Sighting in Your Rifle
The season is upon us. If you haven’t already sighted in your rifle, now would be a good time to start. Did you spend the last few months practicing your marksmanship skills with a .22 cal rifle? Did you glean information from all your friends on ‘what is the perfect caliber’? That’s a whole different subject so instead, let’s talk about sighting in.
Has your barrel been cleaned from last year’s hunt? Did you clean it in the direction the bullet goes? Some semi-automatics won’t allow that but it’s the first choice. Cleaning from the chamber end also helps you not to rub the side of the crown off in the process. If you don’t know, the crown is the part of the barrel where the bullet leaves, the very tip. The barrel is going to twist this bullet and spit it out in a spiral spin like a quarterback throwing a pass.
Sighting in with iron sights is simple. Move the back sight in the direction you want the bullet to go. Do the opposite with the front sight if it’s adjustable. Case closed.
Scopes, the most accurate sight of all, cost from forty bucks to thousands of dollars. #1: Do not use a scope as a pair of binoculars. Looking at your buddy on a deer stand 300 yards away is not in his best health interest. If fact, don’t look at anything you don’t mind putting a hole in. #2: Regarding pellet guns, do not put a nice expensive scope on one unless its rated for air rifles as the piston recoil tends to tear them up. #3: Match the gun to the scope. If you’ve got a nice expensive rifle, buy a nice expensive scope. Things to consider: power, size, weight, even color, but whoa… light gathering characteristics and paralex? Does the objective end at 50mm’s do it for you? I’ve got to have that 30mm tube, most of which are made in Europe and cost lots more. I can hunt all night with one of those but legally, you’ve got 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. However, it’s VERY important to be able to see horns and size or in a worst case scenario: “I see a large rooting dark object a few hundred yards away. Looks like a hog (I’m not Jewish – this might be good!) or is it a bear?” Unless you feel like donating lots of money to the State or losing your hunting privileges and replacing a bear, remember target identification (could be a test question somewhere).
Paralex – GOOGLE it and you’ll know more than I do. All I know is if you hold the scope perfectly still and move your head around, the cross hairs should move at a minimum on your target. More movement = more paralex = bad bullet placement.
Type of cross hair is a personal preference. Some have BDC’s (bullet drop compensators) calibrated for a particular caliber. Good luck with that. I’m getting off track, back to sighting in… It is imperative that the base and rings that hold your scope to the gun are secured and tightened. Big magnums might need some Loc-Tite.
Bore sighting the scope. Ideally, remove the bolt looking down an ‘empty’ barrel and align the sights with the target. Sand bag and place the gun in a padded vice. 1/1000th of an inch off is multiplied greatly at 100 yards. Or use one of the new bore sighter tools you slip into the barrel, dial the scope in, and save a lot of ammo. Another tool used is the laser bore sighter. Takes all the fun out. Just remember to remove the tool before shooting. With all this done, good rest, good ammo, clean barrel, bore sighted so at least you hit the paper at 25 yards.
Now pay attention: line of sight and bullet trajectory are two different things. One is straight, the other is the bullet. You will normally want the bullet strike an inch or so low at 25 yards, the reason is your scope is mounted higher than the barrel. Then the bullet takes an arcing path and you’ll want a strike of oh, two inches at 100 yards and it will begin to drop and be on at 200 yards. This is typical. Remember, I’m getting you in the ballgame with this information as there are five dozen different calibers and trajectories but this will get you close. Most scopes have ¼” clicks at 100 yards. That’s 16 clicks at 25 yards, 4 clicks at 100 yards. Too complicated? Want to save some ammo and your shoulder? Some big belted magnums are $5 a shot or more and I’m not plinkin with that! Try sand bagging or using the padded vice and shooting the rifle at a 25 yard target. Now without moving anything while you hold the cross hairs, have your buddy gently move the adjustment til the cross hairs are on the bullet strike. Two shots and you’re sighted in. Remember you want to be low at 25, 2” high at 100, and dead on at 200. As I write this, it’s 104 degrees outside and your barrel heats up if you shoot too fast. More factors to consider. Hope I’ve helped.
Sonny Harrington is a Hunter Safety Instructor. He is also an NRA (National Rifle Association) Rifle & Pistol Instructor and has hunted from Alaska to Mexico.
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