Can the range officer help me zero my red dot?
- Thread starter SCnBEER
- Start date
not sure where you're located, but the range i'm a member of, everyone is really friendly and just about anyone at the range would be more than happy to help me zero in a rifle if i asked. In my experience, the range culture is the friendliest club i've ever been a part of. Lots of people to teach you new things, and everyone seems to want you to try their guns. I've shot so many cool firearms that I would never have been able to afford myself.
I can only speak for my experience at my range though, others may be different. Most range officers, or even firearms enthusiasts are eager to help new owners to learn.
I can only speak for my experience at my range though, others may be different. Most range officers, or even firearms enthusiasts are eager to help new owners to learn.
Only the particular range officer involved can answer that question, whether they're confident in their own ability to zero a dot or whether they're responsible for the whole line especially at a busy range and whether they can focus on just one shooter for that long. Be friendly and undemanding and usually people can be helpful.
Make sure you've read the dot's manual and if it needs a coin or screwdriver to turn the adjustments make sure you bring something suitable and have confirmed you can turn the knobs. Often there's a little metal cap and the adjustment screw is under that, typically on top for the up/down and on the right side for the left/right adjustment. Don't lose the caps at the range! Having it already mounted to the firearm saves time too.
Read the range rules too; every range is different on that score.
Maybe purchase a multi calibre laser bore sight. It'll get you on paper before visiting the range, then get precise with a handful of shots from a bench at the range. It'll pay for itself quickly ($50). To add, I don't recommend taking a bore sight to the range, recipe for disaster!
As has been mentioned, most people you are going to meet at the range will be happy to help if they can.
Sighting in a gun whether it's with iron sights or optics is part of the skill you need to learn and luckily there are many youtube videos showing people what they can expect and some good procedures to follow for a smooth and efficient sight in.
Do some homework, take some notes, have a plan, and if you need some help the universe will likely provide....
Part of being a new shooter is learning things, might as well start before you get to the range and come armed with ammo and some basic concepts.
What rifle, caliber and optic do you have?
Sighting in a gun whether it's with iron sights or optics is part of the skill you need to learn and luckily there are many youtube videos showing people what they can expect and some good procedures to follow for a smooth and efficient sight in.
Do some homework, take some notes, have a plan, and if you need some help the universe will likely provide....
Part of being a new shooter is learning things, might as well start before you get to the range and come armed with ammo and some basic concepts.
What rifle, caliber and optic do you have?
I have a canuck wrangler lever action .357, with a " primary arms Glx MD-21s" .
I've been trying to adjust it myself, but It looks like the dot needs to move to the left and the screw wont turn that direction anymore lol, so I think most likely im doing something wrong. Before that, I spent 30 mins adjusting the screws trying to find the dot before realizing I had it mounted backwards lol.
Sounds like my best bet is to go on a weekday when it will be less busy. I will definately watch some more videos on zero'ing before I go though.
I've been trying to adjust it myself, but It looks like the dot needs to move to the left and the screw wont turn that direction anymore lol, so I think most likely im doing something wrong. Before that, I spent 30 mins adjusting the screws trying to find the dot before realizing I had it mounted backwards lol.
Sounds like my best bet is to go on a weekday when it will be less busy. I will definately watch some more videos on zero'ing before I go though.
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grab a laser bore sighter thatll give you the place to zero too.
aim that laser at a distance say 25 yards and at home is easiest then move your red dot too that laser dot and that gets you on paper at the gun range.
depends on if the front sight is loose or not but a bore sighter will tell you.
With any optic adjustment it's easy to get things backwards.... that's part of the learning curve.
The left-right markings or up-down are referring to where you want the shot to move. So if you hit 3inches right of your aimpoint and an inch high you would need to come left 3inches and down 1.
The amount of each click on the adjustment should be a known value for 100 yards which then you would have to account for at shorter or longer ranges. a 1moa click would mean 1 inch at 100 yards, 1/2Inch at 50 and 1/4 inch at 25 yards.
So if you were 3 inches off aimpoint at 25yards you could assume 4 clicks ( 4 X 1/4) per inch of movement with a 1moa adjuster.... so 12 clicks should move you close to 3 inches.
Best bet is to start at close range 10 or 25 yards and use a large piece of cardboard to mount your smaller target on to in case your not "on paper" for the first shots.
You also need to learn the difference between the sight line of the optic and the trajectory of the bullet which travels in an arc going up through the line of sight and then back down again through the line of sight as the bullet gets pulled down by gravity.
Make sure you have all the tools you need for not only your optic mount and adjusters but also a decent flat head screw to fit the screws on your lever action. They tend to come loose and should be checked periodicaly before, during and after firing. You want a screw driver head with a hollow profile and a nice square contact area to avoid damaging the screw head slots.
The irons sights on your lever can also be adjusted by using the elevator at the rear sight and also by "drifiting" the sights in their dovetails for windage (side to side) adjustment. This is best done with a brass punch and a hammer while the gun is well supported.
Iron sights are a bit tricky as moving he rear sight to the left will shift the bullet impact to the left and moving the front sight to the left will have the opposite effect moving the point of impact to the right. Moving the rear sight up will bring the barrel up along with the point of impact and the opposite is again true with the front sight.
Your going to make a bunch of mistakes and that's the best way to learn.....
