how to zero in a scope?

Question

can someone tell me whats the best way to zero in a scope without buying a laser sight and also say i zeroed in the scope at 100 yards will i be able to hit anything the crosshairs are on at any range?or will i need to adjust it everytime the target isnt at 100 yards??

Answer 1

A field expedient method, is to mount the scope to the gun, get close to the target, say ten yards and shoot. Shoot three shots, move the scope cross hairs until they are close to your group then shoot again. If they are close enough move back. Do this until you get to the range you want, i.e. 100 yards and you will be zeroed at 100 yards.

This is a quicky method and works well if you can't see down the length of the bore. Otherwise I would match the crosshairs to the spot I could see the bore pointing to as a start and fine tune it in much the same manner.

For expensive guns and scopes you will want to take the rifle to a competent gunsmith. Scopes hold their zero best when in their center position of adjustment. A quality gunsmith will first dial the windage and elevation all the way to one end, and then back counting the number of clicks.He will then divide by two to find the center. Next he will dial in that number of clicks to make sure the scope adjustments are in their center or neutral position. He will then shim and adjust the rings to position your scope so that it is boresighted with all adjustments in their neutral position. This allows for you to use those adjustments if you are a long range precision shooter. Also the gunsmith will make sure the rings are perfectly aligned so that they do not crimp or bend the scope tube which would affect the scope's ability to properly aim at the target.

It just depends on the level of precision you require.

Answer 2

Well, the simplest thing to do would be to take the rifle and scope to a gunsmith and have him "bore sight" it for you. Doesn't take long and won't cost you a fortune. Then buy yourself a few sight in targets. They look like a bulls eye target with a set of grid lines on them.

Set your target up at 100 yards, and fire a three round group, from a solid bench rest. Assuming the rifle was properly bore sighted you should at least have a three round group on the target. Remember to grid lines? They are each one inch square. Let's say your group is five squares low and five squares to the left of the bulls eye.
Remove the turret covers on your scope. Inside is the adjustment ring. Using a proper sized screw driver you will start with the top turret. Each click you feel or hear as you turn the ring should move the bullet impact 1/4 inch. The top turret moves the strike up or down. To move the strike five inches you will turn the ring 20 clicks up (an arrow will tell you which is up). Then you do the same for the side turret which moves the strike left or right. In this case you would turn the ring 20 clicks right.
If all is simple and pure in your world the scope will now be right on.

If the scope is set for 100 yards then shooting at something only 25 yards away will mean the rounds will go high. Shooting at something 200 yards away, and the bullets hit low. That means if you are going to shoot at something farther away than your scope is set for you are going to have to hold the cross hairs a little higher on the target. Practice with the gun and scope will tell you how much higher or lower you have to aim.
Now you can adjust the scope to compensate for the different ranges. Your turret caps will allow you to adust the elevation and windage. If you know you have to shoot four inchs high you can simply twist the turret cap 16 clicks up and you should be right on.

This is a quick and dirty answer here. There are a lot of little things about scope adjustment that would just take forever to write about here. If you know somebody who regularly shoots with a scoped rifle, ask him to walk you thru the procedure. It will make more sense then trying to read all the advice you will get here.

Answer 3

I completely agree with the first poster, but instead of buying a boresighter, or paying someone to do it, if you are using a bolt action, I like to set my rifle in a rest, or just secure it where it cant move (sometimes in the house) as well. remove your bolt and look down the bore and focus in on something across the room. WITHOUT MOVING THE RIFLE look through the scope, and move your adjustments to what you were focusing on while looking through the bore. Repeat those steps until you are confident your scope is lined up to exactly what your seeing through the bore. It should easily get you on the paper at 50 yards, and a lot of times, even at 100 as well. I do this all the time with my own rifles and seems to work fine until I get a chance to actually shoot the gun.

Save you a little money you can use for more ammo!

Answer 4

These guys know what they are talking about. I might suggest that once you get your scope dialed in pretty close to point of impact, especially for hunting, a lot of people adjust their scope to shoot 1 inch high at 100yds. That way your elevation adjustment is a little more forgiving when aiming past your scope adjustment at 100 yds. Also still puts you pretty close to point of aim at 100yds.

If you are looking for precision results, I would use Maker's advice. Basically the scope will be truly zeroed to both the gun, and its adjustments.

Answer 5

Before lasers & etc. became available, we used to:
Bore-sight the gun at 25 yd.s -
Clamp the gun in a rest with a target centered in the bore as viewed from the breach.
Set the sights to center on the target.
With most centerfire cartridges, (2200= 2700 FPS), this would put your rounds on the paper at 100 yd.s.
Then go to the range and adjust the sights to the desired range.
Note: At any substantial range, the bullet rises to cross the line of sight before dropping back to intersect it at the chosen range.

As to the second part of your question:
For target shooting, you adjust your sights to the range.
For most field shooting you zero at an appropriate range and know your trajectory (*ie; on @ 25yd., 2" high @ 50yd. on @ 100yd., 4" low @150Yd.) and adjust your hold accordingly.

Answer 6

Derrik H, has it all correct. just keep in mind that the windage and elevation adjustments will need to be moved in the opposite direction. I bore sight mine at 100 yds. the last time I did it, the first bullet out of the bore was horizontally perfect and only 1.5'' to the left.

Answer 7

Hey Josh,makers ^got your answer