Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 21 to 28 of 28

Thread: What distance do you zero pistol optic?

  1. #21
    Member 98z28's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    South Mississippi
    Quote Originally Posted by Erick Gelhaus View Post
    Originally, I went with an initial at 10 yards & refine at 25 yds. After the Sig Academy instructor class and seeing/confirming the numbers, I switched to a 15yd zero.
    I zero at 25 yards, but am interested in the reasoning behind the 15yd zero. It sounds like there’s some thought and data behind it. Is it something you can share publicly?

  2. #22
    Site Supporter Erick Gelhaus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    The Wasatch Front
    Quote Originally Posted by 98z28 View Post
    I zero at 25 yards, but am interested in the reasoning behind the 15yd zero. It sounds like there’s some thought and data behind it. Is it something you can share publicly?
    Quote Originally Posted by ST911 View Post
    Say more?
    With a 15 yard zero (initial intersection), 124 gr will give a second intersection at 50 yards. 147gr will give a second intersection at 35yds and put you an inch (0.9") low at 50 yards. Yes, you should go confirm those numbers with your pistol/optic at those distances - just like you would with a carbine, rifle. While I regularly have access to greater distances, not everyone does and 15yards get them a very workable zero.

    From a class or organizational perspective and time consideration, you're zeroing once not twice. And, I'd imagine it'd be fair to say, you'll get a more discernable group to work with at 15 yards for many shooters.

    I think there's a much in-depth discussion or two with the Red Dot Optic folder. I might have posted the charts in there as well.

    If you want to use a 25yd zero, I will not try to talk you out of it.

  3. #23
    I decided to go with a 15 yard zero to start, using a rest and my preferred carry ammo (RA9T). Confirmed at 25 with a few shots as well. Enough to say windage is close enough, and to know that the rounds would still be inside the black of B8 if I do the work controlling the trigger and shooting freestyle. I didn't choose 15 yards the same way I choose the 50/200 zero I use for my carbines, but I figured it'd be plenty close enough from 0-50 for just about any realistic use. Judging by the post above, I picked a good place to start.

  4. #24
    10, 12.5, 15, 20 or 25, it hardly matters. What does matter is you actually shoot enough rounds to know that the desired zero you think you have, is the one you do have, and how that zero varies for the different ammo you shoot. I want to check zero over several sessions to be satisfied.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  5. #25
    The way POI varies with different loads can matter for sure. My handloaded 147's shoot to a slightly different place than my carry ammo, despite being the same weight and pretty close in velocity. 124gr +P Gold Dot and 115gr ball shoot to a even more different POI. Probably not enough to miss a body A-zone, but certainly enough to miss the head box. Shooting enough to know... and be confident of those differences is important. Picking one load and sticking with it helps too. That's hard to do if you are trying to find factory ammo these days.

    I agree, and do not think 15 or 25 matters much at normal handgun distances unless your targets are very small. I'm not a superstar at the 25 yard line, but at 15 I can hold a pretty respectable group, and I like to verify my freestyle shooting matches the zero I made off the rest, I can better discern that from my groups at 15 yards vs 25. Shooting something like a walk back drill, but 3 or 5 shot groups at each distance, can be useful for judging if your zero holds up farther out. That does burn up some ammo though.

  6. #26
    My 10-yard information isn’t as useful to me as 25. I basically get one ragged hole at 10 with just about anything, but 25 is where differences really begin to become significant with fewer data points- which these days, means less ammo expended to confirm zero overall.

  7. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Archer1440 View Post
    My 10-yard information isn’t as useful to me as 25. I basically get one ragged hole at 10 with just about anything, but 25 is where differences really begin to become significant
    Yup, that's exactly the reason why I use 25 too.

    Besides, with what local matches offer in terms of challenges, I want to know where to aim to hit an upper A at 25 yards so might as well zero at that distance.
    Doesn't read posts longer than two paragraphs.

  8. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Erick Gelhaus View Post
    Originally, I went with an initial at 10 yards & refine at 25 yds. After the Sig Academy instructor class and seeing/confirming the numbers, I switched to a 15yd zero.
    Same here after attending the PMO instructor class at Sig

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
  •