How To Adjust Glock Sights - To many, the idea of zeroing a gun may seem strange. Rifles? Sure, they all need to be reset. But a gun? Many may argue that in the area where the gun is likely to be used, zeroing is not necessary or possible. In fact, on my RM380, the sights are literally milled ears on top of the slide and adjustment is not possible. However, with most utility-sized pistols and many popular concealed carry options, the sights can be moved or swapped to change the point of impact. This is important for several reasons.
Read Robert's article on remote training. Take a class with Kyle Defoor or Steve Fisher and the need to know exactly where your shots will hit at different distances will become obvious.
How To Adjust Glock Sights
While the required skill sets or at least the reticle required will be different for close range and long range shots, close range hits should be easy if you can land hits from a distance.
Night Fision Official Costa Ludus Night Sights
Imagine a worst-case scenario, such as a hostage situation where a family member is at risk of a home invasion or a botched robbery. Knowing the EXACT location of the impact can be critical. If you haven't been to the range and you haven't shot from turn, how can you guarantee the necessary hit? If your shots don't hit where you aim, won't you adjust your sights accordingly?
Of course, this process requires some weapon skill. If at the end of your shooting session your target looks like it's been hit with a shotgun (and I've been there), then you need to work on the basics. However, if you are able to detect a group or pattern of your shots, it may be possible and reasonable to adjust the sights slightly.
As an example, I will describe my own experience with my Glock 19. The picture below shows how far I had to move the rear sight to match the point of aim with the point of impact. After I put the standard black Defoor sights back on, I was able to fine tune the gun to zero in about three trips to the range, starting each session at 25 yards and shooting 10 groups of shots at the B8 repair center. Kyle Defoor often places goals with scores in the 90s and sometimes under 30 seconds. I haven't hit the time standard yet, but I recently hit my first 90 and another 91 for 25 yards. I couldn't do it without resetting the reticle and now I have a little more confidence in this area.
I've mentioned this before, but in my experience, Ameriglo's Defoor sights serve as the benchmark for accuracy against which all other sights are measured. The more I shoot, train and practice, the less I care about having a night sight or a prominent sight. In fact, I've recently noticed that the tritium sights are almost distracting. I admit that a prominent front sight can allow for faster and quicker shots at close range, but I'm not convinced that this is the be-all and end-all of pistol sights.
Handgun Sights. The Basics.
The rest of this post will be relatively specific to Glock pistols as that is what I carry and have the most experience with. I will describe how to precisely reset the sights. Most guns should come from the factory with sights set to zero, but if you change sights, an adjustment may be necessary. Start by shooting a group of 5 or 10 shots at 25 yards (or whatever distance suits your current skill level). If the center of your group does not coincide with your aiming point, you will need to adjust your sights.
The airflow (or horizontal adjustment) is relatively easy to adjust. To move the point of impact to the right, you must move the rear sight to the right. Conversely, to move the point of impact to the left, you would move the rear sight to the left. You can buy a sight adjustment tool like this, or you can just use a padded vise and a brass punch and hammer. I've never invested in a sight adjustment unit, so I just use this hammer and punch set, and I line the vise ribs with cardboard. A trick I first learned in class with Kyle Defoor is to mark the crosshairs and move the pen to measure how far you have moved the crosshairs. I actually use a 0.5mm lead mechanical pencil to mark the sides of the rear sight inside the rear sight channel. This allows me to see exactly how far to the right or left the crosshair has moved. Overall, I have found that covering one pencil mark width equals about 2 inches at 25 yards.
Height is a little more difficult and depends much more on the choice of ammo. The easiest thing to do might just be to learn to hold back at a distance and learn where to aim to achieve the desired hit point. You may find that you need to use the 6 o'clock handle to hit your target. Or you may need to hold the front sight directly over the aiming point. The first option is what I found I needed to do with my Glock and current ammo supply. If you want a more pronounced change in the impact point, several different sight manufacturers offer different shell heights. Ameriglo, Dawson Precision and 10-8 Performance are just a few examples that immediately come to mind. To move the strike down you need a higher front sight post. To move the stroke up, you need a shorter front sight post. If you follow the 10-8 Performance link above and read their pistol sight selection page, you can find a formula to calculate the required sight height. In my opinion and experience, it is better to have a gun that hits high rather than low. At least if you hit high you can better judge the wind in your shot. This is difficult to do when the gun must be held so high that it completely covers the distant target. The counter point is that if your weapon hits too high above your point of aim, it will be very difficult to maintain both the necessary elevation and proper wind to make the hits (ask me how I know). Finally, since the Glock sight is attached to the oblong mounting hole with a screw, it's worth taking a straight edge ruler and using it on the front sight post to check that it is indeed parallel to the slide. If it isn't, it can be easily fixed by using pliers to gently turn it over.
Needless to say, the choice of ammunition also matters. Cheap ammunition that produces inconsistent results will make the zeroing process difficult or impossible.
Glock St05161 Rear Sight Adjustment Tool
We aim weapons to aim them better and gain better accuracy. Reset the damn things! After all, sights are just an aiming system. If you put a collimator on a gun, I guarantee you will spend some time zeroing it to get the results you want. Why are the sights different?
Note: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. We appreciate it when you use our affiliate link to shop on Amazon because it helps us run this blog and it doesn't cost you anything extra!
Finally, please share your thoughts on this first back to basics article. If the feedback is positive, I may write more on topics that are simple, but I think every gun owner should understand. This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission at no additional cost.
Since the introduction of the first Glock 17 to the civilian market, these pistols have become extremely popular. Glock's reputation for quality, durability and reliability is almost second to none. They may not be the prettiest guns in the world, but Glocks are certainly workhorses for many shooters. Many novice Glock shooters are surprised by the Glock sights. Can I adjust the sights on my Glock pistol myself?
Truglo Tritium Pro Sight Set Glock 17, 17l, 19, 22, 23, 24,
Semi-automatic Glock pistols come standard with adjustable and standard sights. Glock adjustable sights can be adjusted with the included window and elevation screwdriver. Standard Glock sights fit snugly in the dovetail on top of the bolt and can only be adjusted for windage. This type of Glock sight is more difficult to adjust and may require special tools.
Many casual shooters never think about the sights on their guns. These shooters like to shoot their pistols
How to adjust glock 19 sights, how to replace glock sights, how to adjust sights, how to adjust truglo bow sights, how to adjust sights on compound bow, how to adjust glock rear sight, how to adjust gun sights, how to adjust archery sights, how to install sights on glock, how to adjust rear sights, how to adjust bow sights, adjust sights on glock