# What distance should I sight in my P226?



## gr8t1dini (May 20, 2012)

I heard 25', 25 yds,15', 15 yds? So which is it? Also at home I have no problem making out all three dots on my night sights but at the range my eyes focus on the target and the front sight the back two sights become blurry. Is this normal? Is there something I can do to get a better sight alignment? Thanks


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## chessail77 (Mar 15, 2011)

Focus on the sights and let the target blur a bit.....for self defense its usually 21'...at the range 25 yds is plenty far.


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## TOF (Sep 7, 2006)

What facilities are available to you?
I check my pistols at 15 yards shooting from seated position using sand bags on a shooting bench to steady the gun. Many use 25 yards. Either distance is acceptable as are other distances. You want windage to be dead on but elevation can vary a bit and still be quite acceptable + or - 2" at 25 yards is very good for defensive purposes. Average group center of 5 or 10 shot groups is considered the sight setting. The bullets will not travel in a straight line regarding elevation over distance.

If you are shooting for absolute target accuracy you will need to set the sight at the distance you intend to shoot.


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## patton567 (May 27, 2012)

If your trying to use your pistol for self defense then 20 yards is plenty.. you will never and should never shoot at a person running away from that far.. and you should focus on your sight. sometimes it helps to look at something medium distance away, then switch to looking at your gun because then your target wont be too blury


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## hud35500 (May 8, 2010)

My department teaches 3,7,& 15 yards for off duty qualification. I think it works well. I usually add in some 25 yard slow fire just to test my accuracy.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I suggest that a defensive pistol should be zeroed at 25 yards.
At seven yards, point-of-impact will be very close to point-of-aim.
At 10,15, and 20 yards, it will shoot just a little high, but not so high as to make you have to think about it.
At 30 and 35 yards, it will shoot somewhat low, but at that distance you're not going to be doing very accurate shooting anyway, and it won't be upsettingly low.
At 50 yards, you would have a serious problem, but you're not going to be shooting defensively at 50 yards.


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## berettatoter (Sep 1, 2011)

gr8t1dini said:


> I heard 25', 25 yds,15', 15 yds? So which is it? Also at home I have no problem making out all three dots on my night sights but at the range my eyes focus on the target and the front sight the back two sights become blurry. Is this normal? Is there something I can do to get a better sight alignment? Thanks


Lol. How old are you? Twenty years ago I could see all my sights pretty well, but now if I concentrate on the front sight the rear sight is blurry. The front sight is the most important in my humble opinion.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

berettatoter said:


> ...The front sight is the most important in my humble opinion.


True that!

At very close range, maybe up to 10 yards if you've practiced, you don't need your sights...but you do need _a sight picture_, which can be as little as the silhouette of the rear end of your pistol. In that kind of case, you can focus your vision on the target(s), and let the rear end of your pistol be blurry.

At any distance past 10 yards, _focus on your front sight_. With sufficient practice, you'll line-up properly and get good hits, even if your rear sight and the target are both blurry.
At distances over 10 yards, trigger control is just as important as sight-picture control. Maybe more so.

(My friend, I think that you should stop drinking now: Your face is getting blurry.) :smt083 :mrgreen:


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## wjh2657 (Jun 18, 2008)

I have always pretty much carried fixed sight handguns. Rifles I get finicky about. I find out where I hit at 21 feet with the particular gun and ammo combo that I am carrying and practice aiming at the target where the shots are going into the COM of about 3-5". My J Frames all shoot a little low with 135 Gr GDHP so I practice aiming (actually fast sight picture point) higher on the chest. If you really feel the need to prepare to take on MS13 or Al Qaeda, sight in at 25 Yards and practice for that. I would include some point shooting at 21' and below just get an idea of where you are actually going to hit shooting across a room or in an alley (<21') I am personally of the old school that body position and hand to eye coordination is most important in close with a handgun. 

Handguns are not for combat, they are for "Holy s**t, this crazy SOB is trying to kill me!" M60 Machine Guns, SAWs and M4s are designed for combat.

I take care of the stated scenario problem, not by practicing using a pistol at rifle range, but by not deliberately going around and p****ing off groups of young Mexicans and crazy eyed Arabs!


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## gr8t1dini (May 20, 2012)

Thank you all for the advice. The longest straight shot in my house is about 20' give or take so I won't be shooting at someone that far away. Houses here are actually pretty close to each other so I can't use high power rounds either. I just ordered snap shots to practice with. I haven't shot in so long I need to build muscle memory all over again.
wjh2657
MS13 aren't Mexicans, they're El Salvadorian thats why they're colors are blue and white(the color of their flag). They actually despise Mexicans. I saw on tv that Nashville(and the surrounding areas) has gone to SH*T cause of gangs. Shame really.


