Gear: Extar EP9, Sig Sauer Romeo 5 G2
Hi all, I went to the range for the first time yesterday and had a hard time zeroing in my optic and left before my time was up because I didn’t want to waste any more ammo lol. I did not grownup with firearms, this is my first, and I’m a little unsure of myself when things don’t go as expected.
I wasn’t sure what was within the range of reasonable POI correction via windage and elevation adjustment on the optic and from what I’m seeing now I think maybe I need to remove the optic and re-seat it making sure it’s on properly.
Good news is the POI was very consistent, but at 10 meters it was consistently about 12 inches to the right. I adjusted windage as far as it would go and it didn’t seem to help. What do you suggest for troubleshooting this beyond trying to reattach the optic and making sure it’s seated properly?
I think you're on the right track as far as removing and making sure it's seated correctly. 12" off at 10 meters is definitely wonky. Make sure the mounting screw is loose enough that the mounting lug isn't interfering with the fit at all. Ensure the fixed side is fully seated, and the indexing block in the optic falls into one of the grooves in the top of the receiver. While holding it down on the top of the receiver carefully tighten the mounting screw, making sure the mounting lug is aligned and grabbing the bottom of the rail. Something likely went wrong there.
Thanks I’ll give this a try!
Verify that the optic is mounted correctly. When zeroing, you should see an R with the corresponding direction arrow. You're hitting right so you want to move impact to the left. So turn the dial opposite of the R directional arrow .
Thank you
Most optics are centered and close to zero out of the package. If properly mounted on a rail aligned with the bore, it should be close to zero out to 25 yards.
Unless someone else fiddled with the sight before you got it, in which case you may want to recenter the reticle and start over. I've seen customers and clerks clumsily twisting reticle adjustments on demonstration optics in shops.
And in rare cases with good optics, the elements made be misaligned from the factory or due to impact damage (although most good quality red dots and microprism sights are incredibly tough and can function even after hard direct impacts).
Eyeball the mount level on both sides as you gradually snug down the mount bolts. Some mount to rail fits can be fussy.
To roughly recenter the reticle, you can look straight down the bore from the breech with the EP9 field stripped – upper separated from the lower.
Aim at a round bullseye target through the bore and compare the view with the image through the optics. Set the upper on a sturdy surface while eyeballing through the bore and optical or iron sights.
Even if the optic is mounted incorrectly, should still be moving point of impact as you adjust.
To have no change usually means you hit the maximum travel.
You sure youre turning the adjustment knob the correct direction?
No not at all lol. I think 2 things… I assumed it would be very easy to tell which direction on which knob was moving it which way. Because it was so far off center I couldn’t get a grip on that, so shame on me for not having that down before heading out. Second, I’m assuming it was moving it but again I was so far off center it was hard to perceive. All around cluster on my part
> I couldn’t get a grip on that
If it helps, try this:
- Turn the adjusting knob all the way in one direction until it won't turn any more.
- Counting turns, turn the knob all the way in the other direction.
- Finally, turn the knob back in the first direction, but for half the number of turns you counted.
That should help you get the sight back to the center of its range, which might get you back to a good starting point.
(Also, at the extremes, you might be able to see which way you've moved the dot.)
Thanks Clippy!
I guess I should have started off with something like, "I see you're trying to zero your sight! Would you like me to ..."?
When sighting in and adjusting sights do so using a rest of some sort to keep the gun steady between shots and shoot groups rather than single shots before adjusting. Usually 3-5. All the shots should be very close together (moreso at 10 yds) otherwise there's something else wrong and you can't really effectively zero the optic.
Time to learn how to bore sight at home. At least that gun is easy.
Clear the weapon. Remove the upper from the lower and pop out the bolt so you can look through the barrel from the back. Mount in a bench vise or something sturdy. Look through the barrel to aim at a point on the wall (across the room, the further the better) Walk the sights onto the same point using the adjusters.
The adjustment directions should be obvious when the upper is mounted in a vice, and it gets you close enough to be on target for zeroing.
If you have cowitness sights, they'll also be in line, so thats a good confirmation youre in the ballpark.
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Ah I wondered how you used that.. might give that a shot! Sounds a lot better than trying with live fire at the range. I would just need something like this? Something that’s ok to buy cheap, or does this need to be a reputable brand? Amazon link
No need for a tool, just use your eye, look through the back side of the barrel and aim.
This is just to get you close enough that you can zero for real at the range.
This was also something I wasn't sure about the first time I zeroed an optic. I know how it works now and the labeling on turrets seems backwards to me.
I was hitting left, so I thought okay I need to move the reticle to the left to match the point of impact so I adjusted the turret towards the left – that was wrong. The turret labels refer to the point of impact, not the reticle.
So to move the reticle left, you have to turn in the direction labeled "R", it moves your point of impact to the right. Like I said, it seems backwards to me but once you know you know and it's fine.
I think I’m on the right track now. Put the gun in a vise on my bench and pointed it at a spot on the wall. Made adjustments to see what the correction was. I took a step back and could easily see the spot the optic was hitting was not straight at all, so I adjusted it until it seemed about right. I’m going to get a laser bore sight to dial it in, and then get back to the range and make smaller adjustments as needed.
Thanks everyone for your help!!