The Sight Picture For Handguns

From Shooting Illustrated: "When The Sights Are Right." The article begins by discussing the difference between the 6 o'clock hold (traditionally popular with target shooters) and what the author calls the combat hold with the front sight dot covering the target. He then goes on to explain why the combat hold is better than the 6 o'clock hold:

    When using various “holds” to enable hitting a target, any target, the eye focus is called away from the sights to determine the hold distance required in relation to the target in order to hit the intended location. Precision suffers if one’s eye focus is not on the sights when the bullet exits the muzzle.

    An easier way to create a sight picture that is usable in almost every instance is to utilize the natural attributes of the eyes to center the front sight in the window of the rear-sight opening and superimposing the front sight over the center of the target, regardless of its size or shape.

    A characteristic of human vision is the ability to find the center of any object that has the eye’s attention. When viewing the front sight through the window, otherwise known as the notch, or opening in the rear sight, it is helpful to have a point of reference. That point of reference could be a night sight, fiber-optic pipe, brass bead or a painted dot. By focusing on that very point of reference through the window in the rear sight, the shooter’s eye automatically aligns the sights without having to check the sides and top of the front sight and its relation to the rear sight on a continuing basis.

I disagree with one of the author's conclusions. The advantage of the 6 o'clock hold was to provide more accuracy even if your front sight would have otherwise obscured the target because you can center the target over the front sight blade. That is why it was universally adopted by target shooters. But it probably is more natural to line the target, front sight, and rear sights up than to hold just under the target; and, besides, most combat handguns use fixed sights that come from the factory set up for the "combat hold." Most important, in my opinion, is to be consistent with which sight picture you use.