WATCH: Bullseye Pistol Aiming with Brian Zins

With over 30 NRA National Records to his credit, 12-time NRA National Pistol Champion Brian Zins knows a thing or two about bullseye pistol shooting. In his latest video with Shooting Sports USA, Zins reviews one of the top fundamentals for bullseye pistol shooters—aiming. You can watch the video above. (If you missed the first video in Zins’ new training series, see it here.)

Bullseye pistol aiming with iron sights can be daunting. Luckily, Zins is able to break down this complex subject into easily digestible portions.

Starting with iron sights, Zins describes his way of aiming, including sight alignment. Zins says that focusing on the front sight is best when using irons. He suggests doing whatever you have to do to force yourself to focus on the front sight blade.

“With iron sights, you’ve got to have something on that front sight to make sure you are focused on it,” says Zins. “Hard focus on the front sight is necessary.”

Regarding the red dot, Zins explains simply enough, “It’s a one-point aiming device. Look at the target … it’s the way the dot was designed to be used.”

Zins also suggests finding the red dot that works for you best, as well as adjusting the intensity settings to have the actual dot itself to your liking.

“Figure out which dot works best for you, what size, which intensity level, etc,” says Zins.

Similar to iron sights, with the red dot it’s critical to pick something to focus on. The best method, obviously, is to focus on the target. However, if you can’t see the target clearly, focus on the dot. Zins stresses this point.

“With a dot, try to focus on the target. If you can’t focus on the target, make sure you stay focused on the dot.”