In my shooting career (both military and LE), I have come across several methods of searching and assessing. Early in my military career, it was "eye, muzzle, target." When I became an instructor, the Marine Corps was revamping its marksmanship program; and, in the process, searching and assessing was one of the things that changed--when I say changed, I mean it kind of became location-based depending on who the range officer was. As we were transitioning from iron sights to ACOGs, and from basic field-fire to a table system; our new range officer brought a new-to-me technique of just-below-ready and scan with eyes only. Once I became an LEO, my agency seems to have stuck with the latter method--though they don't even teach it for the basic qual, just for the tactical teams.

So, here's what I'd like to do: if you're a proponent of either method, let's have a friendly debate, if one exists, as to the merits of each and their usefulness. If you know of alternatives, go ahead and slap them into the mix too. ...and this goes for both rifles/carbines and pistols. If you think searching and assessing is a waste of time, tell me why. Let's see what you got.