Low ready start.

What is the preferred way to start from low ready for .22 EIC. Follow the front sight up from low ready or look at the target until the sights are visible. Or some other variation….

That's a good question, when I shoot a dot I was always following the dot up from the bench. Now I been shooting air pistol also, I look at the front sight when I have the gun at the target. I feel more comfortable and ready when using the 2nd style. I don't know which way is proper or why.
 Stan

I believe current doctrine for international events is to align the sights and bring up the gun about halfway from the ready position while keeping the sights aligned THEN switching to the target and bringing the pistol sights to your line of sight.  But like most things it is only a technique.

Like some other things, the preferred way is generally specific to the shooter.  

When my eyesight was better, accommodation and acuity wise, I could align the sights at the low ready, look at the target and then focus on the front sight as it came up into the aiming area.

Now, I have align my eyes with the target to get good head and body position, then focus on the front sight while the gun is in the low ready position and watch the front sight come all the way into the aiming area.  It was just taking too much time, especially for rapid strings, to really acquire and get a good focus on the front sight using my older method.

My preferred way would be to be able to look at the target and get the sight focused as it came into the aiming area as before, as that would make me more comfortable with the head position throughout the string.  Now I have to keep the head still and look down at the sights and follow with just my eyes to keep the sight in focus.

Getting older sucks.

CR

Not getting older also sucks.

mspingeld wrote:Not getting older also sucks.

Sure makes it difficult to get to matches.

dronning wrote:

mspingeld wrote:Not getting older also sucks.

Sure makes it difficult to get to matches.

  Getting older and driving 200-350 miles to a match has it's cons. My wife worries about my driving in big cities by myself (no navigator) and I need to get a room the night before to rest.
   I can say the pros are I get to shoot with really decent people and listen to a decent cd by myself. If I'm really lucky to drive with another shooter the time goes fast and we enjoy the trip over and back.
   Sorry I got off track, Stan

Look at the target and bring the sights up to it.

I'm currently training myself to not look at the target, so I look at my front sight while calming myself/focusing between shots, and then I track the front sight as I raise the pistol. This helps me stay focused on what's important, the front sight.

Indoor shooting at 50ft sucks because I see every bad shot that's not in the black and focus on it too much. I've actually been purposely putting a round outside the black while training to help me not focus on the bad shots/target and stay focused on the front sight. Sounds dumb now that I'm saying it, but it's helped a ton.

Attain sight alignment and center the gun in your aiming area on the target. Focus (visually and mentally) on the front sight. 

Lower the gun. Keep your eye pointed at the bottom edge of the target, and your visual focus at the distance of the front sight.

When the target faces, SNAP! to the bottom of the target. (Re)acquire sight alignment, begin the smooth steady aggressive trigger squeeze, as you gliiiiide into the center of the target. The shot breaks cleanly and smoothly in the X-ring.

Notice he said GLIDE! Very important to learn. Don’t want to pass through the 10. Also important to start your trigger squeeze on the way up. Also learning rhythmic breathing as part of the lift is very important.
Jon

john bickar wrote:Attain sight alignment and center the gun in your aiming area on the target. Focus (visually and mentally) on the front sight. 

Lower the gun. Keep your eye pointed at the bottom edge of the target, and your visual focus at the distance of the front sight.

When the target faces, SNAP! to the bottom of the target. (Re)acquire sight alignment, begin the smooth steady aggressive trigger squeeze, as you gliiiiide into the center of the target. The shot breaks cleanly and smoothly in the X-ring.

What he said!!

Thanks John.  Very similar to what I was going to try to describe.  Now I don't have to type it.

Below is a training film made in the Soviet Union covering the lift. When it was originally posted on Youtube it had english subtitles. It may help display what was explained above.

Gotta tag this one.

There was a video put out by I think RWS or Dynamit Nobel in the early '90s with Ralf Schumann and a German free pistol shooter whose name escapes me that was really good. My Google-fu is failing me on this one. Anyone else remember that one?

Jon Eulette wrote:Also important to start your trigger squeeze on the way up.

Yeah, "squeeze on the way in" is one of my mantras when working on the lift.

There are a couple of drills that are good for learning the lift. One is to do single-shot drills (lift and one shot) on a blank target from a very close distance (less than 5 yards). Gradually work your way back, 5 yards at a time (do I have to mention here that you should do that with the gun unloaded? The world has gone kinda sideways lately, so yeah, I should). You'll gain a sense of confidence early on and scaffold your learning.

Similarly, if you have ISSF rapid fire targets, those are good for learning the lift. The lift is a gross motor skill, and area aiming is key to executing the lift and first shot smoothly and accurately.

Smooth is fast.

john bickar wrote:There was a video put out by I think RWS or Dynamit Nobel in the early '90s with Ralf Schumann and a German free pistol shooter whose name escapes me that was really good. My Google-fu is failing me on this one. Anyone else remember that one?

Uwe Potteck?

I had no luck yet searching. Will try some more.

Sa-tevp wrote:Uwe Potteck?

Jawohl. Danke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc-fD4uOvZQ looks like it's part of the same series, but doesn't include the rapid fire parts, from what I could tell.

john bickar wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc-fD4uOvZQ looks like it's part of the same series, but doesn't include the rapid fire parts, from what I could tell.

Good find! The Heinz Reinkemeier Youtube channel that hosted that video has a lot in (mostly rifle) target shooting videos to watch. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv1fIOhE5M3jl7HDDxvPeGw/videos