How to sight in a Rifle with a Scope

with 3 shots or less!

Save time and ammunition, this method is not recommended for beginners.

Here’s a simple procedure that lets you get a solid zero for a hunting rifle in just four shots. Of course you probably want to fire a few more rounds to confirm your zero before you head off to your hunting grounds, but this will let you get on-target with a minimum amount of time and ammo expended.

1. First, remove the bolt and boresight the rifle so you can see the center of the target through the bore. Secure the rifle in the rests to maintain its position as boresighted. Then, without moving the rifle, center the reticle. That should get you on paper. With the rifle solidly secured in front and rear rests or sandbags, aim at the center of a target placed at your zeroing distance (100 or 200 yards). Fire one shot. Then, return the gun to the exact position it was when you pulled the trigger, with the cross-hair centered on the target as before.

2. Locate, in the scope, where your first bullet landed on the target. Now, while you grip the rifle firmly so it doesn’t move, have a friend adjust the turrets on your scope. While you look through the scope, have your friend turn the windage and elevation turrets until the cross-hairs, as viewed through the scope, bisect the bullet hole on the target. In other words, you use the turrets to move the center of the reticle to the actual position of shot number one.

3. After you’ve adjusted the turrets, now re-aim the rifle so the cross-hairs are, once again, positioned on the target center. Keep the rifle firmly supported by your rest or sandbag. Take the second shot. You should find that the bullet now strikes in the center of the target.

4. Take a third shot with the cross-hairs aligned in the center of the target to confirm your zero. Make minor modifications to the windage and elevation as necessary.

If you recently cleaned your rifle, you may want to fire two or three fouling shots before you start this procedure. But keep in mind that you want to duplicate the typical cold bore conditions that you’ll experience during the hunt. If you set your zero after three fouling shots, then make sure the bore is in a similar condition when you actually go out hunting.

How to sight in a Rifle with a Scope

As an ethical hunter, or target shooter you want to make sure that your rifle is properly sighted in before your hunting trip starts. Here’s a foolproof way to sight in your rifle.

Points of Clarification

If you have your scope mounted on your rifle by a gunsmith, they will usually have“bore sighted” it. This is not sighting it in, and bore sighting should never be thought of as making your rifle ready for hunting. Bore sighting is a gross approximate alignment meant to assist with the actual sighting in process explained below. The bore sighting will make the sighting-in process easier by hopefully helping you place your first shot at 25 yards on the paper target.

From there, you can dial in your shots to the target bullseye.  Here’s what you need to do to sight in your rifle.

At your local range or wherever you are sighting in your rifle scope, start at the 25-yard position. Put up a large paper target which has a large black bullseye. Get really comfortable on the shooting bench so that none of your muscles are cramped or in tension. Ensure the rifle is fully supported by sand bags, gun vise or cradle.  The point here is that your body should not be supporting the rifle!  Dry fire your rifle while looking through the scope at the target, if the reticle (cross hairs) jump when you pull the trigger, the rifle is not supported enough.  If the reticle jumps when the trigger is pulled, the resulting movement will cause your bullets to stike your target radically. 

When you are seated and comfortable, position one or more sandbags on the table so that you can comfortably rest the forearm of your rifle. Anything that is a solid rest with an old blanket for comfort and to protect your rifle is fine; you just don’t want a “hard” surface. Never rest any part of a rifle, and particularly the barrel, on a hard surface. On recoil, the rifle will jump away from a hard surface, giving you a false point of impact.  Also never let the barrel of your rifle touch anything while you are sighting in or shooting at an animal, this will cause your bullet to miss its mark every time!

Remember that you are sighting-in a hunting rifle. You could probably get somewhat smaller groups by minimizing all human contact with the rifle, especially by letting the sandbags or rifle rest entirely support the forearm. Small groups are desirable, but in this case getting the point of impact correct is even more important. You can always shoot for the smallest possible group size later. The recoil from larger rifles can cause bad habits after prolonged shooting, so many times two sessions are required to get it “right on.”

By now you should be in a steady position at the shooting bench with the rifle pointed at the 25-yard target. If you are using a variable power scope, set it to the highest practical power. In other words, the highest power that delivers a sharp, clear image. This may not be the maximum power. Many scopes look better slightly below their maximum magnification. For example, the view through a 3-9x scope may look better at 7x or 8x than it does at 9x.

Fire at will.

Now load one round into the chamber and prepare to shoot. Put the crosshairs directly on the center of your target.  Before you shoot, close your eyes for 10 seconds and then open them. Did the crosshairs drift off the center of the target while your shooting eye was closed? If it did drift, it means that your muscles are under tension trying to keep the rifle on target. Shift your position slightly until you can close your eyes and find that the rifle is still aimed directly at the point of aim when you open them.  Now your muscles are properly relaxed and you are in a position to do your best shooting. Go through this little routine before you fire every shot.

Carefully fire one round. The rifle should suprise you when it is fired as this will ensure better accuracy. Slowly squeeze the trigger for the best accuracy.

