Any tips or tricks for sighting in a red dot?

Hey guys, I'm getting my new JPoint delivered tonight and planning on putting it on my M&P CORE. I've never had any experience with a red dot on a pistol, so I was wondering if anyone knew any tips or tricks for sighting one in? I've heard that you can just line it up with the front sight and it should be good to go. Any help is appreciated

The lining up only works if it's a true Co-witness. Find the distance you are most likely to shoot at and sight it in for that. After that shoot closers and farther to see if any hold over/under is necessary.

Mine is sighted in at 15 yards. The local steel matches I attend are usually 10 to 25 yards, so 15 yards works for me just perfect.

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Ah ok, that makes sense. Thank you!

Mount the red dot. Take the upper off the lower. Put the upper on a bag or some type of secure mount. Remove the bolt. Turn the red on and look through the bore. Adjust the red dot so it can be seen through the bore. Lock it down. You should be on the paper at 15 yards. Finish fine tuning from there. Bore sighted.

xb40 said:

Mount the red dot. Take the upper off the lower. Put the upper on a bag or some type of secure mount. Remove the bolt. Turn the red on and look through the bore. Adjust the red dot so it can be seen through the bore. Lock it down. You should be on the paper at 15 yards. Finish fine tuning from there. Bore sighted.

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That is a great idea for an AR that I've never actually heard before. Unfortunetly this is for my M&P9 CORE lol

At about twenty five feet: Hold the gun as steady as you can from a rest support with the optic mounted. Use the regular sights if you can see them to establish a point of impact versus point of aim. Otherwise use the dot to establish a point of impact versus point of aim. You should be on the paper at that distance.

Measure the vertical and horizontal distances between point of impact and point of aim (decimal inches would be helpful). Adjust the dot in the direction(s) required to close the distances until you're satisfied.

One minute of angle clicks at twenty five feet will be about twelve clicks to the inch. Keep in mind you're looking to achieve reliable hits within a certain radius, say three inches, as being sufficient for paper bulls, Shoot-N-See bulls, small steel plates, or bad guys.



Ignore the © stuff, it's mine and intended for free use but not for sale.

5Wire said:

At about twenty five feet: Hold the gun as steady as you can from a rest support with the optic mounted. Use the regular sights if you can see them to establish a point of impact versus point of aim. Otherwise use the dot to establish a point of impact versus point of aim. You should be on the paper at that distance.

Measure the vertical and horizontal distances between point of impact and point of aim (decimal inches would be helpful). Adjust the dot in the direction(s) required to close the distances until you're satisfied.

One minute of angle clicks at twenty five feet will be about twelve clicks to the inch. Keep in mind you're looking to achieve reliable hits within a certain radius, say three inches, as being sufficient for paper bulls, Shoot-N-See bulls, small steel plates, or bad guys.

Ignore the © stuff, it's mine and intended for free use but not for sale.

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That is incredibly helpful! Thank you. Awesome target design by the way!!

Great info! I purchased a M&P CORE a couple weeks ago and will save this for when I'm ready to mount the Red Dot.

I start with a large target fairly close, about 20' and make gross adjustments first. Then move on out to 15-25 yards for finer adjustments.

Well, unfortunately the JPoint came in yesterday, and I mounted it to my M&P, (Those screws that come on the cover plate were tight as s$*&) and they elevation won't adjust) So, I ponied up and ordered a Trijicon RM08A

4Point6Vince said:

Hey guys, I'm getting my new JPoint delivered tonight and planning on putting it on my M&P CORE. I've never had any experience with a red dot on a pistol, so I was wondering if anyone knew any tips or tricks for sighting one in? I've heard that you can just line it up with the front sight and it should be good to go. Any help is appreciated

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If your iron sights are accurate, use them for starters. Bore sighting doesn't account for recoil, and you are lucky to stay on paper at 25 feet.

Any red dot (or laser) has significant parallax with respect to the bore. Sight in at a minimum of 50'. If the target is further away, the error will be minimal. If close, the maximum error is the amount of parallax. If you zero too near, the error is much larger than necessary at longer range.

A simple way to fine-tune the POI is to shoot from a rest. Then aim at the actual POI and adjust the sights to center of target. It's a waste of time to do this any closer than 50', because of parallax. For a rifle, I'd do this at 100 yards. Once should be enough. Further tuning should be done by counting clicks.

