What do you use to sight your rifle ?

[Guest Appalachian]

I finally broke down and took the little .17 out yesterday to dial in teh scope, I got it very close but not perfect, every time my heart beats the gun moves so I'm think'n the old rolled up blanket on the truck hood just aint good enuf anymore.

FWIW I've tried the lead slead and its a little awkward but it could work but I'm curious what ya'll are use'n .

What say you ? any sugestions and why ?

[mikegideon]

I use a Caldwell Rock front rest and a Caldwell rear bag. I also have a Lead Sled DFT, but it's too big and heavy to carry around unless you need it to reduce recoil. It also helps to have a steady bench when you're sighting in. .17 HMR's are usually real accurate. I have a plain Marlin 917S, and it shoots a little under 1" groups at 100 yards.

I use the Rock because it's solid, and has decent elevation adjustment. I have a bunch of scoped rifles, and it's alwayes worked for me. There are a lot of options out there.

Caldwell Rock Front Shooting Rest - MidwayUSA

Caldwell Universal Deluxe Rear Shooting Rest Bag Nylon and Leather Filled - MidwayUSA

[Jonnin]

lock it in place, fire it once, center the crosshairs on the hole, repeat about 10 times. Being cheap, I just tie-wrap mine to something sturdy so it cannot move.

[DaveTN]

I got it very close but not perfect, every time my heart beats the gun moves so I'm think'n the old rolled up blanket on the truck hood just aint good enuf anymore.

How close? What size groups and at what distance? What model .17?

(I’m just curious why you think a heartbeat is moving the rifle)

I’ve been looking at the Caldwell rests. But right now I just use whatever is handy; usually a range bag.

[mikegideon]

lock it in place, fire it once, center the crosshairs on the hole, repeat about 10 times. Being cheap, I just tie-wrap mine to something sturdy so it cannot move.

You need to center your groups. Sometimes I'll use the trick of moving the crosshair to the bullet hole early on if it's way off. Once it's close, I'll do 3 shot groups and adjust the scope so the center of the group is at the point of aim. The bigger the groups, the more important it is.

[mikegideon]

I shot this group off a Rock. Varmint AR at 100 yrds. Not sure what caused the flyer (if it is a flyer). The gun wasn't quite broken in.

[Jonnin]

You need to center your groups. Sometimes I'll use the trick of moving the crosshair to the bullet hole early on if it's way off. Once it's close, I'll do 3 shot groups and adjust the scope so the center of the group is at the point of aim. The bigger the groups, the more important it is.

Right, the bullet hole is just to get started. When locked down, if the gun is not making tight groups, nothing you do with the scope is going to help much, but definately shoot several rounds to fine tune it.

[shaftbass]

Sandbags and a steady hand.

[Guest Jcochran88]

knock off version of the lead sled.

[Guest Appalachian]

The gun is a Savage 93 with a bull barrel, its shoot'n around a inch or less at a hundred yards but its hard to say becasue of the movement, I laid a box on the hood with a blanket folded on top of it and I propped up on teh side of the truck and held the grip of the rifle with my right hand.

Every time my heart beats it makes the gun jump just a little, just enuff to mess me up, so I think a good heavy cradle of sorts with a way to lock the gun in place mite be what I need, at least a couple good sand bags.

[Guest Grot]

I use a .50 cal ammo can with a hand towel folded on top of it for my .22s.

Its good enough for quarter size groups at 50 yards.

[Guest Rodslanger]

caldwell bags work great for me also.

[Guest FroggyOne2]

I use a sling.

[Guest TnRebel]

This is from a Marlin site I frequent and I think it is very helpful , I use this method.

Scope mounting, boresighting, and zeroing. (07-05-09)

« on: July 05, 2009, 12:23:13 PM »

Quote

I just did some scope switching and reworked the mount on my .35 Rem. Here are the pictures and a few thoughts. Maybe it will help someone who hasn't done one before.

It's easier if you can secure the rifle upright. You don't need a gun vise if you have some wood screw clamps or even a cobbled together wood block. I put a scrap of cloth on the clamp screw between the jaws to protect the bluing if the barrel slips while I'm tightening the clamp.

