How To Sight In A Riflescope
by: Daniel Lowery
A few months back I had to complete the task of sighing in my
scope. I went to the sporting goods store bought a few boxes of
shells, some paper targets, and earplugs. I headed to the local
rifle range for a task that I thought would take a few minutes to
complete. Well, after a box of shells and no holes in the target
I found out I was wrong. I left the range in disgust and was
ready to just place the rifle in the corner of my closet where it
would collect dust until the next time I decided to try again.
The process that I was using was not the best one to take. I took
a paper target mounted it to a board and placed it out about 50
yards from where I was sitting. I started to unload shot after
shot. I would see that the bullet hit the ground to the left so I
made the right adjustments just to discover that the bullet hit
the ground to the right, I could never get the bullet to hit the
paper.
After this very frustrating experience, I decided to look on the
Internet to see if I could find some information that would
enlighten me. After reading many websites and talking to a few
friends, I decided I would try a different approach. I went to
the local sporting goods store and bought a laser bore sighting
system. The bore system will help to get the bullet to hit the
paper target. The following day, I went to the rifle range set up
my target, fired one shot, made the proper adjustments fired
another shot and to my amazement hit the center of the target. So
how did I do it?
First, if you do not yet have one get yourself a good sighting
vise, this will help you hold the rifle still. You may need to
add a little weight to the vise to stop the movement during the
recoil, what I did was mounted a piece of lead to the bottom of
the vise, this added about 10 extra pounds to the vise. Get some
paper targets, a few boxes of shells, and earplugs. Use the bore
sighting system before you fire any shots.
Once you have done this, it is time to go to the range and sight
your rifle. Mount your rifle in the vise; and place your target
about 25 yards away from you. Load your rifle, and place the
cross hairs in the center of the target. When you are ready
squeeze the trigger and fire the rifle, then look and see where
the bullet hit. The next thing you will need to do is place the
cross hairs on the center of the target, NOTE: Move the vise not
the scope settings. Depending on how much weight is on the vise
the recoil may not have moved the vise. The next step is to move
the cross hairs towards the bullet hole until the cross hairs are
lined up with the bullet hole. For example if the hole is in the
lower left corner of the target make the proper adjustments to
the scope, by first moving the cross hairs down then to the left.
Once this step is complete find the center of the target load
your rifle and fire the second shot, this time the shot should be
in the center of the target.!
Once you sight in your rifle at 25 yards you can repeat the same
process for the yardage you want.
Daniel Lowery has been hunting since the age of sixteen. I was
born and raised in upstate New York. I moved to Missouri about
six years ago. I am a graduate of Columbia College with a degree
in Computer Information Systems. I would like to pursue a career
in website development. I love all forms of hunting but spend
most of my time turkey hunting in the spring, bow, and rifle
hunting in the fall. Website
www.danshunting.com
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Index of All Hunting & Fishing Articles
Index of All Sports Articles
