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Some training buddies and I took the Hocking College point shooting instructor course a couple of years ago. This is part of the Ohio POST curriculum as taught by Hocking and is the most direct Applegate lineage instruction available (the COL went and met with them, designed the curriculum and taught their first instructors.) I think I was third or fourth in the class of twenty one students.
That said, Sneaky is exactly right. Point shooting is NOT precision shooting and even very skilled and practiced individuals cannot achieve the degree of precision that TS and Sneaky do. When I'm really on my game, have been practicing faithfully and am having a good day, I can hit a beer can two out of three times at ten yards using Applegate's methods. At that same distance, they're putting bullets through the same hole. Something to think about.
Both methods have their place. As Sneaky points out if you're at relatively close proximity to the BG, across an average size room or closer, a saucer sized group in the chest is probably more than adequate.
Among people I know who've really trained in both sighted shooting and point shooting, there is no "controversy" over which method to use. There is unanimity that sighted fire with both hands on the weapon is most desireable for both accuracy and rapid recovery. There is also recognition that there are likely to be times when circumstances make this untenable and being able to get hits shooting one handed without using your sights is a desirable skill to have.
A few interesting data points;
- D.R. Middlebrooks has repeatedly demonstrated that he can hit a plate out to fifty yards using a pistol w/o sights in a sort of Mod-Iso point shooting hybrid.
- In our class at Hocking everyone could get good hits (roughly saucer sized groups COM) at five yards. Perhaps three quarters of the class could do so at seven yards, only a third could consistently accomplish this at ten yards.
- A buddy was in a FoF class where the front sight had fallen off the training gun, he, and several other students, went through several iterations before anyone noticed the sight was missing. In close range confrontations even those who have trained sighted fire extensively may fail to use their sights (though they may think they are doing so.)
HTH
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