When we move this aligned package of front and rear sights onto the target and onto the point of the target we desire to hit (or desire to use as an aiming reference), we now have what is called a “sight picture.” Proper sight alignment is what your eyes see when the front and rear sights are aligned with each other correctly, and sight picture is what your eyes see when this proper sight alignment is moved onto the target in the correct place to put the bullet where we want it.
There are two methods of aiming the sights against a target: one is “center mass,” whereby you aim the top of the front sight at the very center of the object you want to hit. The other is the “edge-of-mass” hold, also commonly referred to as the “six o’clock hold.” This second term stems from target shooters using round, black, bull’s-eye targets. They place the top of the front sight against the bottom edge of the round black bull’s-eye, so their sight picture looks like a black ball sitting on top of a black post. In this way they can clearly see the black front sight against the white of the rest of the target paper. Using the center mass hold on a bull’s-eye can sometimes make the black front sight disappear into the black of the bull’s-eye, so the six o’clock hold is often used instead and, in those cases, the gun’s sights are adjusted to hit above the front sight and into the center of the bull’s-eye. Again, great for target shooting, but, for purposes of hunting, recreational shooting, or defensive shooting, the center mass hold is preferred, because we can usually see the front sight quite plainly against the target, and so we are able to index the top of the front sight against the exact point we want the bullet to hit.
In practice, we often have difficulty with front sight focus, because the first thing we look at is the target — then, we bring the gun into our line of sight, but don’t shift focus back to our front sight. This shift of eye focus from target to front sight is one of the most important concepts in proper aiming, especially when we attempt speed. Remember to shift your focus from target to sights and always be looking at your front sight. This is supremely important.
Speaking of speed, one goal to work towards is to first achieve with the hands a near-perfect sight alignment with the target as quickly as possible, then visually acquire and judge the correctness of your sight picture as rapidly as can be done. At this point the mind says “good to go” to a good sight picture and commences the trigger squeeze, or says “not yet” to a bad sight picture and corrects it to good one before commencing the trigger squeeze. This combines two notions. The first is the “flash sight picture,” in which we recognize our sight picture and judge it in a bare instant. The second notion is that the sight picture is the boss, not the trigger finger. In other words, our sight picture is the go/no-go determinant of whether we fire the shot. No trigger pressure should be applied until our eyes have acquired the sight picture and our brain has approved it. This concept should be burned into the circuitry of your brain: The brain controls the trigger finger based on what the eyes see. This is the basic principle of accurate pistol shooting.
At this point, one other necessary skill becomes possible: calling your shot. Unlike billiards, where you call the pocket where you intend to sink your ball, with firearms, we see where the sights are pointing at the instant of discharge, and this tells us where the shot has gone. If the gun wavered just a bit at that instant, we will see it and know where our shot should have impacted. Calling your shot helps you shoot more accurately in that you will know where every shot has landed without having to look at the target, and you will know that it was your motion of the gun rather than some other factor that was responsible.
One more detail to talk about is follow-through. Many people fire a shot and then immediately lower the gun to look at the target. Do not do this! Instead, keep your eyes on your sights, even as the gun is recoiling. Train yourself to see the full recoil cycle of the gun and its return to rest. If you are doing everything right, it will return to the exact same sight picture you had the instant before the gun fired. Work on maintaining front sight focus so that you see this sight picture recovery. You will not need to see the target to ascertain your hit, because by seeing your sight picture at the instant of discharge, you will already know where the shot went. Stay on your sights! This habit is what allows you to develop speed for successive hits and is very important.
Chapter 7
Proper Management of the Trigger
If there is one act in the simple process of firing a shot that causes us the most trouble, it will be the pressing of the trigger. Think about that. One merely has to view the gun’s sights and verify proper alignment, press the trigger to discharge the piece, and the shot will go right where the gun is aimed. Simple as could be, right? Unfortunately, we humans tend to often make simple things complicated.
How do we avoid ruining a shot? First, let’s take a look at what we need to do correctly, then we’ll view what we do to foul up ourselves.
The first thing to consider is the physical aspect of the trigger pull. Pressing the trigger results in an energy input into the gun. For instance, a pistol weighing two or 2½ pounds, may have a trigger pull anywhere from its own weight (say, the pull on a cocked Smith and Wesson revolver), on up to around 14 pounds (the double-action hammer-cocking pull on some semi-autos and revolvers). Obviously, exerting 12 or 14 pounds of trigger pull pressure on a two-pound pistol creates some issues, in terms of disrupting the ability to aim steadily.
First, let’s consider firing a shot from a pistol with its hammer cocked, which requires no more than, say, 4½ pounds of finger pressure. How can we press the trigger with more force than the gun weighs, without causing the gun to move? The key here is to hold the pistol in the hand in such a way that our trigger finger sits comfortably on the trigger and can pull it straight to the rear, the same direction the mechanical motion of the trigger requires. In this action, we want to minimize any horizontal or vertical motions that may be imparted to the gun. The way to do this is to first grip the pistol so that its backstrap (the rear face of the grip frame) is centered in the web of the shooting hand between thumb and forefinger. The result of this is to align the barrel naturally with the long bones of the forearm.
Grip the gun as just described, with one hand only, and look down at your forearm and the gun. The barrel should not point to either side of a line running down the center of your forearm. (Realize that, when we progress to describing the two-handed grip, that will involve some bending of the wrists and the gun will no longer be aligned with the forearm bones in the shooting stance. This is okay, as long as the grip on the gun with the strong hand is correct as just described. Once the wrist bends in the two-handed stance, it will not affect the correct grip you have achieved on the gun.) This is the best grip with which to allow your trigger finger to pull straight to the rear without inadvertently pulling or pushing the gun to one side or another.