RE: Sighting Shotgun
What kind of shotgun? Pump with cantilever scope mount, bolt action or break action. Depending on what it is you can bore sight it thru the barrel and get it fairly close.
Regardless of how you do it, you still need to shoot it. Bore sighting will only tell you if the mounts are way off and need to be adjusted. Bore sighting does not mean you will hit on target, but it should get you on the paper at 25 yards or so.
Just start out close, like 25 yards or so and work your way back making scope adjustments as you need to.
Remember to varify that you are getting good groups first, escpecially at 50 yards and beyond. Don't just fire a shot and make an adjustment without knowing if the groups are good enough to make an adjustment. You will just waste ammo and drive yourself insane.
What I mean by this is don't fire one shot and say "Oh, it's two inches off the mark." and adjust for it. If your gun is only capable of 4 inch groups at that range you will just be chasing bullets around the paper and become very frustrated. You need to shoot at least 3 or 4 shots and adjust the center of the group to impact where you want it to.
Normally you only want to adjust one axis at a time as well, but I cheat with a shotgun sometimes because of the expense.
I will also add, that when I bore sight or take my first couple of shots up close I try to get the impact points as close as possible by working with the mounts before ever touching the sope adjustments. If your first shot at 15 or 20 yards is a foot low or high, I would shim the mounts before messing with the turrets on the scope. And if at all possible I like to use scope mounts that are windage adjustable. Up this close you can probably get away with shooting one or two shots instead of shooting for groups.
Sighting in a slug gun can get time consuming, expensive and sore. So make sure you have what you need available and don't rush yourself.
I would suggest getting some inexpensive ammo to get you on paper. Then try some of the more expensive options just to see how they group at the distances you want to use them. Don't be concerned with zeroing the scope until you find the ammo you and your gun likes the best. Often times a different brand or type of ammo will change the impact points of the groups. So just shoot each brand and see what groups the best first. Then fine tune the scope when you pick one. Your shoulder and wallet will both thank you.
Don't do what I did and buy almost 40 dollars worth of one type of ammo only to find out your gun hates it at 100 yards. Even though everyone said it was the "Best on the market" and I couldn't go wrong using it. Buy a box or two of each you think you want to try and go shoot them. When you find one that your gun likes, go get some more and sight your gun in with it.
Good luck,
Paul
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