[booker_t]

Mildly interesting article. His initial staging of the "discussion" doesn't bring anything new or insightful to the table. It's the old "I'm not going to beat the drum like everyone else." He's characterizing the debate as a polar affair (like neo-conservative vs. bleeding heart-liberal) when in reality it isn't, there is a continuum of grey with the majority at or around the center.

Can't say I agree with everything he talks about, either.

About 4 paragraphs to say "close targets are bigger but easier to hit quickly than far away targets." Thanks.

..So if we will naturally drop our weight and curl our shoulders forward then why would we teach "combat " shooting from an upright stance with the gun in front of our face?

I, for one, don't naturally curl my shoulders under stress. Nor do I train using an "upright" stance; I use a balanced, agile, athletic stance for shooting while standing, and various proven positions for kneeling, prone, etc, be it supported or unsupported. I don't personally know anybody who teaches or trains as described.

..teach them to grip the pistol in a manner to not only allow them to point it as naturally as pointing a finger, but also in a manner that reduces felt recoil during firing..

While this sounds great (less recoil is good, right??), I contend that it is far more valuable to develop a grip that produces consistent front sight tracking, such that following a shot, the front sight follows a repeatable pattern through recoil and naturally (without muscle tension) returns to exactly where it started (your index) for accurate, rapid follow-up shots.

..teach them to look for the sights..

Both of them? I'm not sure what he means by this. Finding the front sight is hard enough. Reliably visualize the front sight within the last 8-6 inches of your draw and you're miles ahead of 90% of shooters out there.

I know this article is about using sights or not, but when talking about draw time under stress, there should be mention of actually making the draw. Many shooters get in the habit of slamming their hand down on the gun, pushing it and the holster down while they grip, and then drawing out. Simply by working on getting a smooth, fluid purchase on the gun with no downtime or wasted energy between touching it and drawing it, significant time can be saved. Minor changes to the grip can be made while presenting if it wasn't perfect out of the leather.

edit: "plucking" the gun from the grip is the best term I can come up with. Think about a bird diving with it's beak to snatch up a fish just under the surface of the water.

..as we progress we look for less and less feedback from the sights. That allows us to make hits faster.

I disagree 100%. Again, that front sight is telling you everything you need to know about your shooting, as it is happening. Proper front-sight tracking is what allows faster hits (as opposed to faster shots). IPSC Masters confirm this.

Likewise, there is skill involved in being able to quickly transition between soft focus (seeing the battlefield, as Harris puts it) and narrow focus (seeing the front sight), and back again. In a combat situation, or even in an IPSC competition, I contend you will never perform as well as you possibly can if you are not 100% engaged in every moment the trigger is tensioned and broken.

My rule of thumb is this..

An entire paragraph dedicated to determining if you need to use the sights or not in different conditions, in an article supposedly taking a middle-road approach, focused on self-defense/combat shooting? I'm lost. Fact is, if I'm engaging a target I'm tensioning the trigger and very likely breaking a shot before the gun is fully mounted, before I've aquired the front sight. If the target is very close, I might be firing it as soon as I can get the muzzle clear of the holster and level. Harris' rule of thumb doesn't hold much water for me.

..most everyone is making sighted fire quality hits even with sightless guns. So how is THAT possible?

That front sight is really all you need for most close combat or near target shooting. Looking down the barrel, or using the end of the barrel as a reference (as mentioned early in the article) is typically sufficient. However, Harris doesn't discuss the Airsoft guns having negligable recoil, and therefore no need to track the front sight for accurate follow-up shots. Pull the trigger erratically and the groups are still relatively tight at close distances. Repeat with simunition and then report back.

Let the flaming begin.