Zeroing a Scope

elius

As above managed to get the lend of a scope for a little while. Now not knowing weather this scope was zeroed or not i used a laser down the barrel which was good for 20yards. So i managed to get the cross hairs on to the laser dot. It was way off right of the scope so i made the nessacary adjustments to get it centre. Now the question i have is with regards the the left and right adjustment. Will the scope be off at 100yrd or should it be center. I no adjustments will have to be made with regards to the range but am i write in saying the left right adjustment should be the same?

This prob ant the correct terminology how an ever you get the idea

Cheers

Tackleberrywho

elius wrote: »

As above managed to get the lend of a scope for a little while. Now not knowing weather this scope was zeroed or not i used a laser down the barrel which was good for 20yards. So i managed to get the cross hairs on to the laser dot. It was way off right of the scope so i made the nessacary adjustments to get it centre. Now the question i have is with regards the the left and right adjustment. Will the scope be off at 100yrd or should it be center. I no adjustments will have to be made with regards to the range but am i write in saying the left right adjustment should be the same?

This prob ant the correct terminology how an ever you get the idea

Cheers

It will prob be off at 100, but not by feet, more like a few inches

The more accurate you have been bore sighting the more accurate the 100 yards will be.

I'm not a fan of bore sighters as they to me are gimicy.

I've zero'd my own scope 8 times in the last few weeks with the tweaking I'm doing, so getting quicker setting it up.

level scope, barrel and stock with spirit level.
Take out bolt and look down bore.
if you can see your target then try an secure rifle in place, vise/clamps etc to a bench.
then look down bore again to make sure you still can see the target.

adjust cross hairs onto target.

fire 3 shots using Exactly the same point of aim.

Adjust scope accordingly

eg:1" right 2" High etc

then test on proper range if you wish to fine tune.

elius

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

It will prob be off at 100, but not by feet, more like a few inches

The more accurate you have been bore sighting the more accurate the 100 yards will be.

I'm not a fan of bore sighters as they to me are gimicy.

I've zero'd my own scope 8 times in the last few weeks with the tweaking I'm doing, so getting quicker setting it up.

level scope, barrel and stock with spirit level.
Take out bolt and look down bore.
if you can see your target then try an secure rifle in place, vise/clamps etc to a bench.
then look down bore again to make sure you still can see the target.

adjust cross hairs onto target.

fire 3 shots using Exactly the same point of aim.

Adjust scope accordingly

eg:1" right 2" High etc

then test on proper range if you wish to fine tune.

Sound lad ill get out tomorrow evening and give it a go! Its a laser that i had from my junior days which i modified to work. It was more so to give me an idea as to what way the scope was. Ill report back cheers again..

Cass

elius wrote: »

............ i used a laser down the barrel which was good for 20yards. So i managed to get the cross hairs on to the laser dot.

I would advise against such a short zero. Try 50 yds. Its a good range for all calibers. Barring your height, if your windage is spot on at 50yds its going to be at most a click or two out at 100yds.

dCorbus

good stuff, ezridax, as ever, but what's confusing me is:

Barring your height, if your windage is spot on at 50yds its going to be at most a click or two out at 100yds.

So a short shooter will have a different zero than a tall one?
What sort of MOA would a 5'9'' shooter have to add on to go from 50m out to 200m?

And what if they're lying down - "prone" i think it's called? Surely, that will make some sort of difference too?

And what if you're a growing lad, 5'9'' one day and six months later you're 6'1''?



calm down.....calm down.....let's see who takes the bait? Sorry, couldn't resist!

Cass

Smart A**e.

No more happy pills for you before the weekend.

Vegeta

In the recent past both my .22lr and the brother's rifle required the method Tack outlines to get them on zero.

I have a Tikka in .223 a good few years now and by fluke when I zeroed it for the first time without bore sighting it, it was pretty much bang on for windage.

Tried the same with the brother's rifle and it was a mess. The scope ran out of windage at 50 yards and couldn't hit a 3 foot square piece of ply.

Took it home, put all settings of the scope back to original and followed a very similar method to the one outlined by Tack.

A few months later my .22lr started acting up and I thought it was a broken scope. It had been fine for ages but I couldn't get the thing zeroed for widnage, ran out of adjustment again. I was convinced the scope had bit the dust as I had zeroed it previously with no problems. Turns out the rear mount had shifted and needed shimming to get the scope back on centre while retaining the majority of my windage adjustment.

So from then on the first thing I do when putting a scope on a rifle is manually bore sight it at about 25 yards and try, if possible, to adjust the mounts first and scope second.

Cass

My old tried and trusted method involves the following:

If installing the scope the quick way would be to place the rifle in a gun clamp or very steady front rest and back bag. Place a spirit level on a flat section of the rifle. If none can be got or trusted take the rings apart and screw on the bottom section of the rings leaving the top piece of. Tighten these down. Now place a level across these rings and straighten the rifle. Once your happy, place the scope into the rings and place the top section of the rings on the bootom section over the scope and screw in the screws but DO NOT tighten.

