Optimal Sight Picture with Gunsite’s Freddie Blish

By Yamil Sued Posted in #Skills

I was standing on the range in Peoria, Arizona, talking with my friend Freddie Blish, when it struck me how often shooters talk about follow-through without truly understanding what it means. We say the words. We repeat the drills. But the real lesson lies in something much simpler and much harder at the same time: optimal sight picture.

That day, we decided to slow everything down and talk through what your eyes should actually be doing when the gun fires and after it fires.

One Shot, One Continuous Sight Picture

Here is the first question I like to ask shooters. If you fire one shot at a target, how many sight pictures should you see? Most beginners say two. Sight picture, bang, sight picture again. In a way, they are right. But the goal is different.

For a new shooter, what usually happens is this. You see your sights. You press the trigger. The gun recoils. Your sights leave the alignment. Then they come back, and you see them again. That is two distinct sight pictures.

As you gain experience, control improves. You start to see something different. Instead of two separate pictures, you see one continuous sight picture. You are literally watching the front sight track up and back down as the slide moves back and forth. You never truly lose it.

That is what optimal sight picture really means to me. It is not frozen. It is alive and moving, but always under control.

Where Your Eyes Must Be Focused

Your eyes can only focus on one thing at a time. Not the target, not the rear sight, not everything at once.

When shooting with iron sights, the answer is always the front sight.

When I focus on the front sight, the rear sight becomes slightly blurry. The target becomes slightly blurry. That is fine. Precision comes from clarity on the front sight, not from trying to make everything sharp.

Every time I rush this, my hits show me the truth on paper.

Assessment Is Part of the Sight Picture

Optimal sight picture does not end when the shot breaks.

After the required number of shots, whether that is one on the range or several in a real threat, I follow the sights down. I watch the target until it is no longer a threat.

Then I assess.

• Is the threat still moving?
• Is the threat still armed?
• Is there another threat nearby?

This is not frantic scanning. I do not whip my head around like a weed eater. I look out, look back. Look out, look back. I actually see what is there.

Assessment is controlled movement at the same speed. I can shoot accurately.

Trigger Control and Reacquiring the Sights

One of the most important parts of follow-through is what I do with the trigger.

After the shot breaks, I hold the trigger to the rear. I let the gun recoil. I reacquire my sights. Only then do I ease the trigger forward until I feel the reset. Click. Then I press again.

This builds control.

Advanced and competitive shooters may slap the trigger. They can do that because they do not disturb the sights. For most shooters, especially newer ones, controlled reset builds better habits and better hits.

Single Shots, Pairs, and the Long-Term Goal

When I practice, I like to start with single-shot drills.

• Sight picture
• Bang
• Sight picture
• Follow down
• Assess

Then I move to controlled pairs.

• Sight picture
• Bang
• Sight picture
• Bang
• Follow down
• Assess

In a controlled pair, you may see three sight pictures as you develop. The long-term goal is different.

The goal is one continuous sight picture while the slide moves back and forth and the gun cycles. You are simply watching the front sight track and return.

That is when shooting starts to feel smooth instead of mechanical.

Following the Target to the Ground

Every shot sequence ends the same way for me.

I follow the target down, keeping my focus on the threat. I confirm the threat is no longer a threat. Then I search and assess for anything else.

At ten yards, the muzzle does not have to drop far. But my eyes always track the target until the problem is solved.

This habit matters far beyond the range.

Final Thoughts on Optimal Sight Picture

Optimal sight picture is not just alignment before the shot. It is vision before, during, and after recoil. It is controlling what I see, what I focus on, and how I process the environment once the gun stops firing.

When I get this right, everything else improves.

My hits tighten. My follow-through becomes natural. My assessment becomes deliberate instead of rushed.

That is why I keep coming back to this simple idea.

One continuous sight picture. Focus on the front sight. Follow down. Search and assess.

Everything else grows from there.

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