Inquisitus ignoramus maximus.

[Gunplummer]

This was real common when imported (Cheap) scopes hit the market years back. I remember some early Japanese imports doing this. Who knows where a scope or parts for it are made now? A lot of real complicated answers. Good thing you did not ask about open sights.

 

[hornetguy]

It's simple.

The arrows that point to "up" or "down" are telling you which way to turn the knob to change the point of impact of the bullet.
In order to change the point of impact "up", the crosshair has to go down.

Your confusion came from the idea that "up" or "down" was referring to the reticle, not the point of impact of the bullet.

Bottom line: The reticle will move in the opposite direction from the change in bullet point of impact.

 

[jimbob86]

The arrows that point to "up" or "down" are telling you which way to turn the knob to change the point of impact of the bullet.
In order to change the point of impact "up", the crosshair has to go down.

It's a whole lot simpler if you don't watch the reticle move when you make adjustments.

Shoot your group @100 yards on paper, aiming at whatever is your aiming point.

Most of the scopes I've seen move the reticle 1/4" @100 yards.....

The center of your group was 3" high and right? Move the scope 12 clicks in the "down" ( some of the cheaper scopes should be moved a few clicks past desired amount and then back, in the direction of the arrow- taking out backlash) and then 12 left ..... shoot again at the aiming point......

 

[jmstr]

There's been a lot of good 'sighting in' advice here already, regarding moving the POI to the POA by repeating the procedure of [shoot, identify hi/low and distance, adjust, repeat].

The only thing I have to offer from my experience is that I do a 3 shot group for each one of those.

I am NOT a good shot. As such, my breathing and trigger control are spotty.

One shot to use for measurement isn't always helpful. That could be one I 'pulled' without knowing it.

I take the average spot of the 3 shot 'mini-group', and then I adjust my scope.


The best way I've found to do this is with a 20-60 power spotting scope and a friend to identify where they are going. They watch on 50 or 60 power as to where my shots go and advise me after I finish my group of 3. I then adjust my 4 power scope [or my 8-24 on another rifle] to get closer to my desired poi.

The friend I go with is kind of new. I had a tough time convincing him that, yes, I wanted my POI to be about 1.5-2" ABOVE the centerpoint of the bullseye at 100 yards. He was trying to get me to hit it directly on the X marks the spot at 100 yards.

Finally he got the point I was going for, regarding 2" high at 100 yards being close to spot on at 200 yards with my .308 or .300 savage.

You can do it with the spotting scope while alone also, btw.

Just a thought.

And then, dial in that big old .44mag revolver at the same distances?

What rifle is this, btw?

 

[Pond James Pond]

What rifle is this, btw?

A CZ550 Varmint in .308 with a Burris XTR 312 scope and a Harris bipod.

I like it! Looks cool and makes me look like I know what I am doing: hence why I always make sure no one is around when I practice: why burst the bubble?!

 

[jmstr]

A CZ550 Varmint in .308 with a Burris XTR 312 scope and a Harris bipod.

Nice!

Do they regulate/block ownership of semi-auto rifles over there? Just curious.

If I can convince my wife that one more rifle would be just fine, I want to get a .308 bolt. I've got the Savage 99 in .308 [1957 model-no detachable magazine], as well as a Saiga and a Garand. Now time for a bolt and a pump!

I like the looks of the CZ, and the quality is well respected!

Have you been doing more long-gun fun lately? I remember a lot of questions on revolvers and semi-auto handguns last year [or was it the year before].

We all go through phases. I'm using my rifles more this past year also.

Enjoy!

 

[tomrkba]

Read the fine manual that came with the scope.

 

[45_auto]

It's POI vs POA.

What I would normally do is put my gun in the support, adjust it so that the reticle is on the X and then use the turrets to move the reticle toward the bullet hole. However, this usually means I am having to turn the turrets in the opposite direct to that which is written on the turret heads.

You need to reverse your thinking. Consider it to be moving the bullet hole to the crosshairs instead. The turrets are marked to move the POI but you're using them to move the POA.

