time
exists to utilize this necessarily slower technique. The good news here is that the more distance that exists
between you and your adversary, the more time you have to shoot, because he is suffering under the same
limitations as you, and hopefully is not as well trained or as recently practiced. Distance favors the trained
marksman, while just about anyone, even a child, can kill or injure you at very close range with a firearm.

Legendary Old West lawman and amateur power drinker “Wild” Bill Hickok killed scores of men while making
sometimes-questionable “arrests” (he was paid by the arrest, so he liked to do a volume business). Hickok
related that it was normally his preference to call across the town street to the unfortunate target of his
attention that the man was “under arrest”, having already drawn his gun and preparing to shoot him in
advance of his verbal challenge being issued. (There is probably a tactical lesson to be learned there.) If
the man gave up, this was all well and good, but in many cases, Hickok would receive incoming fire from the
subject, which he anticipated. He was not too terribly worried about this since he knew that most men had
no chance of hitting him with a pistol across a city street, back then a distance of about 50-60 feet. He
would calmly take aim at his subject, even though bullets were coming his way, and often fire only a single
aimed shot, killing his adversary and thereby placing him “under arrest”. While this method seemed to be
effective for Hickok, townspeople complained about the number of innocent bystanders and horses
wounded or killed by his suspect’s initial gunfire, and asked him to discontinue the practice.

In the context of marksmanship training and use of the formal sight picture, Hickok’s daily training regimen is
instructive. He favored black powder pistols well into the cartridge era, choosing as his sidearms a pair, or
“brace” of .36 caliber 1851 Navy Colts. Like many armed professionals, Hickok was obsessive about the
cleanliness and functionality of his weaponry, and liked to start each day with clean, freshly loaded pistols.
Since the only way to empty, clean and reload pistols of the type he used is to fire them, Hickok, according
to some bystander accounts, developed a daily training program.

According to these accounts, he would arise each morning, have a drink, and walk with his weapons to the
edge of town. After relieving himself at the end of the town street, he would then fire each of his revolvers
until they were empty in a timed, aimed fire cadence, shooting only as quickly as he could get his sights
accurately aligned on target. The first revolver would be fired with his right hand, the second with his left.
His targets were playing cards he had attached to a post at a range of approximately 50 feet, and Hickok
claimed that he always used his sights to their fullest extent. He would then sit down, clean his pistols and
load them with fresh powder, caps and new balls for the coming day. By the way, Hickok carried a third,
smaller pistol with which he practiced less frequently, just in case something happened while his two main
guns were empty.

Having duplicated Hickok’s training sessions with similar weaponry (minus the alcohol of course) I can tell
you that what he claimed is not only possible, but quite reasonable, and serves as a challenging daily
training program for a shooter concerned with precision. It should be clear to the reader that a full-grown
man standing across a town street presented absolutely no marksmanship challenge to Hickok whatsoever.
Finally, to further make the point that in an armed encounter, distance is your friend, when Hickok met his
untimely demise, it was at the hands of a farm boy named Jack McCall, who shot him in the head from
behind with a .44 caliber revolver at near contact range while the lawman was playing cards. Some reports
indicate that not only was Hickok killed, but so was a French jeweler playing his hand opposite Hickok when
the bullet exited Wild Bill’s eye socket and struck him in the chest.

Although, given the distances involved in most handgun encounters, the flash sight picture is more often
used; situations do arise when the formal sight picture must be brought into play. For example, a hostage
rescue shot at 35 feet, or the need to intercept a feral animal moving across your field of vision toward a
child who needs your protection while you are still some distance from the action, or virtually any situation
that occurs at conventional carbine distance would all call for the use of the formal sight picture. The really
good news about the formal sight picture is that it is the only one of the three methods that requires
extensive practice. This practice improves results with the other two sighting methods, which is why we
always teach it first.

