Easy mounting and zeroing a rifle scope

[SmokeyBravo307]

Ok just want some opinions and I'll always take advice but it's up to me if I apply it ofcourse. I just read an article in a magazine I'm sure many of you get as well from "shooting illustrated" about the easiest way to mount and zero a rifle scope and sight it in. I would like to hear some opinions and tips/pointers from some of you guys or gals. I always appreciate new ideas and tricks from people that know more or have more experience than myself. If you have or know something special please share it with us!!!
Thanks Everyone

[FrankenMauser]

I haven't seen the article, but my preferred method for quality scopes is my own version of the "Two Shot Zero". --Though, I'm usually doing the holding and the adjusting.
For cheaper scopes, more fiddling and groups of three to five shots are often required.

For mounting, my only word of generalized advice is: Don't over-tighten anything - especially the rings over the scope tube. Get it snug - hopefully to manufacturer's specification - but don't 'smoke em down'. That just breaks stuff.

[stinkeypete]

This is really not something I am proud of, but it works for me when mounting a new scope on a contender barrel or bolt rifle, to get it roughed in-

Put a dot on a wall about 15 feet from your muzzle. Eyeball through your barrel until the dot is centered. Without moving the barrel, set the scope to the dot. Check your work.

It sure isn’t fancy, but it gets me on the paper. Then do the range work. Being very Far from zero, it always takes me a lot more than 2 shots.

[pete2]

What number 3 said. This should get you on the paper. Semi or lever, attach the scope, fire first shot or 2 at close range, adjust the scope then back off to 50 and adjust the scope. It's all pretty easy. I don't own a bore sighter and never will.

[Don Fischer]

This is about what I used to do. Problem is my eye's aren't so good anymore And had trouble with the last one. I used to start at about ten feet. Zero once and then reset. To reset you would again get the scope right on the dot and then move to cross wire's to the bullet hole. This would be simpler with a vice to hold the rifle. After moving the cross wier's to the hole, take one shot at 100yds. You should be on the paper. do the same thing you did at 20yds and after that it's just fine tuning.

[SmokeyBravo307]

I'm going to have to try the two shot system I've never tried that before. I have used the looking down the barrel method and that works just fine. I just wanted to get some opinions or new ideas that's why I like this forum!!! Thanks guys!!!

[PlatinumCore16]

So looking down the bore works well, as long as you can. I just sighted in my new scope on my CETME this weekend and it went something like this:
1. Several shots at the center of a 1ftx2ft board at 25yds; couldn't see hits.
2. Started shooting at the corners of the aforementioned board; still nothing.
3. Shot at the 100yd target; plume of dust about 15ft right and 5ft up on the berm. Ah, well that is a problem.
4. Gross adjustments to the scope while taking about 3-4 shots to get the dust plumes almost on the 100yd target.
5. Shot at the 25 yd target; bullet holes nice and clear. 1 shot > small adjust > wait for a few minutes > another shot > another adjust > etc. UNTIL bullet holes were touching on the bullseye
6. Shot at the 100yd target, group of 5.
And that's about when I ran out of time. Definitely only saw 4 holes on that group, so I'm assuming I pulled the last one. All shooting was done from a bench, but it wasn't sand bagged, just sitting on a carpeted block. Gonna use the sand bags next time and get a good, solid, base. I also need to get the trigger worked on for this guy so that I can take out one more variable. It's not terrible, the CETME I had prior to this one was worse, but it could definitely be better.

[T. O'Heir]

"...dot on a wall about 15 feet from your muzzle..." A street lamp roughly 100 yards from the bench, if you can, works better. Easier to see through the bore for one. A bore sighter is best. It's not only bore sights, but also ensures the cross hairs are 100% vertical.
The most important part of scope mounting is having a good solid bench with a 4" padded vise. And having the correct hand tools(as in screwdrivers of the right size. They do not have to be one of the over priced "gunsmith's" sets.) and the correct bases and rings.
Tighten the screws one at a time but alternately front and rear. Similar to tightening your car's tires.

[mellow_c]

This may not be "easy" and it's more about mounting a scope than sighting in, but I thought it would be worth sharing. This is a copy paste from a post I recently typed up for a different thread. It was specifically for mounting a scope to an AR type rifle but it applies just the same to any rifle as long as you can find a true and flat surface on the rifle for the buble level. There is a follow up post that i typed up after this one that I will post next as well. Hope it helps!

Take your time on the installation. Reeeeeally feel it out to make sure you have your scope set the proper distance away from your eye based on where you like the stock set and what magnification you plan to use the most, as eye relief changes depending on if you are at minimum or maximum zoom.

Do your best to level the scope. Find a place in your home where you can set the upper on a solid yet easily adjustable Surface. Something as simple as a large upside down trash can. Then find some sort of accurate and very small bubble level that you can set on the upper receiver while installing the scope and base. Make sure the upper is perfectly level (use magazines or other thin things to put under one side or the other of whatever you have the upper sitting on to adjust the level) then at the other end of the room/hall or whatever, have an easily visible string hanging with a bit of a weight at the end. Wait for it to stop swinging completely, make sure there aren't any air vents blowing on it. Then line up the upper and scope with the string (keeping the upper level and making adjustments as needed).
Keep the scope where you want it for eye relief, a bit of tape can help you mark the right spot so if it slides back and forth you can always get it back to where you want it. And then twist the scope in the loosely and evenly tightened rings until the cross hairs of the reticle are in perfect vertical alignment with the string. Eventually start evenly tightening the rings, all while checking to see that the upper remains level and the reticle remains level with the string until you have reached the proper torque.

