Zeroing your pistols and at what distance?

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VMUTH

New member
Was curious as to how many of you actually zero your pistols. And if so, at what ranges and how. All of my pistols except 1 has fixed sights.

I was told that i should zero it for windage and all I need is a small hammer and a plastic punch. Just hit the rear sight with the hammer and punch left or right till it hits center is what I'm told.

Also, I'm told to zero it at 7-8 yards.

What do you guys do?

Thanks.
 
J

JCP281

New member
Mine is sighted in to 10 yards. I would buy a cheap sight drift tool, a lot more precise and less chance of marring your pistol up.
 
J

JohnKSa

Administrator
If all you can adjust is the windage then it doesn't matter what range you use. Windage can't adjust for range differences.

If you do have sights that can be adjusted for elevation then you can zero at most any common pistol range from around 5 yards out past 25 yards or so. The trajectory doesn't arc enough to make any practical differences over that range.

If you zero the pistol for VERY close ranges (a few feet) or out near (or past)50 yards then you will find that it shoots high at more normal ranges.
 
B

BfloBill

New member
Depends what you use it for. SD I would zero it at 7 yds. Hunting would depend on the caliber and the distances I would expect to shoot for a particular area I intend to hunt.

But JohnKSa is right, if it's only windage adjustable the distance you sight it in at really doesn't matter. If the windage is correct at 15 ft. it will also be correct at 20, 25, 30....
 
R

Rufus T Firefly

Moderator
You don't state the purpose of your question.

Is it defense? is it target shooting. If you want to defend yourself, just aim it. If you want points for the olymipics, site it that way.
Sorry if that sounds rude, but you did not specify the purpose.
 
C

cougar gt-e

New member
You sound like a new shooter. The point of impact can change drastically based on how YOU shoot. Zero'ing the pistol should only be done after shooting it from a solid mechanical rest like a Ransom. Otherwise you will be chasing your tail.
 
M

mavracer

New member
I zero my service sized guns to be an inch or two high at 25 yards hat way I can hold on out to 50 yards or so.fixed sighted snubs that I can't get to shoot POA at 15-20 yards don't get to stay
 
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BigJimP

New member
For "Tactical shooting" I zero my guns at 30' or 10 yards....

but I practice often at 15', 21' and 30' ....and some out to 40' ...beyond that, in a tactical shooting drill, it makes no sense to me.

Like someone else said - if it was for hunting ... I'd probably zero it to 25 yards or maybe 50 yards ( but I wouldn't be shooting a fixed sight gun ) ....
 
G

G. Freeman

New member
I zero mine in at ~7 yards first. After that, I shoot it at 45-50' and make minor adjustments in the sight as needed.

I don't sight-in at 25 yards because I can't even shoot that well to hit the target at that distance.
 
P

pilpens

New member
I zero my handguns (.22LR - .45) at 15 yards using a 1.5" inch target with "6 o'clock" or "i" sight picture.
I normally shoot at 1.5"-2" inch targets at 15 yards and 2"-3" targets at 25 yards. My very intentional instability automatically adjust for elevation at 25 yards:).
I use to have pistols sighted so that the front sight cuts the target in half where front sight covers the bottom half. This is so that no adjustments for elevation would be needed at different handgun distances no matter what the target size is. This was too hard on my eyes for 2 inch targets like shotgun shells at 25 yards.

Of the many handguns I have, only 3 have fixed sights. Luckily, using the same sighting as above, all shoot close enough to point of aim at 15 yards. Again, my automatic elevation adjustment fixes any errors.
=========================
With fixed sights, you need to know where the hits at a given distance so you can compensate with your aim (or grind the sights - eeeee!).
 
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R

RickB

New member
Full-sized "service pistols" are shot for group at 25 yards (rested), as sight-in errors are more obvious. After adjustment, I'll check it at ten yards, to see where the bullets are landing relative to point of aim. If it's dead on for windage and within an inch for elevation, I'll call it good. If I try to sight-in at ten yards, or closer, I find that errors just aren't obvious enough. I'll look at a ten-yard group, think it's pretty-well centered, but then if I fold the target on the centerline, find that there really are seven holes on one side and three on the other. Even after sighting-in at 25, I'll find that shooting at 50 will result in another click or two in windage adjustment.
 
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pilpens

New member
What Rickb posted sounds very reasonable. I might re-sight my pistols at 25 instead of 15 just to see how bad I am off but I would not go to 50 yards - can't see that far without a scope.
 
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