Ak-47 sights are a pain for me.

[ancorp]

Originally Posted by Greylocks

The reason for aiming at the center of the target (and remember that Wikipedia is only as good as who wrote the article) is simple; it's far easyer to acquire a target, and not miss, if you aim for the center of it.

Target acquisition is far faster, your chances of hitting something are greater.

Basic target shooting techniques that apply for IPSC and other applications.

PS, recoil happens long after the bullet has left the barrel.

I was asking why I constantly see instructions/pictures that show that you must aim BELOW the center of the target...

[Greylocks]

Because everyone has a different idea of what is best? Center of mass is quicker under stress, and even used in competitions.

Nobody in International Shooting Union (includes the Olympics) teaches to aim at the bottom of the target. IPSC and other combat shooting techniques say to aim for the center of mass/target. It makes no sense to aim for an edge or a small target, does it?

[MADDOG]

Originally Posted by ancorp

One thing I don't get - why does the military train soldiers to sight in their sights so when you aim under the bullseye, you hit its center? That would only be effective for a certain size target. In the field, a human figure ain't similar to that in any way, and personally I think it makes sense to adjust your sights so the tip of the front sight post is in the middle of the target, exactly where you want it to hit, instead of having to consider that it would hit higher...

Perhaps there's something I don't know about this system...

Many sights only go down to 200m in elevation so you have to adjust for the shortcomings of individual rifles if engaging from the 100m mark

Chances are a soldier will forget to adjust the elevation in the heat of battle. Better to have the point of impact lower to increase the hit rate if a soldier makes a mistake.

MD

[Greylocks]

Agreed, the range does matter. But for airsoft it's not much of an issue.

Even at long ranges, center of mass makes sense because you still have a lot of leeway in all directions if you aim for the center. The way it's described; if you shoot low you hit the ground. If you aim at center you will at least hit the lower target area or the upper area, or side to side.

It's far simpler to show than to describe.