EYE SPRINTS

“Eye sprints” are not a method of aiming, but rather a bad habit that has been developed by some in the
course of their training or competitive shooting activities. Since each of us now knows intellectually that for
best results in sighted fire, our attention must be directed to the front sight rather than the target, this is
where the competent shooter will place their visual focus, at least initially. However, the necessary use of
standard paper or cardboard targets on the training range, coupled with the natural human desire for
immediate feedback can often lead to a condition whereupon firing each shot, the shooter allows their visual
focus and concentration to move down to the target for confirmation of a hit (as evidenced by the
appearance of a bullet hole in the target), and then rapidly back to the sights for the next shot. In this way,
the attention of the eye “sprints” from the end of the gun to the target, and then right back to the sights in
the interval between shots.

Eye sprints waste time, and produce measurably longer shot to shot times in shooters who have developed
this bad habit. In competition, where time limits are often generous and there is no threat to the shooter, the
habit is harmless, but in the real world, the armed professional or citizen is wasting time that could be used
for movement, threat scanning, or more shooting, looking for visual feedback that he will never get. Unlike
paper or cardboard targets, real people do not show bullet strikes when shot, and the only visual feedback
you are likely to get that would possibly keep you from firing more is the absence of your target in your
visual field when the party in question falls down or runs away, both good outcomes. This is easily assessed
without removing your attention from your sights. You should not waste time on the range looking for
feedback that you will never receive in the real world. Eye sprints, once ingrained as a habit, are incredibly
difficult to eliminate.

To demonstrate how different actual shooting scenarios are from paper target training in this regard, simply
practice by shooting at targets covered with old tee shirts. After the first few hits on a fresh shirt, even if you
do perform eye sprints, you will not be able to assess hits on the target. You simply have to “trust the force”
while shooting, meaning that you have to know intuitively that you are hitting your target since you have a
proven weapon with which you are familiar, and you are properly applying the fundamentals of
marksmanship, especially with regard to sighting and trigger release. If properly aimed and released shots
are not having the desired effect, you may then safely assume that either your subject is not terribly
impressed with the weapon you have chosen due to drugs, alcohol or an extremely strong constitution, or is
protected by body armor, and you can then make a tactical decision on a change in aiming point or other
survival actions.

SIGHTING AIDS

In this day and age of high refinement of defensive weaponry, especially handguns, it is somewhat rare to
find a pistol equipped with simple, plain black sights. Most defensive handguns these days come supplied
with some type of sighting aid in the form of white or multi-colored dots, known as three-dot sights, painted
bars on the sights as in the Von Stavenhagen pattern seen on some Sigarms pistols, or even luminous
Tritium inserts known as “night sights”. These additions to your pistol’s sights by the manufacturer, or
performed as aftermarket options, are designed to provide a low-light approximation of proper alignment
only, and they can be a real virtue on a defensive sidearm. However, in daylight use, these additions should
be ignored. Simply “aligning the dots” as some ill-informed people have suggested almost never results in a
proper formal sight picture. Keep in mind that in situations where the formal sight picture is called for,
precision is an issue, and your attention belongs on the tops of the sights, not any dots that might have
been applied to them. In a dark alley, the luminous dots may be all you get to see, and that is the reason
they were put there, not for daylight use.

Armed professionals tend to avoid “gimmicky” sight solutions that serve to reduce the overall functionality of
their weapons, or those that are so unique that they require specialized training to use that runs counter to
techniques used with standard firearms. Examples of such best-avoided “enhancements” include the
thoroughly ridiculous “express” or “big dot” sights some users add to their pistols at great expense, making
them incapable of a formal sight picture at any distance at all. While this might be of value on a backup
pistol to be used only at “bad-breath” range, such modifications should not be made to general duty pistols.
Further, while large, readily acquired sights are a plus in many circumstances, some aftermarket sights are
so freakishly large that they interfere with proper presentation of the weapon from the holster.

