Scope Adjustment and Zeroing

[safetyfirst]

OMG!! my brain has just imploded I can only hope that one day I might understand the meaning of all your data

just read the first few replies, the rest you can take or leave for some years to come!

Watch the video too :) that’ll do it.

[snayperskaya]

You are not going crazy/being daft, the adjustments on most scopes/red-dots/sights reference moving the point of impact to where you want it, but some do the opposite and reference moving the crosshairs/dot/blade TO the POI, its GREAT fun trying to work out WTF is happening when (if!) you realise you have one of those(!)

Belarusian POSP and Russian military scopes such as the PSO-1 move the reticle rather than the image and are very easy to zero.

Yeah IF you know thats how they're set up!!

Perhaps I'm missing something but that seems easy to work out how a particular scope is set up, to me it is anyway.

[1066]

Madhatter - You really don't want to worry about the technicalities too much yet. When you get your own rifle, then it's time to choose a scope, depending on what you want to do. Bearing in mind that a mid priced scope for F-TR will be around £1000 you don't want to jump in with both feet.


You will have enough to worry about later - Mil or MOA, Tube diameter, will you have enough available elevation to get you from 100 yards to 1,000? Will you need an angled scope rail? You may have enough elevation for a 7mm or 6.5-284 but not enough for a .308.


I would try to have a go at some of the other shooters rifles where you are now - anyone shooting regularly with their own rifle and scope at 25 yards should have a scope that focuses down to the distance - loads of cost effective scopes in the Hawke range:
https://uk.hawkeoptics.com/

I use a fairly fool proof method when I'm shooting long range. I have a set of custom made "feeler gauges" for 100, 600, 1000yds and zero windage. They just slot between the turret and the scope body to re-assure me I've not done anything stupid before I fire the first shot.

[Madhatter]

1066 thanks for getting my feet back on firm ground, its too easy for me to set off running before I have even got my shoes on, been the same all my life, I need steadying some times

[1066]

1066 thanks for getting my feet back on firm ground, its too easy for me to set off running before I have even got my shoes on, been the same all my life, I need steadying some times

We all had to go through the learning process: Here's a little video of me shooting 1000yds at Bisley a couple of weeks ago. - Just a club bang but a good way to spend a sunny day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f6usQ1_E6Y

[Madhatter]

Great weather, great range and excellent shooting thanks for sharing

[Blackstuff]

Yeah IF you know thats how they're set up!!

Perhaps I'm missing something but that seems easy to work out how a particular scope is set up, to me it is anyway.

To use an analogy; its like getting in a car and turning the wheel one way but the car turns the other! A bit of a surprise at first and then you have to continually fight the urge to make adjustments the way you have been taught to make them and the way they are normally made. If all your scopes are set up the same way then you probably don't notice but when you have a mixture, as i used to, it was a ballache.

[ovenpaa]

Something else to consider is magnification range as well as light gathering qualities of your chosen 'scope and more magnification is not always better. Many years ago I was shooting an Open competition, zoomed right in and promptly put my first sighter on the wrong target because I could not see the number under the frame, oops!. So after my last shot I dialled down the magnification and moved back to the next distance only to think crikey, they are using airgun targets because I had forgotten to zoom in again. These days I personally shoot below 20x a lot of the time even though we have fitted 80x 'scopes to customer rifles in the past.

[Maggot]

Probably your best move mate would be to shoot at a small point of aim (like few black patches, approx 1" accross) on a white background (NRA screens are ideal at 100, or better still go to the zero range and use a piece of A4 and a patch).

Anywhere you can see the fall of shot and guarantee hitting the screen is ideal. Then walk the shots towards the point of aim using the turrets.

This way you will know for certain which way they go and get a half decent wind zero at the same time. I would use 100 ideally as the closer you are, the smaller the increments are.

MOA (Minutes of angle) are approx 1 inch at 100yards, 2inch at 200 and so on. Usually they adjust in Quarter, Eighth, ore even half MOA per click but quarter is fairly standard. So at 100, one click should move your MPI quarter of an inch or there abouts.

There are then loads of ways you can use to remember this, paint pens, tape, the unscrewing and screwing in a screw/tap analogy, people use all sorts. The arrows on the turrets are all well and good, but many are on the flat faces which make them difficult to see unless you totally break position.

Another trick people forget is bore sighting. We used it on all sorts to get you on the target. Very easy, you will like it.

Simply clamp your rifle down with the bold out and sight down the bore at a small item 100-200 yards distant, getting it in the centre of the bore.

Then adjust the scope until the ret lines up with the object and cropss check that both match. Its rough, but it will get you on the paper safely out to 100 although I have seen it used much further.

You could also do this to confirm which way your turrets adjust. Move the turrets and put them on the target, look down the bore to see where the barrel is pointing

Loads of tricks bud, you just need to find what works for you. I manage so there is hope for us all

[Maggot]

Something else to consider is magnification range as well as light gathering qualities of your chosen 'scope and more magnification is not always better. Many years ago I was shooting an Open competition, zoomed right in and promptly put my first sighter on the wrong target because I could not see the number under the frame, oops!. So after my last shot I dialled down the magnification and moved back to the next distance only to think crikey, they are using airgun targets because I had forgotten to zoom in again. These days I personally shoot below 20x a lot of the time even though we have fitted 80x 'scopes to customer rifles in the past.

Reminds me of an incident in the Imperial a few years back when I was wing marker.

The firer was in PO class so could use a hubble telescope rather then the 4.bowl or less in SO class. He was given a 9/wash implying he has missed a shot but put the rest in the 5 ring.

Normally, if you dont have a tosser on their phone doing the marking the markers count the rounds into the target so they know damned well how many hit, and it is not uncommon to get a decent shot put 2 rounds though a distorted hole, so I challenged it.

"Nope, deffo a 9/wash, we counted them in"

The answer took me back a bit, "But I dont miss". I gritted my teeth again and challenged again.....

"Look Maggot, we have all had a look and only counted 9 on....but target "X" has 11 on it"...Oh dear

Well I already suspected some cheatery going on with butt contact so it took me great pleasure to announce the following;

"OK chap, understood, you dont miss. We have some of the most experianced CSR markers in the UK on yoru target but it looks like you shot all the right rounds, but not neccessarily on the right target. We have got one of the few distinguished riflemen outside of the US who has done the same thing today so you are in good company" and I wandered off chuckling to myself.

Peter C once scored a 15/1 which is some feat with 10 rounds. 5 were mine (long story but we were all at it and my safety could not work out which was my target either) so god knows who's the 16th was. Peter C just thought it was funny "I get a 10/wash regardless he muttered". razz They changed the brief the next year...thank god clapclap