Let’s just get something out of the way. Shooting accurately with a red dot sight is more intuitive and easier than shooting over iron sights.
Not to suggest that you shouldn’t learn how to shoot over iron sights. You absolutely should. It’s just that it takes longer to become proficient over open sights than red dot sights.
Plus, red dot sights are more or less free from the issue of parallax distortion, work in the dark, and all but eliminate the issue of sight radius.
Thing is, you need to know how to sight in a red dot sight for it to be accurate. Here’s how you do just that.
Two Things You Need: A Pistol Shooting Rest and a Laser Boresight
Let’s back things up for a second. To sight in a red dot sight properly, you will need one thing, and having the second will benefit you immensely.
The first is a pistol shooting rest. You need this to make sure the pistol doesn’t move when you’re sighting it in. Eyeballing it here is not good enough.
The second thing – which you don’t absolutely need (but which will help you immensely) is a laser boresight in a caliber appropriate for your firearm.
For the purpose of this illustration, let’s assume you want to sight-in a red dot sight mounted to a Sig Sauer P365.
The P365 is chambered in both .380 ACP and 9mm Luger. You’ll need a boresight compatible with your P365 barrel so make sure it’s the right diameter before you buy.
The boresight will show where your bore is pointed so you can use that as a rough estimate starting point for where to start your sight-in before you complete the calibration with live-fire.
How to Sight in a Red Dot
Let’s start with the red dot sight. First, clear your P365, rack back the slide so the action is open and place it in the shooting rest so that it is facing your target.
Switch on the boresight and insert it into the barrel so that the spot of the laser is projected onto the target.
Where the laser falls is where the bore is pointed and where your shots should theoretically land.
Now switch on the red dot sight and adjust it so that the red dot sight corresponds to the point where the laser is indicating.
You are now semi-calibrated at that range. You can adjust the range backwards and forwards, just be aware that you will need to adjust your red dot accordingly.
Now it’s live-fire time to finish the sight-in. Fortunately, with a red dot sight, you don’t need to be thinking about moving the rear sight in the opposite direction, as you would with iron sights. With a red dot, you just move the laser until it covers the area impacted by your central grouping.
Remove the laser boresight from your P365 barrel, load 5 rounds, and fire them on target at the range at which you sighted in with the boresight.
You should notice that the group should be clustering around the point of aim as indicated by the red dot sight.
If they are skewed off to the left or right, or high or low, clear the P365, place it back in the rest, and adjust the red dot until it is roughly aligned with where your grouping was concentrated.
Repeat the process with 5 more rounds, continuing to adjust the red dot until the point of aim and point of impact are as closely aligned as possible.
Sighting in Laser Sights
Sighting in a laser sight is similar to sighting in a red dot since there is one point of aim, rather than an index created by aligning the front and rear iron sights.
All steps necessary to sight in a laser sight are effectively the same as with a red dot sight.
Clear the P365, rack the slide back so the action is open, place it in the shooting rest, and switch on the laser boresight and place it in the P365 barrel.
Take a look at where the point of the laser falls on the target, then switch on the laser sight on the Sig.
Align the laser sight until it lines up with the point of light created by the boresight. When aligned, the laser sight should indicate where your shots should fall.
Once again it’s time for live-fire to finish the sight-in.
Turn off the boresight and remove it from the P365 barrel. Load the Sig with 5 rounds, aim carefully at the target and fire them.
Your grouping should align pretty closely with the spot indicated by the laser sight.
Place the Sig back in the rest, re-align the laser sight so that the point created aligns with your grouping, load five more rounds as necessary, and repeat until you have brought the laser sight as close to your grouping as possible.
This process won’t ever be as precise as sighting in a scope as laser sights are not supposed to be that accurate, but they do give a good indication of where your shot will land, especially at close and intermediate ranges.
Still in the Market for a Red Dot Sight? See Our Previous Post
While this post details most of the major steps involved in how to sight-in a red dot sight and a laser sight, if you haven’t purchased a sight yet and need more information on the particulars of red dots, see our previous post. We cover this topic and others at length in Red Dot Sights vs. Iron Sights: On the Advantages of the RDS and in Choosing a Red Dot Sight: Basic Considerations.
Questions? Contact Us!
Questions about red dot sights, the Sig P365 barrels we sell or our other high-quality, high-performance upgrade parts for Sig Sauer and Glock pistols? Get in touch with us and we’d be more than happy to help.
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