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View Poll Results: What did you think of the 8 steps to zero your rifle?
I learned something new 3 20.00%
Too much info for me 6 40.00%
I've got a better method and I posted it as a reply 6 40.00%
I prefer to use Kentucky Windage instead 0 0%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 15. You may not vote on this poll

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Old February 25, 2015, 01:12 AM   #1
MCARBO
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Zero your Rifle in 8 easy steps:

Zero your Rifle in 8 easy steps:

A zero is the alignment of the sights with the bore of the rifle so the bullet will impact on the target at the desired point of aim. When the aim, the sights, and the bore coincide on the same point, it is called the zero. There are two zero ranges, near and actual. These are the two locations that the bullet crosses the line of sight.

________________________________________
Step 1: Note your Zero Distance: 50 Meters
Firing ranges should have known distances marked by stakes, signs or lines on the ground. Be sure to note whether it is yards or meters. While the difference between yards and meters is relatively small, knowing it may save you some ammunition.

If you are using a range that is not marked, you'll have to pace, measure or laser range find the distance yourself.
________________________________________

Step 2: Fire 3 Round Group.
We are looking for a good tight shot group. Adjustments are made from an estimated center of the shot group.

With groups 1 & 2 we can easily determine the center of the group and make adjustments

Group 3 is a problem. You can adjust from this group, but unless the shooter tightens up, you could be zeroing for a while.

Some people like to fire a four or five round group in order to get a better approximation of where the center of the group is. That is a good technique but the target may become confusing very quickly if you don't mark your rounds well.
________________________________________

Step 3: Measure for Vertical Correction
Find the center of your shot
group and measure the vertical
distance to the horizontal
center line: For example 5 1/8 inches
________________________________________

Step 4: Measure for Horizontal Correction
Find the center of your shot
group and measure the horizontal
distance to the vertical
center line: For example 3 1/4 inches
________________________________________

MOA Defined:
A minute of angle (MOA) is an angular measurement equal to 1/60 of 1 degree of arc. Its size increases uniformly over the range, but its value stays the same. At 100 meters the true value of an MOA equals 1.14 inches this can be rounded down to just one inch; one MOA at 200 meters equals 2.29 inches but can be rounded down to 2 inches; and at 300 yards, three inches; and so on.
Thus a sight adjustment error of 2 inches at 100 yards becomes a 10 inch error at 500 yards and a 20 inch error at 1000 yards.

Step 5: Look up your inch or centimeter value for
your MOA/CLICK at your zero distance

MOA/Click 25 Meters 50 Meters 100 Meters 200 Meters
Inches CM Inches CM Inches CM Inches CM
1 Click .29 .73 .57 1.45 1.14 2.91 2.29 5.82


________________________________________

Step 6: Adjust elevation settings

Number of clicks of elevation = Measure of Vertical Correction Needed ÷ Inch or CM for your MOA/Click at your zero distance

Example: 5.125 ÷ .57 = 8.99 round to 9 clicks up.
________________________________________

Step 7: Adjust windage settings

Number of clicks of windage = Measure of Horizontal Correction Needed ÷ Inch or CM for your MOA/Click at your zero distance

Example: 3.25 ÷ .57 = 5.70 round up to 6 clicks to the left.

________________________________________

Step 8: Repeat steps 3-7 until your shot group coincides with your point of aim
Depending on your consistency you should be able to zero in 9 rounds.
3 shots to establish a reference point for adjustments.
3 shots to check the adjustment.
3 shots to confirm your zero.

Last edited by MCARBO; February 25, 2015 at 05:00 PM. Reason: text
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Old February 25, 2015, 12:36 PM   #2
F. Guffey
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It is assumed the rifle is accurate.

I built a rifle, I sent 6 boxes of ammo with 12 different loads of 10 rounds each. All I wanted to know was 'what did the rifle like?'. The answer was "Everything". The new owner shot one round then adjusted the point of impact to the point of aim. He thought there was room for improvement, he thought the trigger was a little tight.

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Old February 25, 2015, 12:43 PM   #3
Doyle
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WAAAAAY to many shots zero a scope. You should be able to do it in 4 shots. Try this method. It works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDNQ1P5M90k
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Old February 25, 2015, 03:35 PM   #4
jmr40
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Way too complex and time consuming for me. About 3 shots with a bolt rifle, 4 with anything else and I'm good at 100 yards.

I first bore sight at 50 yards. If I can't bore sight such as with a lever action etc., I just use a huge target backer so I can't miss.