Let's say I aim at the X of a target, for example, and then say the shots land upper right, 3" away, meaning that at 100yds, I'd need to move the cross-hair by 6 clicks (1.5 MOA) horizontally and 6 vertically.

What I would normally do is put my gun in the support, adjust it so that the reticle is on the X and then use the turrets to move the reticle toward the bullet hole. However, this usually means I am having to turn the turrets in the opposite direct to that which is written on the turret heads.

Per your own description above, "shots land upper right", your example shot was 3" high and 3" right. While looking through the scope, if you move the turrets 6 clicks in the marked DOWN and LEFT directions (directions you desire the bullet to move), the crosshairs will magically RISE 3" and move 3" RIGHT and be directly on top of your bullet hole. This is what you're seeing and why the turrets appear reversed to you. You're thinking the crosshairs have to move UP and RIGHT to the bullet hole, while the scope makers are thinking that the bullet hole has to move DOWN and LEFT to the crosshairs. It has to work that way, because of what you say below:

I want to use the turrets for distance adjustments rather than hold-over and the turrets are designed to be adjusted regular: big, with lots of graduations and dust-caps so meant to be used, rather than set and left.

Let's say you zeroed your scope at 100 yards. POI = POA at 100 yards.

Now you want to hit the bullseye at 1,000 yards. Let's say that your bullet needs to strike 3" high at 100 yards to be zeroed at 1,000 yards. If you turn your turret 6 clicks in the "UP" direction, as marked, it will raise your POI the required 3" at 100 yards. If you were looking through your scope as you did this, you would see the crosshairs move 3" DOWN (opposite the turret markings) on the 100 yard target. When you move the rifle itself to put the crosshairs 3" back up onto the bullseye, the POI will be the required 3" high.

Just remember to turn the knobs in the direction you desire the bullet strike to move, NOT the direction you desire the crosshairs to move. Bullet needs to move UP, for example to shoot at a longer range, then turn turret in UP direction.

Just like adjusting a marked front sight. If you're shooting low and want the POI to move UP, then turn the sight in the direction of the arrow. Physically the sight will move DOWN (opposite what the arrow says, just like scope crosshairs). However, the lower front sight will cause the POI to move UP.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/M16_front_sight_post_P1010030.JPG

 

[Pond James Pond]

Do they regulate/block ownership of semi-auto rifles over there? Just curious.

If I can convince my wife that one more rifle would be just fine, I want to get a .308 bolt. I've got the Savage 99 in .308 [1957 model-no detachable magazine], as well as a Saiga and a Garand. Now time for a bolt and a pump!

I like the looks of the CZ, and the quality is well respected!

Have you been doing more long-gun fun lately? I remember a lot of questions on revolvers and semi-auto handguns last year [or was it the year before].

We all go through phases. I'm using my rifles more this past year also.

Well, they sort of regulate everything in that I need a permit to buy any gun, even though I have already passed the exam and reviews to allow me to buy a gun.

Aside from that they do not regulate semis as they do in the UK. I could buy an AR, AK, Druganov, AR308 etc. The market is what really limits. For example, I quite like the Tavor or FS2000 bullpups, but no-one sells them and if they did if would be sell both my kidneys and one of my neighbour's to afford it. (Now that I think of it, make that two of my neightbour's and one of mine)

Another restriction is storage. I have reached storage limits for the safe I have. If I wanted to get more stuff, I either need to sell something or get a bigger safe. The latter is just not possible in my home and the former is not particularly appealing so no new guns for now. However, the semi and revolver phase is still going strong: is just an itch that I can't scratch...

 

[Pond James Pond]

It's POI vs POA.

...

You need to reverse your thinking. Consider it to be moving the bullet hole to the crosshairs instead. The turrets are marked to move the POI but you're using them to move the POA.

Faaaantastic description!! Thanks!

I do need to reverse my thinking and it is a bit tricky as, previously, it was all stuff I had difficulty in visualising: if I can picture something, I can understand it far more easily.

Yours and some of the previous posts have helped address that!