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So, you just got in your new AR-15 rifle, and you haven’t decided if you want to mount an optic on it. Well, you don’t have to leave it sitting in the safe until you decide. There’s a lot of good things you can do with iron sights, whether it’s for hunting, competition, or home protection. Today, I’m going to show you how to setup and zero your iron sight rifle.
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I like starting most new shooters off with iron sights on their rifle. It builds good fundamentals and just helps you understand shooting a lot better if you start with iron sights. So AR-15’s, like this model right here, come with a detachable carry handle. The rear sight is built into the back of the carrying handle. It has an adjustable elevation and windage already built in, and is a great option for your iron sight rifles.
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Another Popular version of the AR-15 is this one, right here. It’s a flat top receiver. These don’t normally come with any type of carrying handle, but you can buy after market iron sights for them like I’ve got here. I’ve mounted a rear flip up sight and a front flip up sight. These still have adjustable windage and elevation, but you can flip them down if you ever want to mount an optic.
They also work great if your optic ever goes down, you can use them as backup sights.
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This is my competition AR-15. First thing you’ll notice is I have an extended sight radius. This helps me tighten up my shot groups. I pushed the front sight housing all the way to the end of the barrel, and I pulled the rear sight closer to my eye. I also like to mount the rear sight higher because it helps me find it quicker during fast target engagements. All of these modifications can be done with after market parts.
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No matter what types of sights you’ve put on your rifle, the most important thing is a proper zero. I like to use a 300 yard zero with my iron sight rifle. That means from point of aim to point of impact is at 300 yards. I achieve this with an eight inch circle at 100 yards. So, lets get this rifle sighted in. Okay, those three felt pretty good. Now my rifle was already dialed in. If you’re starting out with a new rifle, be prepared to put some time into getting a good zero.
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Now, lets go down range and check my shot group out. Good. This is the three shot group I was looking for. At 100 yards, I want to be 3 ½ inches high. That puts me point of aim, point of impact at 300 yards. The reason I do this is because I don’t like to cover up my target out to 300 yards with my front sight post. So, lets say I was going to shoot 100 yards, I would hold here.
At 200 yards, I would hold here. And 300 yards would put me point of aim, point of impact. Hopefully, these tips will get you on target faster. Until next time Stay Army Strong.
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