Marking rear sight on an AR15

[gr8horses2003]

Mike and other High Power Shooters,

Another newbie question- What do you use to mark your zero on the rear sight of your AR?  I have NM sights - the elevation wheel only has dimples on it.  I have seen pictures where individuals have marked their zero's, but can't tell what they used.  Advice please.

Harry 

[Justin]

Paint pens work.

[jmdavis]

I suggest that you wait to mark your sights, for a couple of reasons. One is that it is likely that as we work on your position, your windage zero will change. Another is that it is good to learn to "count down" your sights so that you know what exact zero you used for a particular range, light condition and distance.

But to do so, you can use fingernail polish or a metallic fine point Sharpie.

For elevation , I only mark zero (elevation knob bottomed out) so that I can tell at a glance that the rear sight is all the way down.  For windage I mark my no-wind zero (which is likely different than mechanical zero). It may take a couple of range trips for you to be fully comfortable with your "no wind zero."

This is a good photo essay of the process. But I should note that the author is using a White Oak NM upper and that the front sight is adjustable for windage. This makes it  possible to insure that mechanical zero and no wind zero for the rear sight are the same.

http://www.ocabj.net/?p=654

[gr8horses2003]

Mike,
Thanks for the article!