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Many factors come into play when properly sighting in a rifle
When one decides to get old Betsy ready for deer or bear season there are a few things to keep in mind.
First and most important is that sighting a rifle in is not a test of individuals shooting ability but instead a process of getting the firearm to hit where it is aimed.
That means one needs to shoot the gun from steadiest rest possible.
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A local sportsmen's club is the best place to do the sight-in job.
Most clubs have shooting ranges with solid bench rests. If no range is available one can improvise with a card table or ironing board and a folding chair.
Of course all shooting should be done in a safe direction and with a good backstop.
One common mistake is resting the forearm of the rifle on a hard object when shooting. Sandbags are ideal shooting rests and even homemade one perform as well as those purchased from stores. Shotbags filled with sand work well and can be gotten from any shotshell reloader.
Another no-no is resting the barrel of the rifle on the bags. This will in many occasions cause the rifle to shoot high.
Line up the scope on the center of the target and carefully squeeze the trigger.
Hopefully there will be a hole somewhere in the paper. If not, it's time to move the target closer.
Remember if the bullet passes 10 inches to the right and misses the paper, it will be only five inches to the right at 50 yards.
You need to hit the target to see which way to adjust the sights and keep in mind that an inch adjustment at 100 yards is only a half inch at 50 yards.
Every scope has windage and elevation adjustments some are a quarter minute and some a half minute.
Remember one minute of angle is one inch at 100 yards or close enough to it not to be of importance.
So if the scope has half-inch adjustments, we move the elevation knob down four clicks and the windage six clicks to the right.
This should move the point of impact two inches high and above the bulls-eye for an ideal sight-in.
Remember the arrows under the adjustment caps indicate which way the point of impact is moved when turning them. Seldom does a sight-in work as smooth as the one I described above.
Seldom does the rifle place all its shots within a half inch.
When shots group about an inch, take the center of the group as the point of impact. Certainly after the shooter has his rifle hitting where he wants, he should fire more than one shot.
That one shot could be a fluke for all of us may wobble one in now and then.
You want it right and it takes more than a couple of shots to be certain.
A problem faced when sighting in is what is called lag in the scope adjustments.
Many scopes have lag and what happens is the shooter makes adjustments and the internal workings of the scope do not move until the next shot is fired.
Then the recoil moves the adjustments.
In other words, don't trust the first shot after any adjustments.
I hit the buttstock of the rifle trying to imitate recoil after any adjustment.
Don't hit the scope.
Recently, I watched as a shooter ran out of scope adjustments before he could get his outfit hitting where he wanted it.
There are many things that can cause this: misaligned screw holes in the rifle's receiver; mounts that aren't right, etc.
I have even seen jobs done by professionals that wouldn't line up because totally wrong bases were used.
Maybe they were out of the correct ones and needed to make a sale.
Occasionally, things can be brought into alignment by switching the rings front to rear or turning them so that what was left is now right.
Another good thing to do is to examine the scope after shooting for scratches near the rings.
A scratch may indicate that the scope has moved under the stress of recoil.
Heavy scopes mated with hard kicking rifles are invitations for this problem.
Another invitation to scope problems are high mounts. The scope should always be mounted as close to the line of the bore as possible, and the scope is hardly a carrying handle.
A rilfe-scope combination properly put together and sighted in is a blessing when hunting.
A bad scope and a bad mount not sighted-in is a curse.
Take the time to do it right and if you don't know how, ask. It's no disgrace to ask.
Nobody knows everything.
License(s) need adjusting : 11/4/2009
It would be AWESOME if the state instituted a program that required every hunter to undergo a field and written test (say every 5 years) to prove their ability to hunt safely. In addition to that, the firearms/weapons that they use should have to be certified as being accurate and in good working order. There should be no cost what-so-ever to the state or game commish. It should be paid for by the hunter themselves. And NO FREEBIES for seniors or anyone. For crying out loud, we have to have our cars inspected every year. And even though it's only once, we have to pass a field and written drivers test. I'd just like to see more regulation go into licensing. There are far too many amatures out there as it is. I see it afield every single year and it keeps getting worse.
