Drill of the Week: Tracking Your Sights

We spent the last two weeks working on our marksmanship fundamentals. This week, we’re going to see how fast we can exercise those same fundamentals. We’ll do this by shooting a variation of the Bill Drill to focus on sight tracking.

Tracking your sights is a critical aspect to shooting accurately when you’re going fast. It takes time, effort, and ammunition to become really proficient so the sooner we start, the better.

What is sight tracking? When you fire your pistol, the gun recoils and the muzzle “flips” upward. Tracking your sight means keeping your eyes focused on the front sight through that arc of recoil. The gun goes *BANG* and you watch the sight rise & fall back onto the target. You don’t look at the target, you keep your eyes glued to the front sight as it moves. The better you’re able to do this, the faster you’ll be able to fire your next aimed shot.

For this drill, you’ll need a reasonably big target (a sheet of paper or 8″ paper plate works well) that will stand out really well against your backstop or target backer. An 8″ black circle on a white paper target, or a bright yellow sheet of paper on a cardboard backer would work. The important thing is that there is a lot of contrast between the target and the surrounding area because you’re not going to be focussed on the target.

Shoot at a distance you’re comfortable. Somewhere between five and seven yards is probably ideal. You will aim the gun at the target and fire six shots. Remember, the goal is to keep your eyes focused on the front sight from the beginning until the end, from first shot through the sixth. Start by going slow, just working on watching the sight.

Now, as you get the hang of tracking your sight, try to fire your next shot as soon as the sight comes down into the target. Your sight picture doesn’t have to be perfect; at this distance, if the front sight is on the target you’ll hit the target. You’re learning to fire the gun the moment you have an acceptable sight picture rather than waiting for a perfect sight picture. What this means is that your shots should be all over the target, not just in a tight little group. Remember, you’re just trying to hit the target, anywhere on the target. The goal is to do it as quickly as possible.

Don’t forget to keep your marksmanship fundamentals working! Going faster doesn’t mean you can just ignore proper trigger manipulation. If you start jerking shots off the target altogether, be a little more conscious of your trigger finger and slow down.

Tracking the front sight will allow you to break the shot as soon as possible while helping make sure you don’t fire too early.

Training with firearms is an inherently dangerous activity. Be sure to follow all safety protocols when using firearms or practicing these drills. These drills are provided for information purposes only. Use at your own risk.