How to Sight in a Handgun

The sport of shooting has grown in the US over the past few years for both sport and for home defense. The use of a handgun in both categories allows the shooter a relatively easy to control firearm and one that comes in many different calibers. The new shooter will need to familiarize themselves with both the safety and the sight in techniques of their handgun, both of which this article will address. Shooting for both fun and defense can be accomplished with the same firearm. While some calibers of gun are better for some purposes, stick with a 9 mm handgun for this article

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Handgun
• Targets
• Bullets
• Gun range
• Hearing protection
• Eye protection

1. Remove the gun from its case, always aim it at the floor or at an area that is free of people or things you do not want to shoot. You must always assume a gun is loaded. Press the magazine release on the side of the gun to remove the magazine. Pull back ( or rack) the slide of the gun fully to the back of the gun and allow it to lock back. Place the gun down range. Load your magazine with the prescribed amount of bullets. Place your target at 3 yards. Targets that are called "splatter" targets are best as you can easily identify where your shots are going by the large, neon like splatter at the point of impact. Insure you have your hearing and eye protection in place.

2. Press the loaded magazine into the magazine well of the gun firmly, listening for a click that lets you know it is seated properly in place. With either another firm pull of the slide or a press of the slide release button on the gun, allow the slide to move forward, placing a bullet in the chamber of the gun by doing so. Do not impede the slide. It needs to be a hard and fast motion. At all times the gun must be aimed down range, away from people or animals. At this point the gun is loaded and is able to shoot.

3. Take the gun in both hands, with your thumbs overlapping (weak hand thumb on the bottom, strong on the top) on your weak hand side of the gun grip. Hold the gun firmly, keeping it pointed down range. Do not put your fingers in the trigger guard yet. Fully extend your arms into a triangle, locking your elbows. Release the safety if your gun is equipped with one. Bring the gun up to eye level and look through the sights. There will be either a U shaped sight in the rear or a U shaped one. On the front of the slide is a single blade or dot. The objective is to align the front sight with the back at the same level. They should be at the same height. Use your strong eye to look at the sight picture, either closing your weak eye or squinting it. Your breathing should be slow and deep.

4. Sight the target so that it lines up with your sights. The desired point of impact should be lined up with the front and back sights, again all at the same height. Place your index finger in the trigger guard and allow only the tip of your index finger to touch the trigger. Take a deep breath, keep the sight and target lined up, release half of the breath and gently squeeze the trigger. Do not anticipate the recoil, allow it to surprise you. Look above the sights to find the impact spot. Adjust your front sights to move the impact point as such: very fine movement to the left to bring the impact to the right and the opposite for the left. Fire another shot and find the impact point. It will be fine tuning at this point to find where your gun shoots. It may be accurate out of the box or you may need to compensate a very small amount to either side. Once you have an accurate sight picture that give you the impact point you want it will be important to keep practicing and keep a mental image of that sight picture to maintain your accuracy.

Tips & Warnings

• Used and new guns both have to be sighted in.
• Keeping both eyes open is another option.
• Ammunition also factors into accuracy, with different kinds having different properties.
• You will need to practice to maintain your accuracy.