A2 Sight Markings

mattz357 · Mar 16, 2010

I've searched online unsuccessfully, so I come to you... what do the markings on an A2 sight indicate? Specifically, the 6/3, 5, 4 on the adjustment dial. Also, I have a couple of carry handles that have an "AH" and an arrow marking on them, any idea what those mean? Thanks in advance!

zercool · Mar 17, 2010

Distance in meters. A "battlesight zero" is good for 0-300m and crosses the line of sight again at 600m. The 4 and 5 are pre-determined "come-ups" for those distances. (Keep in mind this is for mil-spec 5.56x45 ammo, but will be close for others.)

Read this page for lots of good info: AR-15 Zeroing

chuck s · Mar 17, 2010

The standard battlesight M16/M4 is indeed 300 meters even though no one engages targets at that range. 4 is 400, etc. A much better and realistic range is 200 meters, the Improved Battlesight Zero (IBSZ), but that's a discussion for the full caliber rifles.

The bullet does NOT cross the line of sight at 600 meters with the sight set at 6/3, though, unless you crank the rear sight UP a full turn back around to the 6/3 mark.

The sight is marked for M855 Ball from the M4 carbine with a 14.5" barrel, not .22LR so the markings are essentially just for looks on our rifles. A very nice .22LR battlesight is 75 meters with 50 a good compromise as it's very tight between 25 and 50.

This sight system is zeroed using the front sight to adjust the range and the rear the windage. Crank the rear sight all the way down and leave it there.

-- Chuck

zercool · Mar 17, 2010

This is what happens when I post at 5:30am after a low-sleep day and slow night shift.

Chuck is 100% right. The 6/3 (8/3) requires a full spin around for the longer distance. BSZ is obtained at 25m (-1 click iirc?) and the sight plane is crossed at 25m (on the way up) and 300m (on the way back down).

And yes, that's for ball ammo... not that a .22 won't reach out to 200-300-400m, but you probably won't turn in the groups that a centerfire does.

chuck s · Mar 17, 2010

The official 300 meter zeroing at 25 meters using 8/3 +1 click (some sights have a little "z" there) is startling high at 300 meters for most shooters as they seem to think they need to shoot a little higher at this range.

Tests at Fort Jackson, though with veteran NCOs showed that even with a good center of mass aiming point the strikes were still a foot high! But the Army hasn't bothered to change the official zero. "When was the test?" you say. Pretty sure it was 1989. Yep, 21 years ago and the Army hasn't budged.

Anyway, the numbers are meaningless on the 15-22. There are range wheels available with just numbers (as in numbers of clicks) and some totally blank if you want a more useful marking or no marking at all.

-- Chuck

mattz357 · Mar 17, 2010

I just changed from the stock sight to a carry handle and wondered how much I would need to adjust to get back to zero. Sounds like if I set the carry handle dial to the same place as the stock sight I should be good. Thanks for all the info!

chuck s · Mar 18, 2010

There's a good chance your carry handle sight is taller than the M&P 15-22 rear sight, but I don't have time to caliper them this morning.

Many commercial detachable handles are designed to shoot with the M16A2 front sight, not the slightly shorter M4 front sight. Getting better these days, but the commercial guns have been using M16A2/A3 spec front sights. Many M4 clones have M16A2 front sight towers.

The M16A4, the flat top version, barrel is a different part number than the M16A2/A3 (both of which have fixed handles). The M16A4 and M4 use the same detachable handle. I recall the M16A3 was developed for the sea services to fit a special need. There aren't that many around.

As far as the US military is concerned, the front sight tower is a permanent part of the barrel along with the barrel extension. So there's no part number for the shorter (usually F-marked) front sight tower used on the M4, M4A1, and M16A4.

Please note there is no "A3" upper receiver as far as the M16 is concerned. The M16A3 has a SAFE-SEMI-AUTO selector and a fixed handle. The M16A4 is SAFE-SEMI-BURST with the detachable handle. Same handle as the M4/M4A1 and had the corresponding shorter front sight tower.

If your handle shoots excessively high you'll need to find the M4/M16A4 height rear sight assembly or a complete handle designed for these.

The markings of 8/3 and 6/3 are no clue to the commercial sights, they can do what they want.

Note the differences in the actual rear sights. M4/M16A4 on left, M16A2 (and A3!

) on the right.

-- Chuck

A2 Sight Markings

mattz357

Well-known member

zercool

Well-known member

chuck s

Well-known member

zercool

Well-known member

chuck s

Well-known member

mattz357

Well-known member

chuck s

Well-known member

Similar threads

Latest posts