Zeroing in a scope not at a shooting range?

E

Everymanalion

Inactive
So I just picked up a new .22 and have been using iron sights my whole life and thought I would give a scope a chance so I dropped $100 bucks on one my friend said was decent and took it out into the field and shot HORRIBLY compared to iron sights, at 25-50 yards I missed 15 out of 15 shots on a 1x1 foot target with the scope, with the iron sights I hit 15 out of 15 times. I have never had my own actual gun with a scope on it, just other peoples so I have never had to zero in my own rifle scope...

Here comes the tricky part, I am currently NOWHERE near a shooting range that would have a set base to mount my rifle so it is unmoveable as I shoot so I can keep my reticle on the same spot as I adjust the windage and elevation, does anyone have any ways to zero in a scope on a semi auto .22 LR out in the field? ANY help is greatly appreciated....thank you.
 
Ok so you have a field you can do it in and want to get it done.

Why not just get a backpack you can use as a rest and shoot it prone or resting off a tree. For quick zero shoot 10 yards then 20 out to as far as you want to be zeroed. It isn't a bench and vice but there's no reason shy you cant do things with the bare minimum.

I guess as a total last resort if the irons are working fine you could rest it in pillows or sand bags and move the crosshairs up and down till they match. But I wouldn't trust that till shot in the field.
 
If you can find a high berm for a backstop (and there should be for safety), just put "something" on it...anything will work including a piece of white paper. It is more difficult with a semi as you can't sight down the bore with the bolt removed (which gets you very close), so I would center the windage and elevation on the scope if you have no idea where your shots were hitting or how close you were.

Take a shot and look for the splash (a spotter does help if you don't get much of a dust signature from the impact). Then just "walk" the shots onto the target. We do this at the 100 yd. range routinely with new rifles/optics, gets us on paper with just a few rounds.
 
I started doing things differently, & seems to work...

have a safe place to shoot, & put your target up... walk up to about 15 ft, & shoot... ( if you are not hitting your target at 15 ft, something is wrong ) at this distance, free standing is fine... move your shots to the bullseye ( it'll take a lot of clicks to move your shots at 15 ft, as most scopes are calibrated at 1/4" or so at 100 yards ) ( so for example... it may take 5-6 clicks to move the impact as little as a 1/4" at this distance )

after you can hit your dot at 15 ft, move to 30 ft & do it again...

then move to 50 ft ( at this point you may want to start resting your firearm on something... a tree, or back pack as suggested above )

continue to move back in 15 - 20 ft increments, until you are sighted in for the distance you are looking for...

BTW... insure that the bases & rings are tight, but not so tight as to crush the scope tube...

BTW #2... $100.00 is a cheap scope... there are scopes that will do what you need for that price, just saying, if this method doesn't get you on target, it may be your scope...

did you buy it new ??? what brand & model was it ??? there are some that are better than others in that price range, & some I wouldn't touch for free...
 
Setting up a scope for the first time can be a bit of a challenge, especially if the scope has come off another rifle. Scope adjustments that worked on another rifle mount probably won't be right for yours, especially with different mounts.

First thing I would do with a used scope that was probably on another rifle would be to get the adjustments back on dead center. Don't assume that if the turrets are on zero, that the scope is centered. Many scopes allow the turret caps to be loosened and moved so that the turret shows zero when you have adjusted the scope. Most scopes have multiple turns in adjustment that could mean that the turret was turned multiple times to get scope on target. If so, you may be way off center and not know it. Expensive scopes have markings on the barrel of the turret that show how far off center the settings are. If the scope doesn't have some indicator of where the center is (usually marked on the barrel of the turrets with some horizontal marks) you can still find the center. Turn one knob all the way to the stop in one direction. Then count the clicks to get it back to the other stop. To get to the center, turn the knob back 1/2 the number of clicks.
Repeat that for the other turret so you'll know you are centered for both the horizontal and vertical adjustment knobs.

Then start the process of trying to find the paper with the scope.
Since you didn't say where the bullets were hitting relative to your point of aim, it is impossible know if the bullets were hitting high or low or left or right or some combination of both.
Unless the scope reticle is 'blown', you probably are shooting pretty good groups that are hitting somewhere off paper.

You'll know if the scope is OK as soon as you get something on paper. At 25 yards, most ammo will shoot very well with a good scope. I expect match ammo to be just about in one hole at 25 yards. Even with junk ammo, you should be able to shoot under 1 inch with just about any ammo. My granddaughters were able to repeatedly shoot 10 round under 1 inch in their first session with bulk ammo after shooting a couple of groups.

