Open Sights, Stubbornness, and what I learned from North Country Gal
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 3:32 pm
This morning, I was getting organized for going to the range tomorrow AM, and when I got my Henry H001 out, I took off the Hiviz fiber optic front sight and replaced,it with the OEM sight. I looked down the barrel, and had one of those "wow" moments. I realized that, after a few years of being a stubborn blockhead, I have at last learned something about shooting.
When I got my H001, back on Labor Day weekend of 2012,* I liked it, but I didn't love it. Mostly, i didn't like the sights. I quickly ordered up a Hiviz, installed it, and really, really liked it and the rifle. But, I still never could ever seem to shoot the Henry as well as I could shoot my Ruger 10/22 (it came with a semi-buckhorn rear sight, and a brass bead front sight).
Over the years, I have read about, seen on videos, had it told to me in person: "I prefer to use a 6 o'clock hold." I listened, I understood it, I couldn't argue with them. Awhile back here, NCG responded to at least one of my threads about my struggles to become a better shooter, by doing an excellent job of explaining how to shoot targets using a 6 o'clock hold, and why it's possible to shoot really tiny stuff at long range using iron sights.
Yet, for a long time somehow it never really sank in. And, I'm not at all sure why. It seems so simple when you have it explained, and when you look at a nice diagram of a sight picture (we have those on the wall at the range). Why didn't I get it?
Well, I guess the good think is that (at last) it seems to be sinking in for me. I still have a LONG way to go before I could ever begin to think of myself as a good shooter, but I've made a lot of progress, particularly over the past few months.
When I got my H001, back on Labor Day weekend of 2012,* I liked it, but I didn't love it. Mostly, i didn't like the sights. I quickly ordered up a Hiviz, installed it, and really, really liked it and the rifle. But, I still never could ever seem to shoot the Henry as well as I could shoot my Ruger 10/22 (it came with a semi-buckhorn rear sight, and a brass bead front sight).
Over the years, I have read about, seen on videos, had it told to me in person: "I prefer to use a 6 o'clock hold." I listened, I understood it, I couldn't argue with them. Awhile back here, NCG responded to at least one of my threads about my struggles to become a better shooter, by doing an excellent job of explaining how to shoot targets using a 6 o'clock hold, and why it's possible to shoot really tiny stuff at long range using iron sights.
Yet, for a long time somehow it never really sank in. And, I'm not at all sure why. It seems so simple when you have it explained, and when you look at a nice diagram of a sight picture (we have those on the wall at the range). Why didn't I get it?
Well, I guess the good think is that (at last) it seems to be sinking in for me. I still have a LONG way to go before I could ever begin to think of myself as a good shooter, but I've made a lot of progress, particularly over the past few months.
That's not always a bad thing, but I'd rather get credit for helping someone to shoot, especially one of my many pals here on this forum.