Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

I want you guys to give me your detailed, step by step, successful way you sigh in your rifle.
Also can you tell me some mistakes a lot of people make?
Thanks guys

Kellen

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

1)I boresight the rifle.
2)I fire a three shot group at 100 yards.
3)I adjust the scope to move the point of impact where I want it to be.
4)I fire a three shot group.
5)I readjust the scope if necessary.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

Is the rifle scoped or are we talking about iron sights...What caliber???
Bolt action, pump, semi-auto or break action???

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

Thia is pretty much what I do. After the above steps, I move to the distance I want it zeroed in at and fine tune it to that distance. (250 yards are whatever) At this point, I feel my rifle is zeroed. Next I practice out to "my" effective long range distance. My rifles can always preform at longer distances than I can.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

Properly mount scope (includes lapping rings).
Boresight scope.
Center adjustments on scope (adjust mounts or shim if necessary).
Reboresight scope.
Use SOLID rest.
Shoot 1 shot at 25 yards.
Adjust crosshairs to bullet hole.
Shoot to confirm sight in.
Move to 100-300 yards and adjust scope exactly where you want for sight in.
Shoot for group.
Grin.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

Ditto the above steps.
Common mistakes I've seen:
Not using a solid rest and/or resting the barrel on the sandbags and not the forearm.
Using 'cheap' ammo to sight in with and hunting with the 'good' stuff.
Shooting too many rounds, too fast. (wainting til the last minute and being in a hurry)
Having someone else sight in your rifle for you.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

Exactly the way I do it.
Common mistakes I see include

trying to hold onto foreend on the bench, hand between rest and foreend
resting barrel on front rest
not getting buttstock rest solid
poorly mounted scope/rings/mounts
poor fitting stock
rifle canted
shooting too quickly
poor breathing
switching bullet weights
the expectation of a $50 scope working with the precision that a $800 scope does.

Me and a couple of friends are always running out to the farm to shoot prairie dogs. We take different rifles and some times different rifle/scope combinations that require sight in before we can go make those long shots. We have it down when it comes to getting them 'dialed in' in the least number of rounds. With a great rifle and excellent scope typically I can do one in 5 rds.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

i've noticed that no one has mentioned one important step........ make sure that you have plenty of room between the scope and your eye, lol... when i raise my rifles to my shoulder i stick my thumb straight out and touch my nose to my thumb. it give me about 3 fingers so space from my scope. it's the same for all of my rifles and i've still don't have a half moon on the eye.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

I didn't mention all the steps to properly mount scope-that's a post in itself.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

I prefer to shoot several times before adjusting the cross hairs. This gives you good statistics to show where your gun is shooting vs. where you are aiming.

That is to say that one shot does not convince me that any inaccuracy is due to the scope, or me.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

I DO shoot groups-but that's AFTER the scope is adjusted exactly where I want. I see no reason to waste shots when I'm using a very solid bench rest. After it's sighted in I'll see how small the rifle/scope/ammo combo groups.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

I agree with one exception. I fire a shot or two at 25 yards after boresighting to verify the boresighting job. This keeps me from wasting shots at 100 yards. Which I used to do occasionally.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

Ditto for a new rifle or scope I start at 25 then move to 100.

If its a known rifle and optic I start at 100. Idon't adjust or fine tune until I have fired a few groups to verify POI for the load. I also never shoot stacked groups, I let the rifle cool adequately between groups by taking other rifles.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

I have been using the same boresighter for over 25 years,and I haven't not been on the paper with the first shot with any gun in over 20 years.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

i use one of my kids laser light (laser pointer). find a way to keep the light shining down the inside of the barrel so you can adjust your scope. i used paper coin rolls and wedge it into place. after that i just adjust the cross hairs to the dot (about 40-45 paces). then take a shot at 25 yards to make sure i hit paper, then i shoot at a farther distance, and adjust from there, which is usually only elevation.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

It seems most issues are covered. One way to bore sight is to place your rifle with the bolt removed and look down your barrel to the point at about 25 yards that you see looking down the barrel, then adjust your scope to put the cross hairs on this point. This is the most fundamental procedure of boresighting and does have the virtue of not requiring any special equipment. Perhaps it is not extremely accurate, but bore sighting is not supposed to be extremely accurate, just to be accurate enough to keep you on the paper at 100 yards.

