hello fellow enthusiasts,
i have been shooting for years,but i have only recently begun to get serious about target shooting at the indoor range.
i have always used a zero hold with any gun, but lots of people were using a 6 oclock hold,(about 2" high at 20yds) so i tried it and my scores did improve a couple percent. the problem is when im not punching paper at 20 yds,i dont know where my gun is shooting. worse yet only my 17-5 is set up this way so i will sometimes shoot low when im shooting my big guns cause they are set for zero...
what do you guys do? should i go back to zero?

Aftr decades of shooting "military style" and hunting, there is no hope for me to use anything else. Murphy does not need my help.

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Science plus Art

I'm not sure I understand your problem. If your gun is sighted for a zero hold and you switch to a 6:00 hold with a fixed sight gun you should shoot low right?

If you have adjustable sights you just adjust them higher if you change to a 6:00 hold right?

correct, but once adjusted for a 6 oclock @ 20 i dont want to change it back to zero to chase a range ball only to change it back for indoor shooting, is this what you are recommending?
i only use the 6:00 for paper it doesnt work for anything else(my experience)

military style=zero hold?
murphy does fine without me as well..

Bullseye shooters using iron sights will adjust their sights for a 6 O'clock hold. Sit the bull on top of the front sight is easier that
trying to hold a center hold. And the bull is always the same size,
and distance is always the same.

Shooting USPSA , steel plates , etc. I use a center hold, ie: the bullet hits at the top of the front sight. Because if I sighted it in for a 6 o'clock hold on 10" plate , I could miss a 4" plate with a
6 o'clock hold.. Plus distance changes.

Old&Slow said exactly what I was going before I got to it. Different games have different requirements.

The 6 O'clock hold on Bullseye shooting gives a very precise spot to aim at. A Center of Mass hold works best for most all other types of shooting that doesn't require such precision.

Hope that helps.....

Randy

yes, exactly what im saying...so i should just use my 17 for paper and chase range balls with 38 or 44?
i shoot cowboy as well but 16"x16" steel plates at 15 yds ...it doesnt matter where you aim haha(but i can still miss on occaision)

If you want to switch between the two just count the clicks. I used to shoot Metalic Handgun Silhouette with iron sights. We always took clicks when going to the different distances. If fact, S&W made the M29 with a sight that could be easily changed to the 4 distances.

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Dick

yes it helps thank you, im thinking then that bullseye shooters use a dedicated gun strictly for paper?
so then i have an excuse to buy another 17 for range balls or w.h.y.? sounds alright to me!

Buying other guns....hmmm good excuse as any......I know all my gun/load combinations well enough that everything is sighted for 6:00, a ranging shot or two is all I need to shoot most anything else.

If you're young & have great eyes center hold will work . 6 o'clock hold is very difficult to hold consistently . I use a sub 6 hold ( half way in the white below the bull ) . I'm older & it allows me to get a good sight picture & a consistent hold . You just have to see what works best for you . My target guns are just that . I've others for other purposes . Hope this helps rather than add to your confusion .

The six o'clock hold is a bullseye thing. It's easier to see and align black sights against the lighter colored paper than trying to align black sights in the black bull. So, you sit the black bull on or just above the top of the front sight because it's easier to see and get consistent alignment.

For almost everything else, a "the bullet hits at the top of the front sight" setting is better.

You have adjustable sights on your 17-5, might as well use them.

thank you for the helpful replies
i should adjust my sites ,thats why i have adjustable sites. makes perfect sense to me
ok ill be going to the outdoor range after pouring a sidewalk tomorrow, so ill figure out how many clicks to adjust for each setting.this will be interesting as ive always been a set it and forget it kind of guy
itll be nice to get to know her better and i should be saving for the 44 thats coming anyway.
oh yeah! i get to try out my new hogue grips on the 629 no - too,my loving wife went to the gs early this week and bought them for me as a surprise because the original grips were getting blood on them...she knew the frame size and that it was a square butt,i didnt think she listened to me haha shes a sweetheart.

The problem with a"center/zero hold" is having the front sight partially or completely cover the target itself.

.44 magnum S&W Model 29 vs M&M.MOV - YouTube

I use a 6 o'clock zero hold. This only works if your bullseye is 1/2" like the one in my above video.

Mark

impressive shooting, im nowhere near as accurate myself ,im shooting golf balls at that distance and missing a lot of the time.
thanks for the vids, fun watch. id almost let the bear eat me before id fire that cannon ...3"casull?

I also use 1" orange dots at 10 yds then just put the dot on the top of the front sight. I feel this allows me to practice using techniques of both systems and the dot also can be used to simulate aiming at a distance but not bullet drop.

Use center hold if shooting IPSC, IDPA or running targets
I use 6 o clock hold for accros the course shooting - This is what I do most. I have had great sucess using this method

Zero hold for me, but in some of the poorly lit indoor ranges it is troublesome for my eyes now. I am reconsidering the six o'clock setting for dedicated paper punchers.