# Boresighting The 1911 Made Easy



## DoubleAction (Nov 8, 2009)

*Just another reason for buying into the 1911

I hope this might take the guess work out your ammo cost at the range; it works especially good on those pistols with rear adjustable sights. The Firing Pin Spring will be under tension, make sure you point it in a safe direction to prevent an mishap. *

*Begin By Making Sure The Pistol Is Unloaded and The Chamber Is Cleared*​
*Before you start off by Locking the Slide Back, ( DON"T FORGET TO YOUR PROTECTIVE SAFETY GLASSES ); You could also use an empty magazine to make sure the Slide will remain locked in place while you do this.*







* Now remove the firing block, the firing pin, and the firing pin spring.*









*With the Slide locked and the Thumb Safety locked, you are ready to begin.*









*This where my Millet Bench Rest becomes useful. You will notice how I taped the pistol to the bench, this prevents the pistol from moving during bore sighting.*









*You can use a target on a wall or a stand, like I used.*









*With the sights locked on to the "X", you are ready begin the bore sighting the pistol.*









*While looking down the small firing pin hole, you will see down the barrel's bore.The center of the bore should be in direct correspondence to the pistol sights, while centered on the "X". *


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Well that's something that makes perfect sense that I've never thought of...

Then again, I've never had to sight one of my 1911s...


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## DoubleAction (Nov 8, 2009)

*Mostly I use this method on my Gold Cups, with the rear adjustable sights; except for this one.*

*I only wished that I could have known about this, before I spent the ammo and range time trying to prove that I wasn't shooting low with this pistol. *










*This was my cure *


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

I'm curious. Does it take more than 5-10 rounds to site in a pistol? I've never spent more than that off of a rest to get a pistol where it needs to be. Not faulting your idea, but it just seems unnecessary. 

1. Put pistol on rest.
2. Shoot it 3 times at the target while being careful and steady.
3. Adjust sites.
4. Shoot it 3 more times.
5. Adjust.
6. Confirm results with 3 more shots.
7. Should be done, if you do your part to be steady.


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## DoubleAction (Nov 8, 2009)

zhurdan said:


> I'm curious. Does it take more than 5-10 rounds to site in a pistol? I've never spent more than that off of a rest to get a pistol where it needs to be. Not faulting your idea, but it just seems unnecessary.
> 
> 1. Put pistol on rest.
> 2. Shoot it 3 times at the target while being careful and steady.
> ...


Maybe so; I found that easier done before I leave for the range, instead of spending all my time adjusting the sights. If you noticed in my second post, the rear sight is not adjustable unless you bent it. It may be nonsense to some, but it might helpful to others.


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

Never said it was nonsense. More power to ya if you want to do it. 

Just keep in mind that eyeballing it thru the smaller hole, and centering that with the larger hole (muzzle) is just that... eyeballing. You'll probably get it pretty close that way, but different rounds act differently out of different guns. Bore sighting a pistol, in my opinion, is like trying to thread a needle underwater, you'll get close, you might even get lucky, but it's much easier to do it where it's intended to be done. 

The target you are using to align the sights is not much more than 7-10 FEET away. There's an appreciable difference between that and a combat zero (7-10 yards), and even more for a target pistol zero (20-30 yards). Sometimes, putting rounds on paper is just faster, because it can be done at the actual ranges you require for your zero, with the rounds you'll be using.


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## DoubleAction (Nov 8, 2009)

zhurdan said:


> Never said it was nonsense. More power to ya if you want to do it.
> 
> Just keep in mind that eyeballing it thru the smaller hole, and centering that with the larger hole (muzzle) is just that... eyeballing. You'll probably get it pretty close that way, but different rounds act differently out of different guns. Bore sighting a pistol, in my opinion, is like trying to thread a needle underwater, you'll get close, you might even get lucky, but it's much easier to do it where it's intended to be done.
> 
> The target you are using to align the sights is not much more than 7-10 FEET away. There's an appreciable difference between that and a combat zero (7-10 yards), and even more for a target pistol zero (20-30 yards). Sometimes, putting rounds on paper is just faster, because it can be done at the actual ranges you require for your zero, with the rounds you'll be using.


If you noticed; I was using a cheap digital camera to look through the firing pin port, and you can see the target. I used the target and the location to better illustrate it. I could have gone outside, but it was raining. I could also used a better target, but this one was red and it showed a lot better for the cheap camera that I was using. Is this Thanks I get for all my work that I unselfish bring to my fellow Handgunners ?


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

Sorry...I didn't mean to piss in your pond. It's sounds tough knowing everything.

It still doesn't negate the fact that it amounts to eyeballing it. WWB ammo will print different than Hornady or Remington, or Federal, or any other round, so basically, you're getting it close. 

It might have also been beneficial for those who were going to try that method to know that the range/target were used for illustration purposes only. Someone who didn't know better would be cursing their gun because they set up their target in the kitchen (being that most standard rooms are no more than 12' wide, minus being able to get behind the gun to look thru the firing pin hole) and bore sighted it using your method, then wonder why their pistol isn't shooting to zero at 21 feet.

It'll still need rounds on paper if you want it dialed in. It just seems like an additional step. Besides, shooting is the fun part.

I'll buy you a beer if you wanna cry in it, but for the most part we're all adults, and criticism is bound to happen, so buck up little camper... pull up a chair to the table and present all you want. Just don't expect there to never be a critique or criticism of what you post. We all get critiqued, we all get criticised, it's how we deal with it that matters.

Oh, and thank you for all your work.


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## DoubleAction (Nov 8, 2009)

zhurdan; I don't shoot blanks when I go to range :smt033 Of course I have tried this method and later using live ammo; not on live targets. It's my not pond your pissing in. I'm just here because I want among with fellow handgun enthusiasts. Take this gift with a grain salt; There is nothing lost between us.


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