Help Zeroing AR15 Iron Sights and Red Dot Optic.

[JRuby]

It takes a lot of time and money to be a good shot - you are just starting. Many on this board including myself have been shooting for decades and still have a ways to go. Hang in there.

 

[ma96782]

IMHO.....since you're NEW at this....try for a 100 yd zero. Set the target out at 25 yds.

Iron sights......start with your sights set at a mechanical zero. Shoot for a group (three shots is normal). It should be very tight at 25 yds. IF NOT.....you got "problems".

Work on getting a tight group. BEFORE......moving on to sight adjustment.

Once you got that issue fixed.......
Sight adjustment normally is done with the rear sight. The rear sight moves in the direction in which you want the bullet strikes (group) to move. Click the rear sight.....either left or right.....or up or down. The "group" needs to be where you are actually aiming at. Move it as necessary.

AFTER you get the iron sights done. Mark the sight with some paint.

Then.......mount the red dot and zero that......
There are usually specific "red dot" targets to use......you aim your red dot and the impacts are suppose to strike where the target indicates. But.....I said that the target is SPECIFIC. And I mean it...... The last time I saw one it was for the Aimpoint brand of red dot sight.

And what if........you can't find one specific for your red dot?

Then ......aim your red dot and fire off a group. The impact group should be about 2" lower than your actual aiming point. IF NOT.....adjust your red dot sight as needed. The knobs are usually marked as to which direction to go to get the group to move.....left or right.....up or down.

That......will normally get you set for a 100 yd zero. Of course, you will still need to verify it at 100 yds. Later.....when you figure more stuff out.....you could try for a "different zero". Rrrrright......because you might have heard others talking about a 200 yrd (or some other range) zero.

Aloha, Mark

 

[ma96782]

Oh I forgot to mention.....that if you're going to adjust the front sight. You move the front sight where the impacts are.

In other words....
If the bullet strikes are low....you lower the front sight post. If the impacts are high.....you move the front sight higher.

If it's impacting to the left...move the front sight to the left. If it's impacting to the right.....then move the front sight to the right.

Note that....it's the opposite of how you move the rear sight.

Aloha, Mark

PS... The typical front sight on an AR is not windage adjustable. Use the rear sight to adjust your windage. But the ARs front sight is good for getting the correct height. Just screw the front sight post.....in or out to adjust it.

 

[BrandonQuixote]

