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Pistol sights

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Re: Pistol sights

#21

Post by Inconel »

binarytransform wrote: post #16

Former JSOC dude here. Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone, so only a few things matter. Front sight focus (which implies maintaining equidistance from the rear sight posts), both eyes open, fast presentation, parallel grip, smooth trigger pull, reacquire, repeat as necessary. And optical sights = more things that can break / run out of batteries / fall off and make noise / etc etc.

I don't mean to turn this into a CoD/Splinter Cell nerdfest, but while I've seen many vets post on HN, I don't recall anyone from JSOC doing so, do you mind sharing anything about your experiences? Assuming there is anything you are able to share freely.

Does what you did in JSOC have anything to do with your current career? Are there any skills or lessons that you have found particularly useful in your civilian life?

Obviously disregard any of this if you don't feel comfortable talking about it.

Re: Pistol sights

#22

Post by baby »

Kind of off-topic. But I had a thought the other day: without the US we wouldn't have action movies like James Bond or FPS and other shooters video games. It's interesting to see that guns are rare in other countries' movies/discussions. Maybe FPS would all be like Nintendo's octopus thing.

Re: Pistol sights

#23

Post by gadders »

chrissnell wrote: post #11

Going target shooting is incredibly relaxing and a great break from the workday. The focus required to sight in a target and control one's breathing, arm, and finger movement is a very powerful relaxant to me and melts stress away. I work from home and I live in the burbs so pistol or rifle shooting is not possible. However, I've gotten really hooked on shooting (of all things) my Red Ryder BB gun. It doesn't make a…

I think any hobby that requires a high level of concentration is relaxing as it makes you focus on that activity and forget other worries.

I've had the same effect from lifting and fly fishing.

Re: Pistol sights

#24

Post by binarytransform »

Inconel wrote: post #21
binarytransform wrote: post #16

Former JSOC dude here. Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone, so only a few things matter. Front sight focus (which implies maintaining equidistance from the rear sight posts), both eyes open, fast presentation, parallel grip, smooth trigger pull, reacquire, repeat as necessary. And optical sights = more things that can break / run out of batteries / fall off and make noise / etc etc.

I don't mean to turn this into a CoD/Splinter Cell nerdfest, but while I've seen many vets post on HN, I don't recall anyone from JSOC doing so, do you mind sharing anything about your experiences? Assuming there is anything you are able to share freely. Does what you did in JSOC have anything to do with your current career? Are there any skills or lessons that you have found particularly useful in your civilian life…

Don't want to derail the thread too much so I'll keep it short. I did technical "things" that correlate to my current civilian career. Lessons: biggest one was to eat humble pie and realize past performance =/= future success when different domains are involved (mil vs civ). Useful things: I'm generally pretty chill when things are going wrong. I.e. client meeting goes horribly -> "Hey at least we're not in X country getting shot at / how do we optimize for next time / etc."

Re: Pistol sights

#25

Post by Inconel »

binarytransform wrote: post #24
Inconel wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean to turn this into a CoD/Splinter Cell nerdfest, but while I've seen many vets post on HN, I don't recall anyone from JSOC doing so, do you mind sharing anything about your experiences? Assuming there is anything you are able to share freely. Does what you did in JSOC have anything to do with your current career? Are there any skills or lessons that you have found particularly useful in your civilian life…

Don't want to derail the thread too much so I'll keep it short. I did technical "things" that correlate to my current civilian career. Lessons: biggest one was to eat humble pie and realize past performance =/= future success when different domains are involved (mil vs civ). Useful things: I'm generally pretty chill when things are going wrong. I.e. client meeting goes horribly -> "Hey at least we're not in X country…

I imagine after being in that kind of environment most "crises" at your civilian work seem quite mundane. I appreciate your response and if you ever feel like sharing more I'm sure most here wouldn't mind the occasional derailed thread.

Re: Pistol sights

#26

Post by davidwihl »

electrograv wrote: post #7

If you're interested in the science behind this, you may be even more interested in learning how peephole style rear iron sights almost eliminate the dual sight alignment problem of goal-post style rear sights (as commonly found on pistols). The rear peep sight on rifles take advantage of actual "optical effects", without any glass -- much like a pinhole camera can actually magnify images without any lenses or mirror…

Another option is to use a red dot sight and leave the front iron sight up. This has the combination of fast target acquisition, better situational awareness and mitigating parallax. I just saw this demonstrated yesterday at Sig Sauer Academy and was pretty impressed.

