Sighting In Process - New Dawson Fo/adjustable

[aggie dad]

Hi Everyone, I am new to this forum and also a new shooter interested in USPSA/IDPA/Steel Plate. I have a G34 and have shot a few steel matches and am really enjoying that. I also recently got Brian's book and am slowly reading it for comprehension; haven't gotton to far into it yet.

Now my questions, I just had Dawson FO/Adjustables put on the gun and I'm in the process of sighting it in. I went to the range yesterday and frankly had a hard time shooting from a rest and getting a good group, although I probably was not benching the pistol correctly, had my hands on top of the bag vs resting the barrel on the bag; also I did not line up with the center line of my body. Aside from my poor technique, the sights were initially way off and I had no information on how many clicks to move the sights to change POI. I was shooting 5 rounds and then checking the target for impact. I was disappointed at the results, since I had been getting much better groups free style from 15 yds, with the stock sights.

Additionally, I am sighting in at 25yds using a 50 yd NRA pistol target that has about an 8" black circle on it. I was trying to align my front sight with the center of the circle and this was probably wrong, assume I should have been placing the the front sight at the 6 clock position and then seeing where the shots land relative to that??? Another point I am confused on is whether I should be lining up the top of the front sight or should I be putting the FO dot on the bottom of black circle??? If I start to hit in the black at 6 clock, should I then make elevation adjustments to bring the grouping closer to the center???

Any help to answer the above or other suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Doug

[SRT Driver]

Your method is sound. Just get a comfortable, repeatable rest and do the same things each shot. Once you get it on paper, try a group freestyle and make sure every thing is the same. If not, work on your technique.

If you are having trouble getting it on paper at 25, move up to 10 and shoot a few shots. If it is off, correct and move back.

Shoot at something you can see. I like to use a 2 in black circle at 25 yards but a bullseye target is fine. A center hold seems to work best. Then you know where the shot will hit as opposed to holding slightly off.

Line up the top of the front sight with the top of the rear, as you would a non-FO sight. Usually, when zero at 25 yards, it will shoot a little low at 7 - 10 yards. Then you can use the FO dot up close and know where the shot will hit.

Some might suggest zeroing at 15 yards. The problem with that is your pistol will be shooting high at 25 and very high at 50. If you zero at 25, it will be about 1" low at 10 and about 1.5" or so low at 50 depending on your load.

[shred]

My advice: Start sighting in at 10-15 yards. Then move to 25 when you're close (actually I usually just stop at 15 these days.. mine's never off by much at 25-- yours may vary)

Point-of-aim varies for different people, but in IPSC most people like the the bullet to hit right at the top of the front sight post. 6-o'clock holds are for bullseye and places where the target is always the same size and shape.

Ignore the fiber for now, use the metal parts to sight in. The fibers are to get your eyes over to find the front post faster, and later on for close targets, can be used instead of the post. IIRC Dawson designs their fiber sights so the metal blades and the fibers are both correctly lined up at the same time, but that may depend on the gun somewhat.

[aggie dad]

Thanks for your help!!! Another problem I am encountering is that I wear progressive bifocals, and cannot see my front sight clearly, unless I tilt my head way back. I wonder how much having a blury front sight affects accuracy?? It looks like I will need to have a custom set of shooting glasses made, the kind that has close up perscription at top of shooting eye lens and then maybe my normal progressive lens for the non-shooting eye.

Happy Holidays to All!!!

Doug

[cautery]

RE: your shooting glasses... I am rapidly approaching the point where I will need corrective lenses as well, so I have been reading up on it. There are some discussions of various approaches to this here on the forums.

One option is as you described, to put the focal distance to your front sight at the top of your shooting eye lense...

The option I am seriously considering, and which I seem to see more support for as the solution for IPSC type shooting, is to make the entire shooting eye lense with a prescription for the front sight, and the other lense set for distance (target focus).

Though it is said that this technique requires a bit of getting used to, it seems that the results are better in the long run (score-wise).

For someone like me with cross-dominance (more like equi-dominant), using this technique should actually be a benefit from the eye dominance standpoint.

[aggie dad]

RE: your shooting glasses... I am rapidly approaching the point where I will need corrective lenses as well, so I have been reading up on it. There are some discussions of various approaches to this here on the forums.

One option is as you described, to put the focal distance to your front sight at the top of your shooting eye lense...

The option I am seriously considering, and which I seem to see more support for as the solution for IPSC type shooting, is to make the entire shooting eye lense with a prescription for the front sight, and the other lense set for distance (target focus).

Though it is said that this technique requires a bit of getting used to, it seems that the results are better in the long run (score-wise).

For someone like me with cross-dominance (more like equi-dominant), using this technique should actually be a benefit from the eye dominance standpoint.

Since there are several options for perscription shooting glasses, this could get real expensive if you choose an option that doesn't work well for you. I wonder if there is one particular option that generally works for most folks who already wear bifocals and who want to compete in the various venues?? As to the approach you are suggesting, how does this work if you are shooting in a venue where you have to move?

Doug

[cautery]

RE: your shooting glasses... I am rapidly approaching the point where I will need corrective lenses as well, so I have been reading up on it. There are some discussions of various approaches to this here on the forums.

One option is as you described, to put the focal distance to your front sight at the top of your shooting eye lense...

The option I am seriously considering, and which I seem to see more support for as the solution for IPSC type shooting, is to make the entire shooting eye lense with a prescription for the front sight, and the other lense set for distance (target focus).

Though it is said that this technique requires a bit of getting used to, it seems that the results are better in the long run (score-wise).

For someone like me with cross-dominance (more like equi-dominant), using this technique should actually be a benefit from the eye dominance standpoint.

Since there are several options for perscription shooting glasses, this could get real expensive if you choose an option that doesn't work well for you. I wonder if there is one particular option that generally works for most folks who already wear bifocals and who want to compete in the various venues?? As to the approach you are suggesting, how does this work if you are shooting in a venue where you have to move?

Doug

Since I haven't done it yet, I can't say how it will work out... Though it does look like I will be having to get them sometime soon. I suspect that it will work fine for me. But my prescription won't be all THAT strong yet... Don't know how it will/would work for folks with radically differing prescriptions... Maybe a top lense front sight focus would work better for that... just would require more training on having the right head tilt at target acquisition...

Again, i am only making an educated guess since I haven't tried it yet.

[Don At PC]

Some folks like the FO sights and do very well with them. I have Dawson Adjustable Target sights on 2 of my Glocks. I decided to try the front FO of theirs. Now it is a great and well built sight but I found myself paying too much attention to the FO and not aligning the top of the post with the top of the rear notch. I switched back to the Dawson .100 plane black blade front sight and my groups improved tremendously.

If you are one of the people who can shoot FO fronts then by all means continue but for me just give me a good plane black blade narrow enough to get good light in the rear notch and I am a happy camper.