Best way to sight in a rifle?

Hunterman1966

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In your opinion what is the best way to sight in a rifle? Without using a lot of bullets. I have a 300WSM using a 180 grain Nosler Accubond. That I will be using for elk. I've read some articles to sight it in dead on at 25 yards and it will be good out to 300 yards. Another article states 3" high at 150 yards.
 
I have 300 wsm as well and use the accubomd bullets. 1.5 inches high at 100 yards, dead on at 200 yrds. This seems to be the best for many hunting situations. That caliber is flat shooting and makes for good long range applications
 
I bought a laser bore sight. Got it rough sighted with that. Great $20 investment. Went to range and shot at 25. It was just a few quick adjustments to get it right on. Went to 100 and had it zeroed with 6 rounds. Quick and painless.

1.5 at 100 and Its good to go now.
 
Agree on the hunt conditions and bore sight.

Bore sight gets you in the park at 25 to fine tune at 100. After that, assume 4 clicks to be 1" at 100, 2" at 200, 3" at 300...

Then choose where you want your zero and dial in. Should be able to easily get it done in less than 10 shots with 3 shot groups each time.

All my rifles except one are zeroed at 250 or 300 yds. The exception is 200.
 
Good info from all those above^.

Here's what I do:

Bore sight at 100 +/- yards to get it close (look down the bore then look up through the scope and adjust accordingly)

Shoot one (1) shot at 25 and make adjustment to zero. Remember that it takes 4 clicks,with a 1/4 MOA adjustment, to move the POI 1/4 inch at 25 yards = it takes 16 clicks to move it an inch at 25 yards so don't be bashful.

Shoot one (1) shot 100 yards and adjust accordingly to hit where you want. (for elk I like 3" high if you're not using an external turret. that way you're good to do to 300 yards with that cartridge)

Shoot a 3 shot group to verify that the center of your group is where you want it to be. Make a small adjustment if needed and maybe shoot another 3 shot group.

The above process will be complicated if your rifle sprays bullets like I pee nowadays.

No joke, you can sight in a rifle with just 2 or 3 shots! Literally, I've done it a hundred+ times for me and other over the decades.

Zeke
 
I like a 300 yard zero. If you will be using a bi pod on your hunt then Id recommend zero your rifle with one. Most of the time it doesn;t change your poi, but we've seen it happen on some rifles.
 
Like Zeke too. Past 100 yds, 3 shot groups and triangulate the center of the 3 shot group and adjust to that.
For an inexpensive rest, cut notches in a box to fit your rifle. Cut a hole for your hand. Adjust the box or notches to zero your crosshairs on target so as to eliminate any human error. With the butt firmly against your shoulder squeeze the trigger.
 
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Very fast & easy to sight in. Use a bipod always ,if possible. The kind that pivots . Sight in dead on at 25 yards. Then recheck at 100 yds. Should be 3 " high. That puts you Dead POI at 275 yds for most rifles/ loads high velocity for big game. 2-3 inches low at 300 yds, 1 foot low at 400 yds approx, 2 feet plus low at 500 yards. Get a good laser rangefinder & use it. Commit the trajectory to memory, or just on a slip of paper taped to your stock for quick/fast reference. That's all ! I've used this system for 60 years. It works. Beware of a crosswind on long shots !! Jerry Gold ? in Ft Collins, Co.
 
If you want to sight in with just a few bullets forget this counting clicks crap. If you are boresighted well enough to hit paper at 100 yards you want to "CHASE THE BULLET" is what I call it. Get a solid rest, aim for the bullseye and fire a shot. Make sure the gun is held solidly, re-aim the rifle to the previous bullseye and adjust your reticle to where the first shot hit. As long as your first shot was good, you should be there or close to it. If you don't trust your first shot, fire a second at the same aiming point as before, then adjust the reticle to the bullet impact.

After you've verified with a couple more shots you are ready to adjust to whatever point of impact you want. That will vary according to your guns ballistics and what distances you want to be dialed in for.
 