It is possible that your scope mount isn't centered on the barrel. Some rifle receivers get drilled off center. It happens even to good rifles.
I have had rifles that had the receiver drilled so far off center that the scope used up almost all of the windage adjustment just to get on paper.
If that is the case with your rifle, check that you don't have a windage adjustable mount that was tightened off center. But If the receiver is actually drilled off center, you might be able to get back close to center with Burris Signature Zee rings that have the plastic inserts. If so, get a set of 20 MOA Burris inserts and set them to adjust windage, not vertical adjustment.
 
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I have a Marlin 60w that I am trying to do this on and I was thinking, just as a rough estimate to get me on paper at longer distances, could I attach a laser to the bottom of the barrel in an extremely crude way for further distances an just line the scope up with where the laser is hitting and then raise the reticle just a little above where the laser is hitting to compensate for the laser being directly under the barrel? I know, a crude way of bore sighting but I cant find a bore sighter locally that will work with my semi auto .22

I know it sounds like a lot of work but just an idea?
 
Use a dental mirror to look through the bore from the back, then adjust the scope to align at the same place 25 yards away where the barrel is pointing.

Worked fine on my Browning .22 semiauto. Hard part was putting a wood spacer in it to hold the bolt back.
 
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I hate to admit this but I have used a laser level to site a scope in at 25 yards. Quick and dirty and still requires a lot of adjustment.
 
If you used a laser it would point in the direction it was pointing and doesn't mean it is inline with the rifle.

An example.

I bought one of those laser bore sighters in 30-30 the kind that is shaped like a shell and shoots the laser through the barrel. The laser isn't centered so if I put the shell in one way and the gun is in a vise I can eject the laser and put it in again and it won't mark in the same place. The $30 I spent on the gadget would have been better spent on ammo.
 
zero in 10 minutes

Steal your wife's ironing board; or buy her a new one and confiscate the old one.
Works great (adjustable height) with an arm-less camp chair or paint bucket, and sand bags or day-pack.
Start at 25 yds, and work your way out. I have zeroed countless guns without a trip to the range (rangefinder optional) just walk it off. :D
 
Here is a quick and dirty way to bore sight a new scope.

After centering the reticle, mounting the scope and double checking proper torque on all the screws . . . .

I set the rifle (minus the bolt) in a rifle vise, looking out the window at a knurl on a tree about 50 yards away. Sight through the bore to get the target centered in the bore. Now, making sure not to move the rifle, center the reticle on the same target and then adjust the reticle down (i.e., adjustment "UP") about 8 inches.

This should put you on paper.

Try to use a window where none of the neighbors will be looking in.
 
Many years ago when I lived in Nevada, there were lots of places to shoot but no public ranges. I just found a place with a reasonable backstop and rested off the hood of my truck using a home made sandbag. Dunno what range you want to sight in at but do your first shots at maybe 10 feet to get your shots generally centered, then move out to 25 yards or as I did 25 long paces and do the final sighting in there. I like to sight in about 1" high at 25 yards with a .22 which puts you close at 50 yards but just a tad low. With a bit of practice you can learn to pop off ground squirrels (pocket gophers to be exact) out past 100 yards. These days I have at least three public ranges I can use so no longer sight in out in the boonies.
Paul B.
 
Just curious since you have two threads about scopes going.
One about a $100 scope and the other about a $15 one.
One that's a semi and the other a marlin model 60.

Are you having trouble with two rifles? Kind of sounds like one.
 
If the iron sights are sighted in...aim them at a target while using a solid rest, and bore sight the scope that way.
 
If you have a card table, "workmate" table, etc., and a

wooden "jorgenson" parallel clamp, then you can sight in from any window in your residence.

Set the table is room away from window, locate a roof peak, chimney brick, etc.

place clamp on fore-stock to elevate the barrel, with stock toe rest on table surface.
Sight thru barrel ( remove bolt) on above noted "target" and then look through the scope, adjust cross hairs to zero windage (move left or right) and move elevation to bring cross hair above the "zero". this allow the impacts to be higher at actual firing range target and should be within an 1" side to side.
 
Buy or borrow one of the Leupold magnetic cross hair zeroing tools. It fits tightly on the crown of the barrel thanks to a powerful magnet and allows you to look through the scope at a grid with a set of centered cross hairs. You adjust the scope to the grid and bang zoom, you are always on paper -- auto or bolt gun, all calibers. Then you do the fine adjustments to tighten the pattern while shooting the bull on paper at the range you plan to shoot.

Just don't ask me how it works. It does.

Oneb
 
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