Brand new scope, but how do we know the turrets haven't been turned?

elker

elker

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I have a new zeiss hd5. I plan to use Burris signature z rings. But before I make any adjustments on the rings, I have to know if the turrets are at the centre of up and down, or left and right. I can turn the turret to the right all the way and to the left all the way to get the full number of clicks, then turn it back to the centre by half of the total clicks, but is there another way to check if the turret is at the centre?

Thanks
 
easiest way would be to clamp the rifle and aim at a distant object or a mirror can work then with the tube clamps loose rotate the tube 180 degrees if possible if the reticle starts to move in a circular pattern they were not in the exact centre. Adjust half on the rifle half on the scope to remove the error But that might be excessive as its a Brand new Ziess scope not a Tasco it's highly doubtful its out by much and your bore sight is not going to exactly at that piont the only way to properly sight a rifle is to shoot it.
 
The easiest and quick at way is to just bottom or to out the turret then go 1/2 way like you were thinking. This will give you the true travel of the turret if it is different than advertised.
As wobblyhead said, good quality scopes are designed to have the turrets move and track true.
 
If you have adjusted your turrets so you are in the middle of the travel available you should be good to go so you can mount it and bore sight it.
 
Not too sure if this was the better way, but I have mechanically zeroed in my scopes before mounting. This is not done by counting clicks on the turrets, but rather having the crosshairs at 'neutral. As well, I have a few old small rimfire scopes that have no 'clicks', so this is what I find works best. This is done by the following:

The easy way to do such is to put the objective end over a mirror, then you will see two sets of crosshairs, one fainter than the other. Zero out the scope till only one set is visable. If it is hard for you to see, you can also place a piece of glass over top of the mirror to let a bit more light in. If this is also dark for you, you can use a flashlight off to the side and you will then have enough light.

If this interests you just search for videos 'mechanically zeroing scope with a mirror'.
 
I use a bore sighter that has a grid... adjust as far as you can left on the grid, then adjust as far as you can right on the grid, then go back to the middle of these two settings... and do the same for elevation - as far as it will go on the grid up, then as far as it will go on the grid all down, then back to the middle of those two settings.

If you elevation is not close to center, that limits the amount of windage you have. And the opposite is also true - if you windage is not close to being centered, that limits the amount of elevation available. So ti is a good practice to get both of them close if you plan on adjusting either a considerable amount when shooting.

For the guy that sights his gun in for hunting and leaves it there - all this 'centering' is a waste of time...
 
get a shoe box and cut a ‘V’ into each of the box ends. Lay the scope in the ‘V’s and as you look through it - rotate the scope ... if the reticle isnt mechanically centred you will see the centre of the reticle describe an oblong pattern as the scope is rotated.
 
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