How do you sight in a scope?

Cambow

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I know this should be a basic task. I have never really had a lot of scopes on any of my firearms. The ones I did have were already sighted in. If you are shooting , lets say high and to the right. Do you turn the adjustment down and to the left? Sorry for the dumb question.
 
I agree with deadibob. I was taught to follow the bullet. If you're shooting a bolt action, you can also "bore" sight it in. Look through the bore and move the scope to the same place
 
I agree with deadibob. I was taught to follow the bullet. If you're shooting a bolt action, you can also "bore" sight it in. Look through the bore and move the scope to the same place
This is how I bore sight my guns and it gets far closer to being on than any commercial bore-sighter i've ever used.
 
I typically bore sight, then shoot once at 25 yds, adjust scope, and go to a 100 yds. Don't forget if your counting clicks, your 1/4" per turn on a lot of scopes is only 1/16" at 25.
Mike
 
I typically bore sight, then shoot once at 25 yds, adjust scope, and go to a 100 yds. Don't forget if your counting clicks, your 1/4" per turn on a lot of scopes is only 1/16" at 25.
Mike
Don’t count clicks and don’t start at 25. Line up the scope and peering through the barrel at a couple hundred yards or more generally gets within a foot at 100 yards. Chase the first shot by adjusting your crosshairs with the gun locked down solidly. This will get you where you want at 100 yards within three shots after your initial shot.
 
I'd be off the target if I was a within a foot at 100, hence the 25 yd. 1 shot, seen guys off the paper before, trying to figure what hole in the target board is theirs. I'm usually done in 3 shots, guess I'm still old school and count. I work with a tape measure daily, doing the math is easy for me. Everybody has a preferred way, agree with the lead sled comment.
Mike
 
And likely ruin your stuff in the process. Throw the lead sled in the trash and shoot off of front and rear bags.
I use both and a lead sled type rest won't hurt a thing if used properly. If you load it with 100+ pounds and there is no recoiling movement at all then maybe you can have a scope slide in the rings. If you are shooting a scoped .460 weatherby, .458 lott or equivalent then you might break scopes. If you are talking about breaking stocks then they would be very weak wristed stocks to begin with.

I did snap a cheap ramline stock in half at the wrist on a .375 Weatherby but it was on bags and not a solid rest.
 
I'd be off the target if I was a within a foot at 100, hence the 25 yd. 1 shot, seen guys off the paper before, trying to figure what hole in the target board is theirs. I'm usually done in 3 shots, guess I'm still old school and count. I work with a tape measure daily, doing the math is easy for me. Everybody has a preferred way, agree with the lead sled comment.
Mike
If you are off target by a foot on your first and one original shot from bore-sighting a rifle at 100 yards you can get it dead on at 100 yards with two more shots and I will bet your rifle against mine I can sight in at 100 yards with less shots than you can at 25 yards. We will start with unmounted scopes and go from there.

Why are you shooting at targets with other holes in them? I don't care how well you can read a tape measure, the problem is that scopes can't read a tape measure and many of them don't track reliably and exact. Have you ever box tested the tracking on your scopes to determine they are exact and repeatable?
 
Bob, I make my own targets out of 8-!/2" x 11" paper, I'd be off the paper and on the target stand (holes all over it)...if I was 11" off center at 100, I always start with a new target, my nightforces track fine.
Mike
 
There have been a couple+ ways described on there to sight in.
Every single one of there is completely correct!

I'll add:
You should get it approx where you want with 2-3 shots and then you'll need to shoot a group or two to see exactly where the center of your group really is. Adjust from there.
How you sight in is less important that the POI, IMHO.

Zeke
 
Don’t count clicks and don’t start at 25. Line up the scope and peering through the barrel at a couple hundred yards or more generally gets within a foot at 100 yards. Chase the first shot by adjusting your crosshairs with the gun locked down solidly. This will get you where you want at 100 yards within three shots after your initial shot.
This. I’ve never needed more then 5 or 6 bullets to sight in a scope, if that.Everything after that is just getting it right where you want it
 
As far as I know, on all the scopes that I have ever used, if you are shooting high and to the right, you would turn the elevation knob (the top one) to the right, and the windage knob (on the side) to the right as well.
Here is an article on how to sight a rifle scope which is really helpfull.
 
