Close, Medium, Far: Manage Your Sight Picture for Max Accuracy

Winchester's Becky Yackley explains how your pistol sight picture should change when the distance to the target does.

posted on June 29, 2022
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **

Becky Yackley is many things: champion competitive shooter, hunter, writer, Winchester brand ambassador, mother and expert mentor. She's been helping women of all skill levels achieve on the firing line for years, and she's happy to share her secrets. Top among those secrets is the fact that your sight picture—meaning the way that your handgun's sights relate to one another and to the target—needs to change just a little depending on how far away you are from your target.

In this video from Winchester Ammunition, Yackley will shoot from three distances: one that's nearly close enough to touch, one further back and one a full 150 feet away. These various distances are called "target presentations," and that's relevant both for competitive shooters and for self-defenders. At very close ranges, as Yackley notes, your sight picture is really secondary to what you need to do, which is essentially treat the gun as if it were your index finger, point, and then shoot. (Hence the term "point shooting.")

Further back, the sight picture becomes increasingly important, because the margin for error becomes narrower. Once you've retreated to 15 yards, it becomes important to align the sights side to side and top to bottom before squeezing the trigger. So what does that look like in practice? Let Yackley walk you through the steps of close, medium and far and you'll start to get the (sight) picture.

Latest

Cheryl Todd Miniter Podcast 1
Cheryl Todd Miniter Podcast 1

Living Her Life Out Loud: Gun Freedom Radio Host Cheryl Todd

NRA Armed Citizen podcast host Frank Miniter chats with Cheryl Todd of Gun Freedom Radio, who has become one of the Second Amendment's most vocal advocates.

B&P's Karen Miles Finishes on Top at Inaugural World Super Sporting Championship

Karen Miles earned two Ladies Championships and a pair of top-five overall finishes while Gebben Miles earned World Championship HOA.

GRITR Range to Host ROSE Seminar by SIG Sauer for Women

Led by SIG SAUER Academy female instructors, this seminar offers a welcoming environment for women of all skill levels to learn more about the ROSE program and strengthen their everyday carry knowledge.

Walk the Talk America Joins National Panel for Suicide Prevention Month

WTTA leaders Mike Sodini and Kevin Berry joined the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative to discuss collaboration, stigma reduction, and community-based prevention.

Following Firearm Trends without Forgetting the Fundamentals

Firearm instructors must apply the firearms rules of safety and shooting while customizing training for the individual student.

Firearm Training: Go the Extra Mile for Safety

Responsible trainers say "safety first," but really safety should be first, second and third! 

Women's Interests



Get the best of NRA Women delivered to your inbox.