Now check out  your target and find the bullet hole. You can probably see it through your riflescope and certainly through your spotting scope or binoculars.  Even though your rifle is bore-sighted, the bullet hole is probably not going to be in the center of the target at 25 yards. However, the bullet hole should at least be somewhere on the paper. Measure (or at least accurately estimate) its distance from the "X" in the center of the bullseye. Let's say, for example, that single perfect shot hit 3 inches high and 2 inches to the left of the center of the target.

Move your reticle (cross hairs)

Adjust windage and elivation reticle the correct number of clicks or increments required to move the point of impact to the center of the target.  For example, let's say the instructions that came with your scope state that each click moves the point of impact 1/4 /Minute of Angle (MOA), which is 1/4 inch at 100 yards. However, since we are shooting at only 25 yards, we will need to multiply the number of clicks by 4. This is standard for most hunting scopes today.

To move the point of impact down the required 3" at 100 yards would require 12 clicks (four clicks per inch). At 25 yards, remember, we will have to multiply the number of clicks by 4, so turn the elevation adjustment in the down direction 48 clicks (12 x 4 = 48). It is a good idea to go a little past the new setting and then come back whenever adjusting a scope. I'd turn, say, 50 clicks and then come back 2 clicks for a total of 48 clicks down. This helps settle the adjustments of many scopes. I also tap the adjustment dials with an empty cartridge case after setting them for the same reason.

Now adjust the windage (right and left). You need to move the point of impact 2 inches to the right, which at 100 yards would require 8 clicks. At 25 yards that means 32 clicks (8 x 4 = 32). Turn the windage adjustment a total of 32 clicks to the right (usually marked "R" on most scopes).

Your Next Shots

Now get back into that comfortable shooting position and fire one more shot at the 25-yard target. Ideally, if the scope's adjustments are accurate, it should hit inside the "10-ring" of a 100-yard small bore rifle target. If it does, your 25-yard sighting is close enough. There’s no need to waste ammunition getting it perfect. You will do that at 100 yards.

If the second shot is not within an inch of the center of the target, you will have to adjust the scope again. By the third or fourth scope adjustment and shot, the bullet should be landing inside of the 10-ring. If it isn't, something may be wrong. Check all the rifle and the scope mount screws for tightness. They must allow absolutely no movement of the scope under recoil.

Let's assume that your rifle is hitting within an inch or less of the point of aim at 25 yards.  Now it will at least be on the paper at 100 yards. The rifle's barrel is probably not too hot, your shoulder is hopefully still in good shape, and you haven't wasted a lot of ammunition.

Moving it out  to 100 yards

Now you’re ready to put up a 100-yard target. If you have one that is overlaid on 1-inch grid lines, it makes it easier to see how far your bullet holes are from the point of aim using only your spotting scope. This saves a lot of walking and guess work when shooting at 100 yards because you won’t have to measure.

Wait until your rifle barrel has cooled to the ambient temperature (keep it out of the sun).Then get back into your comfortable shooting position. Remember to close your eyes before you shoot to check for a perfect, tension-free hold. This time you will slowly and carefully fire 3 shots at the exact center of the 100-yard target. Take your time and make each shot a perfect surprise break. Next, estimate the center point of impact for the three bullet holes.  Draw a line from each of the bullet hole to the next to make a triangle with your 3 shots.  If you have an accurate rifle and you’ve shot it well, the three bullet holes should be within about a 3-inch (or smaller) triangle somewhere on the 100-yard target.

Now it’s time to get serious about sighting in at 100 yards. Remember that at this point in the process it is best to adjust the scope in only one direction at a time. Scope adjustments frequently interact with each other (they should not, but they may); so by changing only one at a time the effect is minimized.  You may want to write down how may and what direction you moved the reticle in the event you make an error.  Move the elevation adjustment 4 clicks in the "down" direction. That should be 1 inch at 100 yards for the scope in our example.

Now shoot another careful 3-shot group, making sure that the barrel has time to cool between shots. Take your time. Did the center of the group move so that it is now 2.5 inches over the point of aim? If it did, then that’s good enough; if not, you will have to make another elevation adjustment and shoot another 3-shot group. This is where a good scope with precise adjustments really justifies its higher price.

Once the elevation is correct and the center of your group is 2.5" above the point of aim, go on to the windage adjustment. The rifle in our example is hitting 1.5 inches to the right, so we need to move the center of the group 1.5 inches, or 6 clicks, to the left. Go ahead and make the required adjustment. After the barrel has again cooled to the ambient temperature, fire three more careful shots, always holding on the exact center of the bullseye. If all went well, the rifle should now be putting its bullets 2.5 inches directly over the center of the bullseye, the point of aim.  This will provide an approximate “dead on” impact at 200 or 250 yards, which is usually just right for most hunting situations.

If you have the extra ammunition, shoot a final 5-shot group to ensure that everything is as it should be. If all went well you have probably used about a box of cartridges to sight-in your rifle. That's not too bad.

Congratulations, your rifle is now ready to go hunting.