Basic Marksmanship (Proper Sight Alignment)

Sometimes we long time shooters get so caught up in the latest toys we forget not everyone has been taught the basics and the first and most important thing you need to learn is how to properly sight in a weapon be it rifle or handgun. As my brothers in arms will attest the mantra for that become "Sight Alignment and Sight Picture"! for this lesson we're only going to discuss open iron sights scopes and lasers fall in the cool toy category...

As all high guru of combat shooting Col. Jeff Cooper wrote, "If there is one thing that is most vital about pistolcraft it is concentration on the front sight."

Below is a picture of how you should line up your sights.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/34f8667531b7.jpg[/atsimg]
Note that the front blade/post is lined up perfectly level and centered in the rear notch... it is with the sights aligned thus you can if need be make your adjustments to the sights...

Below is another sample and shows what happens if your not Aligned
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/72c72579fd35.jpg[/atsimg]

Proper Sight picture is the part where people get in trouble... it's natural to want to look at the target but that is a huge mistake... one it distracts so you lose proper Alignment... the only place your eyes should on is that front sight! let everything else blur out (Watch That Front Sight) do that and you'll always hit what you shoot at... Long before you hit the range you should be practicing these two basic skills Slight Alignment and Sight picture should practice picking up that front sight as soon as your weapon comes to eye level... if this is all new to you then now is a good time to do a little dry firing... Dont worry about asking questions either we all went through these first steps
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c78b59e21e1d.jpg[/atsimg]

Now I invite my fellow shooters to add to this thread... anyone want to try teaching the proper way to pull/squeeze the trigger? what about the right way top load a magazine or revolver? remember lets keep it basic and assume our student have never touched a firearm...

Great post. Very informative!

The only thing I want to add to this:

When aiming, try holding your breath as you aim. It helps with aquiring a steady aim towards the target.

When queezing the trigger, squeeze smooth and quick. The trigger should be pulled quickly to avoid over compensating the aim.

Also, after you are used to the gun, or rifle, shoot standing up. Most situations call for the shooter to be in a standing position.

Should help a little.

[edit for spelling]

[edit on 2-9-2009 by havok]

it may just be me but even when aimed correctly, the bullet does not always travel the same path.

in my opinion, do not try and compensate for the recoil.

in a real situation, you will not be aiming. bring firearm to eye level, center it, squeeze multiple shots.

most importantly, be careful if its your first time handling a firearm. for pistols, keep the skin between your tumb and index away from the hammer if you are going to chamber a round with the safety on. the hammer will come down and wedge that piece of skin between hammer and the slide. when shooting a pistol for the first time, remember to keep all parts of your hand well beneath the slide, if not, you will bleed and it will hurt.

rifles with scope. do not put let the scope touch your face, many beginner make this mistake and end up with cuts above their eye as a result of recoils. your eye should be at least 5 inches away from the scope. do not look through as you do with a binocular.

full auto weapons. lean forward when shooting or you will lose your balance. put you weight on the front leg, it'll improve accuracy when you empty a magazine.

Having shot various weapons,( from a Glock to a D.Eagle ( scary gun) to an Nazi MP40 ( no wonder they lost the war if they had to hold like I did) to an M4 carbine and AK47.. ( not in the army but everytime I travel to the US) plus I target shot in London back when we could still have Handguns , I feel the best advice I can give is targetting is all well and good if you have the time to properly align your sights against the target, but in a survival situation you may not have the time.
Best way to learn to fire 'on the fly' is to go paintballing or airsofting, I know the difference between round ball and aerodynamic projectile but the theories the same. Learn to snap shoot, which is eye to hand co-ordination. no point trying to put a target down by lining up the sights if your targets spraying and praying.. Squeeze the trigger gently do not yank it back quickly, if you yank your finger back quick you'll throw your alignment out a fair amount, enough to miss, let the weapon do the moving when it fires.

Just my 2p's worth ..

reply to post by havok


Good point Havok in Sniper school they teach slow controlled steady breathing, you take the shoot at the bottom of the exhale cycle but were getting a bit ahead of ourselves here I was only trying to cover how to line up the sights...

reply to post by DaddyBare


it's not always the case, if you have something to steady the weapon on, sure. if you were active before aiming your breathing might be deep, making it very hard to steady your aim. personally, i take the shot with anticipation to where my sight will be. this method also work very well if you are standing with nothing to lean your weapon against.

DOADOA and DataWraith
both make valid points in real world combat shooting I use the rock and lock shooting technique myself... but once again were talking basics so before we try to teach the fancy stuff I'm going to go with the simple how to hit what you aim at approach... let them get comfortable with timed controlled fire before we throw them out on a Quick Kill Range

reply to post by DaddyBare


Hence paintballing or the less expensive airsofting approach. to learn how to target. plus is fun and you don't get dead.

reply to post by DaddyBare


i agree, the knowledge that you are passing on here is extremely important. when there is nobody around to answer their call for help and they have a gun, they will look back and tank you for this.

reply to post by DaddyBare


Good job. Most people shoot like actors shoot in the movies. Only a few movies actually showed true firearm skills -- Heat and Collateral.

reply to post by guppy


hahaha, true. i'd also like to add: do not shoot like actors in movies such as "menace to society," putting the firearm directly to your ear is a very bad idea.

Originally posted by DOADOA

rifles with scope. do not put let the scope touch your face, many beginner make this mistake and end up with cuts above their eye as a result of recoils. your eye should be at least 5 inches away from the scope. do not look through as you do with a binocular.

True, the average eye relief, that is the distance your eye is from the telescopic sight for a clear "view" is 1 to 3 inches, "long eye relief scopes for handguns and some rifles can extend this to as much as 30 inches.

