TargetTalk

As a somewhat new pistol shooter...(Distinguished Rifle Shooter)...am I better off with a 6-0-clock hold or center mass. I find I am trying to be too exact with the 6 o clock hold where if I use center mass I am more accepting of my wobble and try to shoot thru it. Just wondering what most people use when shooting irons.

I met one of the all time hardball shooters, who had won many national matches and other awards and he said he shot center mass, He said it worked for him. I find it easier to do too, but many shoot six and sub six and even super sub six, try them all in rapid fire and see what works best for you.

Kinks,

When you shot rifle matches, what hold did you use then? I am assuming

you were using a Service Rifle with a front blade and a rear peep. Just

curious. When I started Bullseye years ago, I had trouble with a Center

Mass hold. The black front and black rear sights would be hard for me to

see against the black bull. Try as hard as I could, this method did not

work for me. Switched to a Six O'clock hold and things got way better.

Using this method, there was a lot of contrast available between the sights

and the target paper. More daylight coming toward the sights made it

a lot easier for me to see the alignment of the front with respect to the

rear sight. For more on the topic of Bullseye Shooting, see if you can find

a book written by Gil Hebard titled, "The Pistol Shooter's Treasury". This

excellent book has several articles in it with submissions from some of

the all time great Bullseye shooters from the past. Of particular help to

me when I first started was an article written by pistol instructor Paul B.

Weston. In it, he discusses the concept of "area aiming". He'll explain it

better than I will now, but in short, he instructs shooters not to get

so "hung-up" on aiming/hitting the exact center of the bull, but to instead

focus on aiming/hitting an "area" instead. There's a lot of great info in

Gil's book. In it, each author tells you in detail the techniques he uses

to shoot good scores. It's a good read; Champions Choice has it listed in

their catalog. With shipping included, you should still get some change

back from your $20 bill. Easy to read and understand, Gil's book was of

great benefit to me as a beginner.

You'll have to figure it out with trial and error. Give each style a long enough period to really determine which is best for you. People who use center hold seem to have very good vision.

Hey guys...thanks for the replys. Mr Alexander, as far as shooting rifle, I evolved into a center mass (Navy hold) as my 60 year old eyes got weaker. When I used the 6 o clock hold...the top of the front sight would blur out. It is amazing that you can shoot x's with a center mass hold. I need to get Gil Hebard's book...I am very interested in the "area" hold. I was always taught to except your wobble...especially shooting offhand...shoot through it. It is much better than trying to snatch the shot when it looks good. I find that when shooting pistol...with a 6 o clock hold...I want to wait until the sight is perfect...it never comes..or at least rarely. That is why I want to try center mass...except my wobble...execute the trigger break as best I can and then follow through. Man, I thought rifle shooting was hard...pistol is a whole new game. I love it!

As others have said, you'll have to find out for yourself. I found, after trying sub-six and center mass, that sub-six is best for slow fire, but center mass is best for sustained for me. Give each method you try a reasonable time period (I did each for 8 weeks), and keep good records of your scores.

IMHO the 6 o'clock hold is by far the worst choice, for the reasons that Kinks gave. But the original post didn't give any indication that Kinks had tried the sub-6 hold. Both the center hold and the sub-6 are true area holds, but the traditional 6 o'clock hold is not. If you can't see the sights clearly using a center hold, try the sub-6.

HTH,
FredB

Concur with Fred. I like a center hold, but it really requires a bright front sight...orange, plus good light to shoot in. I went away from it when I got on the International Muzzle-Loading Team, MLAIC rules restrict you to black or white sights. Tried 6 o'clock, settled on a deep sub-six and never looked back.

When I was in the AMU in the 60's they taught us to use center hold only for iron sights but all the people they were training were in their early twenties so they certainly all had good eyesight. I have used center hold all my life and just strayed for a while when shooting standard pistol indoors because the lighting was poor, I was old and the black is really big. It worked fine for slow fire but in order to not drift up, I had to watch the target in timed and rapid which is not such a good idea either. It was too much to change the sights back and forth so I finally went back to center hold. You might try six o'clock where you have to watch the target and then sub six so you will be shooting area hold and not watching the target. I have quite a few friends that do well with 6 and sub 6 and one friend that will shoot 6 with a red dot. I have no idea how he can be successful doing that but he shoots stellar slow fires with several 100's at fifty yards under his belt so I won't argue with his method. I would suggest trying each for a while to see how you do. Personally I think if you are an individual who can hold really still with just about no wobble you are more of a candidate for 6 o'clock hold and if you have trouble with holding very still, try center or sub 6 where concentration on the sights only can make your wobble smaller.