Similar topic: my scope dialed at 100 yards (for now), the turret says something like 12 or 13 moa. Does that sound right? Should it take 13 moa from center at 100 yards? There’s only 15 moa per revolution but up to 85 moa of adjustment.

OR am I 12-13 moa down from zero because my scope is mounted high? That would make sense now that I’m looking closer at it.
 
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No, it isn't correct quite yet.

If I'm understanding correctly: Once zeroed, you should loosen the dial and return it to the "0" mark.

I don't think you want your scope zeroed at 100 and it saying you've already dialed it to 13 MOA.

Zeke
 
Hello Canbow,

There is no “one correct way only” = “my way”

Both examples stated do work, assuming the base was mounted correctly, the rings mounted correctly, and the scope mounted in the rings correctly.

I assisted a new hunter on Saturday morning sight in his brand new Browning X-Bolt Speed .30-06 with a Leupold VX-Freedom 4X-12X-50mm riflescope. He used a riflescope mounting kit from his stepdad and watched tutorial videos on Midway or Brownells website.

We taped white butcher paper over a large target board, placed a Redfield brand blaze orange sight-in target with 1 inch square grid in the center. Determined his scope “claims” adjustments are 1/4” clicks. Despite that designation, it ain’t always so, just saying.

Bore-sighted at 25 yards, very easy to do with the target setup. Fired 1 shot, 1/2 inch low, 1/2 inch left. Fired round 2 to verify shooter (remember, he is new and it’s a new to him firearm), cut same hole. Made adjustment of 8 clicks UP, 8 click RIGHT. Shot #3, a bullseye.

Took target to 100 yards, shot #4, 2-1/2 high, 2-1/2 left. The young fella is learning his trigger, learning the cheek weld, adjusting to recoil, says he, “may have pushed aim to left at the shot”. Fires round #5, 2-1/2 high, 1 inch left. Adjust 2 clicks up, 4 clicks RIGHT. He fires round #6, 3.25 high, dead center windage. We mark the target. Young man settling down, feels confident, this isn’t so hard, etc. Returns to the rifle, loads 4 cartridges in the magazine and proceeds to shoot a 1-3/8 inch 4 shot group with 180 gr factory loads from an outfit called Prvi Partizen PPU out of Serbia, forgive me, but I had never heard of them prior, but the only 180 grain loading he can find in our area.

Now he needed to loosen the cap to adjust the turret hash marks to “0”…ah, no Allen wrench, “it’s at home in a file cabinet”. Fortunately, old-school shooters happen to have things like Allen wrenches in a satchel at the range. You know, really old guys who read Jack O’Connor, and might still sight-in a rifle 3” high at a 100 yards, those types.

Results: 10 rounds fired, rifle sighted in for an elk hunt that starts Friday, some concept of his trigger press and a pathway to re-sight his rifle should he have an issue in the field. He can take the time in the off-season to learn the dialer on his rifle scope.

So, to answer your hypothetical question first posed in your post, and with a request for forbearance for a far too long reply, say you were 1 inch high and 1 inch to the right and you were at 100 yards and had a riflescope that adjusted, in theory, 1/4 MOA at that distance, you might try 4 clicks DOWN (opposite of the U with a arrow) and 4 clicks LEFT (opposite of the R with an arrow), that ought to get you pretty close.

Good luck and remember to have FUN!
 
If you are off target by a foot on your first and one original shot from bore-sighting a rifle at 100 yards you can get it dead on at 100 yards with two more shots and I will bet your rifle against mine I can sight in at 100 yards with less shots than you can at 25 yards. We will start with unmounted scopes and go from there.

Why are you shooting at targets with other holes in them? I don't care how well you can read a tape measure, the problem is that scopes can't read a tape measure and many of them don't track reliably and exact. Have you ever box tested the tracking on your scopes to determine they are exact and repeatable?
cold you please explain box testing I’ve heard it before but not sure the steps.
thanks
 
Absolutely make sure you set the scope up correctly first. Helped a couple of folks who had loose mounting screws, or not level. Good advice on this post.
 

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