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Since we are always talking about getting out there and
shooting, we figure it only makes sense to give you some tips on
sighting in your firearm. It's an easy process if you take the
time and do it right. Sighting-in is one of the most important
parts of preparing for hunting season.
1. The first step in sighting-in your rifle is to give it a
thorough cleaning. A rifle's accuracy will often improve with
a good, complete cleanup.
2. Check the screws on the action, sights, scope mounts, and
scope rings. A loose screw can result in poor accuracy in the
field. Remember this one even if the scope has been on the
firearm for a while.
3. Bore sighting your scope and rifle will ensure that the
first shots fired will be on the paper at 25 or 50 yards, and
you will not waste ammunition. Most rifle ranges have a
bore-sighting device called a collimator that you can use by
following simple instructions. A gun shop or gunsmith may
bore-sight your rifle for you. If you cannot find a bore-sighter,
this will work on bolt actions set up a bulls-eye target at 25
yards. Remove the bolt from the rifle and place the rifle on a
solid rest.
4. Look through the barrel and place the bulls-eye in the center
of the barrel. Your eye will automatically center the smaller
circle (the bulls-eye) inside the larger circle (inside of the
barrel). Now ease your face up until you can see through the
scope. If the scope cross-hairs are centered in the bulls-eye
then you will be able to hit the target. If they are not
centered you should adjust the scope until the cross-hairs are
centered in the bulls-eye. When you are bore sighting by this
method you must move the scope adjustments opposite the
direction you want the cross-hairs to move. Check often to
make sure you have correct alignment.
5. The next step is to select your ammunition. Most modern
rifles will shoot bullets of "medium" weight with
good hunting accuracy. Many rifles will prefer one brand of
ammunition to another. In this case we will use one brand all
in the same weight to get a good starting point. Once the
firearm is sighted-in we can change up the bullet weights and
brand to find the most accurate load for the firearm.
6. Now its time to go to the range. Make sure you have and
use hearing and eye protection. I don't want to harp on you,
but if you can't hear or see anymore, doesn't that make
hunting a little challenging? The secret to accurately
"sighting-in" is to build up a front and back rest
that will support your rifle without you having to hold it in
place. Make adjustments in your rests until the cross-hairs of
the scope are centered on the target. You can do this with
either shooting bags or shooting rest most of which can be
purchased at a very reasonable price. This will take most of
the guesswork out of how accurately you can shoot a firearm,
and everyone has off days so these tools do work.
7. Knowing the distance to the target is very important. The
first shots should be made at 25 yards, as this is the first
time the bullet will cross the line of sight on most calibers.
8. Now carefully load a single cartridge. Adjust the firearm
until the cross hairs are centered on the target. Breathe
slowly and naturally. Relax, exhale and squeeze the trigger.
Now two more times and you have a group. This group may not be
in the center of the target. Determine the center of the
group.
9. If the center of your group is one inch low and two inches
right of your point of aim, you must use the scope adjustment
screws to move the center of the group one inch up and two
inches left. In this case, you move the scope adjustment knobs
in the direction indicated on the knobs, up to move the group
center up, and left to move the group center left.
10. Now to move the cross hairs at 25 yards is just a little
different than at 100 yards that you're adjustment knobs are
set for. Most scopes are set up as a ¼ MOA or a 1/8 MOA we
will stick with the ¼ MOA for now at 25 yards to move the
cross-hairs 1" you will need to move the knob 16 clicks,
at 50 yds. to move the cross-hairs 1" you will need to
turn the knob 8, at 75ds. to move the cross-hairs 1" you
will need to turn the knob 5 and if the target is at the 100
yds. to move the cross-hairs 1" you will need to turn the
knob 4 clicks. This may seem too complex or just a pain, but
there is a nice little tool for calculating these adjustments
called "Accuscope".
It is a slide rule that has these figures already figured out
for you. It is a cheap and fast way to get your measurements
right. Check it out we have them in stock. View Accuscope
Tool.
11. Once you have moved the center of the cross-hairs to the
bulls-eye its time to shoot another group of three and see
where the group is and adjust if necessary. If the group is
good (in the center of the bulls-eye) move the target out to
100 yards and give it a go with another group most of the deer
size calibers will be between 1.5 to 3.5 inches high at a 100
yds. with a dead-on group at 25 yds. So the more time you
spend at 25 getting it right the less time you will spend at
100 yds.
12. Do not rush your shots. Give your rifle barrel time to keep
cool. A hot barrel will not shoot to the same place as a cold
barrel. Unless you think you are Rambo, you will be hunting
with a cool or cold barrel. So take your time and enjoy being
outside.
If you use this method to sight-in, you should be able to
correctly place a shot on any game animal out to 200 yards by
simply holding the cross-hairs in the middle of the vital zone
and squeezing the trigger.
That's it. So go out, get sighted-in before fall, take some of
our targets out with you and have some fun.
Please review our Firearm Sighting pages by
using the navigation to the left or if you have a question or cannot find a
service. Please let us know. Contact
Us
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