Remove the magnifier. Remove the optic. Replace optic so its ONLY on the receiver, not bridging onto the rail. Make sure all your screws are SNUG, not strip-the-head-tight. Shoot at some paper. No hits? bring the paper closer or move closer, try again. See a hit? good. Move paper back to 15 yards Adjust your optic as necessary. Often the adjustment knobs will tell you which way it will move the IMPACT of your rounds.. Are you hitting horizontally level but off to the left? you need to move your impacts to the RIGHT. Turn the knob/whatever in the direction marked R a few clicks and shoot one or two rounds. If you're hitting low, turn the knob the direction of UP. Is it going the right direction? Good. A few more rounds then adjust more if necessary and "walk in" the rounds to something that looks like a group. Depending on the optic, each click moves your impact a different amount. Most are 1/4 or 1/2 MOA. For reference on how much each click is moving you; a 1/4 MOA is a quarter inch at 100 yards, 1/8th at 50 yards, 1/16 at 25 yards and 1/2" at 200 yards. Once you're on paper close up- continue to push back to at the VERY LEAST 25 yards for a decent zero. Zeroing your rifle at 10 yards isn't effective. People will argue over what is the best Zero- If you have the RANGE, go for 50. If you don't, go for 25. Depending on which lane you get at wolf creek, your distance will vary. Next you can reattach your magnifier, because that needs to be zeroed as well. Most people need the magnifier as far back as possible- i.e closest to your eye as possible because of the eye box that the magnifier provides. Its MUCH smaller than the eye box of the red dot. Eye box is the area where you can see through the sight and not the edge of the ring of the optic itself. If you've ever looked through a traditional rifle scope or binoculars and had to move your head around to actually see THROUGH it, this is the same thing. Once its firmly attached and at a good distance for YOUR eye ball, shoot another group. From there, using the same type of adjustments you made on the optic, adjust the MAGNIFIER. Do not adjust the red dot once its been zero'd- you need to make your corrections on the magnifier when zeroing it. Lots of people make this mistake and start adjusting the optic and get lost. Shoot and adjust until your groups are good/within your ability. From here you can do your Irons. Irons are typically adjusted at two different areas depending on what adjustments need to be made. Make sure everything is SNUG and your rail is mounted straight/level with your receiver. With your dot turned off and magnifier out of the way, flip up your sights, and shoot a group- if its really bad, get up closer liked you did with your red dot, make adjustments and back up as done previously. I recommend using the smaller aperture hole of the two in the rear sight unless its overcast/dark and you need more light that the larger aperture provides. Now for adjustments- If you need to make HORIZONTAL/ SIDE TO SIDE adjustments, that's done with your rear sight. If you need to make VERTICAL adjustments, that's done with the FRONT sight. Follow whatever adjustment direction is indicated on your sights. If your impacts are HIGH you want to RAISE the front sight, if they're LOW you want LOWER the front sight. It will usually be marked U to denote UP or D for DOWN. It may seem strange and confusing, but by making the front post go DOWN, it requires you to lift the muzzle/raise the rear of the gun to level the sights making your rounds hit HIGHER. When moving the rear sight, like a pistol, you move "the direction of the correction". Meaning if you're hitting to the LEFT and need your rounds to impact more RIGHT, your rear right must move RIGHT. Doing so will make you pull your muzzle more to the right to align the sights, effectively changing your point of impact. Once this is done and each are zero'd, if you turn on your dot and see that your dot and front sight aren't PERFECTLY aligned when looking through the rear flip up, red dot and front sight, its not the end of the world. Depending on the height of your Red dot, your dot may be floating far above, resting just on the tip or possibly BELOW where your irons are. This has to do with your red dot mount height. If you want them so the irons aren't intrusive in the optic window, you want a taller mount, known as a Lower 1/3rd mount. This raised the optic and puts your irons in the, yeah you guessed it, lower 1/3rd of the optic window. If you want your dot resting RIGHT on the tip of the front sight or the sight cutting the dot in half, you want whats called an ABSOLUTE COWITNESS mount. This puts both the dot and front post entirely level, but the sights will take up more of the window area when theyre flipped up. Some rifles (Like AK's and FAL's) required the use of a "low" mount which secures the optic BARELY above the top rail to either make use of their irons, cheek weld or both, this mount height is almost never used for AR's.
Final words of wisdom-If you change your mount from one height to another, or move it up or down the rail slots, you will absolutely need to rezero. If you take the optic off the gun but leave it attached to the mount, you may NOT need to, but should definitely verify your zero has not shifted. Bridging your optic from the top rail to the hand guard rail as you have it in your posted picture is "sub optimal" it can lead to loss of zero and other weirdness. This again is a point of preference and much debate- but typically, mounting the dot the farthest possible on the RECEIVER is preferable

Good luck.

 

[gunrnr]

If your AR has a milspec trigger you might swap it for a good 2 stage trigger. the milspec trigger is notoriously rough and has pre travel before it brakes. this makes it hard to get good groups even for an experienced shooter

 

[VK1996]

Yea. I wanted one for a while. I've been supportive of the second amendement for a decade at least, just never had the means to get one till now.

 

[VK1996]

I've gotten in contact with an instructor who will help me out and give me some lessons. Thank you all for the tips.

 

[DizzyJ]

Glad to hear you'll be getting some help with it!

 

[Flymph]

The only way to be sure of a "true zero" is to put the gun in a vice, shoot it at the distance you want it zeroed and adjust the sights' position to match where the rifle is putting rounds...
I don't really see how two of three shots in the bullseye dictates the rifle is not zeroed.