Have a heavy string/line hanging from the ceiling of your hall (at the end of the hall). Weigh it down if necessary. This will give you a dead straight vertical line. Have the rifle pointing towards the string and adjust the position of the scope forward and back in the rings until your eye relief is good (that there is no black when you look into the scope) Twist/turn the scope until the vertical line of the crosshair tallies with the string/line hanging in your hall. Once happy tighten the screws on the rings but do so in an alternating fashion as if you tighten one side fully it will twist the scope in the rings. Problem i find with some lads is even though the crosshairs are perfectly straight everyone holds the rifle at a slight cant and so when they put it to their eye they think the crosshair is leaning. Its not. Resist the temptation to adjust it as canting the crosshair to suit your hold will mean any clicking to zero the scope will result in angled adjustments rather than perfectly up/down or left/right adjustments.

Go to a range or find a fixed spot at home. Somewhere around the 50yd mark is grand. Have the elevation of your scope trned down to zero. Have the windage adjustments centralised. As in if there is 50 minutes (moa) of adjustment have it set for 25moa. Have the bolt removed and with the rifle unclamped adjust the rifle until you can see the target down the barrel. The muzzle of the gun will appear as a circle and must sit perfectly "central" in the circle created by the breach. Once this is done make sure the target is central in the circles created by the muzzle and breach. Have the rifle reclamped making sure the target is still central in the bore/barrel. Now without moving the rifle look through the scope and see where the crosshairs are in relation to the target. Adjust the crosshairs up to and left/right until they meet the target. Now once more check the bore/barrel sight and scope sight. If you are happy both are pointing at the same target time to replace the bolt and fire a shot (this is why i recommen doing this at a range). Find where the shot impacted. Measure the distance from your point of impact to the target bull and adjust your scope as necessary. gain fire another shot. You should be either in or very close to the bull. Make one more adjustment if you are not in the bull and fire one more round. You should be zeroed at this point

However you can use spirit levels on the rifle and scope for alignment instead of the string. Depends on where you are zeroing. If its the range then its the levels, if its at home then either will suffice. Done this last Saturday for the Fathers .308 Palma. Spent a few minutes checking through the bore, scope, bore, scope, bore, scope................... Was eventually happy and the first shot went straight through the bull at 100yds. Put 2 more down it to verify. 1 hole - 3 shots. Nice.:D

Tackleberrywho

ezridax wrote: »

My old tried and trusted method involves the following:



However you can use spirit levels on the rifle and scope for alignment instead of the string. Depends on where you are zeroing. If its the range then its the levels, if its at home then either will suffice. Done this last Saturday for the Fathers .308 Palma. Spent a few minutes checking through the bore, scope, bore, scope, bore, scope................... Was eventually happy and the first shot went straight through the bull at 100yds. Put 2 more down it to verify. 1 hole - 3 shots. Nice.:D

Was that the rifle in the clubhouse?

Vegeta

ezridax wrote: »

My old tried and trusted method involves the following:



However you can use spirit levels on the rifle and scope for alignment instead of the string. Depends on where you are zeroing. If its the range then its the levels, if its at home then either will suffice. Done this last Saturday for the Fathers .308 Palma. Spent a few minutes checking through the bore, scope, bore, scope, bore, scope................... Was eventually happy and the first shot went straight through the bull at 100yds. Put 2 more down it to verify. 1 hole - 3 shots. Nice.:D

If that isn't in the tips section it should be

Cass

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Was that the rifle in the clubhouse?

This one .................




(Click to enlarge )

Cass

Vegeta wrote: »

If that isn't in the tips section it should be

Feel free to copy and paste. Makes never no mind to me who puts it up there, as long as it is of benefit to some.

Tackleberrywho

ezridax wrote: »

Feel free to copy and paste. Makes never no mind to me who puts it up there, as long as it is of benefit to some.

Go away out of that Ezri

You would love to have yer name in lights

yog1

ezridax wrote: »

My old tried and trusted method involves the following:


Quote:
If installing the scope the quick way would be to place the rifle in a gun clamp or very steady front rest and back bag. Place a spirit level on a flat section of the rifle. If none can be got or trusted take the rings apart and screw on the bottom section of the rings leaving the top piece of. Tighten these down. Now place a level across these rings and straighten the rifle. Once your happy, place the scope into the rings and place the top section of the rings on the bootom section over the scope and screw in the screws but DO NOT tighten.

[I]Have a heavy string/line hanging from the ceiling of your hall (at the end of the hall). Weigh it down if necessary. This will give you a dead straight vertical line. [/I]Have the rifle pointing towards the string and adjust the position of the scope forward and back in the rings until your eye relief is good (that there is no black when you look into the scope) Twist/turn the scope until the vertical line of the crosshair tallies with the string/line hanging in your hall. Once happy tighten the screws on the rings but do so in an alternating fashion as if you tighten one side fully it will twist the scope in the rings. Problem i find with some lads is even though the crosshairs are perfectly straight everyone holds the rifle at a slight cant and so when they put it to their eye they think the crosshair is leaning. Its not. Resist the temptation to adjust it as canting the crosshair to suit your hold will mean any clicking to zero the scope will result in angled adjustments rather than perfectly up/down or left/right adjustments.

