Shooting a rifle with optic sight blocked - very interesting phenomenon

At a rifle training we were asked to tape up our optics and fire at a target 100 yards down range. Seems impossible but your body/eyesight does some amazing things.
Block your optic and shoot as normal with both eyes open. Line up the rifle as always and just “pretend” you are sighting with the optic. You eyes will compensate for not actually seeing through the optic and you will almost always hit the paper at 100 yards.

Just an odd, handy trick, magical thing your eyes and brain will do. Could be handy in a situation if your optic actually broke os somehow got knocked way out of kilter.

Of course if you have open sights also just rip the scope off and carry on, but this is a good little exercize to try sometime just to convince yourself it actually works. When I work with people and ask them to try it they are always amazed.

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@John512 Amazing you can get rounds down-range with your optic blocked. Reason why I use high quality quick-detach optics mounts on my AR platforms. Expensive option when you include a good set of MBUIS.

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Would not be permitted to attempt that on my range! I have had my red dot die on me, does that count. Didn’t try, I immediately switched to MBUIS, training I guess.

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and if you don’t, your configuration is lacking.
I agree with short range point-and-shoot concept, but at 100 yds a lot of people will find they do not have same hand/eye coordination as Jerry Miculek.

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The body is pretty good at “pointing”, so at short range that seems doable but I’m quite impressed at your being able to hit at 100yards.

What type of optic? a red dot or scope?

I’m with @Jeff-A1 i use QD with consistent return to zero and BUIS.

The state of optics today, even the “budget” options, are sturdy enough that you are unlikely to get so severe damage to the optic that you cant see through it without also doing severe damage to the rifle.

So with that said, a good pair of pop-up BUIS you can often see through the broken optic (assuming little or no magnification by the optic). And often, you don’t need the rear BUIS because you can use the optic itself as the “rear” aperture. It saves you time in trying to get off an optic (even a QD) if it goes down and you need to aim right now.

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Alternative offset sights:

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Yes, I am a fan of backup sights. This is just an exercise. I have seen many hunting rifles that offer no mounting options less an single optic. That said, just pointing out an interesting eye-brain function I would have never known or tried had I not been shown it by another.

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I was using a prism optic… kind of like a small traditional optic. Never tried with holographic or reflex although I assume the results would be similar.

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I’ve tried this it really is a weird feeling. As with anything new the more you practice and train the easier and more natural that skill becomes.

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We actually used to do this on Position tune up day" when I was on the Navy Rifle Team but at 200 yards in Standing, Sitting and Prone with iron sights. You would get into position and take aim and dry fire. Then you would load and make ready and the rear sight was covered. On “Targets” you would resume your position and fire one round or two if sitting or prone. This was done several times in a row to provide a “group”. If it wasn’t centered up recommendations were made to adjust your stance to achieve a natural point of aim. It is amazing what one inch of foot or butt placement would do.

Cheers,

Craig6

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Excellent Craig6… You are the only other person I have heard who has heard of this. I really appreciate your feedback. I will have to do some searching to see what I can find on Navy training. One of my best friends is a Navy Vet… when I did the exercise with him he didnt seem familiar but was very excited about it.
Sometimes it just the little obscure things that can make a difference in a survival situation. Hearing about it helps, trying it a couple times to confirm in your mind it works is better… you remember, and have a confidence and understanding of the limitations.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
John

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@John512 you wont find that trick in any Navy manual. We were fortunate back in the day (late 80’s) to have some very distinguished shooters that would come and coach us on the finer points of shooting Highpower. That was one of many takeaways that stick with me. To this day I am pretty sure I can walk up to a line and set my feet and I will be on with my position as the number of hours perfecting it have not subsided. For rifle shooting developing a NPA (Natural Point of Aim) is a HUGE advantage even in unconventional positions (ie: real world) it also works and translates well to pistol in dynamic environments. Learn to relax your body and have no physical stress in your position and the world is your oyster.

Cheers,

Craig6

Thanks for the input. I like that term “Natural Point of Aim”. It is amazing what relaxing can do. I am as guilty as most, there is just an exhilaration when shooting that tenses you up. Recognizing this and relaxing is a huge skill for us all to practice.

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What prism was it? I don’t own a prism but I really like the idea and benefits it brings, so am always interested in people’s perceptions of the pros/cons to that setup. Most of the prisms I’ve seen have an etched reticle, so you’re in even better shape than a red dot (unless you take a bullet to it, lol @Jeff-A1)

That’s an awesome bit of info.

I saw a video not too long ago (now i wish i bookmarked it) where someone was showing that with pistols. Basically stand in place, close your eyes, raise your arms into shooting position. And you will likely be pointing off to the right/left. So you fix your feet, repeat until when you raise your arms you are on target. Then as long as your feet are planted right in relation to the target when you bring your arms up you are already on target, reducing the amount of “fiddling” you need to do to correct your aim at the end of the arc. The instructor was implying (and it makes sense to me) that it is easier/more natural to get your feet pointed towards a target that the fiddling at the end of an arc.

It sounds like what you are saying applies to rifles too which is awesome

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I am with y’all. Magpul MBUS Pro + high end QD on any optics. “Return to zero,” in my experience is a relative term to how much precision you actually want. What I run gets about 4 MOA at 100m even through multiple mount/dismounts in varied weather conditions, which is an acceptable loss (tactically speaking) for the quick versatility it provides. But to ME, “zeroed” = 1-2 MOA at 100m (depending on the rifle/carbine). I’m posting this for folks with no 1st hand experience with QD mounts. Cheap ones are almost worthless. They won’t even hold zero through a lot of shooting, much less if you remove them from the rifle and put them back on. Top notch QD optic mounts on a good AR upper will perform as I described. I’ve never found any that will hold a 1-3 MOA zero consistently through multiple take off/put back on evolutions.

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Yes it was rifles… block out the optic and with both eyes open aim as usual. Great idea about the pistol, never thought about what you suggest but sound like sound advice to me… I will add it to my routine.

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