We’ve previously mentioned tritium “night sights”, which by means of radioactive tritium inserts cause your
pistol’s sights to glow in the dark, normally with a greenish color, although other hues are certainly possible.
Typically such a set of sights will add about $75-100.00 to the initial price of your pistol as a factory option,
somewhat more should you decide to add them later. The tritium degrades over time, and you’ll need to
replace these sights every 7-10 years for maximum brightness. Most shooters will buy the “full set”
comprised of both front and rear sights; fewer will opt for a front sight insert only. Do you really need these
accessories on your fighting pistol? Maybe so; maybe not. I have night sights on several of my pistols and
enjoy them, others do not have them installed and generally I don’t worry too much about it either way.
There was a time I considered them absolutely essential, but now I have realized that they really only have a
narrow window of application.

Let’s consider for a moment the lighting conditions under which the defense pistol is used. You may have
full daylight, in which case the tritium inserts will just appear as non-luminous dots. Or, you may be
engaging targets in darkness, in which you cannot see your sights, or your target clearly for that matter. In
these cases, you need to use your high-intensity flashlight in conjunction with your pistol. When you do this
correctly with a modern flashlight technique, even plain black sights are silhouetted nicely against your
target. Remember we never shoot at anyone we cannot positively identify as hostile, so the flashlight is
required here.

So what are the night sights for? Simply put, they are for situations where there is enough ambient light to
identify your target as hostile, but not enough light to properly align your sights, in cases where you are
going to take a sighted shot. Think in terms of moonlight, or an alley or parking lot lit up indirectly by
streetlights. It is in these cases that night sights are of real help in making sure you have your pistol aligned
property before you fire. In my experience, night sights are big confidence-builders in nighttime or home
defense shooting, and that is certainly a good thing. Also on a home defense weapon, night sights sure
help you find your pistol in a darkened room, and they do make it much easier to score well on a police
night fire course!

What’s the bottom line on night sights? I put them in the category of “very nice to have”, but not truly
essential gear. If you have to make a choice between buying night sights for your pistol, or a good high-
intensity flashlight, then buy the flashlight. Remember that you’ll still need it to identify your target in many
scenarios anyway, and there is no penalty for using it just to silhouette your sights. Keep in mind when we
discuss laser sights in a bit that they, like night sights, do make it easier to aim your pistol, but do nothing to
aid in identifying a target as friend or foe.

Some heavily marketed standard or night sight types appear to be sold merely because they “look cool” on
one’s pistol. One particular set of sights of this type I am aware of is specified on certain pistols sold to a
prominent government agency for hostage rescue use. While these sights are functional, and quite rakish
in appearance when installed on the firearm, they make it almost impossible to utilize several standard
malfunction clearance drills with the pistol.

Let me explain. When you are partially disabled in a fight and only one hand is available, there are
malfunction procedures to clear a stoppage that can be done with that one hand only, and ultimately, if you
are serious about being armed you should learn them. These procedures involve hooking the front edge of
your rear sight against something hard and pushing, to retract the slide. The sights I am referring to (often
called “Novak sights”) have no discreet front edge but rather look like an angled “sliding board”, making
these procedures tough to do. These sights are billed as “non-snag”, but in 30 years of carrying concealed
handguns, I’ve never had the front edge (as opposed to the rear) of my rear sight snag on my clothing, and
it shouldn’t in a proper draw from a good holster. So, as far as I am concerned, these very cool looking
sights are a solution in search of a problem. No matter what their other real or imagined advantages, a fully
trained serious shooter would not have selected such sights for use on a duty pistol. These days however
you have little choice with certain types of pistols because they are so prevalent. Some people actually
spend money to have them installed on their guns. If these sights came on your gun, it’s not the end of the
world, but you’re going to have to use your front sight (or ejection port edge) to execute the drills I have
mentioned and you could well lose it in the middle of a fight. This makes me cringe. Trust me, a good set of
standard sights works just fine.

Frequently, the question of the “laser sight” or pointing device comes up for use on the defense handgun.
There are good reasons that an individual might choose to install such a device on the fighting pistol, but
these aids should be chosen and used with caution. First, you should be aware that there are a number of
very cheaply made laser units on the market that will not stand up to hard use, nor will they maintain a
preset zero on a handgun that has even moderate recoil. Some are insufficiently powerful to be seen in
daylight, and of course, anything electronic can run out of battery power at the worst possible moment if not
checked regularly and batteries changed. Poorly designed or manufactured laser sights that replace
internal parts of your pistol can actually impair its function as well.