The only thing I would add is wait 5 minutes between each shot. Let your barrel cool. Take a .22 or handgun to fill the time between shots. Personally I like 2-2.5 high at 100 yards.
This is very important. If you shoot a hot barrel you could end up going through a lot of ammo and accomplish nothing except being confused. Ask me how I know. :)
 
The only thing I would add is wait 5 minutes between each shot. Let your barrel cool. Take a .22 or handgun to fill the time between shots. Personally I like 2-2.5 high at 100 yards.
The downside to this is not knowing how your rifle may change point of impact after a couple quick shots. If you miss a shot at the buck of a lifetime are you going to wait five minutes for one or two follow up shots :( Most guns won't change much after a couple shots but I've seen more than one gun do exactly that. I'm not saying make a habit of it but it won't hurt to find out how your barrel behaves.
 
I check the ballistic charts for the first zero distance. And zero there, then check and fine tune at 2nd zero.
For instance I zero my 300 winmag for 300. The 1st zero for it is 23 yards. That puts me very close at 300 yards and just a couple rounds gets it right.
 
I'm a big believer in the 50 yard zero, I have done this with all my rifles with excellent results. You use less ammo and as long as your are tight as a virgin at 50, depending on the caliber you will be dead on at 150-200. For instance, my 22-250 is dead nuts at 50 and 185, while my .300win is dead on at 50 and 135. If you're a halfway decent hunter, the vast majority of your shots will be within 250 yards, most of mine are inside of 150yds. This works for me and saves a lot of ammo while sighting in so you can spend more on practicing at various ranges and recording your drops for your dope card.

As Bruin said, you always want to shoot at various distances to verify your zero once you get it dialed in at 50yds.

Also, I bought a universal laser bore sight, but if you don't have one and don't care to spend the $45, I always had good success getting on paper with a visual bore sight.

Hope this helps, good luck this year!
 
I check the ballistic charts for the first zero distance. And zero there, then check and fine tune at 2nd zero.
For instance I zero my 300 winmag for 300. The 1st zero for it is 23 yards. That puts me very close at 300 yards and just a couple rounds gets it right.

Do you account for the height of your scope over your bore to figure where the bullet crosses the true center of your scope, or nah?
 
Good info from all those above^.

Here's what I do:

Bore sight at 100 +/- yards to get it close (look down the bore then look up through the scope and adjust accordingly)

Shoot one (1) shot at 25 and make adjustment to zero. Remember that it takes 4 clicks,with a 1/4 MOA adjustment, to move the POI 1/4 inch at 25 yards = it takes 16 clicks to move it an inch at 25 yards so don't be bashful.

Shoot one (1) shot 100 yards and adjust accordingly to hit where you want. (for elk I like 3" high if you're not using an external turret. that way you're good to do to 300 yards with that cartridge)

Shoot a 3 shot group to verify that the center of your group is where you want it to be. Make a small adjustment if needed and maybe shoot another 3 shot group.

The above process will be complicated if your rifle sprays bullets like I pee nowadays.

No joke, you can sight in a rifle with just 2 or 3 shots! Literally, I've done it a hundred+ times for me and other over the decades.

Zeke


Good stuff Zeke, after reading your notes I am going to zero my .300win at 25yds which should put it dead on at 250yds. Right now it is zeroed at 50 and dead on at 135, which for it being my elk gun I would like it dialed for a 200-250 yard shot.

Thanks man!
 
This is all solid advice and works for most. But there are lots of variables. The height of your scope rings makes a big difference. It is also imperative that you align your scope with your bore correctly when the scope is mounted. You can get a kit from Brownell's or Midway USA to do that. And you could also lap the scope mounts to ensure the scope is making the correct contact with the rings. Finally, you also need to ensure the scope reticle is level with the axis of the rifle. They make a tool called the level-level-level that makes that right.

It takes some tools and experience to get that scope mounted correctly, but if you are serious and you might be shooting longer distances, it is definitely worth it.

There are some good YouTube videos on scope mounting that are worth a quick watch.

Best of luck.
 
