Fixed vs. adjustable sights

[jcaoloveshine]

On a handgun, how much difference is noticeable at the range between fixed versus adjustable sights? Do pistols pretty much shoot POI POA?

I'm asking because I'm not too familiar with handgun round trajectories. Let's say I buy a fixed sight gun, then find out it only shoots POI POA at 7 yards. If I want to shoot at 25, that pretty much means I have to holdover basically right?

This is gonna be a range gun, so I wanna be able to shoot dead-on, but is this a non-issue with handguns (not too much noticeable difference in drop between 7 versus 25 yards?)

and I'm talking 45acp here.

[westcoast362]

If it's a range gun, then I think you would want adjustable sights. You can adjust them for different loads and distances. For an HD gun, adjustable sights can be quicker to pick up, but at fifteen feet I doubt if it makes much it a difference.

[ojisan]

Fixed sight guns are generally regulated / sighted to whatever is the standard load.
In the case of most .45ACP guns, that means 230 ball ammo at 850FPS.
The popular 200 grain loads at 950-1000 FPS usually strike a little lower.
185 grain target loads hit even lower.
Adjustable sights are far better at the range when using different loads.

Many Cowboy-style single action revolvers come with the fornt sight blade made too high on purpose, so you can file it down to match the impact point of your favorite load.

[jcaoloveshine]

Any suggestions for a good 1911 with adjustable sights in the $700 range?

[railroader]

On a handgun, how much difference is noticeable at the range between fixed versus adjustable sights? Do pistols pretty much shoot POI POA?

I'm asking because I'm not too familiar with handgun round trajectories. Let's say I buy a fixed sight gun, then find out it only shoots POI POA at 7 yards. If I want to shoot at 25, that pretty much means I have to holdover basically right?

This is gonna be a range gun, so I wanna be able to shoot dead-on, but is this a non-issue with handguns (not too much noticeable difference in drop between 7 versus 25 yards?)

and I'm talking 45acp here.

Actually if your gun shoots to point of aim at 7 yards it is going to shoot high at 25 yards. I have adjustable sights on a couple of guns but I pretty much leave them alone after they are set for 10 to 15 yards.