Crimson Trace zeroing

[GJM]

I just don’t like a close intersecting zero.

I think this is really a function of how much offset the laser has. Consider on one hand, and X400 that is way below the muzzle, versus something mounted within a quarter or half inch off the bore. With something mounted very close to the bore line, intersecting versus parallel is more academic than real. With a gigantic offset like the X400, you have some hard choices to make.

[Chuck Whitlock]

For calculating offset. Just eyeballing the CT-405 grips, the laser dot appears to be about 1.25 inches below the bore and 1.0 inches offset to the right. That look about the offset?

If you wanted more precision that your calibrated eyeball, I'd put the muzzle against a sheet of graph paper, trace the muzzle, and mark the red dot, then measure.

With those offset numbers, wouldn't a person do well to shoot at almost any distance between the muzzle and 25 yards and have the bullet strike 1 inch high and a half inch left, using a parallel zero?

If/when I get to doing lasers, I plan to do the above measurement, then try for as parallel as possible.
I'm guessing that it ought to work out to something like POI at 1"-1.5" to the 10 or 11 o'clock of the dot, from 0 to useful distance.


Again, purely supposition on my part, as I haven't delved into lasers yet.

[lee n. field]

For those using Crimson Trace laser grips for the J frame, what distance are you zeroing at. Parallel or intersecting zero and what is your shot doing closer and further than your zero.

On my 43C, I zeroed poa/poi at 10 yards, on the theory I can't see the CT red dot at 25 yards in daylight, and I am particularly interested in the laser up close.

I have two, for Taurus small frame and S&W J-frame. On each I adjusted to the sights as far as I could in my basement. My reasoning was, I'm OK with the laser dot being an inch down and a half inch to one side of where the barrel is actually shooting, as long as it is consistently so all the way out.

[SoCalDep]

Funny that I'm sitting here very late or very early depending on perspective, having just seen this thread with "Handgun Training" by Richard Mann sitting next to me along with a few J-frame revolvers.

I don't consider lasers a "primary" sight... They are more of a special use sight. I don't like to say backup because in certain conditions (low light and very close range) they will likely be primary, and during bright daylight they suck. One might suggest this lack of consistency makes lasers impractical. I disagree, but to me it certainly means one must understand how to employ a laser in the overall self-defense (or whatever) context.

When I teach laser classes, we first zero (dry - regulating to the sights) at 10 yards. Revolvers and autos with CTC lasers get an approximate POA zero at that distance while the light/laser setups with a greater offset get a slightly less-than parallel zero (they still impact high, but the goal is less high than parallel). Later in the class we refine zero at 15 or (depending on skill level) 25 yards.

To me a laser has a few primary advantages (outside training) and none of them involve precision. They include:

• The ability to aim (and avoid shooting oneself or an unintended fellow fisticuff participant) from awkward positions and when entangled.
• The ability to fire accurately at speed in lower light conditions.
• The ability to fire with practical accurately (including at speed) with handguns that have poor sights and short sight radius.

With a 10yd zero on a J-frame, I know I'm within 1" elevation and 1/2" windage between muzzle contact and around 20 yards. In daylight I'm using irons well before that maximum distance. Based on skill, I'd push the zero distance as far as one can.

[gato naranja]

My CTC-gripped SP101 eventually ended up being zeroed parallel to the irons, but it was not always set up so (a work in progress, so to speak). Up very close, I can "guesstimate" POI quite well; past a certain point, my visual acuity makes it academic.

It did take some time to get my walnut-sized brain to compensate correctly for the X-axis offset, while the Y-axis was a piece of cake.

[SAWBONES]

This is maybe 15 years ago now.
Having first tried nearly all major commercial brands and almost all bullet weights (110-158gr, no 180 or 200gr stuff) of .357 Magnum at an indoor range, in my 340PD with iron sights, and learning finally that it shot more precisely and accurately in my hands (and much less uncomfortably) with Gold Dot 135gr short barrel JHP than anything else, I next matched the irons' sight picture with the CT LG-405 grips laser dot at 50 ft measured back yard distance. (No shooting in the back yard, just making the irons and laser dot correspond at 50' distance.)

Unfortunately, upon next going to the range, I found that POI for the Gold Dot load and POA with the laser dot at 10 yards were merely approximately close, so I gave up on the longer distance measurement and changed the POI to correspond to the laser dot location at 10 yards and called it finished.

While I wish the correspondence between laser, irons and POI were perfect at a longer distance, I settled for "close enough for nearby with a little lightweight snubby".