Learn your rifle. Sight it in at 100. Shoot at 200. Shoot at 300. Shoot at 400. Shoot at 500. Shoot at 600. Walk that 300 out to 1000. Practice. Practice and then practice some more. Learn YOUR rifle. Put a quality scope with known value hash marks like MOA and figure it out. Shoot hundreds of rounds out of it to get comfortable. Then shoot thousands of rounds to be come proficient. Dont be the "paper plate" guy in camp the night before the opener saying his crappy groups are "good enough".

Dont fall for the "sight in at 25 on at [insert random yardages]" fairy tales. There is so much that goes into trajectories and ballistics that this type of mentality is ridiculous.

I bore sight to get on paper at 100. I then zero it at 100. I then walk it out to 800 yards. That is as far as my 30-06 reloads will take me on deer. It's about 550 on elk. I shoots thousands of times throughout the year at longer distances but bullet construction, speed and other limiting factors play a large role in performance on big game. After finding my known MOA drop from 100-800 yards I make a nice drop chart and tape that to my stock. It works and I am proficient.
 
Learn your rifle. Sight it in at 100. Shoot at 200. Shoot at 300. Shoot at 400. Shoot at 500. Shoot at 600. Walk that 300 out to 1000. Practice. Practice and then practice some more. Learn YOUR rifle. Put a quality scope with known value hash marks like MOA and figure it out. Shoot hundreds of rounds out of it to get comfortable. Then shoot thousands of rounds to be come proficient. Dont be the "paper plate" guy in camp the night before the opener saying his crappy groups are "good enough".

Dont fall for the "sight in at 25 on at [insert random yardages]" fairy tales. There is so much that goes into trajectories and ballistics that this type of mentality is ridiculous.

I bore sight to get on paper at 100. I then zero it at 100. I then walk it out to 800 yards. That is as far as my 30-06 reloads will take me on deer. It's about 550 on elk. I shoots thousands of times throughout the year at longer distances but bullet construction, speed and other limiting factors play a large role in performance on big game. After finding my known MOA drop from 100-800 yards I make a nice drop chart and tape that to my stock. It works and I am proficient.
Thanks I agree. I’ve been working on practicing a lot. Out to 300 yards. Not sure where you live, but I live in Utah in Utah County. Do you know of a place I can shoot longer distances?
Thanks, Scott
 
Learn your rifle. Sight it in at 100. Shoot at 200. Shoot at 300. Shoot at 400. Shoot at 500. Shoot at 600. Walk that 300 out to 1000. Practice. Practice and then practice some more. Learn YOUR rifle. Put a quality scope with known value hash marks like MOA and figure it out. Shoot hundreds of rounds out of it to get comfortable. Then shoot thousands of rounds to be come proficient. Dont be the "paper plate" guy in camp the night before the opener saying his crappy groups are "good enough".

Dont fall for the "sight in at 25 on at [insert random yardages]" fairy tales. There is so much that goes into trajectories and ballistics that this type of mentality is ridiculous.

I bore sight to get on paper at 100. I then zero it at 100. I then walk it out to 800 yards. That is as far as my 30-06 reloads will take me on deer. It's about 550 on elk. I shoots thousands of times throughout the year at longer distances but bullet construction, speed and other limiting factors play a large role in performance on big game. After finding my known MOA drop from 100-800 yards I make a nice drop chart and tape that to my stock. It works and I am proficient.
There's also some apps out that you can plug in your present settings vs your actual hunting, temps, altitude, angle, wind speed vs value, that gives instant results! Free to!
 
Pretty much what Zeke does, but be sure before hand your scope is mounted correctly, mounts and bases torqued down, bolts to the action tight, save some shells, and headache time. Choose your site in time when the wind isn't kicking if possible, and when you got time, not feeling rushed. Good luck...
Mike
 
The downside to this is not knowing how your rifle may change point of impact after a couple quick shots. If you miss a shot at the buck of a lifetime are you going to wait five minutes for one or two follow up shots :( Most guns won't change much after a couple shots but I've seen more than one gun do exactly that. I'm not saying make a habit of it but it won't hurt to find out how your barrel behaves.
The point is to make sure your rifle is dialed in for the first shot. If it is, you likely wont need a second shot, but if you do the barrel isnt hot enough from the first to have a really large impact on where the second goes. If you need a third shot, you probably werent dialed in properly in the first place.
 
