Proper Use Of Sights?

MichaelStrick9 · Apr 8, 2011

Howdy everyone. Got a question here regarding the sights on my AR. I have this rear sight, <broken link removed> [hsh]40L that came on my slightly used RRA 16" upper. And the attached picture is the result at 50 yards. The high group is me using the top notch of the rear flip up, with the horizontal parts of both the rear and front sight even, and the center of the target right on top of the center front sight post (pumpkin on a fence post). The low group is the center hole of the rear flip up, with the front post just poking up, and the center of the target dead center in the aperture of the rear sight. These results were consistent through 3 different targets, except I was more accurate horizontally/windage wise on the 2 others. For the most part, I am still somewhat of a novice. However, I did attend 1 day of Appleseed a few months ago, so I am at least somewhat familiar with the proper motions and human mechanics involved, I'm just doubting my use of the sights.

So, besides my loose groups, which I hope will improve with time and another round of Appleseed next weekend, what am I doing wrong and what, if anything, needs to be adjusted on my AR?

EDIT: Link is not properly working for the sight. It's the 40L version at $119.

NoAim · Apr 8, 2011

So on those sights, there's pretty much 4 different sight pictures. But, let's talk about the two basic sight pictures on one of the aperatures:

Notch:
- These are just like pistol sights. Line up the horizontal surfaces and center the front post vertically. Like this:
- But, on the ARMS sight, this is intended to be fast "CQB" sights. Which means to correct for the sight offset at really short distances. So you're talking a zero of maybe 15-25 meters. This is why you're shooting so high at 50 yards.
- Most ARs do not have these types of sights.

Ghost Ring/Peep:
- This is your standard AR sight set up. You want to center the top of the front sight on the target and then center all that in the middle of the peep aperture. Like this:

And a word about the two apertures. They are set up with two sizes and two different elevations. The large aperture is for 0-200 meters-ish and the small aperture is for 300+. What this means, is that they will give two different zeros.

My suggestion is to read up on the sights and what they are designed for here: <broken link removed>

Your primary sight for 50 yards should be the large aperture. Zero that as per the manual.