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11-28-2002 | 02:42 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,802
Likes: 0
From: Coralville, IA. USA
RE: Sighting in your scope?
NO!!!
There is a technique, called "boresighting", that will allow a scopes reticle to be aligned with the bore without shooting the gun, but this method will only bring the point of impact somewhere close to the point of aim to make sure your gun is hitting paper when you start sighting in. Granted, a good smith with a good boresighter will probably get you within a few inches of center, but that's NOT good enough for or sure enough if you're planning to shoot at a game animal.
The only way to sight in a rifle with certainty is to take it to the range and put some rounds downrange. The proceedure I use is to begin at 25 yards with a sight-in target that has a 1" grid printed on it (I print mine on 8.5x11" paper from my printer, cheaper that way. Try www.mytargets.com or do a search for targets on net for free downloadable targets.), because you're almost sure to at least hit somewhere on the target. Make sure you do all your sighting in from a benchrest with the ammo you intend to hunt with. Shoot at least a 3, preferably 5, shot group at 25 yards and adjust your scope accordingly. For example, if your scope adjusts by 1/4" at 100 yards, then at 25 yards you'll need 4 clicks to move the strike of the round 1/4" and 16 clicks for 1". Therefore, if you are hitting off 3" to the right and 4" low you'll need to adjust LEFT 48 clicks and UP 64 clicks. Shoot another group. The center of the group should be near dead center on the target, but if it's not then note how much the group moved from the previous one and determine the actual movement per click for your scope (some scopes won't move the groups exactly by the amount on the turrets). Keep shooting groups and adjusting until the CENTER of the group is as close to dead center as possible.
After adjusting at 25 yards, move the target back to the 100 yard line. I say 100 yards because this is the range at which most grouping measurements are made, and because it's not so far out that the trajectory is very far off from the 25 yard setting (once again to make sure you're on paper). Shoot a group at 100 yards, find the center and adjust accordingly to zero the rifle either dead center, or if you know the rough trajectory of the bullet (try www.handloads.com for a basic ballistic calculator) and want to zero at a range other than 100 yards you can adjust the group to the approriate trajectory (for instance, if the ballistic table says that to be zeroed at 200 yards you'll be 2" high at 100 yards, you can simply adjust the group to hit 2" high at 100 yards and you should be pretty close when you move back to 200).
Last, move the target to the intended zero range and shoot and perform final adjustments to be dead center. Once you get your final zero it's a good idea to shoot at a variety of ranges without adjusting the scope to determine the actual trajectory of the bullet from your rifle so you'll know exactly where to aim if you get a shot at a range other than the zero range.
This can be a long, and sometimes tedious, process and might take a couple boxes of ammo, but in my opinion it MUST be done before shooting at an animal. I do this proceedure EVERY TIME I change the load in my muzzleloaders, which might take me 15 minutes or more to load and fire each 5 shot group.
Good luck,
Mike
Gun control means putting the second bullet through the same hole as the first- Ted Nugent
NRA Member
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin
There is a technique, called "boresighting", that will allow a scopes reticle to be aligned with the bore without shooting the gun, but this method will only bring the point of impact somewhere close to the point of aim to make sure your gun is hitting paper when you start sighting in. Granted, a good smith with a good boresighter will probably get you within a few inches of center, but that's NOT good enough for or sure enough if you're planning to shoot at a game animal.
The only way to sight in a rifle with certainty is to take it to the range and put some rounds downrange. The proceedure I use is to begin at 25 yards with a sight-in target that has a 1" grid printed on it (I print mine on 8.5x11" paper from my printer, cheaper that way. Try www.mytargets.com or do a search for targets on net for free downloadable targets.), because you're almost sure to at least hit somewhere on the target. Make sure you do all your sighting in from a benchrest with the ammo you intend to hunt with. Shoot at least a 3, preferably 5, shot group at 25 yards and adjust your scope accordingly. For example, if your scope adjusts by 1/4" at 100 yards, then at 25 yards you'll need 4 clicks to move the strike of the round 1/4" and 16 clicks for 1". Therefore, if you are hitting off 3" to the right and 4" low you'll need to adjust LEFT 48 clicks and UP 64 clicks. Shoot another group. The center of the group should be near dead center on the target, but if it's not then note how much the group moved from the previous one and determine the actual movement per click for your scope (some scopes won't move the groups exactly by the amount on the turrets). Keep shooting groups and adjusting until the CENTER of the group is as close to dead center as possible.
After adjusting at 25 yards, move the target back to the 100 yard line. I say 100 yards because this is the range at which most grouping measurements are made, and because it's not so far out that the trajectory is very far off from the 25 yard setting (once again to make sure you're on paper). Shoot a group at 100 yards, find the center and adjust accordingly to zero the rifle either dead center, or if you know the rough trajectory of the bullet (try www.handloads.com for a basic ballistic calculator) and want to zero at a range other than 100 yards you can adjust the group to the approriate trajectory (for instance, if the ballistic table says that to be zeroed at 200 yards you'll be 2" high at 100 yards, you can simply adjust the group to hit 2" high at 100 yards and you should be pretty close when you move back to 200).
Last, move the target to the intended zero range and shoot and perform final adjustments to be dead center. Once you get your final zero it's a good idea to shoot at a variety of ranges without adjusting the scope to determine the actual trajectory of the bullet from your rifle so you'll know exactly where to aim if you get a shot at a range other than the zero range.
This can be a long, and sometimes tedious, process and might take a couple boxes of ammo, but in my opinion it MUST be done before shooting at an animal. I do this proceedure EVERY TIME I change the load in my muzzleloaders, which might take me 15 minutes or more to load and fire each 5 shot group.
Good luck,
Mike
Gun control means putting the second bullet through the same hole as the first- Ted Nugent
NRA Member
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin
