Aim

[George Hill]

The single most important aspect of shooting is sight alignment. With handguns, this is even more critical.
Slight misalignments can mean a wide miss.
But i'm not going to talk about long range pistol shooting... I'm talking about shooting for Defense, or IDPA, or even plinking.
Defensive shooting your target is likely inside 50 meters... and maybe even within arms reach. Since we dont have the luxury of a crystal ball - so we dont know what things will be like until your neck deep in them. So what this means for us is this - we have to be ready for anything. Practice wise - we need to practice our up close moves... a Punch-Draw... and practice our longer range shots... Everything in between - we have got to be able to hit.
To make those hits - we need to use the pistols sights.
Specifically THE FRONT SIGHT.
American Handgunner ran an article about some trials firing with no sights... Some time ago Rich, TFL's Daddy mentioned firing a pistol with just a front sight.
I've been thinking about this for a bit and remembering some folks here who championed POINT SHOOTING - which is a method that doesnt use sights. (as the article mentioned)
Looking at the tools of the gunfighters of the past and the tools gunfighters use today - they are similar... but one thing has mutated for no good reason.
The Rear Sight.
Our Rear sights have become monoliths - little billboards that actually, while firing rapidly, obscure the most important 1/2 of the system... They block the front sight!
Sure they are milled to give you flawless accuracy at 25... but in a fight - this isnt so important.
Rich mentioned that the pistol without a rear sight was virtually just as accurate as the one with.
I suspect - I'll have to email Massad about this - that had the test been been conducted with a pistol with just a front sight - the results would have mirrored or even been better than the scores with the sighted pistol. Because your adding speed to the accuracy - your not having to search for the front sight.
Cowboy guns have a large front sight... and the tiniest of rear sights. I think this is ideal - the only problem is that those front sights are like knife blades and hard to see clearly.
Now - I'm not saying we should knock off our rear sights... This would hamper our ability to accuratly engage out to those longer ranges that are possible.
I am going to sound like a commercial here - I hate that - But Ashley Outdoors got it right with the Express sights.
The front sight is big and easy to see. The Dot and Big Dot sizes are great - I find the smaller of the two ideal.
The Big Dot would serve well on a long barreled gun such a Long Slide or a Hunting type revolver.
The Rear Sight is wide open - Easy to line up accurately and still doesn't get in the way of finding the front sight.

I'n not trying to sell Ashleys - Just pointing out that the Ashley set up is Ideal. I wish other companies - such as Novak - offered similar type sights.

Red inserts, colored tritium etc all serve one thing - to help find that front sight. Next time your out shooting...
ALWAYS make sure you find that front sight.

[DAKODAKID]

I always focus on the front sight..If you don't you really don't hit much..
After reading your post, I am almost ready to remove my rear sight..almost!!!! I bascially use it only as a blurry reference point anyway.
When I go to the range I shoot the Black targets only,
everyone seems to like the bright orance or red..doesn't this take away from the front sight focus?????
In actual defense senarios I don't think the BG will be wearing these colors anyway.....
Nice post George!!!!

[Dr45ACP]

Absolutely right... Front site is critical. At close range (for me, up to about 20 feet) its all you really need .

I frequently paint the front site bright orange or flourescent yellow just so it stands out more.

I never gave point shooting a second thought until last weekend. Went to the range with a friend who is Secret Service and does some work with firearms training. I was shooting my Springfield 1911 in 9mm, he was shooting his Sig 229 (I think it was the 229, not the 228 but I could be wrong) in 357sig. After shooting a short time, he asked if I ever practiced point shooting. I told him no, I would rather use my sites; that is why they are on the gun, right? He said that I should try point shooting for very close distances just to see how easy and accurate it is. I told him that I usually practice by doing the Mozambique drill of 2 rapidly aimed shots COM and 1 rapidly aimed shot to the head. Not being adverse to new and different things, I agreed to give it a try.

We were using a bad guy target that he put out to about 10-12 feet. He said that the effectiveness of point shooting deteriorates quickly as you get out past the short distances. He told me to draw, stick my arms straight out and fire 2 shots COM as fast as I could without taking the time to look at the sites. I did it and could not believe the results. The first 2 shots were dead-on COM almost touching! I reapeated the drill 3 more times and when I was done, the 8 shot group was COM about the size of my fist. Made a believer out of me. From now on, I am going to practice this point shooting at the up close and personal distance and save the front site for the shots beyond the 10-12 feet distances. Give it a try, you will be surprised.

Regards,
Frank

[WESHOOT2]

My IPSC/USPSA GP100's and Redhawk all wear Millett orange-ramp fronts, stock rears; my Witnesses (and most of the different caliber slides) have yellow BrightSight paint; my carry 1911 (Caspian, of course) has the Caspian optic-rod front (green) and Bomar-mounted ghost-ring rear.
I run the 40S&W EAA slide with a serrated black front.

As my eyes have aged I find the Millett fronts (very bright orange) to be the easiest to acquire rapidly. The Ashley-sighted guns I've handled are great, too (don't care for the rear 'V', prefer a big square notch, like the ideal MMC rear adjustable).
Ideal set-up -- big bright front dot (or Millett ramp), MMC rear.

Front sight front sight front sight........