1 Weird 2 Cent Trick For Precision With A Pistol

I read somewhere else about this and they said on a white front sight dot. Put a mark on the dot. Your eye will focus on it because, it’s an imperfection on the round circle. So is that okay or a mark above the white dot? Which is better? Thanks

Ooooo, the best of both worlds! A combat sight that works like a competition sight. Brilliant. Gotta go try that.

@Duaine:
Whether you’re planning to shoot competitively or whether you plan to carry your handgun for self-defense, becoming proficient in its use can prove to be quite expensive. However, there are ways to mitigate that expense, to an extent, which I’ll get to in a moment.
First, however, you must be chastised for your current pursuit of developing a VERY dangerous habit. What you and your sons are doing will, without a doubt, come back to haunt you if you should ever find yourself in an armed confrontation. This is due to a very well-known and irrefutable fact, which Ox has pointed out repeatedly in other articles: When you find yourself in a life-threatening situation, especially one which involves firearms, your mind and body will revert to YOUR LOWEST LEVEL OF TRAINING (caps are for emphasis only; I’m not yelling at you).
We no longer call someone out to the street at high noon because he accidentally spilled our whiskey in the saloon, you’re not Wyatt Earp and the only reason that “style” of shooting looks so cool in the movies is because they use blanks, and the guy down the street only PRETENDS he was shot. Those are three very good reasons to STOP what you’re doing because, I promise you, even if you become so good at shooting from the hip that you hit your target consistently (and you never will, unless you’re shooting blanks and can get the target to pretend you’ve scored a hit), others at the range will neither respect nor admire you – they’ll avoid you like the plague.
Proficiency in properly handling a firearm requires a great deal of comittment and dedication to become an expert at this particular craft. We train, not just at the range, but also in classrooms, including the brick-and-mortar type, where you’ll become well-versed in subjects such as basic ballistics, local, state and federal laws and how to safely disassemble, clean and reassemble your firearm. There are also online “classrooms” like this one, where you can pick up valuable tips, like the one covered in the article above, which are intended to ENHANCE your formal training.
Basic and advanced firearms training is usually available at gun stores which feature an indoor range. Outdoor ranges open to the public (many outdoor ranges are “Members Only”) will also offer a selection of classes for shooters of all skill levels. Prices (or tuition) start around $150 for basic instruction (or less, if they don’t provide ammunition) and generally take eight to twelve hours to complete, including a couple hundred rounds’ worth of range time. Advanced classes cost a little more, and require proof of prerequsite training prior to enrollment. Professional training classes can cost several thousands and take up to three or more weeks to complete. Once you’ve competed your course, you’ll receive a handsome certificate with your name on it, proclaiming your achievement.
You should also check with your local police or sheriff’s department, as they might offer free instruction from time to time throughout the year. However, this suggestion is “iffy,” at best, because a lot of law enforcement departments across the country have stopped offering these five to eight-hour classes for insurance and liability reasons. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, though; you might get lucky.
But, just like high school or college, if you don’t do your homework, if you don’t actually practice what you’ve been taught, you will inevitably lose most of what you’ve learned. Effective shooting, contrary to what some believe, is NOTHING “like riding a bicycle;” once you learn to shoot, you MUST continue learning – you have to train on a regular basis in order to develop and retain the “muscle memory” that can only be acquired through constant and disciplined PRACTICE.
As your skills develop, you’ll spend exponentially less on ammo. When you buy your first handgun, for example, you might go to the range and fire three hundred rounds once a week. As you become more proficient, you may only need to fire a hundred rounds for a month or two, and then, when you’re proudly showing off the targets with quarter-sized holes where the ten ring used to be, you might only need to fire fifty rounds per week to keep your skills razor sharp. That’s when others at the range will begin to approach you and ask questions such as, “How do you do that?” or, “What’s your secret?” I gotta tell you, it feels REALLY GOOD when you look them in the eye and say, “Training, practice and quality ammo.”
I’ve known SO many people who make the most unforgiving mistake they can when it comes to range shooting: they buy the cheapest ammo they can find, believing they’re saving money when, in fact, they’re wasting their money AND their time. Cheap ammo is cheap because it’s cheaply made. The lands and grooves inside the barrel of a handgun or rifle make the projectile spin around a horizontal axis as it travels down the barrel and exits the muzzle. This provides an element of accuracy that cannot be achieved with a smooth bore, as centripital force supresses the projectile’s natural tendency to “yaw” as it travels through the air. Good, high-quality ammo is manufactured to be as close to perfectly balanced as they can make it. Cheap ammo, on the other hand, is NOT balanced, and therefore will be inherently MUCH less accurate, resulting in untold frustration and confusion at the range. It would be like driving your car without having the wheels balanced; the heavy side will cause the wheel to wobble, and the same is true of ammunition. If you buy match-grade ammo for your range time, you’ll understand why the extra expense is more than justified, because your shooting skills will improve much more rapidly, which will give you more confidence in your abilities which, in turn, will free your mind to better concentrate on hitting the target rather than trying to figure out “what’s wrong with this stupid gun?”
I’ve seen this happen, literally, HUNDREDS of times. More often than not, their weapon isn’t the problem – it’s their ammo. So, being the kind-hearted person I am, I’ll give this struggling, misinformed shooter enough rounds to fill one of his mags, and ask him to try again while I watch. Once he or she is finished firing and they’re smiling again, I’ll offer a brief (I know – hard to believe, ain’t it?) explanation concerning the true economics of shooting. Yes, match-grade ammo IS very expensive but, believe me, you’ll save money if you use it for targets more than ten yards away, ESPECIALLY if you’re new to shooting. Over the years, I’ve probably given away a couple thousand rounds of match-grade ammo, but the benefits I’ve received in return are incalculable. It’s worth it to see confidence replace a furrowed brow when someone just can’t figure out why they can’t hit the same place twice.
Please, PLEASE abandon your quest to become an old-west style gunslinger. Invest in yourself, and your boys, and enroll in a basic firearms safety course. There, you’ll begin building a solid foundation for a valuable skill set that you’ll all enjoy for the rest of your lives.
I hope this helps, and good luck to you.

