jcc7x7 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 In uspsa we sight open guns in between 17 and 19 yds. That seems to work great for all target ranges with a 38 super comp or 9mm major gun. Looking for that basic info for my 627, 38 sht colt or spl with 147gr bullets power factor at 128-129 875 fps loads. What distance do the majority of open shooters sight in for? At this point its just local matches but figure that will change just like it did for uspsa. I'll wind up going to 3 or four of the bigger matches a year . So want to know what the normal is and then I'll adjust from there for distance. The concern of course is the longer targets thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revoman Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 50 yds for the Standards. Once you are sighted in at 50 the rest is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWP Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I would think you'd want 25, for all the typical stages and random black Xs in stages. Then know how many clicks to 50. The POI differences can't be much, but going fast on plates and stars without thinking about sight offset seems much more important than known distance targets that get shot at once a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alecmc Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 My vote is for 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolguy Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 On a lot of handguns you can sight in at 25 and be very close at 50. How is that possible? The line of sight is a straight line which intersects the arc of the bullet somewhere along that line. The bullet goes in an arc because of gravity. Line of sight is not affected by gravity, it's like a laser beam. If you sight in so the bullet is going up through the line of sight at 25, it will often be going back down through the line of sight at 50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan550 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 On a lot of handguns you can sight in at 25 and be very close at 50. How is that possible? The line of sight is a straight line which intersects the arc of the bullet somewhere along that line. The bullet goes in an arc because of gravity. Line of sight is not affected by gravity, it's like a laser beam. If you sight in so the bullet is going up through the line of sight at 25, it will often be going back down through the line of sight at 50. +1 This man knows whereof he speaks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubber Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I sight in at 10 to 15 yards. Now my point of aim is higher than my point of impact because my dot is higher than my bore is. Now depending on how high the dot is above the bore will determine how low it impacts at 10 yards. Over the years I found that 1 inch difference on elevation can get you close and can hit at 25 yards. But all I am trying to do is get close on elevation and dead on of windage. If I am shooting the standards (Near and Far). I will get as close as I can to hitting the X ring at 50 consistantly and the same with the 25 yards. Everything else is close enough for shorter ranges. I don't try to get a 2 inch group at fifty because I cannot see the strike of the bullet at 50. I can see it at 10 yards. I am not trying to drive tacks just hit in a 4 inch ring at any distance. Ramblin mode off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWP Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Ok, let's look at some numbers, there's some interesting math if we look at all the numbers. Technically I think we are all right. If you go to JBM's trajectory calculator and select a Hornady 147gr .355 bullet at 875fps and a sight height of 1.75" (that's a guess, everyone's is different.) A 15yd zero reveals a 50yd zero as well. It also shows an impact never more than .7" high between those distances. Up close, sight offset is something all open shooters deal with, and a .5"-1" impact diffence between 10 and 5 yards is normal, but we are going so fast it usually doesn't matter. A 25yd zero would mean that is the highest point where he line of sight and flight path cross. Everything else is below the dot, almost like a reverse 6oclock hold. I personally prefer impact slightly higher than sight, maybe only a half inch, but still higher than the sights. Moving the sights so impact is a half inch high at 25 would be the equivalent of Bubbers distance, between 10 and 12 yards. Looks like I'll be moving some zeros after this thread. What did we ever do before the Internet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thk's Nothing new under the sun I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cylinderstop Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 25 yards is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revoman Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 If you can keep it under 2" at 50 the rest is nothing but gravey. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 Sighted in today at 25yds and got bunch of 2" + or - groups then I shot it at 50 for some practice. I haven't shot that far DA in a long time ( 70's early 80's for PPC) I need some serious practice before spring for the "near and far" Gun shoots good at fifty off the bench but I need some work. gives me something to work on over the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRodriguez Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 my zero is set for 15 yards. you will rarely shoot past this distance at large match as the set up time between shooters will go up big time if you shoot past that distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 Shot a local match this past weekend it was cold!!! Gun shot great No problem with any hits including horizontal tuxedo (painted) targets So 25 yd sight in seems to be fine at this point getting head shots and those tuxedo targets on the side no hits to high or low from that sight in but like John R said not many stages with more than 15 yd shooting so may adjust closer later in the year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanc Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Just be aware of how high over the bore your particular optic is so when you are close up(like say 3 yards...) that if the dot is on the bottom of the X for example, where does the hole actually happen on the target. You'll want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallisticianX Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) With all the variables of caliber, sight position, and bullet weight there is no set standard. Your gun and ammo combination is as unique as people. The best thing to do is experiment for the happy medium. Consider most stages we are just looking for the "A-zone. We all know our working distance is 3-50 yards. Remember to use your PF confirmed match ammo to do the following; Setup a target at 10 yards (anything closer is going to be a hold over for Red Dot shooters anyway) sight it in for dead center. Progressively move the target out to 50 in 10 yard increments and note the hits to get a baseline of your trajectory characteristics. Then make adjustments for hits to be as close to center regarding elevation at the 15 to 20 mark without your hits out to 50 being way high or low. So you may find 1" high at 20 puts you 1/2" low at 50 whereas a dead center hit at 20 puts you 1.5 to 2" low at 50. Sort of splitting the distance if you will. If your trajectory has a considerable arc across the 50 yard distance that cannot be overcome with this formula consider upping the charge or switch to a lighter/faster bullet weight. In the end you wont have to worry so much about holds at the variable yardages you can just focus on executing the shot. X-ring shots are generally on the closer yardages with a few exceptions. So no matter what some hold over or under is going to come into play as the trajectory, sight height, and smaller zone is what it is. Shooting the gun and getting to know your POI is going to be the the key in the X-zone hits regardless. WELCOME TO THE LABORS OF TUNING YOUR EQUIPMENT!! Edited March 5, 2015 by BallisticianX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Interesting--but the vast majority of competitors can't shoot well enough to make much use of that high level of fine-tuning! Most practical competition handguns can be sighted in at 15 yds and will be perfectly fine at all practical distances from point-blank to well past 50 yds. An important point--do your sighting in with the gun hand-held. Sighting in from a rest will often create a misleading result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snertley Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Interesting--but the vast majority of competitors can't shoot well enough to make much use of that high level of fine-tuning! Most practical competition handguns can be sighted in at 15 yds and will be perfectly fine at all practical distances from point-blank to well past 50 yds. An important point--do your sighting in with the gun hand-held. Sighting in from a rest will often create a misleading result! Speaking trueth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I like to sight in, hand held at 25 yds and about 1-2" high. If not as I muscle the gun around in a COF I tend to shoot low. Sighted in 2" high at 25 yds. still has me always shooting high at 50 yds. Due to relaxing of my grip. I shoot higher from prone also. Others due to vision, strength and even attitude will have different results. I've heard that TGO's grip doesn't change no matter what type of shooting he's doing. I can't seem to do it though. The key is if you can't shoot a concentric group at a given range, you need to practice until you can. Then you can sight in for that range, until then it's more of a waste of time than a help in a match. In all but Action Pistol and ICORE you just don't see a lot of 25+ yds shooting, unless you go to a Sherwynn Greenfield Match???. SO sight in for what you are comfortable with at 15 yds check it at 25 and 50 yds (it's at least acceptable if you can hit a 12" gong at the longer ranges).. Then practice, practice and practice until you can see what you need to do different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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