(upbeat music)
- Tom, at the range I sometimes get people coming up to me
and saying, Hey how do I make a transition
from iron sites to red dot?
And really, like, all I can say is round count.
You know, it wasn't until about a thousand rounds
where I really got comfortable presenting the pistol
and seeing the red dot in my site.
But once I got past that barrier, I mean, it really became
as second nature as anything to see the red dot on target.
There's nothing more fun
than say a walk back drill to really demonstrate how
adding a red dot to your pistol
can extend your capabilities.
- Right? And that one of the best ways to learn how to shoot
with a red dot on a pistol course is with buddies, right?
Because you're at the range, you're with your friends
and then if you're doing it right, hopefully
you're talking a little smack while you're doing it.
(laughing)
So a walk back drill's really simple.
We're gonna start at the 10 yard line.
We got a 12 inch piece of steel.
We're both gonna shoot.
If we both hit, we move to the 20.
We both hit, we move to the 30.
We keep going until only one of us hits
at one of those yard lines. So
- [Eric] Let's get at it
- [Tom] Let's shoot it to 10.
Let's get started
- Now. You know, I was a bullseye shooter, so
- Yeah yeah.
- I Could take all the time in the world and do this
- You're talking smack early.
(gun fires)
- All right.
Oh, not perfectly dead in the middle, but
- Yeah, but a hit's a hit.
(gun fires)
- Oh, there it is.
- That was perfect.
- A little more center than mine
(both laughing)
- All right?
- All right. Let's back it up
- Let's move to the 20
- All right Eric, 20 yards
- [Eric] With an a red dot hitting it gonna be no problem,
but we're gonna start to see if there's dispersion.
- Oh there will be.
(gun fires)
- [Eric] You were right.
There is a little dispersion.
- It's inevitable.
(gun fires)
Less for me.
(both laughing)
- All right, let's move to 30.
- Let's get going.
- All right. 30 yards.
(gun fires)
- [Tom] Ooh, that was nice.
- Ooh
- That was right in there.
- That one felt good.
(Eric laughs)
(gun fires)
- [Eric] There it is.
- [Eric] That also felt good.
That's a good group we got going.
- That's not bad.
- All right, Eric. 40 yards.
(gun fires)
- [Tom] Nice.
(laughs)
(gun fires)
- [Eric] Oh, there you go.
- [Tom] Where was that center?
- [Eric] Yep, that was pretty close to center.
- Okay.
- That was a nice shot.
- Well, the camera will tell.
All right. 50
- [Eric] All day
(gun fires)
- [Tom] Where it hit, but I know that was a hit.
- [Eric] It's swinging.
- [Tom] Yeah. That's the thing.
(gun fires)
- All right, Tom, so here we are at 60 yards.
- Yep.
- What typically happens for an iron sight shooter here?
- Iron sights at 60, even
on that 12 inch piece of steel, your front sight blade
it's gonna cover the entire, the width of the target.
Right?
- Right.
- So now, now it, it's turning into an eyesight contest
and it's turning into where do you know
on your front sight blade that the bullet actually lands
- [Eric] Right? With a red dot.
This acro has a three and a half MOA red dot.
- [Tom] Right.
- [Eric] You're able to have a finer crisper aiming point
- [Tom] Right.
- [Eric] On that target. That's not obscuring the target.
- [Tom] Right.
- So, I really like it.
Let's see how we shoot at 60.
- 60.
(gun fires)
- [Tom] Nice.
(gun fires)
- [Eric] Nailed it
- [Tom] All right, Eric?
70 yards.
- [Eric] Big seven zero.
(gun fires)
- [Tom] I knew you were gonna hit
- Boy, it's hard
- You give you enough time, like (sighs)
Anyway
- I'm glad I'm holding the buzzer.
(gun fires)
- [Tom] I think I missed
- Oh, snap.
- I that, that broke low.
(gun fires)
- [Eric] There it is.
You got that one.
- All right.
So you've officially won.
Yeah. I wanna move to 80 and let's see how it goes at 80.
(Eric laughs)
- I'll keep going.
- All right, Eric, so we're at 80.
Technically you've won the competition
'cause I took two rounds to get a hit at 70.
We're gonna keep going.
Let's see how, how we do.
(gun fires)
- [Tom] Dog gone, man.
(gun fires)
- [Eric] Hit
- [Tom] All right.
We both hit first shot 80.
Let's go back
- To 90.
(gun fires)
(Eric sighs)
- Do you want to take a second round?
- I do wanna take a second round.
- Okay. First Miss at 90.
(gun fires)
- [Tom] All right. Two misses.
- [Eric] Are you kidding me?
I think the target moved
- Right? That's always what happens.
(gun fires)
- I gotta say that was a nice hit.
- Thanks. So even though I got a first round hit at 90
I lost this drill because the way it works is you step back
every 10 yards or every five and you hit at 70.
I had a first round miss at 70, so that's technically
where it ended, but we knew we could do better than that.
- A win is a win.
- And then I beat you at the 90
which is important to me.
But some things to know about shooting long with a pistol
right? If you try to do this with irons at about 60
it's time to get on the struggle bus.
Red dots make a huge impact starting really 20 yards
even 15 yards. Red dots make a big difference.
A pro tip, if you want to shoot long distance with a red dot
on pistol rifle, it doesn't matter.
You want to dim that illumination as much as possible
to where the dot is just barely visible against the target.
That gives you a very small, clearly defined aiming point
because as you turn up the illumination, it's easier to see
because it's brighter.
But it also has the appearance of getting bigger
- And inferior red dots.
Unlike the Acro too, they're going to flare
- Right? So this red dot appreciation drill
but it's really known as the walk back.
(music ends)