In your opinion what is the best way to sight in a rifle? Without using a lot of bullets. I have a 300WSM using a 180 grain Nosler Accubond. That I will be using for elk. I've read some articles to sight it in dead on at 25 yards and it will be good out to 300 yards. Another article states 3" high at 150 yards.

Same setup I use - 300 WSM + Nosler A/B 180's. Still working up the right handload (powder + bullet seating depth) - a neverending but fun process for me.

Here's an (iOS only, Free + In-app purchases available) app that I've been fine tuning over the past few years. Tried and tested - at the range and in the field. Hopefully you find it useful. Holler if you need any help understanding any of the more technical stuff in there.

Shoot Yes app
 
Same setup I use - 300 WSM + Nosler A/B 180's. Still working up the right handload (powder + bullet seating depth) - a neverending but fun process for me.

Here's an (iOS only, Free + In-app purchases available) app that I've been fine tuning over the past few years. Tried and tested - at the range and in the field. Hopefully you find it useful. Holler if you need any help understanding any of the more technical stuff in there.

Shoot Yes app
Thanks for the reply.
 
In your opinion what is the best way to sight in a rifle? Without using a lot of bullets. I have a 300WSM using a 180 grain Nosler Accubond. That I will be using for elk. I've read some articles to sight it in dead on at 25 yards and it will be good out to 300 yards. Another article states 3" high at 150 yards.

deadibob and travishunter3006 have provided some solid advice. But it also sounds like you're looking for advice on what distance to zero your rifle. If you're not going to go all long-range hunting PhD level shooting, I'd recommend reading up on Max Point Blank Range. You'll need to learn some details about your gun and the ammo you're shooting, but this method will give you range to zero your gun at and also tell you what the maximum distance to your target that you can simply hold dead center of the kill zone and feel confident your bullet will land in that kill zone. From0 yard to that max range, it's just aim and shoot, no worries about hold-overs or dialing a turret.
 
The question was asked how to sight in a rifle. An option was offered that’s it. If you didn’t like it I’m sorry.
 
Thanks for the reply.

As for ranges in Utah County, I go here:


Very well organized, well run AND always excellent help from the rangemaster(s) and other volunteers. I think I pay $10/yr. I haven't been there yet this year, but while driving up the canyon it appeared that there was some construction going on to the east of the regular ranges - perhaps a new 200 yd range, maybe longer?
 
Learn your rifle. Sight it in at 100. Shoot at 200. Shoot at 300. Shoot at 400. Shoot at 500. Shoot at 600. Walk that 300 out to 1000. Practice. Practice and then practice some more. Learn YOUR rifle. Put a quality scope with known value hash marks like MOA and figure it out. Shoot hundreds of rounds out of it to get comfortable. Then shoot thousands of rounds to be come proficient. Dont be the "paper plate" guy in camp the night before the opener saying his crappy groups are "good enough".

Dont fall for the "sight in at 25 on at [insert random yardages]" fairy tales. There is so much that goes into trajectories and ballistics that this type of mentality is ridiculous.

I bore sight to get on paper at 100. I then zero it at 100. I then walk it out to 800 yards. That is as far as my 30-06 reloads will take me on deer. It's about 550 on elk. I shoots thousands of times throughout the year at longer distances but bullet construction, speed and other limiting factors play a large role in performance on big game. After finding my known MOA drop from 100-800 yards I make a nice drop chart and tape that to my stock. It works and I am proficient.
Just curious, do you rebarrel every year ??
 
Just curious, do you rebarrel every year ??
Depends on which gun we are talking about. My eddystone 1917 is now a wall piece. My 243 is on her second barrel and my 260AI is only about 2500 rounds into the game so she’s in her prime. My 357 lever action will be retired once she is done. The 22-250 is my only real barrel burner so I load minimum loads to improve barrel life. Once throat erosion starts to effect my accuracy and precision wains, I change bullet seating depth. I rinse and repeat until I’m basically touching the lands and then I replace. I like savage barrels because it takes about 5 minutes to take a barrel on and off. With a set of “go and no-go” gauges it makes the job simple.
 

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