Sight Picture Question: 1911

[dallasm]

Guys on your 1911 pistols with 3 dot sights, what sight picture is most common? I'm punching paper.

Is it 3 dots aligned 6 o'clock hold immediately below (touching) the target (#2 below) or is the 3 dots aligned directly over the target (#3 below)?

 

[jackrabbit000]

2 for me.

 

[Boomer]

It depends on your dicipline and personal preference, but I prefer to center my front sight on the target. So #2 for me as well.

 

[Greenhorse six]

In the springfield manuel for my 1911,it says it was sighted in using the first one, 6 o'clock hold.

 

[Bobby and The Devil]

I was shooting like #3 for the longest time since I thought you were supposed to line up the dots on your target. It hadn't even occurred to me that #2 was more "correct" until I saw the range officer demo that at our range's open house. My accuracy increased dramatically after that.

 

[kerfuffled]

#2 for me.

 

[Master-G]

#2 for me usually. If I'm doing smallbore bullseye shooting I sometimes use #1. If I'm shooting fast and close in I'll use #3 for greater speed with a bit less precision

 

[heavenIsAlie]

depends on the range you are shooting at and what your gun is set up for

i like #3 and set my guns for that at ~15 yards.

 

[tallguy992]

I use number 3, has worked well for me.

 

[BCRider]

2 and 3 are effectively the same thing. But with 3 you're positioning the sights about 2mm above the center of the bullseye. A difference which won't mean anything to most of us....

1 is all nice and fine but it requires a specific size of round "dot" on the target and shooting from the same distance each time. Or at least shooting at specific targets each with their own special distance such that the sighting to shooting "triangle" is of a consistent angle. Which makes it less than useful for anything but very formal target shooting.

 

[Wolfstrack]

#2 on target sights
#3 on night sighs

 

[Boomer]

At one time I had a Springfield 1911 with the 3 dot system, thinking it was the best thing to come along when I bought it, but in practice I found it distracting, pulling my focus away from the front sight. In low light conditions I concede they provide a significant advantage.

 

[moosedude]

#2 is the way I learned, works well for me

 

[VanMan]

Finally got some time to take my toys out to the range, and looking for some advice on the sight picture on my STI Targetmaster. I normally use site picture 2 (used to do a lot of air pistol) and found that works great with my CZ Shadow and Trojan. Have attached a pic of the target sheets of the first 40 shots from each. Pretty bang on vertical and some spread from me getting used to the triggers.

But with my Targetmaster, using site picture 4, I started off shooting low (and a little left). You can see I started to walk my shots up to the center by compensating, and then ended up with a site picture like #5. The front sight blade on the Targetmaster is pretty tall - so I'm wondering if it is supposed to stick up above the rear sights? Or should I be adjusting the Aristocrat rear sights back to sight picture 4?

First shots with CZ Shadow

First shots with STI Trojan

Sight Pictures with STI Targetmaster

First Shots with STI Targetmaster

 

[redryder]

Sight picture 5 makes no sense at all. I use 4 for most and quite often 1 for bullseye. By the way those are nice firearms you have. TargetMaster and a Trojan to boot. Lucky you.

 

[redryder]

By the way, my son borrowed my Jeep last week and I found 4 Trojans in the console when I used it yesterday.

 

[Armored Metal]

#2 for slow shooting. Front sight only at 10 meters and less during fast shooting from the holster.

 

[tjhaile]

Sight picture 5 makes no sense at all. I use 4 for most and quite often 1 for bullseye. By the way those are nice firearms you have. TargetMaster and a Trojan to boot. Lucky you.

#5 (but with POI on top of the front sight) is appropriate if you are shooting at a distance beyond where your pistol is zeroed that requires hold-over. Elmer Keith actually had horizontal gold bars mounted on the front sights of some of his guns to indicate the correct amount of hold-over.

Otherwise, if you're shooting inside 25 or 50 yards and you have adjustable sights, just dial in enough elevation so that you can use a sight picture that has the front sight post flush with the top of the back sight.

 

[redryder]

Agree with this and I have seen the pics of Elmer's front sights. The bars allowed consistency. Without them, its all just a guess each time you yank on the trigger. Well, maybe not yank.

#5 (but with POI on top of the front sight) is appropriate if you are shooting at a distance beyond where your pistol is zeroed that requires hold-over. Elmer Keith actually had horizontal gold bars mounted on the front sights of some of his guns to indicate the correct amount of hold-over.

Otherwise, if you're shooting inside 25 or 50 yards and you have adjustable sights, just dial in enough elevation so that you can use a sight picture that has the front sight post flush with the top of the back sight.

 

[BCRider]

For normal distances you should adjust the rear to bring you back to sight picture 4. As shown in 5 and as already mentioned you simply will not get any proper consistency as there's nothing at all to line up accurately.

Keep in mind that different ammo specs will shoot to a point of impact that can well vary from the ammo that was used by the factory for testing and initial sights adjusting. The amount you showed seems to be consistent with such a case. So if that's what you're always going to shoot them set the sights to suit the ammo.