[Papaw]

what is generally the fartherest you have to shoot targets in a match? What do you sight your 625's in at? Thanks

[Toolguy]

Depends on what kind of match. Some go out to 50 yards (PPC, Bullseye, Bianchi ), most are 25 yards & less ( IPSC, IDPA, Steel Challenge )
but sometimes have farther targets in them. I've had good luck with sighting in at 25 yards, hold on for 25 and everything closer, hold
2 to 4 inches high for 50 yards, depending on the velocity of the load.

[Flexmoney]

(edit to add...I see Tool Guy and I posted at the same time, with similar info. )


What kind of match? USPSA? IDPA? NRA-Action Pistol?

NRA-AP goes out to 50y. Plate racks up to 25y. Shots from around a barricade at 35y.

IDPA stage design criteria means that you rarely see shots beyond 15y.

USPSA, there are some classifiers that go out to 50y on paper targets. I've shot a good handful of targets from 30-40y over the years. The often seen target in USPSA will be inside of 20y.

[Boats]

Our club rarely shoots IDPA targets over 20 yards. Most at 15 or less, the rulebook suggest occasional targets at longer range. Longest I have seen is the running Bear array at Carolina cup. I would have to guess but longest looked to be about 30 -35 yards.

I sight my 625 at 10 yards looking for center zero on the 0 center of the target and center on Head shots. Do not use a bench rest to get this zero. Shoot the targets freestyle just like you were shooting a match. Get 10 or so on paper and take a framing square and box in all the shots. If you like throw one out if way out of group. Then draw an X through the corners of the box. Center of X is center of your impact. Measure off how much you need to Click until your group is nicely centered on the zero ring. Zero taken this way is quite a bit off bench rest zero, freestyle zero is what counts.

You might want to shoot some 25 yard targets just to prove to yourself you don't need to allow for longer distances. It's not a couple of inches off at 25 if zeroed at 10. Most misses at distance are hold and trigger pull not sight adjustment. 50 yds with a 45 ACP I will allow about 3 inches for drop, thats all. 9's allow none at all.

Boats

[JohnRodriguez]

i sight all my iron sight revo's in at 15 yards to hit the A zone of a head shot on a ipsc target with the sights lined up on the neck. It works for me real well as it also takes into account that I use a 6 o'clock hold when I shoot steel plates.

[Houngan]

25 seems right, but to be perfectly honest I don't really sight in my guns to that level of detail for USPSA. WYSIWYG for 98% of the stages you will ever see, and if they put one out there at 50, just aim for the neck.

But a more pertinent question, if you have a bullet going 740fps from a revolver with a .280 or .300 sight, where's the first and second zero if you sight it in? .22s you could almost bullshit a 25yd and a 50yd perfect zero with the right ammo/barrel/sight combination.

H.

This post has been edited by Houngan: 20 October 2009 - 06:58 PM

[Carmoney]

Generally speaking, with most handgun rounds in our velocity range (assuming major p.f. stuff), if you're perfectly zeroed at 15 yards, you will be roughly zeroed again at 50 yards. Anything between 15 and 50 yards you should be hitting slightly high, anything beyond 50 (but still shootable with a handgun) you will be hitting a little low. Bottom line--a gun that is correctly zeroed at 15 yards should give you essentially a dead-on hold at all practical distances, for most practical purposes.

[Boats]

If our club shot longer targets or if shooting something other than IDPA I think I would zero at 15 instead of 10. Good center zero makes a difference though. Sometime in pratice take your target with a lot of holes and see how many are close edge shots that would be lost or gained if groups were centered up nice. Most people it's good for a few "downs"

Boats

[Houngan]

Carmoney, on Oct 21 2009, 12:05 AM, said:

Generally speaking, with most handgun rounds in our velocity range (assuming major p.f. stuff), if you're perfectly zeroed at 15 yards, you will be roughly zeroed again at 50 yards. Anything between 15 and 50 yards you should be hitting slightly high, anything beyond 50 (but still shootable with a handgun) you will be hitting a little low. Bottom line--a gun that is correctly zeroed at 15 yards should give you essentially a dead-on hold at all practical distances, for most practical purposes.

Thanks Mike! I once had to explain how there are two zeros to a guy who claimed he was an 'expert witness' regarding firearms. Never could convince him.

H.

[Toolguy]

The first zero is going UP through the line of sight (straight line to the target ), the second zero is coming back DOWN through the line of sight.
It happens frequently in PPC with .38 and .45 target loads that the sights are on or very close for both 25 and 50 yards.

[JeffWard]

To determine ballistics for your current load, look here: http://www.handloads.com/calc/

Jeff

[hopalong]

For those interested in the Memphis Charity Challenge.

You will NOT shoot farther than 30 yds !

You WILL shoot tight targets maybe out to 30 yds !

I sight mine in to hit A-zone head shots at 18-20 yds when shooting at the center of the head (A-zone @ 6 O'clock)


HOP