Go to a range or find a fixed spot at home. Somewhere around the 50yd mark is grand. Have the elevation of your scope trned down to zero. Have the windage adjustments centralised. As in if there is 50 minutes (moa) of adjustment have it set for 25moa. Have the bolt removed and with the rifle unclamped adjust the rifle until you can see the target down the barrel. The muzzle of the gun will appear as a circle and must sit perfectly "central" in the circle created by the breach. Once this is done make sure the target is central in the circles created by the muzzle and breach. Have the rifle reclamped making sure the target is still central in the bore/barrel. Now without moving the rifle look through the scope and see where the crosshairs are in relation to the target. Adjust the crosshairs up to and left/right until they meet the target. Now once more check the bore/barrel sight and scope sight. If you are happy both are pointing at the same target time to replace the bolt and fire a shot (this is why i recommen doing this at a range). Find where the shot impacted. Measure the distance from your point of impact to the target bull and adjust your scope as necessary. gain fire another shot. You should be either in or very close to the bull. Make one more adjustment if you are not in the bull and fire one more round. You should be zeroed at this point

However you can use spirit levels on the rifle and scope for alignment instead of the string. Depends on where you are zeroing. If its the range then its the levels, if its at home then either will suffice. Done this last Saturday for the Fathers .308 Palma. Spent a few minutes checking through the bore, scope, bore, scope, bore, scope................... Was eventually happy and the first shot went straight through the bull at 100yds. Put 2 more down it to verify. 1 hole - 3 shots. Nice.:D

just a quick question, how do you make sure the gun is plumb before you set the cross hairs to the plumb line hanging from the roof

Tackleberrywho

yog1 wrote: »

just a quick question, how do you make sure the gun is plumb before you set the cross hairs to the plumb line hanging from the roof

I'd be murdered if I hung a plumb line out of a freshly painted ceiling

I todate have used several different methods to get a scope accurately level.

I recently got an X,Y,Theta level or Bubble level to try and be more accurate

Cass

yog1 wrote: »

just a quick question, how do you make sure the gun is plumb before you set the cross hairs to the plumb line hanging from the roof

Usually you pick a point on the rifle that is level. Picatinny rail, trigger guard, etc. However as these can be rounded i usually remove the top section of the ring and attach the bottom piece similar to the picture below.



Once the bottom section is attached to the rifle i place a spirit across the ring and then "twist" the rifle until the spirit level shows level. I then reclamp the rifle making sure not to tilt it again. I then place the scope in the ring and place the top section on. Insert the screws and screw them down, but do not tighten.


The rest is in my previous post, but you get the idea.

Tackleberrywho

Handy trick by using the bottom mount to get your level.
Simple solution "if only I had thought of it"

I find myself that the hollow of the shoulder throws my cant out of alignment.
I'd get one of those adj but plates, I'd just be concerned that it would not shoulder as quick, and it makes the rifle longer as the new butt adds ~1" on.

Any on here much experience with an adj butt plate on a hunting set up?

Cass

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

........ I'd just be concerned that it would not shoulder as quick, and it makes the rifle longer .............

Length of pull is either correct or its not. The problem people have, myself included, is the LOP is not correct, but from adjusting ourselves to suit we become accustomed to the rifle and after a few months if someone handed you a rifle with the correct LOP you would think it wrong.

The other issue is shooting position. Whether standing , kneeling, or prone your body position does not remain the same and hence your LOP and even scope position can be an issue.

Example;
A) When i have my F/TR on the firing line in the prone position my LOP is perfect (as Enda measured every detail before building the stock) and my scope and eye alignment is perfect. No black/shadow in the occular lens and no struggling or adjusting to push my head forward or back to get that "sweet" spot. Now when on the 100 yd range and zeroing i am sitting at bench. My arm/elbow seems slightly more bent (although this could be in my head) and i have to stretch my neck to get a full picture in the scope.
Now my hunting rifles are fine whether i am the bench zeroing or just to throw the rifle to my shoulder. It is set up for one or two shots and the positioning of the butt pad, scope, etc are all "central" so as to give me the best available comfort and performance in all positions.

Kinda going a lttle off topic, but its a long winded way to explain the above. If you are finding that you put the rifle to your shoulder and have to give a little pull into you then i would say yes, go for an adjustable. They are easy enough to install, are not big money and worse case scenario you keep it in the closed position 99% of the time you only have an extra 1/2" of butt pad and the one time you need that extra "bit" its there. Also as they adjust up/down and tilt left/right you may find that even if you do not need the extra kength the other features will improve comfort and give you more "confidence" when taking a shot.

Tackleberrywho

I think I will go with the Adj Ezridax.
I've seen them used for years, I'm not fond of them aesthetically however if they improve my minute of crow It will be worth it