Sighting in a pistol.

[SCAR333]

I am not sure if this is the proper forum, but here goes.

I have a 9mm pistol that I carry and I want to get it dialed in pretty good. Next time I go to the range, I am going to use a rest to really help me hold it steady and get a good zero. The question I have is, what is a good distance to zero in a pistol? I was thinking 10 yards? More? Less?

 

[Grayfox]

I generally sight in any handgun with adjustable sights at 25 yards just in case that rarely needed longer shot should happen to come up. At normal self defense distances, pin point accuracy isn't really needed and you probably won't have time for anything more than a flash sight picture anyway.

 

[Doug627]

I sight mine in at 50 feet.

 

[H Richard]

10-12 yards is a very common (self defense) pistol sighting distance. When you practice you should take some shots at longer and shorter distances to see where your POI is with that sight setting. When shooting offhand in a stressed situation you will find it makes very little difference, and a 6-8" group will be considered sufficient out to 25 yards or so.

Now if you are going to use your handgun for hunting, this is an entirely different situation which will call for different sighting depending on what you are planning to hunt. Same with target shooting, POA must coincide with POI.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Sight it in at 15 yards and you will be good from 3 to 25 yards. There really isn't much bullet drop or rise at 25 yards with a 9mm. Get the windage right and you are good to go.

 

[Rpg]

I sight center fire pistols at 25 yards: 22's at 50 feet.

Hard to tell much at short ranges.

 

[Tom S.]

All my hand guns except my Remington XP 100 are sighted in at 25 yards. The XP is sighted in at 100 yards. IMHO, sighting in at 25 yards will make a better shot of you because mistakes show up much clearer as distance increases. 50 yards would be better, but most people would get too discouraged.