POA/POI, Small Targets and where does your pistol hit?

[JohnO]

I'm a big proponent of the 10-8 rear sight. I have the .156 U-notch rear on multiple pistols. It has the front ledge if you need to cycle the slide with one hand against a belt, holster or something else. I have carried with these sights for years now and never experienced any snagging. I'm using .125" width front sights with a tritium insert without any colored outline.

I prefer a sight picture with ample light on both sides of the front sight. Also I prefer a plain rear sight. I don't want anything on the rear sight to draw my focus away from the front sight. Basically I shoot black iron sights. FYI I'm 56 and this works fine for me. Currently my vision allows me to see my sights well and I can tell there is a white X on a NRA B-8 25 yard repair center. The X is far from crisp but I can see the white contrast in the center. Usually I can see my .45 holes in the target with good lighting.

What I have found that yields the best results when attempting to shoot tight groups is concentrated focus on sight alignment. Sight alignment is far more important than sight picture. (Obviously trigger control is very important but I'm just talking sights here.) If I get too fixated on sight picture making the back and forth focal shift between target and sights my group size opens up. It's best to trust your sight picture once established and refine the sight alignment. Most of all ignore the small variations you perceive in sight picture. As distance increases sight picture variances "look worse" but if sight alignment is perfect it really is no different that the small error you would see up close.

[BN]

I've been doing some shooting and research on this. I posted some info in my journal.

I found a web site where you can do calculations for bullet drop etc. http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html

It seems that holdover is so minimal that we don't need to allow for it for most shooting inside 50 yards. I think most will agree that a 4 inch group at 25 yards with a stock service pistol is pretty good. Where it hits on the target and what sight picture you are using is more important. For a pistol sighted in at 25 yards, most 9mm bullet weights, the drop at 50 yards is less than 2 inches. I can't shoot good enough to need holdover.

This has been very interesting to me.

Sight height above bore is .5 to .6 inches for the pistols I checked. My 147 at 900 fps handloads should theoretically hit right on at 10 and 25 yards. At 15 and 20 yards, it is only .1" above the line of sight. At 40 yards, it has only dropped to 1" below line of sight. The accuracy potential of my pistol is less than bullet drop or holdover needed.

It seems that it is really important to know exactly at what distance your pistol is sighted in. I remember one time in the past, that I sighted my .45, with adjustable sights, to hit right at the top of the sights at 7 yards. That way I thought I would be able to make head shots easily on USPSA targets. I found that I was hitting above the A-zone at 25 yards.

Which brings me to the question; Why are we shooting these tiny targets with service pistols? It has certainly been a learning experience for me. I guess you can teach an old dog.

[JohnO]

I shot this target for a friend. He asked me to shoot his M&P 45 at this target from 5, 7, 10, 15, & 25 meters in a walk back to see where the gun was hitting. I know he changed the sights but can't remember what he is using other than the Dawson red fiber optic front sight. He also had Apex ignition parts installed by G&R Tactical when he purchased the pistol.

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