How to center scope on rifle

[Lucky Jim]

I have just added a Leupold 6.5X20 Scope With Leupold bases and rings to my Winchester Coyote .223. How do you get the scope centered on the rifle? I centered the cross hairs to my satisfaction, but when someone else looks through the scope they say the scope is not centered. How the heck can you get it positively centered? I do not have access to any specialized tools for doing this and I figure that one of you guys have any easy fix. If you do, I would appreciated any info.

[Peetmoss]

Do you mean bore sighted? If so and you don't have the 30 to 50 to buy one. Spend the 10 buxs and have it done at a gun shop this will get you on the paper and allow you to make the fine tune adustments. And the reason that it looks diffrent when someone else looks through it is because there head placement and angle is diffrent then yours.

[larryw]

Place gun in a cleaning caddy or vise so the gun is vertical (with flat top receivers you can use a bubble level) and clamp/tape secure. Aim at something that is vertical (door jamb, wall corner, etc) and confirm gun is still level. Line up vertical hair with vertical object and tighten screws. Confirm level. Remove screws one at a time and LokTite. Reconfirm level.

[markmcj]

Echoing part of the last post, set up your rifle so it stays put. Level off of the top base, mount the scope then level off of the top turret. The scope should be in line vertical and horizontal.
Another way that seems to work, is to hang a string and level the rifle again off the base of the mount. Then line up your vertical crosshair with the string.
Once you have done this, if the crosshairs seem to canted by someone else shouldering your rifle tell them they are not holding the rifle straight.:)

mark mcj

[hksigwalther]

Which Leupold base do you have? Dovetail/windage, dual dovetail, QR, QRW?

[Lucky Jim]

Thanks guys for all the info. My neighbor is a carpenter with lots of clamping devices so I took the rifle and scope over to his garage where he rigged up a clamp to hold the rifle. We leveled the rifle in the clamp using the front ring with the top half removed as a place for the level. We put the scope in the rings and placed the uppper ring halves on with the screws and tightened them slightly. We looked through the scope and found a place on the wall of his garage (about 30 feet away) and made a vertical and horizontal mark. We then looked through the scope again and turned it in the rings until it matched the marks on the wall. Looks good to me and him so I will give it a try. We also took the bolt out and looked through the barrel to the mark we had made and then adjusted the scope until it lined up, so I think this will, more or less, bore sight it. It is many miles to a gunsmith in my area so we mainly just have to make do with what we have.

[larryw]

Jim, if you boresighted to approximate zero at 10 yards, your POI will be about a foot high at 100 yards.

Regardless, the next step is to shoot at a target from sandbags and a bench; don't worry about where it strikes the paper (just as long as it does leave a hole you can see). After the shot, reposition the rifle on the bags so the crossharis are on the bullseye that you aimed at. Without moving the rifle, adjust the knobs to move the crosshair to the bullet's point of impact. Shoot again and you should be in the bull. That's called the two-shot zero.

[proudtobeamerican]

Larry that's a damn cool idea.......I have never heard of it.......but it sure sounds simple. :D

[hksigwalther]

Looks like you got it squared away Jim.