Zero at whatever range you want. Regardless of where you zero it you will be within the height over bore offset at 20 yards unless you zero it for 20 yards or less. Even if you use a 50 yard zero on a 9mm carbine you will still be within the torso from 0 to 150 yards. albeit low in the torso at 150, but within the heart/lung region from 0-100. Don't overthink things.
How about the differences of it being mounted and zeroed above vs. below vs. left side vs. right side of the bore? :dance::ban:
Good advice. As mentioned earlier, I brought up height over bore and the offset involved. For "good enough", that distance could be considered negligible. If the OP was looking for as much precision as possible, that couple to several inches could be a factor, particularly at closer distances where the issue is more pronounced.
If all you're concerned with is hits (not placement) on a torso sized target within 20yds why bother sighting in at all?
I'm a little surprised at the above. You teach this stuff right? Do you teach only "good enough"? You're the expert so my opinion and lack of training cert is only worth whatever you want it to be but the little bit of training that I've been allowed to attend and the little bit of gijoe I play at Jerome's every couple of months, the HOB has been discussed and shown itself to be a factor when precision is concerned. Some don't have the benefit of shooting a lot. I've seen shooters who didn't have a clue how HOB worked and didn't understand why they couldn't hit what they were aiming at. Again a few inches at 20 yards and closer may not be an issue depending on what you're required level of precision is. If I'm zeroing any thing, personally (again for whatever you think that's worth) I want it to be as precise as I can get it with all the known factors so that when I'm off, I know it's me and not the gun.
Ultimately, as has been said before, zero at whatever distance you want, just know how that distance plays into POA/POI and know what your gun does.
Zero at whatever range you want. Regardless of where you zero it you will be within the height over bore offset at 20 yards unless you zero it for 20 yards or less. Even if you use a 50 yard zero on a 9mm carbine you will still be within the torso from 0 to 150 yards. albeit low in the torso at 150, but within the heart/lung region from 0-100. Don't overthink things.
I'll stand by my comments. If you're taking the time on an unobstructed (non-hostage) COM shot to worry about HOB you're needlessly wasting time when the accuracy of your weapon is within the size of your target. A human adult heart is approximately 5" tall, 3.5" wide and 2" thick. If you hold on the center of it ignoring HOB you will still be on target from 0-100 meters just as I pointed out. You will also still be within the thoracic cavity out to 150 meters.
As to your question about teaching "only good enough"; I teach people to not reach paralysis by analysis by being reaching a point of balance between speed and accuracy. One inch groups mean nothing if it takes you a minute to get them while taking accurate fire and conversely rapid fire does you no good if you can't hit what you're aiming at, so you need to find a balance and know when you need to or can slow down for more accuracy or speed up to be faster than an opponent. You need to know how fast you can go and still get good hits, you need to know at what distances which fundamentals you can ignore and which ones always apply, you need to know how you shoot with a heart rate about 150 etc. Once you've pulled a gun and shots are going both ways your life has been reduced to fractions of seconds and inches; how you balance those fractions is going to be dictated by your training and practice. You won't rise to the occasion, but will sink to your level of training. I'm pretty sure JJ teaches a similar philosophy.
I don't believe I said anything about not being as accurate as possible while zeroing or shooting in general nor did I say to not know your dope or what your "gun does".
I'm not really sure where/why the sarcastic tone came from in your post, but if I'm reading your post incorrectly my apologies.
There is a big difference between what I said "You'll be within the vitals" vs. just point at and shoot which is not what I said. I don't think we're in disagreement. I think it's important, just not the most important depending on the situation. I'm really not sure where the disconnect is.
Sounds like a fair challenge.I have a 556 I never use and have not sighted in, it has a red dot and iron sights. I bet I can hit a person at 25 or even 50 yards given the first 3 rds from a 30 rd mag...l