Scope zeroing for dummies

M

mpstan

New member
Was out at the range yesterday by ourselves (no parking; 1.5 ft of snow, etc) trying out two Christmas rifles. My boys had fun but we were confused about windage/elevation adjustments at 25 yds.

I've found tons of instructions online on how to adjust turrets that contradict themselves. So let me ask you........

At 25 yards, holding crosshairs on bullseye, I get a 3 shot group that is 3 inches too high and 1 inch to the right.

What windage/elevation adjustments would you make to put the bullet on the bullseye on the very next shot? Tell me how many clicks and in what direction for each turret please....... I'm looking forward to seeing this....

Thanks!
 
You need to raise elevation and correct right for windage. Exact adjustments depend on what scope you're using.

POA.jpg


This article gives a brief explanation of what you're experiencing
 
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Quote: "At 25 yards, holding crosshairs on bullseye, I get a 3 shot group that is 3 inches too high and 1 inch to the right."

You need to turn the Elevation adjustment DOWN and the Horizontal adjustment LEFT to get the shots into the bullseye. Your error comes in demanding to do it with just one adjustment. Not possible, since a) we don't know the click adjustments of your scope and b) the actual adjustments frequently don't match quoted specs.

My simple way: Turn the adjustment dials 10 clicks in the direction necessary, fire another 2 shots, and see how much the point of impact moved. Now you can calculate how much further to turn the dials to move shots to bullseye. Generally I like to use the naval gunfire method of bracketing target by over adjusting and then computing the correct number of clicks back to hit bullseye.
 
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LHB1,

Sorry for not including the information for my scope that 1 click equals 1/4 inch at 100 yards.

Thanks for your concrete answer that gets around that: adjusting Down three inches and left one inch.

Problem is I don't think that's working for me; right now that is the opposite of what I think the correct directions are. It was cold and we weren't shooting well and we quit early but it seemed that successive shots were moving in the wrong direction when doing it your way.

I have researched this heavily and found several references that suggested I need to make turret adjustment FROM THE BULLSEYE TO THE GROUP THAT WAS SHOT, not an adjustment from THE GROUP TO THE TARGET.

So I was pretty sure I had this figured out, that the proper way in my example would have been adjust one inch to the right and three inches UP; just the opposite of what you just said. (16 clicks right and 48 clicks up)

So I'm still confused. I will go to the range and figure this out when we are more relaxed, but I don't think I'm the only one confused.

Thanks
 
There is much confusion swirling here. You are correct about "chasing" the group with your scope adjustments.
 
Most (but not all) scopes have 1/4 MOA adjustments. 1 minute of angle (MOA) equals roughly 1" at 100 yards (or 1/4" at 25). That means that at 100yds it takes 4 clicks to move the scope 1 inch. 25yds is 1/4 of 100yds so you would multiply the number of clicks to move the POI 1" by 4. In other words 16 clicks for 1" of movement at 25yds. So unless you have a fine target scope (1/8 MOA adjustments) or one of the rare oddball 1/3 or 1/5 MOA scopes you're probably good to go with 16 to the inch. As far as direction there are up and down and right and left arrows on your scope turrets - go by those. There is no trick to it, if your group is 3" too high then dial "down" 3 x 16 or 48 clicks.

BTW an Appleseed event would be a great place for you and the kids to learn a lot more about this and instruction is cheap for you and free for kids. It's also a ton of fun! :D
 
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KUHIO,

Could we get back to my example with a one click equals 1/4 inch at 100yd scope?

Are you saying Adust up 3 inches and left one inch (Up 48, left 16)?

That's funny because at times we were wondering if the windage/elevation turrets were acting opposite.

This guy says adjust from the bullseye to the group (Up 48 clicks, Right 16 clicks in my example). http://www.expertvillage.com/video/163052_zero-rifle-scope.htm

Is he all wet? See my confusion?
 
Thanks Sholling

That's what I first thought but now I'm thinking the guy on the video has it right, and KUHIO seems to be agreeing.....I need to "chase" the group..... I have no problem with the math and the number of clicks per inch at 25 yards; it is the direction of movement that's catching me up.....

What's frustrating is that there IS confusion swirling, even in this thread, among people whom I am sure know a lot more than I do who are basically saying they do it exactly the opposite from another....

Other thoughts?
 
Reference: http://www.abousainc.com/SightIn.htm
"Making windage and elevation adjustments
The elevation knob is marked "UP" with an arrow indicating the direction to turn the knob to move the point of impact up on the target. The windage knob is marked "R" with a similar arrow indicating the direction to move point of impact to the right. "
 
Keep in mind that different scope manufacturers mark/build their scopes differently.

Sounds as if sholing has it peg, however, I suggest that you WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU DO to each of the turrets. How many "clicks", and which direction (clockwise or counter clockwise).

That way, when you shoot your next group, if it is now twice as far off, you know you went the wrong way, then fix it.

Also keep in mind that the inches per click on most scopes are not as precise as stated on the scope and manuals. So, once you start talking greater than about 40 clicks. Try half that many, MAKING SURE TO WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO, then you can recalculate from there.

Good luck ;)
 
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