Today, we are going to reply to the most frequently asked question about rifle scopes “How to sight in a scope?” Whatever the range you want your scope sighted into, we will go through a basic procedure for sighting in a scope. Before we get a sighting in a scope, we need to ensure that our rifle is bore-sighted. If we have done that already, then we are ready to go.
Now let’s go through the given list. You get to need a rifle, and you are also going to need a front rest. I prefer a bipod but there is a number of good ways to do this. We are also going to need a rear rest to ensure that we have optimal stability.
Again there are more than one ways to do that but the preferred one is a sandbag. We also need our ammunition, proper eye protection, and proper ear protection which is very important to our shooting.
Mounting a Scope
This isn’t a guide on “how to mount a scope” but it is very important that your riflescope should be properly mounted and adjusted. Before we can start the sighting in a scope, check one last time to make sure that the scope is properly installed and secure in the rings.
Perfect amount of Eye Relief
You will need to make sure that you have enough eye relief so that upon firing a shot the recoil generated by the rifles doesn’t allow the scope to cause an injury to your eye. You should set the scope as far forward as possible for maximum Eye Relief. To avoid a scope bite, place your eye in such a way that you have a perfect amount of eye relief. The specially designed long eye relief scopes are also available on the market.
Get Level for properly Sighting in a Scope
For properly sighting in a scope, you’ll need to set up your shooting position. Most people use solid shooting benches for an extremely stable platform. You also need a good front and rear rest for your rifle. You can use a bipod for the front rest and sandbags for rear rest to ensure that your rifle is in a stable position. There are also many other ways to level the rifle for properly sighting a scope. But again, whatever you use for front and rear rest, make sure that your rifle should be in a stable position.
How to Bore Sight
Another step is to bore sight the gun in an old-fashioned way. Remember, bore sighting is not a substitute for properly sighting in a scope. Before we tell you “how to bore sight”, let us try to understand what is bore sighting.
Boresighting is a method of adjustment to an optical firearm sight or iron sights, to align the firearm barrel and sights. This method is usually used to pre-align the sights, which makes zeroing much faster. The process can be accomplished with the naked eye, or with a specialized device called a bore sighter. (Wiki)
First of all, place your rifle on a rifle stand or sandbags then remove the magazine and make sure that the rifle is unloaded. If you have a bolt gun, remove the bolt of the rifle and look through the bore, you have a clear view of the target down the barrel. For AR10 and AR15-type rifles, remove the pins, pull the upper and lower apart, and then remove the bolt.
Look through the barrel and adjust the rifle until you find the target. Once on target, then put the center of the bull’s eye in the center of the bore. Once you have aligned the bore with the target, now it’s time to align the scope with the target. Without touching the gun, see through the scope for reticle alignment with the target.
The knob on the top of the scope is for elevation (up and down) and the knob on the right side of the scope is for windage (left and right) adjustments. Adjust the reticle until it is aligned with the center of the target. Once you have aligned the bore and the scope with the target, then reinstall the bolt.
Some rifle designs do not allow you to remove the bolt and it is almost impossible to look through their barrels. A laser bore sight can be used to overcome this difficulty. It fits into the chamber of the rifle and sends a laser beam toward the target. You can adjust the rifle until the laser beam hits the center of the target.
Fire Three Shots
First of all, load the rifle and fire three shots without moving the target or gun. After that walk down to the target and inspect the target. These three dots lie in the same group and will show some relatively similar characteristics. For example, all three shots will be right and low to the bull’s eye. After inspection of the target, make the appropriate adjustments for hitting the bull’s eye on the target.