Fire 1 shot at 50 yards. No need for groups, any rifle worth owning will put 3 in in one ragged hole at 50 yards anyway. Adjust scope, this should put you on paper at 100. No need to perfectly zero at 50, all you want is to be is close enough to be on paper at 100 for the next shot.

Fire shot #2 at 100 yards, adjust scope again. Once again groups are a waste of ammo. Any decent gun will be close to 1" groups at 100 yards and any other shots will be within 1/2" of the 1st shot.

The 3rd or maybe 4th shot is to fine tune the scope, I've never needed more than 3-4 shots and 5-10 minutes to have a scope dialed in at 100 yards.

At this point I'll start shooting groups, or move on to longer range and adjust zero as needed.
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Old February 25, 2015, 03:58 PM   #5
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Step 1 should always ensure that all screws (scope mount, action, etc.) are tight. You would not believe how many times I've seen people try to zero guns with loose scopes or sights that move every shot.....
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Old February 25, 2015, 04:54 PM   #6
Nathan
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Zero should be done in 4 shots.

Shot 1 at 25 yds.
Adjust to hit 0.5" below center.
Shot 2 at 100 yds.
Adjust to hit your 0 point.
Shot 3 confirm.

That is zero'd.

I usually shoot 5 more and adjust to center that group center to the ideal POI.

If you find math is not working, your optic, rifle or technique are no good.

Often times we get a great deal on an optic. If you shoot 20 rounds to 0 a gun, the optic is usually bad. With a rifle, you can track shot movement at 1 zero to see if it is wandering. It is a good idea to shoot 5 x 5 shot groups on paper and see where they go over 25 rounds.
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Old February 25, 2015, 05:02 PM   #7
MCARBO
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Thanks for the input everyone.

I appreciate the feedback..all good points, and I can agree its a bit too much. Effective but a long process.
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Old February 25, 2015, 06:25 PM   #8
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Apparently you or Potterfield never put a scope on a lever action. Good luck with 4 shots on them.
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Old February 25, 2015, 07:19 PM   #9
hooligan1
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I can usually get a three round group near center at 100 yds, in one shot at 50 yds, (with decent repeatable glass and decent ammo. Done it more than once.
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Old February 26, 2015, 06:19 AM   #10
Nathan
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Gunplumber: can't I get the first shot on a 14 x 14 sheet at 25 yards?
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Old February 28, 2015, 07:03 AM   #11
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You have no idea where the scope is at when putting a new one on. You really can not rough bore sight a rifle to a new scope on a rifle that you can not pull the bolt out of. If I was worried about expending a few extra rounds, I would look for a new hobby. I mean, what the heck are you at the range for?
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Old February 28, 2015, 07:56 AM   #12
RaySendero
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New (or new to me) scoped rifle:

Bore sight at 25yds
Shoot 2 shot group
Adjust toward 1/2" low

Shoot 2 shot group at 100 yds
Adjust toward 2" high

Shoot 2 shot group at 200 yds
Adjust to POA

Shoot 3 shot group to confirm:



Done in 9 shots - Mark scope turrets!

PS: Do not clean barrel till hunting season is over

Last edited by RaySendero; February 28, 2015 at 08:06 AM.
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Old February 28, 2015, 10:11 AM   #13
Nathan
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My point was a a scope only has about 60 MOA of adjustment on average. It can only be 30 moa off. New ones should be centered.

30 MOA is about 8" at 25 yards. So, in theory, any scope, with straight barrel and mount must be within 10" or so of the bullseye.

This is excluding long range scopes. 20 MOA mounts, etc...
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Old February 28, 2015, 10:50 AM   #14
kraigwy
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Gee, I never knew zeroing a rifle was so complicated.

But, what about those who aren't good marksman, or their rifle/ammo isn't that accurate.

You can still zero your rifle even if you shoot wash tub size groups.

Draw a line on the target, from 12 to 6 o'clock. Draw another line from 9 to 3, giving you 4 equal squares.

Us between 10 and 20 rounds. The more shots the more accurate the zero.

Shoot at the target then count the number of hits in each quarter. Adjust until you have the same amount of shots in each quarter.

Then you have an accurate zero. Many people, good shooters, thing they have a zero. I've seen this among target shooters. When I coached I would take the plotting sheets from the shooters data books and draw lines as above, showing them their zero isn't what they think it is.

You can get close with one, three or five rounds, but shoot 20 rounds or so and see if you have an equal number of shots in each quarter.

