DM

To sight in a rifle, i shoot 3 shot groups, not fire a shot or two. Having said that, some folks shoot better groups NOT knowing where the previous shot went in the group. For them,using a lower power is better... Some folks like myself, use the higher powerswhen shooting groups to sight in.

I ALWAYS check my scopes at different powers to see if the groups move around with power changes. Some do, most don't. I feel this is a "MUST" test on any new scope!

I don't call shooting groups wasteing ammo, i call it getting some practise in with that rifle/ammo combo.

DM

stubblejumper

I used to start my sight ins at 25 yards,but many years ago,I purchased a bushnell bore sighter that always gets me on the paper at 100 yards.At the time the cost was around $75,but it has paid for itself many times over.

salukipv1

Crank that baby up to full magnification at every distance! less you're maybe talking like a 30x at 100yds.

But my biggest scope is 14x, and at 100yds its cranked.

Sighting in is just that, trying to get your best groups dialed dead on those cross hairs. Can you shoot the same groups with a 1x scope as you can a 10x?

I find at max magnification I can hold my crosshairs dead on a smaller point than at a lower power.

kornesque

In the spirit of keeping on topic, one rule I apply after my sight-in process (unless it's a bull barrel) is to take a nice long break, then let off one more round to spot. This is in case the barrel loses zero when it warms up, and will be the (hopefully) kill round. Groupsspotted after this cold round are for load consistency only.

My well-versed brother taught me this, and I've seen it become significant (outside kill zone) after 150yds on some barrels.

Good luck.

stubblejumper

If the point of impact changes significantly as the barrel warms up,there is a issue with the gun that needs correcting,usually a bedding issue.The only way to determine if there is an issue is to shoot a three shot group without letting the barrel cool between shots.

firstshot

I use one of those gun vises that I picked up from Wal-Mart. Stick the gun in the vise, aim dead center, fire one shot, reaim dead center, then adjust your crosshairs to where the bullet went in. Then shoot for groups and adjust as needed.

firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

stubblejumper

Do not use any kind of gun vice with a rifle with heavy recoil,because if you prevent the gun from recoiling,you place a great deal of strain on the stock,and/or the action screws.I have seen stocks cracked because of this,and action screws bent if the recoil lug was not fully bedded.

As well,guns often don't shoot to the same point of aim out of a gun vice.

firstshot

Good point stumblejumper.....the vise I got from Wally-World is all plastic and really doesn't prevent the gun from recoiling. Certainly not enough to do any damage. It is not attached to the bench in any way. However, it does hold the gun steady enough to adjust the crosshairs to point of impact after that first shot. If fact, most times I'll take that first shot off of the sand bags and then just use the vise to adjust the crosshairs from point of aim to point of impact.

firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

Power

I have to lean with Stubble on this one (like normal). Sure, you can shoot 1-2 shots to get on target near the bullseye and be pretty close, probably even close enough to get a deer or elk at 100 yards. What this fails to capitalize on however is the chance you get at the 200-300 yard animal. As with most things it all depends on your needs and situation. Like he mentioned, you're already lucky if the rifle/load is capable of 1.5" groups at 100 yards. Most are not capable of that accuracy. Then you factor in other influences such as Buck Fever, wind, angle, and poor marksmanship and your need to be very accurate starts to factor in. Plus as a rule of thumb, a 2" rifle is usually a 4" rifle at 200 yards and 6" at 300, and that's with a perfect rest (read:benchrest or machine rest). In the field you seldom get as good a rest as you'll have at the range. Since the kill area of a deer is around 6-8" a 2" rifle can barely consistantly place shots inside the kill zone at 300 yards. Add in other factors and you're lucky to have an effective killing package out to 200 yards.

For me, I shoot a lot. I'd rather put 100 rounds through my rifle every year so I know EXACTLY where that bullet will land at all ranges out to 300+ yards. I've shot 3 different elk at over 300 yards, 2 right through the heart. Where I hunt I could shoot further but I don't like shooting much past 300 as there are too many factors you can't control and wounding an animal and losing it is something I never want to do so I really have good reason to need to shoot that far. Not everyone needs that level of accuracy since the majority of shots are 100 yards or less but everyone still needs a fair level of precision no matter what the distance.

The more you shoot, the more you'll know, and knowledge is power. In my opinion every hunter owes it to the game to make the most ethical shot you can, and that means bullet placement as precisely as possible for the quickest, most humane kill. Just because you can hit an animal and eventually kill it doesn't mean that's ok.

But back on topic, I find I like to use the max magnification when sighting in. That way you can get an idea of how well you shoot as you'll see every heartbeat, and feel every wiggle when those crosshairs jump. Gives you an idea of how hard it is to be precise. I'm not a benchrest shooter, just a hunter, but considering all the BR groups use really high magnification scopes for competition I think that says something about best accuracy.