If you’ve ever heard of the Bindon Aiming Concept, I bet you have the wrong impression of what it is. Most people will describe it as a means to shoot a prism or magnified optic with an illuminated reticle at ultra-close ranges. Well, that is factually incorrect. In fact, it’s impressive how many people in the industry do not understand what the Bindon Aiming Concept actually is and what occluded shooting is. Luckily, I’m a nerd with lots of ACOG experience and figured we could break it down and finally end the misunderstanding.

What’s Occluded Shooting?

Occluded shooting is what most people are describing when they say the phrase Bindon Aiming Concept. You can use occluded shooting with a magnified optic to create a fairly efficient close-range option. The less magnification, the better, and it’s why prism optics often use the technique.

When you have a fixed power optic engaging at CQB ranges can be fairly difficult with traditional aiming. Trying to use a 4X optic at seven yards isn’t easy. What you do is keep both eyes open. Look through the optic, but focus on the target. If you have an illuminated reticle, preferably a bright one, it will ‘appear’ on the target.

This method of shooting evolved from the OEG. The OEG was an early red dot that did have a set of lenses to look through. Instead, it had a glowing red dot facing the shooter. When the shooter used both eyes open, the dot appeared on the target and was a very useful close-fighting tool prior to more traditional red dots.

What’s the Bindon Aiming Concept

The Bindon Aiming Concept is designed to work with magnified optics and does use both eyes, but it is for targets at mid to long ranges. Specifically, it’s about aiming at moving targets efficiently with a magnified optic. The optic does require an illuminated reticle.

The photo will look through the magnified optic and find its target. If the target begins to move, the shooter can then use the focus of their nondominant eye to track the target outside of the magnification. An illuminated reticle is easy to see and track, and you can follow the target.

A riflescope uses a monocular view which cuts off 50% of your vision. This makes tracking a target difficult because your field of view is so limited with monocular vision.

Occluded shooting is used for close range, and the Bindon Aiming Concept is designed for distance shooting and tracking a target.

Why the Confusion?

Well, there are a few reasons. First, Glyn Bindon, the Trijicon founder, was heavily involved with the Armson OEG and the idea of occluded shooting. He didn’t invent it, but he was part of its popularity. Second, they are both two eyes opened shooting concepts. The BAC can be used with the ACOG, as well as occluded shooting.

Somewhere along the way, the Bindon Aiming Concept was applied to an entirely different technique. It’s easy to see why the confusion arose and easy to understand why so many people call occluded shooting the Bindon Aiming Concept. Both techniques are valuable to know, especially with LPVOs. Hopefully, we helped educate and illustrate the differences.

World War 2 saw the American rifle squad wield a very diverse set of weapons. Never before and never since have American forces sued so many different firearms. Squads and platoons had the M1 Garand, The Thompson, the M3 SMG, the M1 Carbine, the M1911, the M1919 machine gun, the BAR, and likely more I forget about. With so many firearms in service with the armed forces, they had numerous quals soldiers wielding the weapons had to pass.

I’ve been on the search for old firearms quals and have stumbled across three World War 2-era quals that shine a light on the training your average grunt would go through. Let’s take a look at the classic quals for the M1911, the M3, and M1 Carbine.

The M1911 Qual

By World War 2, the M1911 already had decades of service under its belt. It served in the First World War and was still modern for the era of WW2. The M1911 Qual is quite expansive, with six separate tables and a requirement for 80 rounds of ammunition. This qual is found in the 1940 edition of FM 23-35. Keep in mind this is the standard and not the horse riding qual.

I’ve modified the language slightly to make it easier to understand in a modern context.

Table 1 – Slow Fire – Bull’s Eye Target

Stage 1 – 15 yards – Fire five rounds Into a Bull’s Eye target. No Time Limit

Stage 2 – 25 Yards – Fire five rounds Into a Bull’s Eye target. No Time Limit

Table 2 – Rapid Fire – Bull’s Eye Target

Stage 1 – 15 yards – Fire five rounds Into a Bull’s Eye target in 11 seconds.

Stage 2 – – 25 Yards – Fire five rounds Into a Bull’s Eye target in 15 seconds.

Table 3 – Quick Fire – E Target

Stage 1 – 15 yards – Fire five rounds Into an E Type Target in 10 seconds (Repeat 1X)

Stage 2 – 25 Yards – Fire five rounds Into E Type Target in 10 seconds (Repeat 1X)

Table 4 – Slow Fire – Bull’s Eye Target

Stage 1 – 25 Yards – Fire five rounds Into a Bull’s Eye target. No Time Limit (Repeat 1X)

Table 5 – Rapid Fire – Bull’s Eye Target

Stage 1 – 15 yards – Fire five rounds Into a Bull’s Eye Target in 11 seconds (Repeat 1X)

Stage 2 – 25 Yards – Fire five rounds Into Bull’s Eye Target in 15 seconds (Repeat 1X)

Table 6 – Quick Fire – Target E

Stage -1 – 25 Yards – Fire Five shots into an E Target in 15 seconds. (Repeat 2X)

The M3 SMG Qual

Interestingly enough, the M3 SMG Qual is shorter than the M1911 qualification. Seeing as how it’s a primary arm, that’s an odd choice, but the war was raging during the adoption of the M3, so maybe they were just getting troops armed as quickly as possible. Again I’ve broken this down to be a little more readable than FM 23-41.

Table 1 – 25 Meters – E Target

Phase 1 – Fire found rounds from the standing aimed position an E Target. No time limit.

Phase 2 – Assume the underarm assault position and fire a six-round burst into the E Target. No time limit.

Table 2 – 50 Meters – E Target

Phase 1 – Shooter can choose between a standing, sitting, or kneeling position and fire four rounds single shot into the E Target. No time limit.

Phase 2 – Shooter can choose between a standing, sitting, or kneeling position and fire a three-round burst into the E Target. No time limit.

Phase 3 – Shooter can choose between a standing, sitting, or kneeling position and fire a three-round burst into the E Target. No time limit.

Table 3 – 90 Meters – E Target

Phase 1 – Shooter can choose between a standing, sitting, or kneeling position and fire four rounds single shot into the E Target. No time limit.

Phase 2 – Shooter can choose between a standing, sitting, or kneeling position and fire a three-round burst into the E Target. No time limit.

Phase 3 – Shooter can choose between a standing, sitting, or kneeling position and fire a three-round burst into the E Target. No time limit.

M1 Carbine Qual

Finally, we are breaking away from the .45 ACP cartridge and getting into a real rifle qualification. .45 ACP is tough at 90 meters, but how does .30 Carbine work out to 300 yards? Here’s the skinny.

Table 1 – 100 Yards – Two A Centers on 6×6 Frame

Ensure you have two mags loaded with four rounds each. Begin in the standing and fire four rounds into the top A Center. Transition to the sitting and reload. Fire four rounds into the Bottom A center. The time limit is 35 seconds.

Table 2 – 100 Yards – Two A Centers on 6×6 Frame

Ensure you have two mags loaded with four rounds each. Begin in the standing and fire four rounds into the top A Center. Transition to the kneeling and reload. Fire four rounds into the Bottom A center. The time limit is 35 seconds.

Table 3 – 200 Yards – Two B Centers on 6×6 Frame

Ensure you have two mags loaded with four rounds each. Begin in the standing and fire four rounds into the top B Center. Transition to the sitting and reload. Fire four rounds into the bottom B center. The time limit is 35 seconds.

Table 4 – 200 Yards – Two B Centers on 6×6 Frame

Ensure you have two mags loaded with four rounds each. Begin in the standing and fire four rounds into the top B Center. Transition to the kneeling and reload. Fire four rounds into the bottom B center. The time limit is 35 seconds.

Table 5 – 300 Yards – 1 B Center on 6×6 Frame

Ensure you have two mags loaded with four rounds each. Begin in the standing and transition into the prone. Fire round rounds into the B center target. Reload and fire four more rounds. The time limit is 35 seconds.

Booming Along

The quals all seem fairly basic and certainly a product of their time. They do seem to be combat oriented, but only to a small degree. Keep in mind this wasn’t the only training soldiers received. This training just confirmed the soldiers had an idea of what they were doing with their issued weapons. It’s certainly an interesting look back at the WW2 era. I’m going to keep digging for a Thompson, shotgun, and even BAR qual, and maybe we’ll see a sequel to this article soon.