Finding a good, small, accurate bubble level that actually works for this took a bit of searching on my end. There are cheap little plastic ones that are like just the little vile or cylinder holding the liquid, and in theory they would be about perfect, but i found them to be inconsistent and uneven in their reading depending on which side it was resting on or whatever. If you want or need something like that just let me know and i can look up exactly what i ended up with, and I'm very happy with it.

It's a process for sure, but the end result is a perfectly level scope set just right for you.

I used to just eyeball alignment when installing scopes only to notice later i didn't do as well as i thought i did.

Then of course, take your time sighting in. Make sure to be consistent with each trigger pull, don't flinch, use good bags or a sturdy rest, and just do everything you possibly can to take out any kind of human error from the equation.

Once your done, you'll know what kind of groups your rifle and ammo are really capable of, and then going forward you can have confidence that the set up is solid and dialed in, with an idea of what it is really capable of. Then you can just enjoy shooting it knowing that if you do your part, you ARE going to hit what your aiming at.

A lot of people don't take the time to set up the rifle and scope properly, and then they rush the process of sighting it in, and then they ultimately wonder why they can't shoot better than softball sized groups at 100 yards with their nice expensive gear.

I mean really, it doesn't have to be perfect, but if your striving for accuracy, every little bit helps. Some people just pay someone else to mount the scope for them, which is usually fine and often times might be their best option. But i prefer to take the time to do it myself so that i KNOW it was done right.

[mellow_c]

Here is a link to the level i use.

http://www.ctkprecision.com/all-purpose-gun-level.aspx

You have to make sure you use it on the upper receiver, not the handguard as the handguard may not be in perfect alignment with the upper receiver. The upper receiver is what you need to keep level while adjusting your scope to bring the croshairs of the scope in to perfect alignment with the string that is hanging and which is already perfectly level due to gravity. And if you use this one, take your time with it, make sure you keep it flat, because since it is kind of long, and can have tension on it if you use the elastic band, it can be easy for it to lean one way or the other. The tool is good though because it is perfectly flat and true and it is also thin so it can fit well under and behind or in front of a scope where there might not be much rail space left to rest it on because of the scope mount taking up a lot of the surface area.

When setting eye relief, you want to be in a natural shooting position, not stretching your neck out towards the scope or anything like that.
If you put your eye too close to the scope you will see the image through the scope but there will also be a black ring or dead zone that you see surounding the image. You don't want to be seeing that. But as you pull your eye away from the scope that black ring will shrink so that all you see is the image through the scope, and if you keep getting further away you will start to see less and less of the edges of the image shrinking your field of view. So the key is to set the scope at a distance where you don't see the black ring, but you do see the full image when you are in a natural position on the rifle with the stock adjusted to your prefered length and also at the magnification setting that you plan to use most.

I think a lot of people set up their scopes for proper eye relief at max zoom. I set mine for proper eye relief at minimum zoom and then if i use maximum zoom i adjust my position on the rifle or the rifle its self to give me proper eye relief, because i figure if I'm using max zoom i will be taking a bit of extra time to make the shot, and in theory, i could use that time to make adjustments to the position of my body or the rifle to acquire proper eye relief.
Others might argue that you should have it the other way around so you are in a more natural position when at max zoom so you are more relaxed and able to make an accurate shot. But i feel like i would prefer to have the full field of view in my natural shooting position to be at minimum zoom to aid in quicker target acquisition for closer or moving targets when in a standing or unsupported position.
Also, by increasing zoom, eye relief is reduced requiring your eye to be closer to the scope, and i feel like it is easier to lean in to the scope for a long shot than it is to lean away from the scope for a close shot. Also, your head tends to be more forward on the rifle when sitting at a bench or in a prone position which is when you would probably be using more magnification, and your head is further back or more upright when standing and holding a rifle so that your eye is likely further away from the scope when you would be more likely to have it on a minimum magnification setting for unsupported or close range shots.

All that is why i like to set my scopes for proper eye relief at minimum zoom with myself in a natural "fighting stance" standing position.

Hope that helps

[std7mag]

Contrary to T.O. i set my scope up with a set of levels.
Use a Fat Wrench to tighten screws to 20 lbin. Using purple Loctite on screws and some rosin between scope body and rings.
Bore sighting done at the range. 1" orange dot at 25 yards. Just remember when doing this scope adjustment is reversed. Your taking the scope to the bore, not moving bullet impact. Hence down is up, right is left.

[SmokeyBravo307]

Tons more information than I thought I would receive!!!
Thank you everyone and I'm going to try to use a of these so I can hopefully help someone else!!!
T. O'Heir I really appreciate how many posts you reply to that takes a lot of time!!! Hats off to you and happy shooting sir!!!!!

[4V50 Gary]

I've done the same as #3. Bore sight it and then adjust the scope. Then I go to 25 yards and fire a few shots. Adjust the scope and then try again at 100 yards.

[sundog]

Wheeler Engineering level-level-level and fat wrench. Pay attention to aluminum or steel screws for torque specs.

The two shot zero works very well.