Zeroing in - How do you guys see so far?

[Hayata]

Target selection helps. Run a 3-4 moa circle target for the appropriate distance and center the dot in it.

This.

There's a reason for the sizing of the targets at CMP.

 

[alleycat]

I zero my irons at 25 yards, then fine tune at distance if needed. I do wear glasses when I shoot irons

Shooting 100 yds w/25-yd zero

 

[gyppo]

It takes practice. I shoot a 2 moa. red dot a fair amount. I can hit a 9” round plate about 8 out of 10 times at 250 yards after a few sighters to get the hold over.
I should be able to do the same with a 4 moa but I can’t get the same results.

 

[BigMike]

I feel like it all depends on what you plan to shoot at. For me, I zero my close in defensive carbines at 25 yards and call it good. With zero adjustment you can still hit center of mass from about 5 yards and out. Its a 2.5 inch difference between 25 and 100, still in the zone for center of mass. Now if you are trying to consistently smack a silver dollar at 100, you need a good spotter scope or either an electronic target.

 

[longfastglass]

I understand the OP. For RDS on rifles, I’m not zeroing for precision. I take a shot at, say 50 yds. I then check the spotting scope to determine placement and then correct as necessary. I also zero on the lowest brightness setting that I can comfortably see the dot. I hope this helps

 

[cmshoot]

For zeroing a RDS, the TransTarII target works well. It’s shades of blue, starting from the outside edge, gets lighter towards the center, which is white. Hold center-of-mass of the body......even if you can’t see the X-ring, it’s in the center. Adjust accordingly.

 

[Mr. Booshie]

I understand the OP. For RDS on rifles, I’m not zeroing for precision. I take a shot at, say 50 yds. I then check the spotting scope to determine placement and then correct as necessary. I also zero on the lowest brightness setting that I can comfortably see the dot. I hope this helps

I do the same except I take a 3-5 shot group to rule out a flyer. Taking a single shot can be misleading.

 

[Realtor]

Zeroed one in today, the middle was the last 2 shot after making some adjustments

 

[Jambo]

So I've always heard that you should zero a rifle at 50 meters/yards. This is for red dot, irons and scopes. For red dot and iron sights how do you see so far? I can understand aiming and shooting at a man size target, even a head shot at that distance but how do you aim at a small say 2" dot to get the optic or iron sights zero'd or am I missing something?

Btw, I consider myself to have good eyesight. Always had 20/20 and I dont have to wear glasses, although I havent had my eyes checked in a while I've been wondering about this for years. Guys saying that can hit targets at 100 yards with irons, HOW?

The smallest target most of us can see unaided is about 4 MOA. This is why we use 4 MOA "squares" at Appleseed training events. At 50 yards that would be about 2".

I personally have found that targets with a flat outline work best for irons. Again, at Appleseed events we shoot "squares" to begin with, and end up with reduced size "D" targets, which have flat bottoms. These are good for shooting "pumpkin on a post" or "6 O'clock hold", which is what I shoot with irons. It's easier to line up the flat top of the front sight with the flat bottom of the target.

When zeroing a red dot, I like a circular target. I usually try to make mine a little larger than the dot; so if it's a 2 MOA dot, and will be placed at 50 yards, I try to make the target 3-4 inches in diameter. Likewise I try to use a 6-8" circle when shooting at 200 yards, when the 2 MOA dot will subtend 4 inches. Then you can line it up like a bullseye, if you will. Dot in the middle, with a little of the target visible around the edges. As others have said, turn the illumination of the dot to a lower setting. I usually make my own targets. Just find something the right size, trace around it, and fill it in with a sharpie.

Just remember that you aren't shooting a precision rifle at that point, and accept your group size. When using a sling and a 2 MOA red dot I'm happy when I'm shooting 2 1/2 to 3 MOA (2 1/2" to 3" at 100 yds).

I would also argue that zeroing at 50 yards is not always best. I'm not saying it's bad; in fact several of my rifles have a near zero of 50 yards (or close to it - my AR with a far zero of 200 yds is close to a 50 yd near zero). However, the range you zero the rifle depends on many factors, all of which should be considered. Sight offset, intended use, expected target distance, presence (and use) of a built in Bullet Drop Compensator (BDC), etc.

I would humbly suggest you attend an Appleseed training event. You'll get a lot of coaching and training that you can't get anywhere else for $60.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

The OP's question was, for non-magnifying optics or iron sights, how to you see a small target at 50+ yards?

My answer is that I don't aim at a "bullseye" that's the same size and the group I hope to put on it. I make my aiming point twice as big as the group I'm hoping for. Maybe 3X as wide.

I don't shoot at 50 yards. But I shoot at 25 yds. and 100 yards, and can go 200 once in a while.

I like to put up a 4" flat, round, paper aiming disk as my "aiming black" for 25 yard shots.(with irons or red dot sights)

For 100 yards. 12" to 14" seems about ideal to me.

And from 200 yards, I want an 18" round spot on the center of the target to aim at. That's what gets me a good sight picture.

Now, if I were only concerned with accuracy, I'd probably go with a pure black aiming spot / aiming disc. That is supposed to be easiest to see, with the best contrast to the white / manila / off-white paper surrounding your aiming black. BUT I CAN'T SEE MY HOLES AT 200 YARDS, even with a spotting scope at 30X magnification, if they are .22 caliber holes in a pure black paper target.

So what I use instead is blue. The same color as blue painter's take--the modern version of masking tape.
That way, I can use bits of blue tape to patch the holes on the target, until it's so shot up that I need to cut out a new disc out of a sheet of blue construction paper or posterboard.

The size of the paper surrounding your aiming spot is important, too. I'm spoiled. For shooting with irons, especially, I want to have a HUGE area of white / manila paper around my aiming spot. When I shoot at 100 yards, my target backer is a full sized sheet of plywood. 4 ft x 8 ft.
When I shoot at 200 yards with iron sights, it's an 8 ft. x 8 ft square wooden framework that holds up my paper, and my blue aiming disc. That way, the white paper fills my rear sight's notch or peep aperture. I don't have a situation where some of my rear sight's notch is overlapping the dark wood to the side of the paper, and also overlapping the forest floor, full of leaves and pine needles and pine cones. I am looking at a uniform, smooth, flat surface through my sights.