This is a long version of a reply sent to the original enquirer.
"Pat Cabe" wrote:
>While I think I understand the bones of his argument, it seems to me
>that it is overly complicated. Aiming most guns I've ever pointed is
>an alignment problem: Three points must be in alignment when the gun
>is aimed true--the rear sight (typically mounted near breech of the
>gun), the front sight (typically mounted at the muzzle of the
>barrel), and the target itself. The task of aiming is simply to bring
>those three points into alignment as precisely as possible.
>
>This is not germane, of course, to the original question of why one
>might want to look away every few seconds.
As a former senior shooting coach and competitor (rifle and pistol), and as
a psychologist with an interest in vision, I guess that the <vision> part of
the enquiry is a red herring. Probably, the coach in question was asked
<why>, did not know the correct answer, and bluffed. Since this started in
England, it can be assumed that the rifle in question is .22 caliber being
shot at a range between 20 yards and 50 metres, and prone. The sights will
be an aperture rearsight (adjustable X and Y axes) and with an aperture that
can be varied. The shooter's eye is between 25 amd 50 mm from the aperture,
so that vision will be through this (ie not focussed on it).
The foresight is a ring (variable and often adjustable) in a short tube
(about 70 to 90 cms away), and the aiming mark is black and circular. The
aiming process is to centre the aiming mark in the foresight ring. The idea
behing taking up the shooting position is to adjust the body - and hence the
rifle - on the Y axis. Thus: close the eyes, breathe in, breathe out, relax,
open the eyes, look through the sights, check the lateral position. If its
wrong, shuffle the body (all of it right down to the toes) and repeat. The
whole idea of closing the eyes is to prevent vision interfering with the
process. Note that technically the rearmost part of the sighting system is
not the eye, but the point of contact between cheekbone and rifle stock.
Some National coaches remove the rearsight when adjusting the cheekpiece for
one of their shooters so as to ensure that the eye is correctly aligned with
the sight axis.
Pistol shooting is a whole new bag of problems in that the pistol shot
should not look at (focus on) the target at all. Here, it is the alignment
of the front and rear sights that is critical not the fine relationship
between them and the target. I have proven this by turning off the lights
at the target end of the shooting range - scores only drop a few percent.
For the pistol shooter, taking up the shooting position also involves
closing the eyes, then raising the pistol into the line of sight and opening
them again.
One last point: both types of shooting should be done with both eyes open.
The non-aiming eye is occluded with a piece of semi-opaque plastic. This
means that eye-dominance is not relevant; it the the shooters dominant hand
that matters, and even that can be trained out if needed.
Remember that shooters are still while performing and thus make good
experimental participants!
Geoff Hone
G N Hone BSc, PhD.