To take an extremely accurate shot, you must first have accurate sight alignment.
But what does this look like?
Rear Sight "Window"
First of all, you need to find the "window" created by your rear sights. If you laid your finger straight across the top of the rear sights, you should be able to see your entire aim point or target through this window. This is the window you must use to align your sights for maximum effectiveness.
Alignment Results
Aligning your sights incorrectly will generally have the following results:
Impact Will Be HIGHER Than Aim Point
Impact Will Be RIGHT Of Aim Point
Impact Will Be LEFT Of Aim Point
Impact Will Be RIGHT Of Aim Point
Ideal Sight Alignment
When lining up your front sight in the rear sight window, you want to make sure that it is the level with the rear sights and centered. A good way to remember this is the phrase, "Even Height - Even Light".
All three sight posts (front sight post and two rear sight posts) should be level.
The front sight post should be centered between the two rear sight posts. An even amount of light should be showing on either side of the front sight.
This is referred to as "ideal sight alignment". But, do we live in an an ideal world? Of course not! So how often do you think you will actually have ideal sight alignment? Very rarely! But don't worry, you can still have very accurate marksmanship.
Understanding the principles of sight alignment is crucial to being able to shoot accurately. But be warned... Focusing too much on your sights can actually cause you to have worse marksmanship. This probably sounds bizarre. Take our Safe Gun Owner© series of online training to learn this little secret and how to overcome it. Follow our blog this week to see why sight alignment is typically not that crucial. Learn common mistakes that people make with their alignment and how you can better align your shot.