help for zeroing a scope?

[dave_in_delaware]

OK, I wanted to ask this before I got my mounts.... I'll soon have all the pieces to put my scope on my rifle. I don't expect any problems actually attaching it.. but I've never had a scope on a "real" gun before, so I have to ask:

How do I get the barrel and the scope to coincide on the targets??

I've read about sighting through the bore (no bolt), then keeping the gun steady while adjusting the scope to "point" to the same point. Is that right? (And before you ask, I don't have money for a fancy bore sighter).

What distance should I sight-in for a .22LR rifle? Should I still do the standard 100 yards like I've read about other rifles? Or should I go with 50 yards?

Anyone have experience w/ the smaller rifle caliber and getting a scope fine-tuned properly??

Thanks for any input!!

[Tomcat088]

There are a couple of approaches that you can take to zeroing in your scope Dave. I'm new to pistol shooting, but rifles are my specialty, lol, dad raised me doing long distance shooting. Some people use a boresighter similar to this one, instead of a laser boresighter like you mentioned http://www.opticsplanet.net/tasshotsavbo.html . I've even heard of some people that remove the bolt, and hold a laser pointer so that it shines down the bore, but doesn't touch any side, and kind of taping it in there. It's a ghetto kind of rig in my opinion, but apparently it can work. Personally, if I'm doing a close zero (even 100 is close to me), I just grab some rounds and range. Stabilize your gun, with a front rest and bean bag, sand bag etc near the back. Then you can fire your first round, see where it goes and start tweaking. If you have some range to work with, where you can be safe, it's the cheapest way to sight in your scope. Even if you boresight your rifle, if you want to really be accurate, they will still need tweaking after that. For a .22LR, I prefer a zero around 70 or 75 yards, just because it's kind of in between the 2 zeroes you mentioned. For some .22LR's, 100 yards is kind of pushing "pinpoint accuracy", unless you're using fairly expensive rounds. You'll find alot more consistency at 70 yards, and can hit 100 with a little hold over. The big deal on zeroing in any rifle is making sure you have a good rest, and the wind is as still as possible, with small calibers like .22, a still day is very important. Hope that helps, and holler I can help you in any other way.

[therooster]

the distance is up to you.


if you want to make it easy start out at 10 yrds, "Zero" the rifle and move to 50yrds. it will only be a minor adjustment to get it "zeroed" at 50yrds. and them move to 100yrds (if you want).

if you are going to shoot this rifle from a bench (at all times) then "zero" it on a bench. if you are going to shoot this rifle from different positions, or unbenched, then "zero" it that way. the reason behind this is your head will be in a different position giving you a different line of sight. it doesnt always happen to everyone, but when i "zero" my rifles from a bench they're POI changes when i shoot supported/unsupported prone.

[Talon]

Hello Dave in Del..,

When attaching your scope you want to get your eye relief set, in the heavy recoiling rifles improper distance can really damage your eye and orbital. Basically the distance from your eye to scope ring should be where you see no "swimming" (black swirls along the edges) in the ocular bell. Next you want your cross hairs level to eliminate cant.

Bore sighting is easily achieved however with a .22lr bore sighting is not needed, as already suggested start at 10/15 yards. To bore sight remove bolt, stabilize rifle on sand bags etc, look through bore at target object at 25 yards +/- then look through scope adjust scope to bore picture. Rifle should be on paper then fine tune from there.

I normally zero my 2lr. at yards. which makes good for hits to 60yds
Zeroing at 50 is just as good. never have any need to zero a 22lr to 100 yards.

Any news on the decals?

Peace
Talon

[panther308]

I was quite anal on mounting and sighting my rifle, first off I followed all factory settings for torque in regard to the rings and mount when mounting my glass I lapped the rings just alittle to get a good fit and then torqued the glass down, now most have a theory on getting on paper but I chose to use a BSA Bore Sighter which put me on paper at 100yrds and was able to hit the bull after just a couple of rounds, this will change as the rifle wears in if it's new so you will have to make changes.
Everybody has there own way of doing this and there is really no wrong way

[einheit 13]

Ha, I just look through the scope, see where the bullet hits and make adjustments accordingly. I do it on the 100yd range-But I don't make my cross hair and bullet converge. If the cross hair is 3" above the barrel, my point of impact at 100yds is 3" lower than my piont of aim (cross hair) but all my scopes have 'hash marks' for distance too, gotta love surplus optics!

[cadejo69]

Your scope should come with zeroing instructions...follow them. Start at a close range(10 or 25 meters) to make sure you are on the paper, make adjustment after each shot(if you broke the shot clean) 'till you are with in a minute of angle(1/4 " at 25 M, 1/2" at 50 M, etc), confirm with a 3 to 5 round group, go to 50 meters and repeat (only this time take wind speed and direction into account to get a no wind zero, put your groups down wind from your point of aim), move to 75 meters and repeat, 100 meters (pushing it for a .22).figure out your rifle's max effectiveness(75, 100, 120...etc, the fartest you can accurately shoot) and zero at that range. Good luck.Zero point of aim point of impact for elevation,adjust accordinly for no wind zero or you will be adjusting every time the wind changes.

[farmer]

A major cause of inaccuracy are scope mounts comming loose. Make sure and torque to the proper specs, and to use a light locktite so you don't have to redo the process. Don't use the heavy duty locktite, because it is strong stuff! I agree with the above posts. Shoot two rounds at 20 yrds adjust, and then move to fifty. If your scope is of decent design simple math will get you really close. If your rifle is going to be used for hunting, sight it in for fifty yrds, if for target practice, its up to you.

[kart racer]

Once I get mine zero'd I'll fire a few shots with the windage all the way to the right,then left-elevation maxed up and down and then back to zero.It'll give ya an idea of the repeatability of the scope.You should have a box shaped target after all the shots.A quality scope will put ya back in your original zero'd group.You'd be surprised at the one's that won't.
If ya bought a scope for a rimfire the parallex should be at 50 yards,so that's where ya want to start at.

[Mercmar]

It's not really necessary to max out your windage and elevation adjustments while "shooting the box."