"AIM SMALL - MISS SMALL"

[chief38]

OK - I did not invent the phrase "Aim Small - Miss Small" however it rings so so true! PS: I have posted this in the self defense section because I feel accuracy is directly related to self defense.

I am still currently involved in teaching two of my very good friends to shoot and about firearms in general. Both intend on EDC/CCW. They are progressing well however I had to prove to one of them just last week why I insist on them shooting at small 50 foot timed (B3) targets for accuracy drills. When she questioned me I said ok, let's try something. I ran a B27 small silhouette target out to 7 yards and asked her to fire a magazine of 10 rounds at it. The group was at least 12"-14" all over the place - no specific grouping. She normally keeps 8 out of 10 rounds in the black ( 2 1/2" ) at that same distance and the other two not far out. Too big a target makes for too much room for error. She gets it now!

When Newbies think it will be easier to shoot well at larger targets and want to avoid being "embarrassed", I would urge experienced and good shooters to help guide them and explain the old phrase, "Aim Small - Miss Small". This in turn should help them become more accurate. After they learn accuracy, then comes speed, jam & FTF clearing drills and silhouette targets but I believe they must learn to crawl before they walk.

I know some of us here don't like getting involved but some Newbies might really appreciate good & helpful advise. I believe we should at least try. If we just stay away, they might never know.

 

[WR Moore]

It's not necessarily the big target, but the unrealized need to pick a specific spot on that big target.

If there's no fuss about some things where you are, Action Target has some good picture type targets instead of just the plain black shape.

 

[rockquarry]

Smallest target that you can see well, without eyestrain, at whatever distance you are shooting seems to work best, and that's a lot smaller than what most people shoot at.

 

[BE Mike]

Aiming isn't the key to good groups; trigger control is. By that, I don't mean to discount sight alignment, however.

 

[chief38]

Aiming isn't the key to good groups; trigger control is. By that, I don't mean to discount sight alignment, however.

I would just like to add, "Aiming isn't the only key, however, I agree trigger control is of the utmost importance as well.

 

[Jimmyjones]

Aim small, miss small.

Long long ago I was taught, don't aim at the beer can, aim at the "B" in Budweiser.

 

[Protocall_Design]

I agree with the principles stated above. My version of the same thing is "Aim small, hit small". To me, that is a more positive outcome.

 

[rockquarry]

This will vary from one person to another...I've tried many, many targets for handgun shooting in the last fifty years. I still try a new one occasionally, but what has worked best for me for a long time for 25 yard shooting has a been a 2" square, black outlined with a 1" white square in the center. I print these in the center of regular copy paper, one per page.

For fifty yards, which I don't do often, I use a similar target but 4" square with a 2" white circle in the center, but a 2" square would work fine. I seldom shoot anything other than Bullseye-style, but these targets also work well for two-handed Weaver-stance shooting.

 

[chief38]

I agree with the principles stated above. My version of the same thing is "Aim small, hit small". To me, that is a more positive outcome.

I don't pretend to be a Neurologist or Ophthalmologist , but I have been led to believe that when pointing the sights of a gun on a target, it will wobble and shake around in the black target area. The larger the target area the less your hand/eye coordination holds to any one specific area. The smaller the black target area, the less deviation there will be. Hence, Aim Small, Miss Small.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Same thing applies to any rifle also! There comes a point where even with good optics the targets get ridiculously small.
But with a 6 power scope, aspirin pills are a reasonable target at 125 yards
with 24x a M&M at 200 yards
with 32x a 69 caliber paint ball at 400 yards

But one of the best/most fun targets was a Cheese-it at 100 yards with good 22's, start with the 3/4" cracker, then the 4 to 6 pieces they break into, them the 20 or so big crumbs. To keep each other honest, when you think there is nothing left to shoot, Your friends" get bonus points for anything of your Cheese-it that they kill! Looser buys at the end of the day!

I have only one rifle with a name, it's called: The M&M Gun! at 200 yards it holds the group of guys record of 7 consecutive hits! Savage Single Shot Target in 223.

Warning: When you start this game, you need to have a place to pee near at hand, otherwise you WILL pee your pants laughiing at other people's misses under pressure!

Ivan

A cheap warm-up or training drill. Shove short pieces of small pipe in the ground that are varied in length. Put paint balls on them. Without a paper target they have to learn to read the wind in order to figure out their misses. As the pipes get longer the wind is more difficult to read. (Use a pretty big hill as a backstop!) As with all of the most fun games: Ther rules get made up as you go!

 

[stansdds]

Aim small, miss small... I normally practice at 25 yards using NRA B-8 target.

 

[Echo40]

General rule of thumb for self-defense has been "aim for center mass, shoot until threat is nutralized" for the longest time for a reason.

