# Front sight focus



## chip2 (Apr 8, 2015)

I am a relative novice to handguns. Up until now I have been using borrowed guns with mixed success. I have been reading various sites regarding improving handgun accuracy. They discuss everything from grip and sight alignment to trigger control. One thing that keeps popping up is focusing on the front sight. I guess I didn't get what that meant. 

I just bought my first real handgun (XD9). I took it to the range to try it out, and set up for 7 yards. The initial results were disappointing. I hit an occasional bull's eye, but the majority of the shots were all over the target. I knew something was wrong but couldn't put my finger on it. About half way through my session, a light bulb went on in my head, and I said "Wait a minute--the target is in focus and the sights are blurry. That's backwards!" As soon as I brought the sights into focus and let the target go blurry, my shots started to group consistently, with the majority inside or touching the bull's eye! How cool is that? Now I get it!


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## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

That is very cool. It sounds like you're a quick study.

Welcome aboard! Lots of good people here to help you along with whatever you might wish to ask. Congrats on your new purchase. You're off to a good start.


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## Dave_Sab (Mar 31, 2015)

There's no substitute for practice. The more you practice with your pistol the better you'll become. Eventually sighting will become natural and automatic. Kind of like driving your car, you can do all of the actions needed to drive but don't even have to think about it.


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## WCDUB (Dec 21, 2014)

Is there any definitive proof that front sight focus is significantly
better than "point shooting" when your interest is self-defense
shooting,rather than target/bullseye shooting? I try to alternate
between the two when practising SD shooting,but I am increasingly
drawn to point shooting.


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## Goldwing (Nov 5, 2014)

Check out "How to instantly shoot like a Navy SEAL.

GW


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## vbolin (May 5, 2015)

*im new here hi folks you are 100% right practice practice practice*



Dave_Sab said:


> There's no substitute for practice. The more you practice with your pistol the better you'll become. Eventually sighting will become natural and automatic. Kind of like driving your car, you can do all of the actions needed to drive but don't even have to think about it.


You are 100% right practice practice practice


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

...But remember that you have to practice the right techniques.
If you practice, practice, practice, but are practicing bad technique, you won't be doing yourself any good.

While it is a useful technique to be able to aim quickly-but-accurately by "point shooting," even very close-up shots should be taken using your sights.
• It trains the rest of your body to aim your pistol by "muscle memory," so when you need to point-shoot, you will still be accurate.
• If you someday have to make a head shot or a throat shot, you will need your sights, even at very close range.
• It trains you to achieve a solid sight picture very quickly, which is a very useful skill.

Most of the object of practice, practice, practice, is to learn haw to achieve a quick, good sight picture, to hold it, and to exercise good trigger control.

Never practice to be quick.
Practice should always be slow and smooth. "Smooth is faster than fast."
(An expert's "slow" is much faster than a beginner's "slow." The real operative word is "smooth.")


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