Looking through a telescopic sight you can move your head toward and away from the lens, in both extremes you will see a tunnel vision effect, when shouldering the rifle the sight should be clearly in focus and at the right distance, close your eyes and shoulder the rifle, open your eyes, is the sight clear and in focus? if not it will need adjusting to suit you.

When shooting with a pistol, assuming a right handed shooter, place your left index finger along the bottom of the pistol frame, use that finger to point at the target, normal hand-eye coordination will then put the shot on target.

Do not do this with a revolver.

S&F DaddyBare! Tre important subject!

I thought I would add about shooting a .22 rifle.

When you scope it in you should do so at a distance of 50 yards. A .22 bullet has a flat trajectory up to that point.

After 50 yards your little .22 bullet loses power and begins to drop. At 100 yards you will have anywhere from 6 to 12" of bullet drop depending on what gun you are shooting and what ammo you are using.

Wind will also affect your bullet trajectory with a .22 so you will also need to compensate a little for that. With practice you can still hit a small target at 100 yards with consistency.

Many would choose a .22 rifle for a survival situation including myself. My favorite is still my Ruger 10/22 with a 4x scope.

.22's are cheap and great to learn to shoot with. Shooting a .22 will give you the skills you need to effectively use larger caliber rifles. Get out to the range and sharpen your skills, it's always fun and can be a great family activity. Great thread. Thanks DaddyBare.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by Asktheanimals]

reply to post by DOADOA


Hahaha! A boyfriend of a friend wanted to learn how to shoot. I agreed to do this favor. On the way to the range, he told his girlfriend what he thought I'd be teaching him. The punk kid actually thought I'd be teaching him to shoot gangster -- shooting sideways. What a turd. Luckily, I only heard this after we finished training.

Stay tuned. I'll be opening a post about ideas on sights that are rarely talked about. It'll be under the Weaponry forum.

BTW, practicing marksmanship should be 75% iron sights (using your front and rear sights). While the remaining 25% should be spent using optics (HOLOSight, Red Dot, Scope, etc.).

Plan for the worse, Hope for the best.

You never know when your optics fails you. You could be out of batteries, a drop ruins the scope's alignment, etc. Mr. Murphy is a friend of us all. If you're used to only shooting with your optics and you have to rely on your iron sights, good luck. Hope you're only facing a vicious rabbit.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by guppy]

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
S&F DaddyBare! Tre important subject!

After 50 yards your little .22 bullet loses power and begins to drop. At 100 yards you will have anywhere from 6 to 12" of bullet drop depending on what gun you are shooting and what ammo you are using.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by Asktheanimals]

Correctly sighted a .22 rifle with "normal" high velocity ammunition (using a 'scope) thus.

On point of aim at 25 yards, = 1 inch high at 50 yards and back on point of aim at 75 yards, 3 1/2 inches low at 100 yards. This is considered the best average method for sighting a .22 rifle.

YMMV

Since we broached the subiject of how of how to grip a handgun I'll throw out this vid

there two schools of thought when holding a pistol thumb up and thumb down... the real experts will say thumbs down shows a sloppy grip that leads to "Milking the Gun" between shoots where a thumbs up grip will help you get back on target faster
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ff0cf8633937.jpg[/atsimg]

there's one thing to keep in mind when holding a revolver that is to keep your hands clear of the front of the cylinder... hot gases escape threw that gap and people have lost thumbs!!!
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6c55380300d4.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 2-9-2009 by DaddyBare]

Originally posted by prof-rabbit

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
S&F DaddyBare! Tre important subject!

After 50 yards your little .22 bullet loses power and begins to drop. At 100 yards you will have anywhere from 6 to 12" of bullet drop depending on what gun you are shooting and what ammo you are using.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by Asktheanimals]

Correctly sighted a .22 rifle with "normal" high velocity ammunition (using a 'scope) thus.

On point of aim at 25 yards, = 1 inch high at 50 yards and back on point of aim at 75 yards, 3 1/2 inches low at 100 yards. This is considered the best average method for sighting a .22 rifle.

YMMV

I was generalizing somewhat - what rifle/barrel & ammo did
you get your figures with? Still i don't see the point in quibbling
over 1 1/2 inches worth of bullet drop.

As far was what the correct distance is for sighting in your rifle
that depends on what youre shooting.

Where I hunt squirrels you don't get shots less than about 50
yards, they've been hunted heavily and don't run across your
feet like in a city park. Anywhere from 25 to 50 yards would be
a good distance to sight in at but I don't think there is any
"correct" one. I get to eat squirrel fairly often so if I'm doing it
wrong then too bad - I like to eat.

reply to post by DaddyBare


Well grip can change according to each person. Its whatever feels comfortable with your unique hands. I prefer Todd Jarrett's method:

YouTube : Todd Jarrett on pistol shooting

Jarrett's form creates a nice z-lock with your wrists and elbows. This drastically reduces recoil and provides better sight-alignment recovery after each shot.

I noticed people with small frames can handle larger firearms better with Jarrett's method than traditional. Compare the muzzle flip between the two grips and notice the BIG difference with Jarrett's method. This is probably why many competition shooters have been moving towards Jarrett's method for some time.

But its all about preference. If its not comfortable for you, then don't do it. Same can be said about stance. There are two widely used stances and it comes down to what you prefer.

[edit on 2-9-2009 by guppy]

reply to post by DaddyBare


I looked but might have overlooked it but, when looking through your sights keep both eye's open! Also a newbie mistake is to pull a pistol back [too many movies] after firing.

I like your approach DaddyBare good work!!!