That being that most of the human body's vitals (the heart, lungs, and the spinal column) are all located within the upper torso, so if you aim there then you have the highest probability of hitting something vital and thusly leaving the assailant incapacitated.

 

[WR Moore]

Ah, now we get to a sticking point. The center of mass thing has been around since firearms, primarily from the military. They're big on "unity of training" so their later version is "center of mass or center of target presented". That later got revised when the threat wasn't an armed man some distance off, but someone much closer wearing a suicide vest or holding the trigger for an IED.

With that in mind, and in self defense, when the subject is reasonably near and presents a legitimate threat, the vital areas are not near the center of mass. Way back in the 1970's, the much maligned "Computer Man" study made the point that center of mass was not where one should be aiming if one wanted rapid threat incapacitation.

 

[BE Mike]

Ah, now we get to a sticking point. The center of mass thing has been around since firearms, primarily from the military. They're big on "unity of training" so their later version is "center of mass or center of target presented". That later got revised when the threat wasn't an armed man some distance off, but someone much closer wearing a suicide vest or holding the trigger for an IED.

With that in mind, and in self defense, the when subject is reasonably near and presents a legitimate threat, the vital areas are not near the center of mass. Way back in the 1970's, the much maligned "Computer Man" study made the point that center of mass was not where one should be aiming if one wanted rapid threat incapacitation.

Pistol cartridges are anything but reliable threat eliminators. In the hands of a human, the pistol shots aren't likely to be pin point accurate, especially when the operator is under extreme duress.

 

[zeke]

While good for teaching shooting, will politely disagree with the concept for self defense at close ranges. There are no little visible dots on people showing you where to aim small, aim small may take too much time and increase difficulty with moving target. At those close ranges, prefer to look over the sights at the target, and am happy with palm sized groups fired rapidly at top of "T" on humanoid target. If aiming at the head, or at longer distances, will take more time and concentrate on front site. A real skill, which i no longer am proficient at, is switching back and forth between the 2 techniques for differing targets and distances.

This doesn't mean shooting at little targets is a worthwhile skill set, or a whole lot of fun.

 

[Racer X]

I don't pretend to be a Neurologist or Ophthalmologist , but I have been led to believe that when pointing the sights of a gun on a target, it will wobble and shake around in the black target area. The larger the target area the less your hand/eye coordination holds to any one specific area. The smaller the black target area, the less deviation there will be. Hence, Aim Small, Miss Small.

I was quite surprised when I used my first red dot for Bullseye practice. That red dot sure wandered and wobbled. I got it down to small lazy figure 8s.

 

[chief38]

The way I teach Newbies is to start off with gun safety, gun operation function, familiarity, go to proper shooting techniques, accuracy, jams and FTF, and then move on to combat shooting on silhouette targets.

I agree that criminals don't have a target on them, but I also feel accuracy has to be taught before defensive point shooting is. In the end, they should be able to be proficient at both SD and target shooting. At least that's the plan.

 

[stansdds]

I go back to my USPSA competition days. I was fortunate to be able to shoot with a number of very good competitors and a very helpful deputy U.S. Marshal. The deputy marshal also happened to be a firearms instructor. I remember practicing at 25 yards with my competition M1911 (single stack) and being very proud of the small groups I was achieving from a standing position, two-hand hold. He said "that's nice, now go do that at 50 yards."

He was right, I started practicing more at 50 yards and saw my accuracy improve at both long distance shots and close up. There was even a match in which steel poppers were placed at distances from 7 out to 75 yards. Everyone was groaning about how hard that stage would be. When it was my turn, I fired one shot at the 75 yard popper, then one at the 50 yard popper, then one at each popper closer to me. The 45 ACP is not a high velocity round and some who saw my technique were certain that I had missed the 75 yard target, but nope. By the time I fired at the 50 yard popper, the bullet finally arrived at the 75 yard popper, both fell at about the same time. There were no misses for this guy!

 

[BubbaBlades]

I normally shoot at a 1" or 2" shoot-n-see target out to 25 yards.

I was at my local range about a year ago and the subject of pinpoint accuracy was being discussed. The only gun that I had with me at the time was a box stock Glock 17.

I borrowed a push pin from the range's cork board and inserted it through my target with the point facing me.

This video shows what happened (spoiler alert the pin got blown away).

I don't know of anything to use as a target that would be a smaller "aim small" target.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3IV-qby5pw[/ame]

 

[rockquarry]

The way I teach Newbies is to start off with gun safety, gun operation function, familiarity, go to proper shooting techniques, accuracy, jams and FTF, and then move on to combat shooting on silhouette targets.

I agree that criminals don't have a target on them, but I also feel accuracy has to be taught before defensive point shooting is. In the end, they should be able to be proficient at both SD and target shooting. At least that's the plan.

Well said. Developing good shooting skills is very basic but something many seem to have no interest in nowadays. it even helps the gunfighting crowd, though they may not know it.