sighting in a handgun scope

[zacharoo]

What is the best distance to sight in a ruger 45LC blackhawl. I have a 2x Burrus scope on it and I will try to keep my shots at 50  yards or less.

Zacharoo

[jhalcott]

 Well Zach, I put an 8" paper plate on a cardboard box and shoot at it. What ever range that I can no longer keep the shots in the plate is MY limit for deer! Then I figure the best sighting arrangement so I don't have to hold up OR down to hit the vitals. These distances WILL change with the ammo I am using. Bigger ,slower bullets will not fly the same as faster, lighter bullets. IF you are ONLY going to shoot at 50 yards or less,sight in at 50 yards. THEN see where the group goes at 25 and 75 yards. A BIG buck at 60 or 70 yards MIGHT stand still for a shot and in the excitement you wont realize how far away he is!

[Dill45]

If you're working with a load you know to be accurate, I would sight the gun in for a distance were you would most likely expect to take a shot at.  If that's 50 yards, then sight it in for 50 and then test 25, 75, and 100 just to see how the groups react, wind affects the round, and how good of a shot you are.

Remember that just because you can shoot 4 inch groups from a rest at the range at 50-75 yards, doesn't mean that will happen in the field.  I'm not trying to belittle your skill, just saying that during the hunt your adrenaline can kick in and make things a bit more chaotic.

[shot1]

Find the hunting load that is the most accurate in your pistol. Shoot from a sand bag rest and zero dead on at 50 yards. Then see where your point of impact is at 25 and 75 yards. Then practice shooting from the positions you will use when hunting. You may need to tweak you scope adjustment a little because your hold may effect your point of impact from your hunting positions. As long as you can keep your point of impact no more than 2" above or below your zero point you will be good on those yardages to take a deer. 

[Flash]

I personally sight in at 25 yards and then shoot at 50. I then move the scope half way between the two shots and then i'm in the kill zone for either one.

[Lloyd Smale]

with any handgun i sight in at the longest range i will possible need to shoot something with it at. The longer the shot the more chance for error and you dont want to have to worry about hold over or under. Even sighted at a 100 yards its plenty close enough for anything closer.

[Redhawk1]

I do a 100 yard zero on some of my handguns, anything from 0 to 100 yards is dead.  But I keep my handgun shots to 50 to 60 yards. I like trying to get game in closer. I have a few of my handguns sighted in for 1 inch high at 50 yards, and 100 yards is still a doable shot.

I am talking 45 Colt and up cartridges. When I owned my 460 Mags, they were sighted in for dead on at 150 yards, and my longest kill was 145 yards.

Once you get your gun sighted in at whatever range, go out and shoot it at different ranges, and see exactly where it is hitting. That way you know just how far you can shoot and still be on target.

Now my 357 mag is sited in at 30 yards, because that is the furthest I would shot at a deer with my 357 Mag. That is just me.

[Redhawk1]

What is the best distance to sight in a ruger 45LC blackhawl. I have a 2x Burrus scope on it and I will try to keep my shots at 50  yards or less.

Zacharoo

After my long winded answer above, I decided to answer your quest directly. Sight your gun in dead on at 50 yards. You will be fine anywhere from 0 to 50.

[kynardsj]

Different powered handguns and different hunting situations need different zero's. The answers above pretty much covered you shooting a 45 LC and your longest shot being around 50 yards. I get on target at 25. Zero at 50 and then see what it does at 100. Then tweak it a little if I have to. My avatar is a S&W 460 mag but I mostly shoot hot 45 LC's in it. 250 gr Hornady XTP's at about 1350 fps. Zero at 50 is zero at 100. Your zero from a revolver will be some different but unless you're shooting low powered cowboy loads you should be good.

[gjdykeman]

I use a 41 mag SW 6-1/2" with a red dot for hunting. The 45LC is for lions, tigers and bears. Personal protection. Here is my targets for hunting this year. 210g FN copper plated w/20g W296. I load 300g FNGC over 20g W296 for the Blackhawk.