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Course Outline

Sight alignment is the process of lining up rear and front sights. It is especially important in handgun shooting because of the shorter distance between sights.

  • The sight picture is the image you see when the sights are aligned correctly with the target.
  • To ensure that the bullet will travel to the target in your sight, it’s necessary to sight-in your handgun.
Iron sight aimed at a target

With an iron sight, you place the top of the front sight level with the flat top of the rear sight. The front sight must be centered between the sides of the rear notch. When using a center hold as shown here, the sights are on the center of the target.

Telescopic sight with crosshair reticle

With a telescopic sight with a crosshair reticle, you line up the target with the crosshairs of the sight.

Telescopic sight with a dot reticle

With a telescopic sight with a dot reticle, you line up the target with the dot of the sight. The dot must be centered.

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