The only other thing I can think of is you want to shoot groups and then center your group as the aim point... it's easy to chase around shots specially if you don't know how well you can shoot yet. So once your on paper shoot a full magazine aiming at one point and then look at the pattern you get, now imagine the middle of that pattern and that is the center of your group. From there you can measure the distance vertically and horrizontaly to the single point you were aiming at for each shot and repeat the process.
The left-right markings or up-down are referring to where you want the shot to move. So if you hit 3inches right of your aimpoint and an inch high you would need to come left 3inches and down 1.
The amount of each click on the adjustment should be a known value for 100 yards which then you would have to account for at shorter or longer ranges. a 1moa click would mean 1 inch at 100 yards, 1/2Inch at 50 and 1/4 inch at 25 yards.
So if you were 3 inches off aimpoint at 25yards you could assume 4 clicks ( 4 X 1/4) per inch of movement with a 1moa adjuster.... so 12 clicks should move you close to 3 inches.
Best bet is to start at close range 10 or 25 yards and use a large piece of cardboard to mount your smaller target on to in case your not "on paper" for the first shots.
You also need to learn the difference between the sight line of the optic and the trajectory of the bullet which travels in an arc going up through the line of sight and then back down again through the line of sight as the bullet gets pulled down by gravity.
Make sure you have all the tools you need for not only your optic mount and adjusters but also a decent flat head screw to fit the screws on your lever action. They tend to come loose and should be checked periodicaly before, during and after firing. You want a screw driver head with a hollow profile and a nice square contact area to avoid damaging the screw head slots.
The irons sights on your lever can also be adjusted by using the elevator at the rear sight and also by "drifiting" the sights in their dovetails for windage (side to side) adjustment. This is best done with a brass punch and a hammer while the gun is well supported.
Iron sights are a bit tricky as moving he rear sight to the left will shift the bullet impact to the left and moving the front sight to the left will have the opposite effect moving the point of impact to the right. Moving the rear sight up will bring the barrel up along with the point of impact and the opposite is again true with the front sight.
Your going to make a bunch of mistakes and that's the best way to learn.....
The only other thing I can think of is you want to shoot groups and then center your group as the aim point... it's easy to chase around shots specially if you don't know how well you can shoot yet. So once your on paper shoot a full magazine aiming at one point and then look at the pattern you get, now imagine the middle of that pattern and that is the center of your group. From there you can measure the distance vertically and horrizontaly to the single point you were aiming at for each shot and repeat the process.
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Another thing you might want to do is adjust your windage click softly till your out of adjustment like you did, then count how many clicks you can make till you reach the other side of the adustment range. Divide this number by 2 and come back towards the center by that many clicks.
This should get you centered within the optic somewhat and if your rail is aligned with the bore you should be on paper at 25 yards, specially with a big cardboard backer to catch strays!
This should get you centered within the optic somewhat and if your rail is aligned with the bore you should be on paper at 25 yards, specially with a big cardboard backer to catch strays!
Thanks for this, I'm learning alot already. You guys are right this really is a friendly community haWith any optic adjustment it's easy to get things backwards.... that's part of the learning curve.
The left-right markings or up-down are referring to where you want the shot to move. So if you hit 3inches right of your aimpoint and an inch high you would need to come left 3inches and down 1.
The amount of each click on the adjustment should be a known value for 100 yards which then you would have to account for at shorter or longer ranges. a 1moa click would mean 1 inch at 100 yards, 1/2Inch at 50 and 1/4 inch at 25 yards.
So if you were 3 inches off aimpoint at 25yards you could assume 4 clicks ( 4 X 1/4) per inch of movement with a 1moa adjuster.... so 12 clicks should move you close to 3 inches.
Best bet is to start at close range 10 or 25 yards and use a large piece of cardboard to mount your smaller target on to in case your not "on paper" for the first shots.
You also need to learn the difference between the sight line of the optic and the trajectory of the bullet which travels in an arc going up through the line of sight and then back down again through the line of sight as the bullet gets pulled down by gravity.
Make sure you have all the tools you need for not only your optic mount and adjusters but also a decent flat head screw to fit the screws on your lever action. They tend to come loose and should be checked periodicaly before, during and after firing. You want a screw driver head with a hollow profile and a nice square contact area to avoid damaging the screw head slots.
The irons sights on your lever can also be adjusted by using the elevator at the rear sight and also by "drifiting" the sights in their dovetails for windage (side to side) adjustment. This is best done with a brass punch and a hammer while the gun is well supported.
Iron sights are a bit tricky as moving he rear sight to the left will shift the bullet impact to the left and moving the front sight to the left will have the opposite effect moving the point of impact to the right. Moving the rear sight up will bring the barrel up along with the point of impact and the opposite is again true with the front sight.
Your going to make a bunch of mistakes and that's the best way to learn.....
The only other thing I can think of is you want to shoot groups and then center your group as the aim point... it's easy to chase around shots specially if you don't know how well you can shoot yet. So once your on paper shoot a full magazine aiming at one point and then look at the pattern you get, now imagine the middle of that pattern and that is the center of your group. From there you can measure the distance vertically and horrizontaly to the single point you were aiming at for each shot and repeat the process.
- Location
- Nova Scotia
I'm sure they likely will help. They're there to make sure range is safe and everybody is shootly safely. A gun that not shooting down range or might be striking the ceiling isn't safe.
Start at close range, 5m. Before moving further.
Start at close range, 5m. Before moving further.
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