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## wjh2657 (Jun 18, 2008)

I stand corrected sir. It just shows how little contact or interest i have in gangs. My point still stands though, I prepare for the local house invader and drugged up "good ole boy" that I will probably have to face with the environment I move in. As I choose not to live in the type of environment that is the "home ground" for gangs, I go out of my way to avoid contact with them. People who carry high capacity semi-autos and take tactical classes to do "Battle" with these scenarios are being seriously misled. As a real combat veteran I don't believe you have the proverbial "snowball's chance in h***" armed with _anything_ if you are alone and have to face determined gang members or terrorists. I have been shot and I _know_ I am not Superman! The best way to survive a gunfight is to never be a participant.

If I could borrow a Marine Rifle Company from the Commandant I might consider "taking back the neighborhood". Anything short of that i will leave to the PD Gangs Unit and SWAT, they are armed for the fray. IMHO anybody who seriously thinks otherwise may feel like a man, but they will never be an old man! To hold off a multiple target threat at my home, I have "fortifications" including strong windows and doors, 12 Gauge pump shotguns and 2 cell phones. No choice here, my back is to the wall and there is nowhere else to go and I have to fight a delaying action. But on the street, "Run Forrest, run!" If, after many years of real combat that makes me a coward, so be it. However, I am an old man, so it works!

On the street, it is a crazy drunk or hopped up mugger, coming at me close, that I have to worry about. A small .38+P revolver or compact 9MM will fill the bill and it will be point shooting with fast sight picture that will win the day.


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## gr8t1dini (May 20, 2012)

I agree with u. One or two, I could probably deal with more than that would be difficult. What's even more messed up is some of these guys were trained by the military. When I was in the Army I actually had a roommate that was a crip and the other was a "good ole boy" who thought he was gangster. Well enough about that. Thank u for the previous info about what distance to practice shooting. Greatly appreciated.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

...All that having been said, I suggest to you that if you feel that you need only practice pistol shooting out to seven or 10 yards, you will have seriously hampered yourself if you ever do get into a 20-foot-or-less gunfight.
Skills are best learned under somewhat extreme conditions and relatively great pressure. Then, when you need to call upon your skills, you will always find yourself within your limits of confidence.

Since the question is about the proper zeroing distance for pistols, I suggest that a 25-yard zero, as well as practice shooting out to at least 25 yards, would serve a shooter better than would sighting-in and practicing at the shorter distance at which he anticipates having to fight.
Extend yourself: You will learn more, and you will learn it better.

Besides, you can never predict exactly what the situation will be, when you may be called upon to save your life—or someone else's.


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> ...All that having been said, I suggest to you that if you feel that you need only practice pistol shooting out to seven or 10 yards, you will have seriously hampered yourself if you ever do get into a 20-foot-or-less gunfight.
> Skills are best learned under somewhat extreme conditions and relatively great pressure. Then, when you need to call upon your skills, you will always find yourself within your limits of confidence.
> 
> Since the question is about the proper zeroing distance for pistols, I suggest that a 25-yard zero, as well as practice shooting out to at least 25 yards, would serve a shooter better than would sighting-in and practicing at the shorter distance at which he anticipates having to fight.
> ...


Exactly. And I would also add that a gun zeroed for 25 yards isn't going to be off much inside of that distance.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

VAMarine said:


> ...[A] gun zeroed for 25 yards isn't going to be off much inside of that distance.


I quote myself (from an earlier post in this very thread):


Steve M1911A1 said:


> I suggest that a defensive pistol should be zeroed at 25 yards.
> At seven yards, point-of-impact will be very close to point-of-aim.
> At 10,15, and 20 yards, it will shoot just a little high, but not so high as to make you have to think about it.
> At 30 and 35 yards, it will shoot somewhat low, but at that distance you're not going to be doing very accurate shooting anyway, and it won't be upsettingly low.
> At 50 yards, you would have a serious problem, but you're not going to be shooting defensively at 50 yards.


*Truth-In-Posting Admission:*
Since I began suffering with arthritis, my skill has deteriorated almost unbelievably. I said, for the last couple of years, that I was still good out to 20 yards, but now I'm no longer so sure.
The rain has begun tapering off, up here in the Great NorthWet, and shooting season will soon begin. So we'll see what I can still do. But I must admit that I'm worried about it.
Nevertheless, all of my pistols are zeroed for 25 yards, even if I can't actually verify that any more.

The nice doctor at our medical center now injects a dose of cortisone mixed with novocain into my right hand's base-of-thumb joint, every three months. The shot hurts like Hell, but the effect is very good: I can grasp things, and I can shoot. I tell him that he should continue...with all of the hand joints, the arm, the back, and both hips. But so far he has resisted my appeals. Damn!


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## 45 (May 16, 2012)

I think the factory set the sights on there pistols or revolvers at 25 yards that way you should be able to hit a target at 7 to 25 yards without much diffrent in where the bullet hit the target anything past that you a need a shotgun or rifle because a self defence pistol or revolver was not made for long distance shots they were made for close up shots :gib:


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