You can see some of the tools and supplies I like to use. The brake cleaner, canned air, and a pipe cleaner are used to clean out the scope mounting screw holes. They tend to collect crud and you want them clean for the threadlocker to work:

I prefer Locktite 222 - purple - because it provides ample locking but is easier to remove than the blue. Blue works fine, too. Just don't use red. Purple Locktite is available from well-stocked industrial suppliers like Grainger and from Midway. Here is the spec sheet:

http://www.midwayusa.com/midwayusa/StaticPages/pdf/instructions/Loctite_222.pdf

If you use a dovetail scope mount you'll insert the front ring in the base at 90 degrees off then rotate it to the correct position. Leupold sells a wrench to do that for around $18. I clamp a 1" hardwood dowel in the ring and use it to turn the ring until it lines up.

Screwing the base to the receiver is straightforward. The applicator on the Loctite bottle isn't a precision device so you'll need to shake the excess off the screw.

This is probably still more than you need on the screw:

This Leupold base is a three screw design. The aft screw is shorter. Whatever base you use, you'll need to check that none of the screws go far enough through the receiver to bind the bolt. If one does, either find a shorter screw (that size is hard to find outside of gunshops) or grind the tip of the screw off until it clears.

After you place the scope in the rings and lightly snug them, shoulder the rifle and move the scope fore and aft until the sight picture looks good to you. For Marlin 336s I've always found almost as far forward as the scope will go works best for me. Be sure the scope clears all obstacles, like the rear iron sight.

Now you need to rotate the scope until the reticle is level when the rifle is upright. You can eyeball it or use some aids. I put it back down in my clamps and nudge the rifle until the side of the receiver is vertical or plumb. I use a magnetic clamp-on inclinometer.

A torpedo level will work, too. Then I just eyeball the reticle as I rotate the scope to level the crossbar.

Tighten the rings evenly and move on to bore sighting. You can pay a shop to do it, buy a laser boresighter, or do it for free. Save your money for ammo. I usually do it at the range but this time I did it from the dining room.

Remove the bolt and if you are at the range, put the parts where you can't knock them off the bench. Ejectors are hard to find in the dirt

I hung a target on a piece of my wife's yard art about 25 yards out in the back yard. Farther is better, but 25 yards or so is far enough.

Set the rifle so that you can sight through the open bore (bore-sighting, get it?) and center the target. This is easier to do than to photograph. As you can see in the dining table picture above, I adjust the elevation by shimming the butt with coins instead of trying to reclamp.

Now without disturbing the rifle, adjust the windage and elevation until the scope reticle is centered on the target. You don't need to look at the adjustment dials; just turn them while looking through the scope and watch the reticle move.

Since I was doing this at a short range, I set the reticle about an inch above the center. Since this scope mounts with the centerline about an inch above the bore center, you can see that I've now aligned the scope and bore axes parallel. This is essentially what you would accomplish if you were using a much longer range.

Check that the target is still centered in the bore and you're done bore sighting. Now go to the range.

I start at the 50 yard range and use a 2 x 3 foot piece of kraft paper with a stick-on bull. That saves frustration by ensuring you'll be on paper. Shoot a round in your normal way from the bench - not from the makeshift gun vise. You'll be off some, since boresighting is not zeroing. Now put the rifle back in the vise and adjust it until the reticle is centered on the bull. What you now have is a rifle that is aimed to put a bullet in the hole you just shot. Without disturbing the rifle and looking through the scope, adjust the dials on the scope to move the reticle from the center of the target to the bullet hole. Now both the scope and the rifle are set up to put a hole where that bullet went. Take the rifle out of the vise and shoot at the center of the bull again and you should be much closer. Repeat the process until you can shoot a group centered at or just above the bull. Now you can move to a longer range and finish zeroing the rifle as you prefer (I set my .35 Rem to hit 3 inches high at 100 yards and it is almost right on ("zeroed") at 200 and only 3 inches low at about 240. See Chuck Hawks site for the concept of Maximum Point Blank Range.)

[mikegideon]

Nice piece!

A trick i use for scope leveing... I level the gun first, and then level the crosshairs on a wall corner that I know is plumb. I also use a wheeler fat wrench for all scope hardware. One of the best purchases I have made.

[mikegideon]

I use a sling.

You can also neuter a fly a 300 yards. Normal folks need a prop

[DaveS]

Very good information...Thank you!

[Guest Appalachian]

Great post and pics, thanx.