Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: How to sight in Ruger Mark III?

  1. #1
    Member randyflycaster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Missoula, MT

    How to sight in Ruger Mark III?

    I went to shoot my Mark III after well over a year. My shots were way off, then I noticed that the adjustable rear sight was loose. I tightened it, and then bought a pistol bench rest, but when I use it I can't get a good grip on the gun and the muzzle jumps out of the v-shaped slot.

    How can I stabilize the muzzle so I will know if it is me or the gun shooting to the side?

    I am thinking of using the rest and hanging a 5 lb weight from the muzzle.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks,

    Randy

  2. #2
    All that is important is that the pistol hits where you aim it when you are shooting it. I'm not a big fan of bench resting a handgun for sighting in.

    If in doubt I set up a target really close like 7 yards. I put up a bullseye and shoot ten rounds. I will take an average of the group and move the sight to get it sighted in for windage. Remember to move the rear sight the same direction you need to get the bullet impact to move. If elevation is close, I will usually leave it for now.

    I like to sight in for 25 yards. You might be content with 10 yards. My next step is to go out to that distance and make final adjustments. .22 ammo is cheap and practice is good.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by randyflycaster View Post
    How can I stabilize the muzzle so I will know if it is me or the gun shooting to the side?
    Swap to your other hand and see if the shots are off to the other direction.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Behind the Photonic Curtain
    Quote Originally Posted by randyflycaster View Post
    I went to shoot my Mark III after well over a year. My shots were way off, then I noticed that the adjustable rear sight was loose. I tightened it, and then bought a pistol bench rest, but when I use it I can't get a good grip on the gun and the muzzle jumps out of the v-shaped slot.

    How can I stabilize the muzzle so I will know if it is me or the gun shooting to the side?

    I am thinking of using the rest and hanging a 5 lb weight from the muzzle.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks,

    Randy
    Use 2-3 sandbags. Keep the pile low so you can get your arms down on the bench. Grip the pistol with both hands, rest just the barrel on the bags, and push your hands forward into the bags. It works for me with rifle caliber Encore pistols.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  5. #5
    Few things.

    (1) Resting isn't necessary, or even desirable. If you're trying to shoot standing up, then it doesn't do much good zeroing from a seated position, hunched over a bench, with your eye-gun-target alignment all out of whack. Holding steady is not the issue outside of some truly extreme cases.

    (2) If you must rest, use a bag or two to support your arm upwards of the wrist. Supporting the gun or your hand at the wrist or below will affect your follow-through and push shots unpredictably.

    (3) Get a spotting scope or borrow one. You don't need to spend a ton or get a great one to spot .22 shots at 50 feet or so; under $100 should do it. Learn to call your shots. A very good shooter will be able to call direction and distance from center. For instance, "4 o'clock in the 8-ring" on an NRA B-2. This is the ideal method of achieving zero. Being able to just tell whether the shot was good or thrown will suffice and is certainly an accessible skill. If you can at least call your bad shots, you can zero off any clusters that are left.

    (4) If you can't call your shots, don't zero off individual shots, zero off groups. If you can't shoot a recognizable group, you have two options. One is to bring the target closer. If you can get the windage dialed in, elevation won't be terribly far off at greater distances. A .22's trajectory should be within about 2" from 0y to 50y. The other option is to crack open a box and shoot until you get a visible shot-out group in the center of your pattern.

  6. #6
    Site Supporter farscott's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Dunedin, FL, USA
    One nice benefit of the Ruger Standard/MK design is that it can be dry fired as long as the firing pin stop pin is present in the bolt. That means you can place a dime on the front sight and practice squeezing the trigger keeping the sights on target without disturbing the dime. For me, the issue is dipping the front sight as the trigger releases the sear, causing the shot to go low. It is very noticeable during the drill as the dime slides off the front sight towards the muzzle when I dip the muzzle. This drill is tough with the lighter Standard variants as the pistol takes very little force to move. Once you can keep the dime on the front sight during dry fire, it is simple to sight-in the pistol in live fire as the sights are not moving.

    I use the dime drill as part of my trigger control training, especially on rainy days or when I cannot shoot in my backyard.

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •