Point Shooting or  Sight Shooting. Which one is better?

This argument rages on and if you think about it, the subject boils down to this:

Bullets go where barrel is aligned. Any technique that allows a shooter to consistently obtain sufficient alignment on a target during discharge will yield hits.  Sights do not control this alignment, rather, they provide visual feedback about it to a shooter that knows how to use them.

Jerry Miculek demonstrated a blind shot on a program entitled “Extreme Marksmen” that originally aired on the History Channel (http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=281384) The challenge was to draw and shoot a string of shots on a steel target, reload, and repeat with a second string. Essentially, he shot a pair of  “Bill Drills” back to back on steel, blindfolded.

A number of lesser shooters with an agenda would try to claim that “mere” competition marksmen can’t compare to their claimed (and UNPROVEN) skills, that only their magic formula of point shooting (or whatever) is the only true path to effective practical, defensive shooting. Yet, Miculek’s feat soundly trounced even their wildest claims.  What’s more, Miculek isn’t even known as a point shooting advocate! In fact, during the interviews he mentioned the importance of focusing on the front sight for accurate shooting. Yet, he was able to make fast hits literally blind folded.

How? As with any accomplished competition shooter, he has refined his technique to such a high, Jedi-like level that aligning on a target is second nature. Though untested, self-titled “real world” defensive shooting instructors who are too scared to attend scored shooting events where their skills would be evaluated are aware of this, practical shooting competitors make use of a variety of techniques that often are superior.

So point shooting or sight shooting? If you bother to learn how to SHOOT really well it’s a moot point.