6 o’clock

My buddy told me that most bullseye shooters use a 6 o’clock hold rather than a center hold. Is this true?

Not really. I think many use a sub 6 hold

You might think that after all these years there would be a consensus on what sight picture to use, but there isn't. Although sub six is probably most popular, there are some very good shooters who hold center and others who like six o'clock.

It's a little like learning to shoot sustained fire with a revolver by single action or by double action. You can make either technique work, but you won't make much progress if you keep switching back and forth.

I have too many "other" pistols to shoot 6:00 with my Bullseye pistols. Like Orpanut said above switching back and forth does not work. I tried shooting 6 or sub 6. The sights keep coming back up to the center. Oh well.

The reason I brought this up, as I was speaking with a friend of mine about sight alignment. I questioned having the front sight focus which you want to be clear and your target some what blurry. I asked him how does one make accurate shots if the target is blurry? This is when he told me bullseye shooters use a 6 o'clock hold being the rear sight is black and the front sight is black and your target is black and it's hard to see what is the center of the target. It made sense to me, so I just wanted to confirm with the bullseye shooters. I'm having a tough time grasping the fact that you can make accurate shots with the target blurry. I know the eye can't focus on three things at one time, but I envy you guys who can make great shots with blurry targets.

Pat C wrote:.......... I'm having a tough time grasping the fact that you can make accurate shots with the target blurry........

Rather than thinking about it, try it.  Focus on the target, not the front sight, and see how well you shoot.  Then focus on the front sight, and try again.  Try it as much as you want, as often as you want.  Have the target at 15 yards, to make it more interesting.


Then, just for the heck of it, pretend you're focusing on the target, which is clear and sharp.  Meanwhile, since they are blurry, the blurry front sight and more blurry rear sight give you no clue about how well centered the front sight is in the rear sight.  If you want, try to understand that.  If not, go to the next step:

Go back to focusing on the front sight, and allow it to move until it looks like it is touching either side of the rear sight.  Front sight will not be centered on the rear sight, but take one shot.  Then, place the front sight in the middle of the rear sight, and take one more shot.  For one more shot, place the front sight so it looks like it is touching the other side of the rear sight.  Then look at your target.

Do that as often as you wish.  You might not understand the "why" for a while, but you'll clearly see the effect.



If you're still puzzled, can you see where the middle of a circle is, when its perfectly clear and sharp?  You can do the same thing when it's blurry.  Your eye and your brain will show you where the "middle" (the bull) is, regardless of how sharp it is.