Center Mass v. Six o'clock

Sorry for this boot question, and I appreciate your patience as I pick up this new sport.  I am coming from rifle shooting, and I always aim center mass.  All of my sights are dialed in for center mass at 200, 300 and 600.  I tried six o'clock once, but did not like it.

From the AMU manual, it looks like they advocate a six o'clock hold for precision pistol shooting.  Is this correct?  Do you play with the sights between the 50 and 25 to keep it at six o'clock for both?

Thanks,

With irons I shoot 6 o clock(tiny line of white) at 50 and center at 25.

On my 1911 I mostly practice at 50 ft indoors. For 50 yards I go up 3 clicks, then down 2 for 25 yard. 6oclock hold for both.
.22 I don't adjust from my indoor and I shoot about the same scores.

Outdoors I'm looking at 3 clicks from 25 to 50 with the 45. The 22 doesn't change. Six o'clock all the way and I'm only shooting irons. No dots.

No one has mentioned sub-6 yet. What's great about it is you're holding on the white part of the target, so you can really see your sight alignment. On the 50 yard target, I hold halfway between the bottom of the black and the bottom of the backer. Since that distance is the same as the diameter of the black, I know my shot will be in the black as long as my sights are not up in the black or off the bottom of the backer. At 25 yards I hold between the bottom of the black and the bottom of the repair center, so its more like a wide line of white hold. With my 22 EIC gun I don't need to adjust sights between 25 and 50.  With the revolver its 4 clicks, but I use 2 different loads. 

Center hold is ok, I used to do that. But the sights are black and you're holding them on the black part of the target, so it's harder to see the alignment. 

6 o'clock never worked for me.  Problem is there's only one point when it looks right, so you feel like you have to jerk the trigger when the sights are at that one point. I prefer having a larger aiming area.

I started with sub 6 and went to center hold and my scores went up.  I had a habit of trying to shoot center when I was shooting sub 6.  I couldn't get the line of white consistent either.  I think you can be very successful with either, but the one I did not have luck with is 6 O'clock.

6 o' clock.
I've been most consistent with it; free, air, std, cf and BE.
Jon

You need to try them all, at both distances, and see what works best. Give it a good test, maybe a month of each, and keep track of the results.
For me, six at 50 yds and center mass at 25 gives the best scores.

Jon (or other shooting international), when shooting 6 o'clock for international cf, how did you deal with the difference between precision and rapid fire? For the rapid portion, did you just aim somewhere in the bottom half of the bull? Did you adjust your sights between precision and rapid?

Precision I held tight/hard 6 o'clock hold. I shot a lot and my hold was excellent and I could see the sights well. Never liked center hold because I couldn't see as well. I was shooting all over the country and found 6 worked good in all lighting conditions. Center was hit or miss. I shot center for duel, so sight change was necessary. Many good shooters I've known who shot center used a small/narrow front sight. Shooting international CF I used to regularly shoot 290-295 precision scores using 6 o'clock sight picture. I wS trying sub 6 for free pistol practice last year and strung them vertically. Went back to tight 6 and immediately shot better. I think there is less room for error that way. If you crowd the black still a 10. If you drop a little and have more light still a 10. Works for me ;p)
Jon

Whatever works for you. Try all three (center, 6, and sub-6), just don't try to shoot for a point on the target (area aim). Trigger control is what makes or breaks a good shot.

always shot 6 for my iron sights. converting over to the dot this past year I tried center hold( seemed logical ) but always drifted to my 6 hold so I just do the 6 for everything.. old habits die hard.

Until my eye's started going downhill, I used the center hold and absolutely loved it.  I tested all 3 (center, 6 and sub 6) and kept records of my scores for over a year.  My best was the center followed closely by sub 6.  With the center hold, I can't see my wobble as much with the black sights on the black bull, so I concentrate more on a smooth shot delivery.  With the 6 o clock, I try to dress it up too much.

If the light is really good I can still use a center hold, but too often I wind up with the sub 6 because of poor light.

Try all and keep good records of your results.  The results from my sub 6 records surprised me.  I don't care for it nearly as much as the center hold or the 6 o clock, but the results were there on paper.

Al