Red dots are becoming increasingly common on pistols, especially in the concealed carry segment of the market. And those who love them really love their red dot sights arguing that it makes them more accurate, especially over distances.

But like anything else, red dots take a little getting used to for people who haven’t adjusted to using them often, and one of the most common challenges that people have when switching over to using a red dot is consistently getting on target quickly. If you’re used to focusing on aiming using your iron sights on your pistol, changing to a different aiming mechanism has a learning curve. Many people with experience using red dots have difficulty finding the dot in the sight at times.

So, what do you do? How can you make sure that you are able to get your red dot on target quickly (as in, nearly immediately from when you drew your pistol from its holster)?

Fortunately, the answer to that question is easy, though, not necessarily an immediate fix. It will take you putting in some time to retrain your muscle memory to get on target using your red dot automatically. You can watch a video from John Lovell below about exactly how you can train yourself to do this every time.

Now, if you watched the video, you know the answer: change your draw stroke to one that pulls from the holster towards the chest and, then, pushes forward from around chest height straight out to your ready–to–fire position.

One of the keys is paying attention to how you currently draw and present your firearm, and what you want to pay attention to is how you do that habitually, without thinking, because that’s what you will do in a high stress situation such as when you could actually be justified in pulling your gun for self–defense.

If you’re not presenting your firearm in the way that John showed in the video, then, you should seriously consider spending the time to retrain yourself to automatically present in the push forward manner that he describes so that you can get on target quickly and accurately every time (whether you’re using a red dot or not).