Adjusting the sights

toddinjax · Post by **toddinjax** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:04 pm

Okay, so I'm still pretty new at this, reading all I can and practicing. I usually feel I get better and LEARN something with each session, "zeroing in" on the bull, finding flaws in my grip that cause fliers,correcting the flaw and grinning like an idiot when I hit the center. Anyway, my last practice finished well (for me) with several 10'sand 9's then today, I couldn't hit the ocean if I fell out of a boat. Took me a while to "remember" the grip to point straight. Once I remembered how I was holding at my last session, I settled in to a nice aim, sight picture, hold and fairly smooth trigger release. 4 or 5 shots low and right, NOT where my usual misses go. I hesitated a moment - the sights were fine my last session, I was hitting the bull, the lights in my garage haven't changed, wtf? So I turned 4 clicks up and 3 left and BAM (probably) 10.8! Closest I've ever come to dead center.
I've read about changing sights with changing lighting conditions (not sure I fully understand it yet) but day or night, while there is a large but curtained window in my garage, the lights overhead and aimed at the target are the same. Does one often/always have to move the rear sight even on your home range from day to day?

chuckjordan · Post by **chuckjordan** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:18 pm

No, you must have changed your postion/NPA. Got a notebook/binder? I keep a bound notebook and pencil next to my shooting bench. Oh, and the sticky's to save the pages.

When you do something right (or wrong) take notes. You can always refer to them when you hit a snag like that.

The only thing else that could change the shot is: low/high pressure or a different pellet. What changed?

lastman · Post by **lastman** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:42 am

I find that sometimes my groups move, just a little bit, for no apparent reason. Once I move the sights a bit everything goes back to normal. I've spoke to a few other people about this find that they also move a little bit too.

My thoughts are that somedays I just settle into a slightly different aiming area. It's not ideal but it's the way I am.

Keep in mind that 4 clicks is about 5mm on the card. If you think about it you don't have to have moved very far to make a 5mm movement on the card, I don't think there's much to worry about there. That's why in a match you have a sighting series.

If you have to move your sights quite radically, then there might be an issue.

Good luck

Gwhite · Post by **Gwhite** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:33 am

Especially if you are just starting out, minor changes in your grip can easily move your groups around by the amount you are concerned about. One of the advantages of orthopedic (orthomanic?) grips is that they help achieve a more repeatable grip. A lot of the required consistency just comes from repetition in the form of lots of practice/dry firing. For example, variations in finger pressure, especially the finger tips & thumb, can shift things around quite a bit.

When you shoot a good shot, stop to think about EXACTLY how you did it. Examine your stance, your grip, trigger squeeze, sight picture, etc. Try to reenforce that whole process in your mind. What it felt like, what it looked like, what it smelled like. You want to memorize the entire experience of shooting a good shot in your mind & your body. Then just do it again... and again... and again...

In addition to make it easier to shoot good shots, this will also help clue you in when something is not right. If it doesn't feel like it's going to be a 10, you need to learn to put the pistol down, collect your wits, and try again.

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:26 am

Excellent advice. I'm sure this is the root of your problems. A change in light will not affect your zero very much (smoke your sights), nor will how tired you are.

luftskytter · Post by **luftskytter** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:57 am

I very seldom adjust my AP sights, unless I've made other changes.
On a shooting night I normally place a target behind the others, so that when I'm finished, this target shows all the shots from that training session. This makes it easy to see the general tendency of my shooting that day. You may want to add the date, and a maybe some other notes on the target itself.

A small collection of these "whole day" targets will tell a lot about what's going on with your shooting and help deciding whether you may want to change something. I believe this maybe just as useful as a notebook.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:05 pm

That is so simply brilliant luftskytter, thanks for the tip! I occasionally shoot 30 to 60 shots on a single card to track my behaviour a bit better than 10 shots per card and comparing, but obviously this is less than ideal if also wanting to track scoring. An easy solution which I'll put into play right away, thank you.

The other day I had this sighting problem come up with my 46m. It's happened a few times, where I'll shoot for weeks without clicking a sight adjuster even once, then suddenly I'll find my shots all high and to the right (this week) or somewhere else and need to adjust a few clicks on each axis. At first I persist for another 20 or so shots, just to be sure, but adjusting seems the only solution once I've made sure my sight alignment, stance, head angle etc. are not at issue. I don't know what could be happening, as these few instances have not coincided with cleaning or oiling or any other adjustments. I always shoot Diabolo Basic pellets now and on this last occasion it happened somewhere in the middle of a tin, so not a change in pellet batch. Just 'one of those things' I guess. It took me about 3 tries to get sighted in this time, over about 20 more shots, and I had to go 4 clicks down and 3 clicks left overall to restore centre average hits. The rest of that session and again yesterday's practice were all more or less well placed on target. All I can think is that I must have changed something in my stance or hold or both which resulted in this shift, and that it's not something I am able to perceive so far. But if re-sighting works, I won't worry about it for now.

orionshooter · Post by **orionshooter** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:52 am

Rover wrote: A change in light will not affect your zero very much (smoke your sights), nor will how tired you are.

I disagree.....both of these factors will impact not only your groups but your performance as well.

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:10 am

You are saying that the light on a 10 meter range will affect his zero a great deal then? And that he should look here for his problem instead of changes of grip?