In the case of a front post sight, such as you’re discussing, in addition to the front and rear sights being lined up, the target should appear to rest upon the top of the post (front sight), just as you have it depicted.

How dominant is your master eye? Are you able to focus on the image from that eye, or does the image from the other eye confuse your sight picture?

If you can concentrate on the master eye’s image then you simply hold your pistol or revolver in your dominant hand and bring the target, front-sight, and rear-sight into alignment with the master eye.

If the weaker eye’s image interferes with your sight picture then I will recommend that you close the weaker eye. If you are unable to just close the one eye, do not worry! You only have a bit more work to do. Obscure the weak eye lens of your shooting glasses with a bit of tape.

If you forgot to bring any tape, you STILL are not out of the game! You will look very silly doing this, but consistent hits in the X-ring of your target will make you quickly forget your shooting buddies’ laughter.

You will get into your favored shooting stance (isosceles or Weaver) and turn your head toward the weak eye until that eye can no longer see the sights. Orthodox? Absolutely not! Effective? Most certainly!

If you can focus on the master eye’s image while working with a long-arm you have only to mount your rifle or shotgun to the dominant eye’s shoulder. It will feel odd to you at first, but you will soon become comfortable.

If you weak eye will not let you focus then use the tape on the weak eye lens trick. If you have no tape, then I must defer to someone more learned in remedial shooting techniques than me.

Mr. Andy, I hope this is useful to you as well as our other cross-dominant friends (and to those who have the privilege of instructing them).

Happy & Safe Shooting!

No matter what your go to weapon is get some snap caps, which are basically just plastic rounds which do not fire because they are just plastic and have no primer or gun powder in them. Practice with those snap caps until everything is muscle memory. You will know how to work the action very well on your preferred weapon.

Don’t try to pull back the slide like a sling shot. That is what is shown on TV. Grip the top of the firearm with your hand and pull back. Don’t ride the slide forward. Let the weapon do what it was meant to do and go into battery itself.

Practice magazine release, and reloading. That is the part that takes up the most time in quick shooting.

There could be an entire article on malfunction clearing, but the most basic is tap/slap, rack, bang. Smack the bottom of the magazine to ensure that the magazine is seated correctly. Rack the slide for a fresh round. Bang is pretty self explanatory: shoot the weapon.

Most important is practice practice practice.

Like ladies magazines that need to come up with a list like “20 ways to know if he is hot for you” every month. Gun magazines have to keep coming up with ways to tell you to stand or hold your gun to shoot better, and like the woman’s magazines most of what they say is garbage. 90% of how you shoot is mental.
Please don’t give up at this point. I am not one for finding your “center” and controlling the flow of good and bad energy or any of that nonsense. Yes there are ways of standing or holding your gun that might work better for you but that isn’t what is going to make you be able to shoot tight groups. I show this when I am at a range by shooting with ether hand or sometimes I will hold a gun upside down and shoot it that way to make my point which is your mind is the most important thing to learning to shoot well.
Most people that have shot a bit know to squeeze not yank the trigger but without realizing it they still yank a bit. There is a very strong tendency to be watching your sights and when you see everything line up pull right then. This is the root of the problem. I will often talk for 10 minutes or more with someone before going into a range and I will tell them even though I am telling you this and you will try not to yank the trigger you will find yourself yanking the trigger. You will get 2 or 3 nice shoots off and then way off. They will look at me funny and I will just say trust me you will fall into this trap. Everyone does.
I have shoot and taught shooting for years and I still have to fight this myself. Once we are in the range it always seems to work the same way. The first shot is close and then they start to get worse. I wait till they have one way off and then remind them of what I said and they get a sheepish look and say I am trying not to but it is so hard to fight it.
Here is the brake down of what happens. Your trying to line up the sights. This is tough because you can’t have the rear and front sight and the target in focus at the same time. So they are changing their focus point and trying to keep the gun from shaking. Then finally their eye sees it. Everything is lined up. The impulse to pull the trigger when you see that is very strong and most do. And most also shoot poorly. The reason is there is more time and more motion between when their hand had the gun just right and their finger pulled the trigger. Their brain sees the image and realizes everything is lined up, the brain sends the signal to the finger, and the finger reacts. If you shoot this way you will slowly get a bit better but you will never be a great shooter.
To get truly good you need to be two people at the same time. Picture this, in war a special forces solder will use a laser designator to mark a target. Over head a pilot will drop a bomb that will hit where ever that laser is. The solder on the ground doesn’t know the exact moment the bomb will hit. If he moves a bit his laser moves and the bomb will move as well. If the solder sneezes the bomb might hit the building next to the one he wanted. In the same way you job when shooting is to hold the gun on target not knowing when it will go off. With a different part of your brain you start slowly increasing pressure on the trigger. The trick is to not have your eye talk to your hand.
Think you don’t do this? The proof of this is I can have someone hold a laser pointer on a target and it will move at most an inch around the point they are aiming for. Then when they shoot they will go much wider then that inch. If I could find a range that would allow this I would modify a gun so the trigger could be pushed with a cable like old cameras. I would start by having the person aim the gun and then I would have the gun go off without them knowing when it would fire. Most people would be shocked at how well they would shoot with such a gun. However wide the laser from a little pointer moves around is how tight of a group you should be able to shoot. Any shots that are wider then that are caused by trying to time your shots, meaning pull the trigger at the right moment. Once you understand the idea then you just have to slit your mind into doing the two jobs at the same time. With one part of your mind you are holding the gun on target. With the other part you are slowly adding pressure to the trigger.
If this is the first time you have heard of shooting this way it may sound simple but it’s not. It can be exhausting. I have seen people be too mentally tired after a hour and a half to shoot any more. Once you learn to shoot this way more shooting will make it all happen faster. The interesting thing about this style of shooting is it often doesn’t matter much which hand you use. I often encourage those I am teaching to shoot with their off hand. The reason is they have to think more and have less muscle memory to rely on. The other odd thing about shooting this way is the person will shoot their best from the moment they learn this. Shooting more doesn’t help them shoot better only quicker. In order to shoot better they will need to develop muscles to hold the laser pointer better. A good way to practice is to use a 5 or 10lb weight and a laser pointer at home. With the weight on your wrest hold the pointer at a spot on a far wall. Use a weight that is heavier then the gun you shoot. It sounds simple but in reality it is quite hard but that’s the secret to shooting well. It’s all in your head.

I’m writing a novel and I needed my character to teach another one how to shoot a gun. I’ve done it myself a few times before, but your article helped me to understand the proccess from theoretical point of view.