At what range do you practice point-aiming with a pistol?

[Ron3]

I never practice what I call "point aiming" beyond about 15 yds.

At just under 5 yds, I don't use sights much. This (and closer) is also where I sometimes shoot from the hip before the gun is raised to eye-level.

I guess I could say:

0-3 yds = I point aim
3-15 yds = I may point aim or use sights
15 yds+ = Use sights

This is about the norm, is it not? How about you?

[Eurodriver]

Always use sights.

How do you get precision without using the sights? What is your time to get a shot off from a holster on a 4” circle at 15 yards?

[Vegas]

Doesn't point shooting just encourage bad fundamentals? Or is that just me? Lol

[sidewaysil80]

I don't really have a hard and fast rule for it. I use IPSC/IDPA targets and typically if I can see the dotted lines I'll just point shoot. I'd venture to say that 3-5yds is probably the max I'd really push it.

[Ron3]

Always use sights.

How do you get precision without using the sights? What is your time to get a shot off from a holster on a 4” circle at 15 yards?

Practice! Head/heart shots are easy with a Beretta .25 or Glock 19 at 3 yds, rapidly, with no sights.

As for shooting a 4 inch circle at 15 yds no sights...I don't think I could shoot a group that tight. But certainly upper torso hits.

Time? Don't know, no timer. But It's clearly much faster at close range (what range exactly is debatable) to shoot get :decent: hits vs taking longer to get a "good" hit. It's the ol' precision vs speed debate.

[Wake27]

I don't really practice on point shooting. When I'm trying to work on speed and efficiency I may push so fast that I barely see the sights, but my goal is always to see the sights. Because of that, I can usually get an acceptable shot off pretty fast based on proper stance and reps alone which I guess is kind of the same thing.

[Ron3]

Doesn't point shooting just encourage bad fundamentals? Or is that just me? Lol

No. They still apply. But if you can get hits acceptable to you given the scenario you can get those hits faster by focusing on the target, not the sight.

If you don't think you can get the hits you want of course, focus on that front sight.

To me the debate lies in the 5-15 yd range. I was just wondering what other folks were doing.

[Wildcat]

I understand what you're asking.

I've observed a lot of shooting at 10-15yd distances under time pressure and when point shooting works, it can indeed be very fast. This is typically five targets at 10 yd in close to 2 sec and any hit is a good hit. The distance can be stretched some. The trouble starts when people think they can get the hits they want and they simply are not connecting with the target. They are still 'fast' but that is where point shooting falls off the rails as they have a hard time getting back 'on'.

A shot timer is a good investment. It gives a much more reliable metric than how it felt. There are instances where it feels like an eternity to line up the sights and the actual elapsed time is respectably brief. In order to endorse point shooting (or sighted fire) you have to own the misses too in order to be realistic.

[J-Dub]

When shooting from retention, usually under 3yds.

[Jwknutson17]

I point shoot 99 percent of the time. Unless I'm at distance going for very specific small target. If I take the time to look for the sights I much slower and have no improved accuracy. Over the years and practice. I could have no sights and be equally accurate. I may be by myself on this one, but it is what works for me.