I agree that at short range it's nearly impossible to use true sight alignment as we speak of it on the range. Alignment based on an unfocused front sight or top of slide just below the line of vision is what works best and fastest at close range.AndyC wrote:Thing is, Dave, focusing on the front sight works best for most folks when it comes to handgun accuracy, particularly for folks new to shooting a handgun or precision events such as Bullseye. Clays - yes, that's a difference beast and involves good shotgun fit to work properly, as you know.
Where I take exception to this "one size fits all" approach is that folks try to force what works on the range into actual combat. I've pointed a gun at enough folks for real to know that we naturally and instinctively focus our eyes on the threat - I defy anyone who gets mugged to takes their eyes off someone who's trying to kill them and actually refocus their eyeballs onto a tiny sliver of metal. Ain't happening but to maybe 1 man in 100,000 - and as long as I can still see my (unfocused) sights relative to the target, I can hit it just fine.
True sight alignment comes into its own (and becomes necessary for hits) somewhere between 7 and 10 yards for most folks. At those distances more options (cover, movement, etc) also have more weight in the mix.