I would be willing to bet that few do.
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Last edited by kraigwy; February 28, 2015 at 10:59 AM.
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Old February 28, 2015, 04:47 PM   #15
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Nathan, With a new rifle (With removable bolt) and a new scope already centered (Yeah, right) and perfect mounts (Maybe) you might as well just laser bore sight it before firing. Unfortunately, many people want a used scope mounted with some kind of used junk rings that probably do not match the mounts that they also brought along. The method the OP mentioned sounds like a waste of time to me, but then that is why the majority of people go to the range anyway. Have at it.
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Old February 28, 2015, 05:21 PM   #16
Bart B.
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Quote:
When the aim, the sights, and the bore coincide on the same point, it is called the zero.
Sorry, but that's a bore sight; when the sight axis is parallel to the bore axis, or close enough that they appear to both point at the same place on the downrange target.

A zero is where the sights are set for a given range so bullets strike the point of aim. When that happens, the sight axis is not pointing at the same place the bore points. Nor is the bore pointing someplace above the aiming point equal to bullet drop plus sight height; close, but it varies according to how the rifle's held and fired. On centerfire handguns, the bore actually points below the point of aim when the round fires, then it swings up to shoot the bullet towards a point above the point of aim.
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Old February 28, 2015, 05:29 PM   #17
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I have to agree with that. I have a side mounted Carcano and it gets weird at different ranges.
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Old March 1, 2015, 07:34 AM   #18
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My method is similar to Larry Potterfield's, but for bolt-actions, usually skip the 50-yard point, using a larger target paper at 100 yards. After I get a shot on-paper, I clamp the rifle in "Sight-Vise" on the bench, aiming the scope reticle on the center, then moving the adjustments to coincide with the point I wish the bullets to strike at that distance, all the while checking to see if the reticle appears to move correctly with each adjustment.

That method helps to discover whether the scope adjustments are working properly. (I've found several that had scope rings over-tightened, affecting the proper zeroing.)

A few shots to confirm the zero and check group size finish the job.
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Old March 1, 2015, 10:40 AM   #19
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I mentioned the multi shot (20 plus rounds) zero above, but I'm going to add a better method to get a TRUE zero using the multi round theory.

Set out a target at 100 yards (or what ever range you wish to zero) land leave it out there.

The first thing in the morning take your rifle (which you think is zeroed and fire 5 shots. Then at noon, take 5 more shots. Again in the evening.

Leave the target alone. Do it again when its cloudy, and again when its bright.

After a couple days you should have a min. of 30 shots.

Now quarter your target again and count the shots per quarter. Adjust and do it again until you can get the equal number of shots per quarter.

You now have a proper zero for your rifle. This works on hunting rifles.

On target rifles you should have a data book that tells you what corrections you need for low or bright lights, and varying temps.

Few things are as critical as a well kept data book for each rifle you shoot.
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Old March 1, 2015, 11:21 AM   #20
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Another way to skin that criter

Well that does work very good,,, what I like to do with a bolt gun that I can look down the barrel,,, I like to sight in by setting the rifle up in sand bags, remove the bolt looking through the barrel I center the bulls eye in the barrel then look through the scope and use the adjustment knobs to center the cross hairs on the group. Then fire a shot or two and adjust from there that usually gets me sighted in with just a few shots.
bb
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Old March 1, 2015, 11:32 AM   #21
gbc123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbob86 View Post
Step 1 should always ensure that all screws (scope mount, action, etc.) are tight. You would not believe how many times I've seen people try to zero guns with loose scopes or sights that move every shot.....
I too have been guilty of this
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Old March 1, 2015, 11:41 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nathan View Post
Gunplumber: can't I get the first shot on a 14 x 14 sheet at 25 yards?
Had this with an ar recently, grab an old sign if you must. I've even lashed a rifle to a tree before then taken a shot at an embankment to see where the hell it was shooting.
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Old March 2, 2015, 03:56 PM   #23
MCARBO
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Thanks for all of the feedback everyone!

As we can all see there are plenty of methods out there to properly zero or sight in a rifle. Do you have another method that hasn't been mentioned yet? Go ahead and share your zero method here! Thanks for sharing
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Old March 2, 2015, 04:27 PM   #24
Bart B.
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Stand up and aim a hand held bore sighted rifle at some range then shoot one shot and call it. Adjust the sight to move bullet impact to call. Shoot one more shot, call it to verify; if you're not at least 90% sure that is close enough then make a tiny adjustment if needed. Easy to do with accurate rifle and ammo.
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Old March 2, 2015, 04:54 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart B. View Post
Stand up and aim a hand held bore sighted rifle at some range then shoot one shot and call it. Adjust the sight to move bullet impact to call. Shoot one more shot, call it to verify; if you're not at least 90% sure that is close enough then make a tiny adjustment if needed. Easy to do with accurate rifle and ammo.
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