1.) Start sighting in at a close distance....talking feet , move back as you get it on target.
2.) Turn the screws in the correct direction.

I have red dot sights on two different handguns , a model 64 S&W 38 special and a Ruger MKII 22 LR. I can't even see the iron sights when looking thru the Millet SP-1 Red Dot , so depending on several factors you might not have that co-witness thing everybody finds so important.

Good luck
Gary

Surprised that no one has made the most basic suggestion, read the new red dot's instruction manual.

If anyone would like, I have a like new JPoint that the elevation screw seems to be stripped out. If anyone wnats to attempt to fix it they can have it. Just let me know where to ship it to lol

xb40 said:

Mount the red dot. Take the upper off the lower. Put the upper on a bag or some type of secure mount. Remove the bolt. Turn the red on and look through the bore. Adjust the red dot so it can be seen through the bore. Lock it down. You should be on the paper at 15 yards. Finish fine tuning from there. Bore sighted.

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Not for the CORE, but great for AR's (and bolt, lever guns where you can peek thru the bore).

The adjustments to red dot will be OPPOSITE the device markings--if red dot appears high to bore picture, turn optic elevation screw in "UP" direction, etc. Same for windage.

Zero your JPoint

4Point6Vince said:

Hey guys, I'm getting my new JPoint delivered tonight and planning on putting it on my M&P CORE. I've never had any experience with a red dot on a pistol, so I was wondering if anyone knew any tips or tricks for sighting one in? I've heard that you can just line it up with the front sight and it should be good to go. Any help is appreciated

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I have a Jpoint on my Glock 19....great little sight. Mount the sight, GENTLY zero the Windage and Elevation by turning the the adjustments one direction until they stop...don't force them. Then turn the adjustments the other direction keeping note of the total clicks or turns to get the other end. Split that number in half and start with your zero at that adjustment.

Shoot a group at 10 yards with ammo you are going to use. Make sure you are shooting at 90 degrees to target and very level. Use a rest that lines up with point of aim. Move the dot to the point of impact on the target. MOST SHOOTER WANT TO MOVE THE REAR SIGHT IN THE DIRECTION THEY WANT THE POINT OF IMPACT TO MOVE....THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH ADJUSTING THE DOT. Move the DOT in the direction of the group. Your Group High Left? ...move the DOT High (counterclockwise) and Left (clockwise).

Confirm point of aim at ten yards a few times and then move to 25 yards and make any adjustments for fine tune. Once red dot is good pick a front sight that has a height close to location of red dot when the dot is center in the window.

As you shoot make your presentation as if you are going to use the Iron Sights and your dot will pop into view without issue. Chase the iron front sight at first, then the dot will appear. After about 100 presentations the dot will be the only thing you see.

Ignore Iron Sight for a bit. Once good with dot, ignore dot and shoot the iron sights for reference. Won't be the same P.O.I but close. Enjoy....lots of fun but a small learning curve. My Iron sight is the .165 tall Amarillo and the factory JPoint rear notch built into the JPoint. It works!

magtf388 said:

GENTLY zero the Windage and Elevation by turning the the adjustments one direction until they stop...don't force them.

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This is where I went wrong. I said it came in broken, well, true story is that I mounted it and it wasn't lining up with my front sight, but I didn't notice that the front of the red dot wasn't fully seated. So I forced the elevation screw too much and stripped it out lol. But my RMR will be here today, and I learned my very expensive lesson.

4Point6Vince said:

This is where I went wrong. I said it came in broken, well, true story is that I mounted it and it wasn't lining up with my front sight, but I didn't notice that the front of the red dot wasn't fully seated. So I forced the elevation screw too much and stripped it out lol. But my RMR will be here today, and I learned my very expensive lesson.

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I knew you had ruined the sight yourself as soon as I saw your post. How do you do in a China shop??

FYI the guy who says to bore sight a red dot is thinking of a laser because there is no way you can see a red dot while looking down the bore!!!

S&WIowegan said:

I knew you had ruined the sight yourself as soon as I saw your post. How do you do in a China shop??

FYI the guy who says to bore sight a red dot is thinking of a laser because there is no way you can see a red dot while looking down the bore!!!

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I wouldn't know, I'm not allowed in them anymore...