scope power when sighting in
 

When you guys sight in your rifle at 100 yards, what do you have the power of your scope on? I got a 3-9x40, do you leave it on 3 or 4, or nomally have it higher? Thanks.

....I always sight my rifle on for the power I'm going to be hunting with it at. Usually 6X.

turn it up to 9X, your sighting in you want the best groups. once your sighted in, then play all you want

Yep I use 9x for sighting in. I like to use 9x hunting too. Infact I really wish I had more than 9x when target shooting or sighting in. However, a friend likes to sight them in on 5x and can shoot better than I can when he is shooting with 5x. So it's all up to the person.

Let me clarify.... I always use the highest power setting when working up loads. That setting, however, is generally far too powerful for my hunting needs. Therefore, even though I may have the gun sighted dead on at 100 yds. for load workup, I'm for darn sure going to check it's POI at the power I will be hunting with it. To not do so is, in my mind, inviting trouble. Let me give you an example.... Many years ago I missed a buck three shots out of a tree stand with my .280 Rem. That gun was absolutely deadly on groundhogs out to over 300 yds. I was shooting a 4X12 variable of a well-known manufacture, and had been shooting hogs all summer with it on 12X. Come deer season, I turned it down to 6X and went hunting. After missing that buck, I walked over to the club rifle range (I was hunting on club grounds) and shot at a target. The gun was shooting great...only about 10" high on 6X. Turned back up to 12X, it was dead on.
As I stated earlier, this was many years ago and scope manufacturers have, for the most part eliminated this problem in the better lines I feel. But if you think for one second I'm not gonna check the old girl out on the power I'm hunting with, you've got another think coming.... Just for what it's worth....

I do all my range work past the initial 25 yard zero on max magnification. The more precisely you can aim while sighting in, the smaller and more consistent the groups should be, and the easier it is to make accurate adjustments. When doing the very first sight in for a new rifle and/or scope, I shoot at 25 yards first to avoid wasting ammo on misses at 100 if the boresighting job is way off (I use the "eyeball" method to boresight, and with bigger bores I have been known to be off enough to not hit a large pizza box at 100 yards). Anyway, if you are worried about the zero changing with magnification then, if for no other reason that as a confidence exercise, after doing your zeroing at max power, shoot one more group at your preferred hunting magnification to verify zero. I have yet to have a scope that shifted the POI more than 1" at 100 yards from min to max magnification, and that was a $50 Simmons. My Nikon, Bushnells and most definitely my Zeiss are dead on through the entire range.

As for hunting magnification, it's a matter of personal preference, really. I adjust mine to the terrain I'm hunting. If I'm in the woods, I'll set it at the minimum, which for the scopes I have on my hunting rifles ranges from 3x to 4.5x. If I'm sitting covering a field where shots will likely be longer, I'll set the scope to 5-6x. If an animal steps out far enough away for me to feel I can benefit from higher magnification than 6x, I figure that it's far enough away that I'll be able to turn up the power without being busted. I've shot all but two deer at max power after turning up the mag. Both deer were less than 30 yards away so I had no need for more than 3x.

Mike

In general, I sight in at the highest "X", then check the entire range ... in your case 3X, 4X, 5X, etc. It is very important to make sure that the Point of Impact (POI) does not change as you move through the range. Less expensive scopes often have this as a typical QA problem. Not that high-end scopes are totally immune. But you'll never know if you do not check.

i usually shoot for 2 inches high at 100 yds on 9. all my scopes are 3-9 as well. this might not be as precise or proper as it should but i always check my 3 to be pretty close to dead on at 100 after setting it 2 in high at 100 on 9. ive only taken 1 shot over 200 yds and this has always worked well for me.

It's my understanding that if there is a small error while sighting in at 3X, when you turn it up to 9X you will actually triple the error. Someone who understands the internal workings of a scope might be able to call bs on this theory, but it's the way I learned from reading magazine articles.

i sightin my rifles at the lowest power then work up the scopes range