Shooting/Sighting-in Tips

[Artwo]

After reading Waterfish's target tip post I thought it would be fun to list some shooting/sighting-in tips since rifle season is just around the corner, here's mine.

If you just put a scope on your rifle and you haven't had time to bore site it, or you've just fallen down and now your gun is off the paper here is a trick I was shown at a gun club by one of the old timers (this only works for bolt action rifles).

At twenty-five yards, set your rifle up on some sand bags so that it is secure without you having to hold it.

Pull the bolt out and site down through the barrel from the back.

While looking through the barrel adjust the rifle on the sand bags so the cross of the target is centered in the barel.

Then, without touching the rifle, look through the scope and see where your cross-hairs are at on the target.

From this point you can adjust your scope cross-hairs to the center of the target.

This will not completely sight in your scope but it will get you relatively close without having to shoot up a ton of shells to find out where your at.

[chummer]

Here is a 1 shot method to sighting your rifle. It requires a gun vise or something that will hold your rifle absolutely still, a 2nd pair of hands is also nice to have available.
First, have your rifle already bore sighted,
Next, at the 100 yard range, take your 1 shot at the bullseye of your target. You will note that you probably did not come very close to that bullseye.
Now the crucial part. mount your gun into the vise and move it around until your scope crosshairs are again centered on the bullseye (make sure your scope adjustment caps are already removed) Now, while holding the gun vise firmly in place, adjust the scope until the cross hairs are centered on the bullet hole you just made or 2" above the hole if you want to zero the rifle to 200 yards. This is where having a 2nd pair of hands comes in handy. Your rifle is now set. Important things to remember: that one shot should be from an already fouled barrel, not a clean barrel, Keep the gun absolutely still while making the adjustment.

[DAB]

Chummer's way of sighting in works good at 25 yards for bolt and non bolt action rifes when you have not had it bore sighted. glad to here that someone else knows this little trick.
Doing this at 25 yds only gets you close on paper at 100 yds.
DAB

[StickFish]

Used that method several times last weekend. Use it all the time on my own guns too.

Here is a reason for everyone to have a bore sight device. Not just to bore sight with mind you but to check things out.

Once you rifle is sighted in use you bore sight device to determine where the cross hairs fall on the gride scale. Record the coordinates on a small piece of paper and put that under one of your scope caps for safe keeping.

When you get to a hunting destination, pull out your bore sight device and make sure the cross hairs didn't move in transit.

People say $50 isn't worth it. Well how much is the trophy of a life time worth on a hunt you have waited for at least a year?

[wife&3kids]

I have to say, letting someone touch my gun at the range could have proven to be costly. I had some help sighting in my rifle this weekend. First I want to say, the people helping me were very helpful.

I brought my rifle in to be sighted and a "oldtimer" tightened the screw on my pre'64 model 70 270 that lies between the front screw on the reciever and the sling screw. This screw is normally taken out by model 70 owenrs if they have the screw there. My understanding is that not all model 70's had the screw there. Anyway it goes all the way into the barrel, not allowing it to be free floating. Well this guy cranks down ont his screw and tells me that my gun will be way more accurate by doing so. I am leary because my father is a gun expert and is always inspecting my guns. Anyway, I sight in and eventually hit three in the bull at 200, feeling pretty good about the sight in. I call my dad, tell him the story and he freaks out. He tells me that screw is supposed to be loose and in fact most model 70 owners take it out. [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]
He then goes on to tell me how he figured it out years ago. While sighting in, he tightened that same screw down on his rifle and sighted in with a hot barrel... When he shot it cold he was 9" high at 100 yds..... Lucky for me he told me because now i will have a chance to double check the sight in and I will shoot it cold once before saturday (though not in the hunting area).

Any body heard of this before?

[StickFish]

Besides tips here are a bunch of things that we see and check for every year at TCGC, I'm sorry if they appear obvious , but nothing should EVER be taken for granted with a rifle or the ocean.

Are you having a good day or a bad day? If its a bad day go mow the lawn or do something else don't go shooting.
Clean you rifle
Inspect it for broken parts or missing parts
Do not shoot discolored or obviously corroded ammo
Check for loose action screws (always tighten these before you adjust your scope)
Check for obstructions in your barrel
Check that you ammo matches the firearm
Make sure you have adequate eye relief for scoped rifles. Your eye brow is not for hiding scares :smile:
When was the last time you fired it, did you shoot it well, do you need to practise?
Do you know how to operate the safety
Clean the lenses of you scope
Check the carry strap connections are they frayed? While you're at it remove the strap for sight in unless you know how to use a rifle sling.
Make sure your shoulder is supporting the rifle during recoil
Shoot from several shooting positions
Do not let the rifle get too hot, let it rest and cool back down between strings
Make sure you have enough ammo, one box may not be enough.
Make sure they are all the same lot number
Buy high quality ammo, Green Box ammo on sale before hunting season - well I don't shoot it!
Finally sight in with the ammo you will actually use hunting. Do not mix bullet weights and manufactures together and expect anything beyond the obvious.

Now that you're ready to sight in that rifle head to a safe location where you know personally what will stop the bullet. Please do not rely on rock or trees for this.

From a solid rest shoot between 3 and 5 rounds (3 for Magnums, 5 for standard cartridges) if there is an obvious group and it isn't where you want it to be adjust your scop in one direction at a time. For instance if it shoots low right. Adjust the windage and shoot again and repeat until it is in the center. Do the same for the elevation. Unless you know your scope well DO NOT adjust them both at the same time unless you like to waste ammo.

Once you're satisfied, clean your rifle and put it in the same condition that you will hunt from. Let it cool off, then shoot one more group. The first round is the important one to watch since that is the one that will be shot at game. If you're still satisfied - clean your rifle again and put in either your transport condition or hunting condition. If they are different don't forget to change that before you hunt.

If you're not getting tight groups like you want consider your shooting technique before you decide that the ammo you have is worthless. Dry fire your rifle, are the cross hairs in the same place before and after you pull the trigger? They should be!

A great trigger pull excercise is to place a dime on top of your scope ring, dry fire the rifle. Is the dime still there? It should be

Is your bench technique sound? Are the cross hairs moving all over the target? Is the scope out of focus?

If the groups are still bad, try different brands of ammo. I always start with Federal Premium and only shoot controlled expansion bullets (Premium bullets like Nosler Partition/Accubond, Swift A-Frame/Scirocco, Trophy Bond Bear Claw). Hornady makes good factory ammo, Remington Safari Grade is good. There are some great custom loaders out there as well.

This is the short list - sorry of it seems long, but if you still not shooting at this point there are too many other theings to talk about. Send me a private message and we can go from there.

Good luck this year - EVERYONE

[OR 663 RD]

In past years I've been guilty of not practicing enough with my rifle before hunting season, and I paid for it with missed game. This year, I went out in the woods (not a range) and practiced shooting gallon milk jugs filled with water at various ranges and from various shooting positions - kneeling, sitting, leaning against a tree, etc... A milk jug is roughly the same size as the vitals on a deer, and when you hit it, you get instant feedback of exploding water letting you know what you did was right. I felt I got a lot out of this type of practice and I think it showed last Sunday when I nailed a buck at 150 yards with a perfect shot through both lungs. If you do this, just make sure you have a safe backstop behind your target at all times.

:smile: