How To Sight in a Laser?
I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas on the best way to sight in a laser?
I have a Walther PPQ M2 9mm 4" barrel with a viridian C5 laser.
Is there a best way to sight it in for any distance?Should it be sighted in for a specific distance?
I have noticed a great difference between the iron sights and laser at different distances so I guess
one of my questions is if I sight it in for a specific distance how accurate will it be at a different distance?
THANK YOU!
Tommy
I was taught to sight it in at 10 yards, so that the laser is just visible above the front sight. The laser will disappear at less than 10 yards, and will be higher above the front sight at greater distances.
Pick your distance to zero the laser at and remember that point of impact relative to point of aim will be different than irons because the laser is under the bore instead of above.
Personally I'd zero for either the same distance as my irons or the farthest I could realistically expect to see the laser and then practice and learn the POI in 5 yard increments.
The downside to zeroing a laser to POA/POI at close distances is, your laser is only zeroed at that EXACT distance.
First, measure height over bore of the laser at the muzzle, we'll say it's 2" for this example.
If you zero your laser dead on at 10 yards, from zero to 9 yards your POA/POI is high, at 10 yards your spot on, and everything after 10 you start shooting low, and increasingly low the further out you get from 10 yards. This equates to 3 different holds, based on distance.
If you zero the laser equal to the 2" height over bore at a greater distance, say 30 yards, you now have a single 2" holdover out to 30 yards. Much easier to remember.
30 yards is just and example, and obviously, inherent ballistics of your gun/ammo start to play their part at greater distances. If you're looking to shoot at specific distance, you'll need to verify at that distance. This is mostly applicable to long guns, where distance and holdovers quickly become problematic, but it simplifies things for pistols too.
I did all of mine ( CT grips on J frame, GL19,GL17, X400 on P30 9mm, HK45) at 25 yards and remember hold over under. I'm not sure 50 yards might not be better.
ok well let me ask this how would you sight the laser in for the best average accuracy if you were in a life or death panic situation
not having presence of mind to think of "overbore" etc. and just having time to put the laser on the bad guy?
How does the police force sight in their lasers?
Thank y'all for your great answers!
Tommy
25 yd seems to work 0-50 yards OK. Laser dot will be close to impact point.
A close zero gets into exaggerated crossing of line of sight vs line of bore at distance. I am aware of the offset up close. This is kind of like AR/AK with a red dot except a different direction.
Parallel zero, so your offset is consistent from muzzle to when the bullet starts dropping (way out there).
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
GJM has the best idea I think. I will adjust to that standard.
I'm not fond of the parallel zero because it essentially means you are always off and need to correct at every distance. This might be easy for folks with a lot of AR/red dot holdover practice but for me it's mind numbing.
I zero at 50ft. At point blank range I'm off by the same amount as someone who is parallel zeroed. By 21' I'm off by half that amount and little enough that I don't need to think about it even for fairly precise shooting. By the time I'm past 75' the offset is less than my group size so still not worth worrying about. If I'm taking an exceptionally long shot and can even see the laser and it's not wobbling so much as to be ineffective, I have the time to adjust for the offset consciously.
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