Sighting in new scope
 

This is actually going to be 2 questions.

I have a Remington 700 adl in .308 caliber. I bought a Nikon 3x9x40 scope and I' m not sure which scope rings to get. Which ones are going to hold up the best? I dont want to readjust my scope every 50-100 rounds because the scope has become loose in the rings. Whats your suggestions.

Next, whats the best way to sight this thing in? I have done it a few years ago with a 30-06 and shot 50 yards about an inch high so it would be good out to 200 or so. I haven' t hunted with a scope in several years and I want to be able to reach out to 200-300 yards. I will be shooting 150 grain ballistic silver tips. Please help.

Smitty

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

I use leupold rings and bases and have never had a problem with them coming loose or the zero moving.As far as sighting in your gun I would sight it in at 200 yards then shoot it at 100 yards and 300 yards to verify the point of impact.Using a 50 yard sight in without actually shooting at 100,200 and 300 yards could leave a great deal of error at longer distances.As well if you intend to be proficient at 300 yards you will need to practise on a regular basis.Far too many people sight in at short distances without ever practising at the distances that they intend to shoot game at and the result is often missed or worse yet wounded animals.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

Ditto on the lupold rings and bases. Mount the scope and bore sight (laser if available) head to the range and at 50 yards fire 1 shot. With the gun locked in a firm clamp (I use the Lohman sight vice, its cheap and easy) put the scope X hairs back onto the bull then dial the scope over to where the 1st bullet hit and the gun is then zero, raise the hairs about 2" from that spot and move to the 100 yard and fire 3-5 shot groups and fine tune as necessary. Then move to the 200 and 300 yd and do the same. Have fun

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

A word of warning.Firing rifles while they are clamped into so called gun vices where they are held firmly and are not allowed to recoil normally can result in a different point of impact than holding the rifle in your hands.If you do use such a device be sure to check the point of impact by resting the rifle on sandbags and holding it in your hands.I have seen a substantial difference in point of impact depending on the rifle and the individual gun vise.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

Leupold are all I use now for rings and mounts, yet to let me down. Sight in to be 2" high at 100 and you should be dead on at 200, this will allow you to hold tight 0-250. I agree it is always the best to shoot the distances related to your hunting situation, don' t take anything for granted. Also if shooting off a bench sandbags are cheap/good rifle rest.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

Clarification..........The sight vice is NOT attached to the shooting bench thus it is allowed to recoil for the most part naturally. Where the vice becomes valuable is when you resight to the bull and then dial the cross hairs over to where the 1st round impacted the target. I have tried it many times without such a vice and the results were less than favorable. I would still recommend shooting off the bags and standing (if allowed) to get a picture of what the gun does after the initial sight in with the vice.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

Most gun vices are not attached to the shooting bench but they can still have an effect on point of impact as can anything that is solidly attached to a rifle .Even bipods can effect the point of impact with some rifles.The only way to know for sure is to check point of impact with and without these devices.I give this warning because I have seen far too many people use these gun vices to sight in their guns without bothering to check to see if their setup does effect point of impact.Sometimes it has no noticeable effect but sometimes it can cause point of impact differences that could result in misplaced shots while hunting.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

The gun vice mentioned does allow for a quicker initial zero. This zero should then be " confirmed" by firing off a sand bagged rest! And Point of Impact (POI) should be verifed at different ranges. If it is absolutely impossible to find a range greater than 100 yards (that is becoming common in more and more places) than the 2" - 2 1/2" high at 100 yard should be acceptable for a " hunting zero" to approximately 250 - 300 yards. This is not an ideal situation but a situation more and more hunters are being faced with as " range space" becomes more and more limited.

If your hunting rifle has been " zeroed" at 100 yards in the above manner, and not checked beyond that range, it becomes imperative that you don' t shoot beyond 250 yards or so in a hunting situation. It is simply unethical to do otherwise under the circumstances. If you cannot confirm your POI at longer ranges....you should not be shooting at live game that is deserving of a humane death!!! And this is a point that can' t be made too strongly!

Another issue that deserves brief comments. After the initial zero from the vise....if you can' t confirm your zero from a sand bagged rest, (let alone talking about shooting from field positions), you should question your ability(ies) to be shooting at live game! We, as sportsmen(ladies), owe both the animal, and " sport hunting" a minimum standard of proficiency that insures clean and humane kills. Less than that is not only seriously unethical...but extremely damaging to the " image" of sport hunting, and its continued existence.

Enough " moralizing" on my part. Do the best job you can to zero your rifle properly....know it' s POI' s to all ranges you intend to actually shoot at live game....and insure you can actually place your shots there under " field" conditions.

Best of luck to you....good hunting!!!

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

akbound-Very well said.If everyone limited their shots to only the distances that they had actually practised at there would be a much smaller number of game animals wounded or lost each year.As a result the image of hunting and hunters could only improve.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

Yes it would be nice if everyone had those kinds of shooting facilities but the plain truth is many of us dont. In my region even a 100 yard is hard pressed to come by. We have 1 range that is reasonable distance but only open 2 days a week and you can stand in line for 2-3 hours waiting for a bench to clear. the next nearest is 75 miles away with similar congestion problems. I take mine up to the Adirondacks to the local sand pit and have a portable set-up I use, but still can only safely manage a 140yard shot. We make due with what we have and I try to compensate by knowing my various guns and the loads well and observing the 3 p' s .....................PRACTICE, PRACTICE,PRACTICE. That is why I started reloading for my 270, 35, 6.5, and now the 444. It gets pricy pushing 100 or so rounds between me and the boys into the sand on a Saturday.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

Practise is definitely important but to know for sure where your bullet will strike at 300 yards you must actually shoot the gun and load at 300 yards.If you never do that you are merely guessing at your trajectory.Trajectory tables are a guide but are often not that accurate at the longer distances and even moreso if you don' t chronograph your loads to determine the exact velocity that your load produces in your gun.Velocities printed in manuals can vary a great deal from the actual velocities that your gun produces.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

Smitty to answer your first question, my friend send his Leupold vari X III back to leupold twice becasue it wouldnt hold a pattern. He even bought the adjustable Leupold rings to go with it. Everytime they sent the scope back they said there was nothing wrong with it so I decided to look at it myself. What happened was the Scope was undersized by only .003 and was moving in the rings. Common practice now-a-days is to use some thin 3m double sticky back tape (its about .003 thick) and lay it on the bottom of the ring mount then install your scope and upper ring halfs. After doing this it elliminated my friends problem. I do it on all my scopes and most experienced dealers use this method too.

RE: Sighting in new scope
 

While leupold does make bases with windage adjustment I was not aware that they make adjustable rings.If either the rings or scope were not made to the correct dimensions leupold will gladly replace them for free.It is not normal to have to place any shim material in rings to make a scope fit.