Project Appleseed

I've been practicing my NPOA with both my Garand & my LTR (22" 10/22, with Tech sights), and I've noticed an oddity.

Along with getting into a proper NPOA position, I've been trying to keep both eyes open & focused on the front sight.  (My instruction many many years ago never mentioned that, or I forgot, or I didn't hear it, but I'd always closed my left eye)

In the house, doing NPOA practice, I absolutely cannot see the target at all when I focus on the front sight with both eyes open.  No problem focusing on the front sight, and seeing a blurry target downrange with just the dominant eye.

If I sight in on something farther away, I have no problem focusing on the front sight, AND seeing that it is on target.  The difference in distance doesn't seem to be great, perhaps an additional 10 feet or a little more. 

My indoor NPOA practice target is a 1 inch square, dark black, on a blank 3x5 card, stuck on a neutral colored wall.

I'm thinking I shouldn't do the dryfire practice until I can see the front sight on the target with both eyes open (this might mean opening a door, and aiming at something outside)

Or is this just a tempest in a teacup, and I shouldn't worry about it?

I have spent a lot of time lately contemplating this very point.  For me, this is were the Tao of Shooting happens.

Step 4a and 4b.  Focus your eyes on the front site and your mind on the target.

You have to be conscious of two different things at the same time.  I do it by not doing it.  When I do it right I see the target "pinwheel".  As I work my way through the AQT the pinwheel gets more complex and starts shooting off sparklers.  I aim at the lower left corner and I hit the bulls eye.  If it is not pinwheeling I am not in the zone

Might be different for somebody else...

I do not shoot with both eyes open.  I never learned to shoot a rifle that way.

My father-in-law always shot his deer rifles with both eyes open and they had 4 power scopes on them.  He said it allowed him to "find" that deer running through the brush and trees quicker.  He told me he had to practice doing that as at first it is confusing, until you get that "trick" down of using the non-firing eye but not letting it affect the image you see through the firing eye.  Practice.

I wanted to have an 82' range for dry firing. That takes a bit of doing in a 50 foot house. Even if I lay out in my yard I'd be limited to 70'.

My solution was to use a large mirror at the end of the hallway. That puts me on the kitchen floor and my target of choice on the stove. My little indoor range is maxed out at 84 feet if I scootch way back.

The biggest worry is what would happen if someone turns on the stove.

Quote from: BaldDragn on March 12, 2009, 11:43:55 PM
I wanted to have an 82' range for dry firing. That takes a bit of doing in a 50 foot house. Even if I lay out in my yard I'd be limited to 70'.

My solution was to use a large mirror at the end of the hallway. That puts me on the kitchen floor and my target of choice on the stove. My little indoor range is maxed out at 84 feet if I scootch way back.

The biggest worry is what would happen if someone turns on the stove.

This target will work for you with a lot less room.  <

First, Skydaver,

I'm surprised you are loosing the target when you dry fire. First I was going to tell you to use a bigger target and then you said you were using a one inch square. How much time are you spending firing the shot? When you really focus on the front sight you usually only have one or two seconds before the target washes out and you lose it completely. When you bring your focus to the front sight you need to be squeezing on the trigger and the shot should break within that one or two second window. If it doesn't, you need to start over , breath relax bring your focus to the front sight and be putting pressure on that trigger.

Now, Spyder,

No-No-No No you do not focus your mind on the target. You did not hear those steps correctly or the instructor mis-spoke.
Step 4(A) is focus your eye on the front sight.
Step 4(B) is focus your mind on holding the front sight still on the target.
You do those things while you are putting pressure on the trigger.

The harder you focus on the front sight the smaller your group will be.

VAshooter

VAshooter, THANKS!

Your explanation was perfect.  I re-read 'How to fire the shot', and did a quick experiment from a standing position.  At the very short range (~25ft), after I move my focus to the front sight, the target stays visible for about 4-5 seconds for me.  I was expecting it to always be visible.  I noticed that when the target area was dimly lit (just natural light, and today is pretty overcast outside), it washed out more quickly than when I turned the lights on in the room.  I might have to do one more experiment, and put my target somewhere that is brightly lit.  I wonder what the experience would have been back when I was 23, instead of 53!

Moving my 'target' to a bird feeder out on my porch (adding about 15 feet to the sightline), the target stays visible for a very long time.

I'm not going to worry about it anymore.  When I practice NPOA, I'll go through steps 1-3 (gee, just like it says in Fred's guide, page 1).  When I do dry fire, I'll follow the instructions in 4a, 4b, 5 & 6.

You'd think being a computer programmer, I'd know to RTFM

If I am focusing on the front sight then the target is some distance in front of me.  At my range it is 50 yards.

I have vision problems.  A bad astigmatism, diabetes and even with lenses I only get to 20-40. 

What I see at "100" yards is a pumpkin on a fence post.  What I see at "800" yards is an ant on a fence post.

The distance between the front sight and the target, for me, is unfocusable.  Visually.  I have to play an inner game.  I do not see what a "normal" person sees.  The way I describe it, at 800 yards I see three tiny pinwheels in a triangular formation about 1 minute between them, turning clockwise and throwing off sparklers.  This is not what most people "see." 

But, this is the most central and personal and most important part of hitting the target.

My old man bought the farm in a auto accident when I was 8.  His dad taught me how to shoot.  My grandfather was an aviator in WWI and an aviation instructor in WWII.  He was a "Top Gun" instructor before it was cool.  If you want to know what he was like, imagine Fred on a bad day taking synthetic testosterone and speaking with a Scottish Highland accent.  He taught the AQT.  Just like Fred.  The guy was hard as nails and he always made me shoot iron sights.  He knew I had vision problems and he taught me work arounds.  He also taught me how to control my inner organs, especially my heart.  He used to talk about living between the beats.  And feeling the blood pulse in your finger against the trigger.

All I know is that I can get a hit on a man size target at 800 yards with iron sights 70% of the time.  And I have to be within three feet to see if a magazine has a round in it.  I can't shoot 210 on the AQT unless I have a scope.  But I can't guarantee I'll always have a scope.