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Sighting a Rifle Scope


John Morris

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Gents, and ladies,

My sons .177 cal air rifle came with a scope. I have never used scopes in my shooting, my 30-30 Mod 94 has only iron sights and I use them fine, my M-16 I used while in the Army had only iron sights and they served me well. Just never had a use for a scope, so my intelligence and knowledge for using a scope is limited. The instructions that came with the scope are limited. I know I can go online and find a world of information on this subject, but I don't want too, we have a terrific forum full of great folks who shoot, I know I can get the info I need from you. Please no links to outside sources for sighting a scope, since I can do that on my own.

 

Per the scope instructions we perform a 3 shot grouping, by sight we take the average center of that three shot grouping, set the cross hairs in that average center, then adjust the elevation and windage to the center of the target.

What I am confused about is, are we able to look through the scope while making the adjustments? Does the cross hair move while clicking through the adjustments, so do I sight through the scope, then click, and watch the cross hair move? Or, do we simply turn the adjustments a few clicks then fire another 3 shot grouping, and repeat until centered?

 

Son's rifle below, it's fun to shoot!

61yVDHUOi0L._SL1500_.jpg

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I make the adjustments without looking through the scope.  The biggest thing to remember is what each click of adjustment means. If, 1 full click equals 1" at 100 yards, and you are sighting in at 50 yards, then 1/2 click equals 1". Can you post a picture of the s ope turrent so we can see what it says about its adjustments?

 

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Example- shooting low and to the right. Use scope instructions for direction/amount of turns. One click at a time is what I do. Reshoot with cross hairs on bulls eye. Readjust as necessary. I don't look thru the scope when adjusting.

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you can do iy without a bench rest but the rest makes it way easier.

 

With the scope at MAXIMUM MAGNIFICATION  Aim the gun at a spot  and shoot it.

Aim the gin back at that spot and use the scope to bring the cross hairs to the impact point of the round.  being careful not to disturb the gun.

 

That's it.  take another shot and repeat if necessary.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Chips N Dust said:

I make the adjustments without looking through the scope.  The biggest thing to remember is what each click of adjustment means. If, 1 full click equals 1" at 100 yards, and you are sighting in at 50 yards, then 1/2 click equals 1". Can you post a picture of the s ope turrent so we can see what it says about its adjustments?

Thanks Kelly

Per the instructions we are zeroing up at 33'.

rifle scope (1).jpg

 

rifle scope (2).jpg

 

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17 minutes ago, Cliff said:

you can do iy without a bench rest but the rest makes it way easier.

 

With the scope at MAXIMUM MAGNIFICATION  Aim the gun at a spot  and shoot it.

Aim the gin back at that spot and use the scope to bring the cross hairs to the impact point of the round.  being careful not to disturb the gun.

 

That's it.  take another shot and repeat if necessary.

Thanks a mil Cliff! The instructions say to use a sand bag or equivalent on a bench. I used my Router Table with the fence removed and a few towels, and set up to sight out the back door of our garage and into the grass embankment. Still uncomfortable, we are going to have to get a lower bench and rest surface.

 

Not disturbing the gun is a great tip, we definitely disturbed it after each group!

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Since I shoot a lot of centerfire rifles, .270 and larger, I do not worry about disturbing the rifle between shots or groups, since the recoil does enough of that. I use sand bags or towels (usually bags) to keep the rifle as steady as possible when sighting and squeezing the trigger.

 

It is weird the instructions say to sight in at 33 yards when the scope is a 1/4" adjustment. I sight my rifle in at 25 yards (easy math to adjust the scope) and the zero point comes back around 225 to 250 yards for the centerfire rifles I use (the old Jack O'Conner method). Depending on the average range your boy will be shooting, you may want to sight in a little high if he will be shooting longer ranges. That also depends on the rifle's trajectory. 

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Another thing that really affects accuracy is the type of pellet being used.

 

I have used the plain lead pellet and the lead with a copper round front. The copper is better. But, if you really want to up the muzzle velocity, use the PBA pellets. I can't shoot them out of the back door because the air rifle sounds like a .22 going off.

 

IMG_0328.thumb.JPG.f09c7440d92753bd216f4bdd10fe0ecf.JPG

 

Left to rite Copper end, plain lead, PBA

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Thanks for the great tips guys, I appreciate it much!

You know Lew, I was surprised at the slight spring loaded kick this rifle has and the sound! It does sound like a 22. I know the kick is from the spring action but it's fun. I find it bouncy though when fired, unlike the solid recoil of center fired weapons, this bounces a tad, kind of fun.

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3 hours ago, Cliff said:

IT's a pellet gun.  The ballistic of the pellet is important.  30 yards is a very common range for competitions

 

That makes sense. I have never shot a pellet or bb gun in competition. My shooting of them were usually from 10 to 50 yards, sometimes more. Those longer ones were usually trick shots

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I'm guessing you paid about $150 for this setup? I bought a air rifle a few years back for about the same price, and it also came with a scope. The scope is more than likely junk and won't stay targeted, mine didn't. I put a better quality scope on it, and it stayed sighted in. I may be wrong on my thought. Next time you shoot, if you have to resight it, replace the scope. Just my 2cents opinion

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49 minutes ago, Kenny Tarmack said:

The scope is more than likely junk

It is junk Kenny, before I purchased the rifle I read the reviews and most folks trashed the scope and purchased a better one. Until we save for another, we'll deal with this one, once we get the new one on, we'll appreciate it more right!:D

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46 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

instead the sight picture moves so your cross hairs are always centered in the scope.

Now I got a question.  How does one observe this? Looking through the tube everything is relative to the things in the tube. There are no other visual references.

I've sighted in plenty of scopes and  the distinction never occurred to me. Heck I'd never have had that pop into my head but for you mentioning it.

Now I'll always wonder.

 

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John using your big fingers on both hands lay one finger behind and on top of the other finger and point at a target as if your shots are hitting the target on the right side. Now to get your front finger in line with the center of the target you will have to move the rear finger the opposite way from the target which will make the front finger or the end of the barrel more towards the target..

 My daily hitch in the army was shooting either an M1, a 45 which was outdoor,  or a single shoot 22 long rifle indoor every day and Sat until noon......Most of my days were spent in the 22 range. Prone position was laying on a bunk mat. Shoot for a while then take a nap if the urge came around. as many rounds as we wanted each and every day.. Open sights and no scopes....This was the only reason my time in the army was not boring...We had our own small bus and a driver was assigned to the rifle teams...

  I would suggest the boy get used to shooting with out a scope. 

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When a person does lots and lots of shooting he will get to where he can see his pulse beating at the end of the rifle barrel. This is the reason for a shooting jacket... We could not use any store bought items like shooting jackets or any other items to assist us in shooting so before each match I would place an extra folded up shirt inside my shirt where the butt of the rifle would rest. Solved that problem...And I got to taking an APC about 20 minutes before each match started and it seemed like it would slow my pulse down. Whether it did or not maybe worked on my mind more than it actually helped the pulse...

 

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