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

Rao Hawaii Houston Sara Heidi Kim Photo2 By Rao
Rao Hawaii Houston Sara Heidi Kim Photo2 By Rao

From Hawaii To Houston: Finding Fab Female NRA Firearm Training on the Mainland

Frustrated in their search for next-level instruction on the Big Island, two women journey 3,800 miles to Texas for the gold standard in training.

3 Hunting Tips from an Old Game Warden

For a fun, safe and successful hunt, it's best to follow sage advice from the most experienced.

New Guns 2026: Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 38 2.0 Revolver

This enhanced small-frame revolver is intended for personal protection in a compact, lightweight platform.

How to Avoid Panic-Buying Ammo

When is the best time to buy ammo? Right now. 

NRA Women's Leadership Forum Spurs & Sisterhood Online Auction: Plenty of Pistols

Handguns from some of the biggest names in the firearm industry are included in this expansive auction lineup.

NRA Women's Leadership Forum Spurs & Sisterhood Online Auction: Adventures of a Lifetime

Bidding starts as low as $1,000 for several of these amazing outdoor adventures.

Women's Interests



Get the best of NRA Women delivered to your inbox.