Proper sight picture for for IPDA/IPSC?

[lugnut]

I've been shooting for a couple years and it seems the more I shoot in this sport and try to improve the more there is to figure out. I shoot mostly stock service pirtols and lately a M&P FS .40S&W. I've installed and love the Dawson FO sights.

However most of my guns require combat hold where a front dot (not the top of the blade) covers the intended POI. When I shoot my M&P with the FO dot over the intened POI the bullets go high- about an inch an a half or so at about 25ft. When I put the top of the front sight blade at the intended POI things are good. This is frustrating for me as when I go for head shots I need a different sight picture than I'm used to.

I had a very good shooter try it and he says it was fine since he uses the top of the front sight blade for accuracy shots.

What do you guys do? DP doesn't make adjustable (or lower) rear sights for the M&P. I hope this is in the correct section.

Edited September 3, 2007 by lugnut

[Joe4d]

If you dont wanna adjust your sight picture you need either a taller front sight or lower rear, no way around it. Many aftermarket sights that dont come in different sizes default to 9mm and tend to not hit POI with the .40. The .40 has a wide range of bullets, try some lightr or heavier bullets, you can get a couple inches up down variation with the different .40 bullets available.

[lugnut]

Looks like a 10-8 rear sight is shorter than the Dawson rear... I'll order that and see if it makes things right. I have lots of 180gr bullets that I need to use up so trying lighter bullets isn't an appealing option.

[GeorgeInNePa]

I've been shooting for a couple years and it seems the more I shoot in this sport and try to improve the more there is to figure out. I shoot mostly stock service pirtols and lately a M&P FS .40S&W. I've installed and love the Dawson FO sights.

However most of my guns require combat hold where a front dot (not the top of the blade) covers the intended POI. When I shoot my M&P with the FO dot over the intened POI the bullets go high- about an inch an a half or so at about 25ft. When I put the top of the front sight blade at the intended POI things are good. This is frustrating for me as when I go for head shots I need a different sight picture than I'm used to.

I had a very good shooter try it and he says it was fine since he uses the top of the front sight blade for accuracy shots.

What do you guys do? DP doesn't make adjustable (or lower) rear sights for the M&P. I hope this is in the correct section.

Hmmm, what to, what to do...?

That is what you want to see, by the way...

[lugnut]

Hmmm, what to, what to do...?

That is what you want to see, by the way...

I understand you want the top of the front sight blade to line up with the top of the rear sights (sight alignment).... I've been told that you want the front dot to "cover the intended target" once you have the front sight blade lined up with the top of the rear sight. I've been taught this in more than one class. 6 O'clock hold isn't the same as combat. Different sight pictures.

If you look at where the "dots" are on most guns with combat sights- the differences can be significant. Center of the dot to top of the blade can be several tens of thousandths of an inch.

So the question is: do you just set up your guns using the top of the front blade all the time? Or put the dot over the target all the time? What gun do you have?

Edited September 4, 2007 by lugnut

[trevoro]

I set my guns up to shoot to the top of the sight at 15-20 yards. On really close shots, the POI will be a little low (like the middle of the dot).

It sounds like you have the sights currently set up the way I shoot mine. It seems like a good idea to me to not cover up your target with your sights. If your target is very big and you are just using the dot, then it doesn't matter much. You are basically just using the dot for something easy to track with your eye. For accuracy you will want to see the POI, which is why the setting you have now should work well.

On really close stuff you will still need to shoot to the dot because of the difference between the height of the bore compared to the height of the sights. You probably noticed this less with a gun set up to shoot to the center of the dot because at any distance the dot was covering several inches of target and you couldn't see that you were hitting high or low compared to your sight picture.

Good luck figuring it out.

[shred]

Dawson tunes his sight sets to make sure the front and rear dots line up when the blades are lined up when used on the intended gun. Mixing-n-matching sight brands frequently doesn't since there's no spec for where the dots go.

If the dots co-witness with the iron parts, then the usual use is to sight in with the irons, and use the dots for close in when an inch one way or the other isn't a big deal.

[lugnut]

I set my guns up to shoot to the top of the sight at 15-20 yards. On really close shots, the POI will be a little low (like the middle of the dot).

It sounds like you have the sights currently set up the way I shoot mine. It seems like a good idea to me to not cover up your target with your sights. If your target is very big and you are just using the dot, then it doesn't matter much. You are basically just using the dot for something easy to track with your eye. For accuracy you will want to see the POI, which is why the setting you have now should work well.

On really close stuff you will still need to shoot to the dot because of the difference between the height of the bore compared to the height of the sights. You probably noticed this less with a gun set up to shoot to the center of the dot because at any distance the dot was covering several inches of target and you couldn't see that you were hitting high or low compared to your sight picture.

Good luck figuring it out.

Thanks this helps a lot. Normally I wouldn't notice a problem because like you said most shots are relatively close and an inch or two wouldn't be obvious. Longer head shots it was becoming more of an issue but I'll use the different sight picture for those kinds of shots.

[North]

check all the thread about different sight pictures for varying difficulty of targets,

also Matt Burkets pod cast are good infohttp://www.mattburkett.com/index.php?optio...1&Itemid=98

, and of course read Brains Book. http://www.brianenos.com/store/books.html

Edited September 4, 2007 by North