Occluding the Dot by Joel Park

Carry Optics is quickly becoming one of the most popular divisions, which has caused lots of iron sighted shooters to dive into the world of red dots. On face value, shooting a handgun with a red dot appears to be remarkably different than shooting an iron sighted handgun. Whether your sighting system has a front sight and rear sight or just an electronic dot, there are lots of issues that can occur from performing the same action with each sighting system.

When shooting iron sights most people agree you should look at a precise spot on the target you want to shoot, then bring the gun to where you are looking and shoot the target. Afterwards, your eyes find the next target and you bring the gun to where you’re looking on the next target.

If you focus your vision on the front sight during the target transition while doing that same scenario, bad things can and likely will happen. Often staring at the front sight during a target transition causes the shooter to lose track of the spot they wanted to move the gun to, and they fire as soon as they see the brown cardboard of the target behind the sight. This usually results in points down such as Charlies and Deltas.

A second issue that can happen during a target transition comes from the shooter watching the sight and accidentally moving the gun too far past the point they want to shoot, or they move the gun to a wrong spot, then make an adjustment to the right spot before firing the gun. This is easy to spot on tuxedo targets, steel targets and partial targets. Reviewing the video or hat cam footage in slow motion shows the gun moving and stopping, then you see a correction of the gun moving and stopping again before firing.

Lots of shooters make those two mistakes often with a red dot and they never even realize it. Occluding the dot is becoming a popular training tool that helps shooters remain target focused which guards from shifting your focus onto the dot when you should be looking for or at the target.

To occlude the dot, all you need to do is cover the muzzle side of the window on your red dot with tape or a paster. This makes it so you’re unable to look at the target through the optic window and helps you remain target focused. It might seem a little strange at first. If you look at the target, the dot will just show up as your eyes do the work of combining what they are seeing. This technique will not work if you close one eye while shooting.

I’ve tried various colors and types of tape and the best solution I have found is the Stone Bridge Gun Works - Target Focus Trainer. The Target Focus Trainer is a kydex cover that attaches to the muzzle side of the optic and does not fall off, yet is easily removed exactly when you want to remove it. Another benefit to the TFT is having the window completely blacked out compared to a blue or brown tint caused by various tape. The dot really stands out against the black background and is very easy to see even on bright sunny days.

I am currently doing all my live and dryfire training with the cover on and I rarely remove it. There are a few situations where you might want to remove the cover, such as a tough lean or a port where your vision is obstructed and you are not confident you will be able to see the target with both eyes. Occluding the dot has helped lots of students I see in classes and I think it’s worth experimenting with for all red dot shooters. 

Joel Park
Host of Training Group Live by PSTG podcast