This is a little off topic, but I always put a small dot of red nail polish on the joint between my scope and one of the scope mounts (like when I have a scope mounted on a new rifle). If the scope ever moves in the mount, you'll be able to tell. I took this action after an experience with a scope moving in the mounts.

Sight in with the same ammo you will hunt with. Try shooting different loads in your rifle to find one that shoots better than others -- different loads (different bullet weights, different manufacturers, etc.) will shoot to different aim points and with different accuracies in different rifles.

RE: Steps to sighting in a rifle
 

Then, after you do all of the above... Clean your rifle as you normally would. Take the rifle the next day, run one dry patch down the bore and shoot one shot at whatever distance you are likely to shoot your game at. Adjust your crosshairs to that bullet hole. In a hunting rifle, the first shot is the one that counts. Most factory barrels will drift a little after even slightly warming up. Some more than others.

On blued steel barrels, I have found that one patch of Lock-ease down the bore after cleaning keeps my first shot very close to the POI of a warmed up barrel.

what should I use
 

I have always taken my rifle to a "sight in" and used their gear and assistance to get my rifle ready for deer season.

I am going to do this on my own at a nearby range.

I have a spotting scope. I believe it is an entry level (Barska Blackhawk). I imagine that will be sufficient.

I have read the advice but I am wondering what type of rest I should get?

I see different ones - some are plastic, some are metal, some are sand bags, i believe I saw a vice.

What is the best approach?

Is there a specific target that makes sighting in the scope easier?

Thanks
Bill

Can you give me some suggestions on a specific rest?

sandbags r good

Exactly the way I do it.

Common mistakes I have seen.
Making the asumption that rings are perfectly aligned regardless of mounting system used.
Resting barrel on gun rest or bag.
Shooter trying to hold foreend or barrel down.
Using crappy ammo or mixed weight bullets and expecting them to land in the same group.
Expecting a $50 scope to have precision and 100% repeatable adjustments.
Not torquing mount and ring screws correctly either stripping out holes or letting scope drift thru the rings.
Making adjustments to the scope after every single shot at 100 yds. (not shooting a group prior to making adjustments)
Believing that all rifles but yours come from the factory shooting 1/4" groups just because they say so on the internet.

Here is what I do

boresight by looking down barrel
fire 1 shot @ ~100 yds and move crosshairs to ~1" below bullet hole
move back to 200 yds and shoot 1 shot
depending on how close the POI is to the POA either move crosshairs to POI if greater than 3" then fire 3 shot group to fine tune , but if within 3" fire 2 shots and move cross hairs to center of group.
Shoot group to confirm zero.
Check zero the next day or after the rifle has had time to cool down completely.
I don't shoot groups if I am very far from my zero because I am better at shooting than I am at making adjustments without moving the rifle.

so are you guys saying that if you take a shot at 25 yards, pointing dead center on the bullseye and the bullet is 3" to the right/left, that you keep your aim on the bullseye and adjust the scopt to the bullet hole? then try again pointing at the bullseye? i have never heard this but i guess it could make sense... please verify.

Yeah, that is the idea

#1 Mount the scope so that both turrets are on or near "0" when you are DONE bore sighting (Biggest mistake made).

#2 At 50 yards, using a solid rest, shoot groups of 3-5 rounds.


#3 Measure the distance from the middle of the groups you just shot to the bullseye and adjust the up/down and righ/left turrets for that amount (normally 1 click = 1/4" at 100 yards) .

#4 Move out to 100 yards a repeat step #3


It's that easy........ it's getting those 3-5 shot groups tight, that is tough !!!

Point and shoot!!!! then adjust as needed.

If you have a good rest, this technique works really well. Just make sure that you're confident that you didn't pull the shot. The more accurate the rifle and load are, the more useful it will be, but it's a good way to get pretty close without shooting a bunch of ammo.

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Most people think about moving the point of impact (POI) to match the point of aim (POA), which can be confusing. If, instead, you think about it in terms of moving the POA to match the POI (which is what you are really doing) then the it makes more sense.

Mike

Excellent method.....but I find it sooooo much easier if you have a buddy adjust the crosshairs while you hold the rifle solidly in position, looking thru the scope and directing the correction.