Re: Pistol sights

#27

Post by wyager »

gadders wrote: post #23
chrissnell wrote: post #11

Going target shooting is incredibly relaxing and a great break from the workday. The focus required to sight in a target and control one's breathing, arm, and finger movement is a very powerful relaxant to me and melts stress away. I work from home and I live in the burbs so pistol or rifle shooting is not possible. However, I've gotten really hooked on shooting (of all things) my Red Ryder BB gun. It doesn't make a…

I think any hobby that requires a high level of concentration is relaxing as it makes you focus on that activity and forget other worries. I've had the same effect from lifting and fly fishing.

One of the unique(?) things about shooting is that it requires you to understand the absolute limits of the precision of control you have over your body. The slightest movement of your hands, arms, torso, or head is amplified 10,000 times.

Not only do you have to find the limits of control you have over your various muscle groups, but you must come to understand that which you have limited control over, such as your breathing, heartbeat, reflexes, and background muscle vibrations. All of these things conspire to push you off target, so you must find ways to suppress natural reflexes, manage your heartbeat, and gently work around the subtle background vibrations of your body.

Re: Pistol sights

#28

Post by duncan_bayne »

binarytransform wrote: post #16

Former JSOC dude here. Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone, so only a few things matter. Front sight focus (which implies maintaining equidistance from the rear sight posts), both eyes open, fast presentation, parallel grip, smooth trigger pull, reacquire, repeat as necessary. And optical sights = more things that can break / run out of batteries / fall off and make noise / etc etc.

> Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone

I've shot a bit, but only rimfire long guns, air rifles, and air pistols. The pistols were harder to shoot by a _long_ margin, and I can imagine it'd get orders of magnitude harder w/ more recoil, noise to promote flinching, etc. etc.

So with your comments in mind, and my own limited experience, do you have any idea why every Police-critter here in Australia is armed with a pistol, rather than something easier to use? I mean, in my head it looks like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHEhMKQhGKE

"It feels like you're shooting a toy gun sometimes" (similar to my experience w/ a suppressed semi-auto .22LR)

vs. this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXeYAfMeaBY

The only things I can think of in favour of the pistol:

* Cheaper (maybe?)

* Less intrusive / easier to carry (for the 99.99% of the time when you _don't_ need it).

* Less intimidating (for those who don't know how hard it is to hit a moving target w/ a pistol ;) ).

Re: Pistol sights

#29

Post by binarytransform »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #28
binarytransform wrote: post #16

Former JSOC dude here. Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone, so only a few things matter. Front sight focus (which implies maintaining equidistance from the rear sight posts), both eyes open, fast presentation, parallel grip, smooth trigger pull, reacquire, repeat as necessary. And optical sights = more things that can break / run out of batteries / fall off and make noise / etc etc.

> Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone I've shot a bit, but only rimfire long guns, air rifles, and air pistols. The pistols were harder to shoot by a _long_ margin, and I can imagine it'd get orders of magnitude harder w/ more recoil, noise to promote flinching, etc. etc. So with your comments in mind, and my own limited experience, do you have any idea why every Police-critter here…

I have no LEO experience but I'd imagine increased mobility, decreased chances of rounds exiting the target and hitting an innocent bystander, and cost are the primary reasons.

Re: Pistol sights

#30

Post by wyager »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #28
binarytransform wrote: post #16

Former JSOC dude here. Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone, so only a few things matter. Front sight focus (which implies maintaining equidistance from the rear sight posts), both eyes open, fast presentation, parallel grip, smooth trigger pull, reacquire, repeat as necessary. And optical sights = more things that can break / run out of batteries / fall off and make noise / etc etc.

> Circumstances requiring engaging with pistols == bad day for everyone I've shot a bit, but only rimfire long guns, air rifles, and air pistols. The pistols were harder to shoot by a _long_ margin, and I can imagine it'd get orders of magnitude harder w/ more recoil, noise to promote flinching, etc. etc. So with your comments in mind, and my own limited experience, do you have any idea why every Police-critter here…

Handguns are drastically easier to carry than rifles.

Hollow point handgun rounds drastically reduce the danger of over-penetration present with rifle rounds for likely police scenarios.

Most plausible scenarios where an officer would be forced to discharge a weapon wouldn't really benefit from a larger, more cumbersome weapon. Police usually have to shoot in close-range engagements that end in a few short seconds.

Cost is not really a factor. Look at the cost of weapons used by police departments. Handguns aren't drastically cheaper than decent rifles.

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