i m going to try the gip You guys are amazing and i look forward to each email loaded with tons of information

I may be stupid but I want you to show us what you are talking about in a video so I can see what you are trying to explain how to do what I can’t understand from your writing!

Hi Ox,
Great article! I have gone through the INSIGHT Deadly Accuracy thumb drive 4-5 times now, and the INSIGHT thumb drive on Eye Dominance a couple of times. For those of us over 50, being able to really focus on the GIP is an issue. I had to get glasses made from an eye Dr. who is a shooter. Really helped – one lens let me see downrange, the other let’s me focus on my GIP. You mentioned “the Zone” and I think I know what you mean, what it is. My question is: How does one gain the ability to get into “the Zone” quickly, and then sustain it, for the duration of the number of rounds in the magazine? I know you may have to check with Matt and Sherri before giving out too much info on this, but are there any tips you can give me? Thanks. And, I completely understand if you are not free to share this info in this forum. You really are putting out some of the most practical tips that I have seen online. Thanks so much.

That 10% thing is crap, we use nearly 100% all the time, even in sleep. However, here’s a quote from neuroscientist Paul King:
“It is often said that 2/3 (60%+) of the brain is “involved” in vision. However possibly less than 20% of the brain is dedicated to “visual-only” functioning. The other 40% is doing vision+touch, or vision+motor, or vision+attention, or vision+spatial navigation, or vision+meaning, etc.”
So 20% is fixed on the gip and 40% is the aforementioned unconscious section calculating and swinging into action.
Great tip. I’m waiting for my package to arrive from Prescott any day now.
Thanks Ox,
Don

Ox,

I am an associate instructor with Insight’s only franchise location in Lima, OH working under Matt’s protégé Steve Farmer. I just wanted to say thank you for your article as I enjoyed reading it as well as your outstanding responses to the comments and questions. It just so happens that I assisted with a deadly accuracy class today. The power of Matt’s “gip” is truly amazing!

When you paint or put the paint drop on the sight(top center)aren’t you changing the point of impact?…………Larry

Am looking forward to trying this. are you aware of any other names/labels for this technique? Also, I like your tritium story, but the 1st I heard of tritium sights was a salty old Marine at Weapons Training Battalion in Quantico in 1990. Something along the lines of “what good’s a glow in the dark compass if you can’t hit anything when you get there? I’m going to figure out how to put tritium on sites – then we’ll stop shooting helicopters out of the sky on night shoots.”