Good laser sights are not cheap, but the well-made ones may offer some real advantages to those
individuals who cannot see their front sights any longer without corrective lenses, and for those who must
take shots from behind cover positions that do not allow for placement of the head directly behind the pistol.
The better laser units on the market are quite sturdy these days and can often be seen in daylight, and will
hold an adequate zero point. However, an addiction to your laser sight’s red dot projected on the target
does divert your attention away from learning to look for your front sight in flash sight or formal sight picture-
appropriate scenarios, and provides the new shooter with a much longer learning curve developing sighted
fire skills. One should be able to at least find their front sight quickly in an emergency even when a laser
unit is installed, if for no other reason than instances of device failure, and so shooters should not become
laser dependent if it can be avoided.

These units seem best for two classes of shooters, those who are true experts who have already learned to
use their sights and recognize the laser as a secondary technique, and those interested only in extending
their accurate range of fire in the point fire mode and who do not intend to learn sighted fire at all. If you
decide to invest in one of these units, get one of high quality, and just make sure that your “laser sight”
does not become a “lazy sight”. Continue to devote the bulk of your training time to sighted fire and let the
little red dot take care of itself.

As of this writing in 2012, my standard recommendation to students who must have a laser sight is to go
with products from Crimson Trace. They are not cheap, but they are of great quality and reliability. See www.
crimsontrace.com

SUMMARY

There are three methods of aiming weapons equipped with notch and post sights, and each has its place in
your battery of competencies. First, point firing, the aiming of a weapon without resorting to the use of its
sighting equipment at all, may be an effective technique in extreme close-quarters situations where speed
of the first hit, or the need to retain the weapon close to the body outweighs the need for absolute precision
afforded by sighted fire. Second, the flash sight picture, merely achieving a rapid confirmation that the front
and rear sights are grossly aligned and superimposed on the target just prior to trigger press, is the most
generally useful technique in pistol encounters, yielding a good compromise between speed and precision.
The flash sight picture can also be utilized with open-sighted rifles and sight-equipped shotguns, at what
are often thought of as “snap-shooting” ranges. Finally, the formal sight picture, (on which the flash sight
picture is based) initially learned in basic marksmanship training, has its place at extended ranges, or when
extreme precision is needed.

Eye sprints should be avoided in weapons practice. Modifications to standard sights, within limitations, may
be appropriate but do not change proper sighting techniques and should not limit the role of the general
duty weapon nor impair function. Laser pointing devices may have their place as back-up sighting
equipment on the defensive pistol, but only if a high-quality unit is selected and the convenience of the
laser does not take the place of one’s ability to use the pistol’s sights if needed.

One last point...the three major sighting methods outlined in this chapter for the handgun work equally well
when used with the combat carbine, rifle, or shotgun in close-quarters. You can use point fire, retention fire
(with certain modifications), the flash sight picture, and the formal sight picture with all three weapons
systems when equipped with iron sights.

Should your shotgun or rifle be equipped with what is known as a “ghost ring” rear sight, you simply look
through it (except when point firing or retention fire at very close range) and focus on the front sight. The
eye will naturally center your front sight in the brightest part of the rear ring, which if used properly fades
from clear focus like a “ghost”, hence the name. Your job is to concentrate on placing that front sight on the
part of the target you wish to hit, in the time you have allotted, remembering that the longer the distance to
your target, the more time you usually will need (and will have) for precision shooting.

When point firing or using a retention position with the long arm in combat, one simply points the weapon
which is brought to the shoulder, while normally looking over the top of it at one's adversary. In retention
work, lock the weapon into the side of your body, normally tucked under the arm quite firmly while holding it
otherwise normally to keep the ejection port clear, then fire. Your shots may be a trifle lower on the target
than with sighted fire, but in close-quarters, especially with the more powerful long gun, it will work just fine.
Results on target can be devastating.