Before beginning, it’s essential that your unloaded rifle rests safely and securely in an appropriate rest position, whether that be with a shooting bag, sandbag, or some other means.
Bore sighters are handy tools that fit inside of barrels to display target grids to help align sights accurately, but knowing how to sight in scopes without one can still prove invaluable.
Barrel Alignment
No matter the nature of your rifle, scope or ammunition purchase or new venture this season, sighting-in is always recommended before heading out onto the range. Doing this ensures that bullets hit where they should and prevents accidental misfires which could injure animals in your vicinity.
One of the best tools for this process is a bore sighter – a laser pointer device that fits inside of your gun barrel – though it is possible to sight in a rifle scope without one; though this requires more work.
At first, make sure your unloaded rifle is resting safely on a stable base – such as using a shooting bag, sandbag or gun vise – so it remains steady during this process, especially when making adjustments.
Once your rifle is set and resting comfortably, inspect its sight picture to align its center of bore with that of the target paper. Adjust the windage and elevation dials on your riflescope until its reticle lies directly over your target.
If your reticle is off center over the target, walk up close and measure the distance between your original point of impact and its grids. From there, make any necessary adjustments.
Once you’ve made an adjustment, walk back to the shooting station and repeat this procedure until all of your rounds land within the bullseye. While this may take several rounds, it will pay dividends when all is said and done – once properly sight in, your rifle should stay that way even when not fired for weeks or months; giving you confidence when heading afield!
Target Distances
An optical boresighter is a tool that screws onto the end of your rifle scope, and allows you to easily align its reticle with the center of your target. This tool is great for sighting in new scopes or verifying current ones are aligned correctly with their barrel. While not foolproof and still requires taking your gun out to practice aiming, optical boresighters save both time and ammunition use by making sighting easier and avoiding unnecessary attempts at aim.
Before using a scope sighting method in a controlled environment such as your own home, such as for sighting-in, it is imperative to first ensure it’s unloaded. Observing gun safety rules such as checking and double-checking before attempting to unbolt. Also make sure the firearm has been placed on an adequate rest such as a shooting bench or prone position before beginning this step.
Start off by gathering a standard target and ammunition. Align your rifle with the target, and fire several shots from different distances until your grouping tight enough to qualify as accurate – usually, the closer to center your grouping is, the more accurate your scope will be.
Once your target paper is complete, examine its center to locate and note its point of impact. This serves as the starting point for making windage and elevation adjustments – simply move your reticle until it rests directly above it and repeat this process at every target distance until your reticle is perfectly centered over its initial point of impact.
Once you understand this process, you can expand your target distances if necessary. For example, hunting at altitude where air density is thinner and your cartridge travels flatter than at sea level may necessitate additional elevation adjustment to account for it. Furthermore, hunting in areas that experience frequent headwinds or tailwinds requires you to adapt your scope accordingly.
Scope Adjustments
If your rifle is on target but the reticle is misaligning with it, make some scope adjustments. Your rifle should contain two dials for windage (moving the sight picture left/right) and elevation (up/down). Use these dials until your reticle matches up with where it hits at different distances.
To do this, aim at the center of one of your bullet holes and move the reticle until it rests directly over it. Repeat this process several more times at different distances until your scope is consistently accurate. Keep in mind that each click of a dial moves the zero approximately 1/4″, so being precise with adjustments is key in getting accurate results. For maximum consistency it’s also advisable to use only one rifle and ammunition during this process.
Sighting in a rifle scope without the aid of a boresighter is possible, though more challenging and time consuming. To start off, remove your gun’s bolt and look down its barrel; this will allow you to see what the reticle looks like when aligned with the center of a target paper and help adjust accordingly.
Once your scope has been adjusted, fire a few shots and make minor adjustments as necessary until your shots hit their targets at each distance. Be mindful that after each adjustment to account for changes in bullet trajectory. Re-zero the rifle if necessary to account for changes.
After your shot is complete, be sure to verify the mounting base is securely tightened before slowly and carefully tightening each screw one at a time until your crosshair remains top dead center and bullet holes align perfectly with reticle. This step is essential in optimizing your rifle for accuracy; learning more about how its components interact will equip you better for improving shooting skills.
Line of Sight
Your rifle scope must be adjusted correctly in order to ensure accurate shots on deer, antelope, elk, moose or bear hunts and the best chance of making clean kills. A properly adjusted scope is often the difference between having a full freezer or having nothing at all; that is why every hunter must take the time and care required to have his/her rifle scope properly adjusted.
Sighting in a rifle scope is relatively straightforward. To start off, ensure that the gun is unloaded and its scope rings are securely mounted to its base. Once this has been done, remove the bolt and look down its bore before carefully moving your rifle around to adjust windage and elevation dials until your target reticle appears on screen.
Once your reticle has been properly aligned on the target, fire some rounds at it to see where your bullets are hitting and adjust your reticle until it rests directly over the first bullet hole at that distance. Reaim your rifle and shoot again until your grouping around the bullseye has tightened up significantly.
Once your grouping is close, repeat this process at other distances until the groups widen again. At this point, adjustments may need to be made but be patient as shooting. Soon enough you should be able to tell that the reticle is center on target and fine tune the scope using more precise adjustments. A rest may also help if you don’t trust yourself to hold both rifle and scope steady with one hand; that way you’re sure that every shot placed with your new setup is as accurate as possible!