My First Scoped Rifle

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dabluesguy

New member
Just picked up a beautiful used Ruger 10/22 Target with a mil-dot scope. Took it out to the range with some Mini-mag ammo that I had. Fired off 10 shots at 25 yards and the group was one jagged hole about the size of a quarter. The group was about 2 inches high and four inches to the right of the bullseye ring. I started to adjust the clicks on the scope, a few clicks at a time and ran out of ammo before it was completely dialed in, but it's close. Took a lot of clicks to get it moved left. My question is about "holding zero". I'm hoping this has nothing to do with the adjustment numbers on the scope because I'm far from zero on that. Do I need to start over and have it bore-sighted or what. This is all new to me, but this rifle is accurate so I'm happy about that. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
A scope "holds zero" if you can have it dialed in at a certain range, then remove it or transport the rifle, then put the scope back on the rifle and have it still be dialed in.

Bore sighting usually lets you adjust the scope to the zero point. You basically put a laser in your barrel, then you look through the scope and adjust the crosshairs until they align with the laser. The scope will "hold zero" if it can handle some bouncing around and still line back up with the laser.

That's the easiest way I know how to describe it in words, someone more knowledgable will come along soon enough.
 
"I started to adjust the clicks on the scope, a few clicks at a time..."

Sounds good to me. Keep on keeping on, but I don't see any point in shooting more than two or three shots for each time you adjust.

10/22s can be finicky about what sort of ammo works best for group size, so stay with what you've been using.
 
Assuming its 1/4 MOA clicks you would need 32 clicks up and and 64 clicks to the left, so don't be scared to click away. If its 1/8MOA adjustment like some, then just double those numbers.
 
When at the range, I fire a group from the benchrest with a hard rear bag, set and hold the rifle steady on the rests while looking through the scope with the crosshairs at the center of the target. Then, turn each of the turrets to bring the crosshairs to the center of group shot (or some other hold-off). I then fire another group to verify and/or fine-tune the zero. Adjustments, especially when the screws are turned counter-clockwise are moved beyond the center a few clicks, then returned. That checks how much slack there may be in the mechanism and puts the adjustments against the screw instead of relying on spring compression. (A Sweeney Site-Vise makes this job much easier/more accurate, but I don't always remember to take mine to the range. It really helped my bottom-line when mounting/sighting-in scopes for customers.)

This approach tells me: 1. That the adjustments are working properly; 2. That the adjustment range is adequate to zero the rifle. 3. If I count clicks, I can verify the accuracy of adjustments, compared with the advertised values.

I've found wide variations between advertised click values and actual adjustments. I've also found that arrows on cheap red-dots are actually backwards from the actual direction of movement. That fault is a nightmare for the novice!
 
Four inches in windage (side-to-side) adjustment at 25 yards equates to 16 inches at 100- typically 64 clicks "left" on a 1/4 moa adjustment scope.

That is a lot of windage adjustment, indicating that (assuming there is no problem with the optic) the mount/scope is not parallel to the bore. No problem as long as the scope holds zero. Make sure your mount/rings are tight and torqued to specs.
 
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