Setting up my my first scope

[jackhy]

Hi,
Got a good deal on here with a long range setup. 6.5CM on a Tikka. Have a Steiner 5-25 scope with Burris AR rings. Tried doing bore sighting and dabbled at the range, was hitting off board. Tried adjusting with no luck.

Any suggestions or idiot guide to scope mounting videos anyone would suggest

Thanks

 

[73582]

Go back to the range, bring a few large pieces of card board, 4 feet square. Label your 4 corners in your mind or mark them...a,b,c and d.
At 100 yards do the following:
Aim at corner a let a round go, see if you land on paper ( the corner is your point of aim, once you get a hit on the cardboard you can do some math and adjust. Remember when adjusting you are bringing the bullet point of impact to your point of aim. Example: A= TOP LEFT corner, your bullet hits dead smack in the middle of your 4'x4' carboard. You need to adjust Left- 2 feet and Up- 2 feet (24" MOA or 61 cm if your a MRAD)

MOA, 1/4"adjustment = 1/4" per click at 100 yards. 4 x 1/4 =1 inch 4 x 24 = 96 clicks
be sure you are familiar with your adjustment value, on the scope.

 

[savagelh]

Sight in at 25 yards first then move back to 100

 

[I Dont Care About You]

Any suggestions or idiot guide to scope mounting

Idiots shouldn't mount scopes.

Did you mount the scope in the rings and rings on the rail and rail on the rifle? If yes, go back to the point where you did the work and check to make sure it is done properly. Loose parts are sadly common.

Are you certain the scope is in the correct orientation? Windage turret on the right side.

How was the scope levelled?

Sight in at 25 yards first then move back to 100

THIS.

DO NOT start at 100 yds, specially if this is your first time doing this.

 

[I Dont Care About You]

FWIW, when bore sighting, choose the corner of a target so you can do both windage and elevation at the same time.

I bore sighted a new to me scope this afternoon at 50 yds. The first round hit the steel target. The next round hit a 4" gong a bit high. Adjustments were made and the next round hit a 3" gong. All in it took 4 rounds to be where I wanted it at 50 yds. Next step will be 100 yds.

 

[Dylan4570]

I would consider having a gunsmith mount it and boresight it for you, or buy the right tools to do it properly. torque wrench/screwdriver and a levelling kit. Otherwise you will very possibly have issues when you really stretch the legs on that rifle, or risk damaging the scope tube.

Boresighting: I always start at 30-50 yards. At that range you should be able to get on a 8.5x11 piece of paper. If you really want to try it at 100 yards, and the backdrop supports it you can shoot fully zoomed out and watch for the splash on the berm. I know when I started and didn't know much (debatably still don't) we would waste half a box of ammo just getting on paper. Realistically you should take 1 or 2 shots to get close enough at 30-50 that you can step out to 100 yards. Then use a proper sample size and some kind of group measuring software to get an accurate zero.

For precision rifle and set ups that don't get hot quickly I use a 10+ shot group. For hunting rifles I use 3x 3 shot groups totaling 9 shots. or 5x 2 shot groups totaling 10 shots in the case of something like my T3x lite in 300WSM because it heats up so quickly. You can get even more into the weeds with marking cold bore shots and all that stuff. I wouldn't worry about it unless it proves to deviate from your group significantly.

 

[1oldfart]

It is imporant that you mount the scope correctly. Like mentioned earlier proper tools and technique are required and insure proper orientaion. Take it to the range and before you even load a round. Set it in a shooting rest and pull the bolt, eyeball down the bore to sight at a target 25 yards away. While keeping it solid in the rest then take a sight picture throung the scope. Adjust the reticle to match the sight picture of the bore and the scope. You may need to do this a few times as you may move the gun while making adjustment. Once you are satisfide that everthing is good, load one round and take a shot using the rest to ensure that you are not introducing any movement while shooting. Clear the gun and take a walk to the target. Note where you impact the target. You can do the adjustment necesssary mathematically or you can do it visually. I like to do it visually. Look down the scope and aim at the same point you did when you took the shot. While holding the gun steady in that position and looking down the scope adjust the reticle until it is on the point of impact. Take the next shot. PoA and PoI should be very close. Hopefully in the 1 MOA range, if so, take a couple more shots to ensure you gun is grouping. If grouping is satisfactory then you can move to the 100 yard range and fine tune the adjustments.

 

[thirdeye462]

Hi,
Got a good deal on here with a long range setup. 6.5CM on a Tikka. Have a Steiner 5-25 scope with Burris AR rings. Tried doing bore sighting and dabbled at the range, was hitting off board. Tried adjusting with no luck.

Any suggestions or idiot guide to scope mounting videos anyone would suggest

Thanks

FWIW from a fellow noob :

I'll be sighting in my new rifle/scope next week at the range.

1. Bore sighting at 25 metres to get on paper (and to be safe!).
2. Stretch it to 100 metres to get a good zero.
3. Conduct a tall target test to ensure that I mounted my scope truly level, that my POIs from zero to about 9 mils up are tracking vertically, and to determine whether I need some kind of scope correction factor (see Bryan Litz from Applied Ballistics on this. There's a video for this too).

I'll try to get bore-sighted in as few rounds as possible, but once I'm out to 100m, I'll likely shoot in 5-shot group multiples for both zeroing and tall target testing.

I did a lot of research before deciding on this approach because I have never mounted a scope before - there are a lot of traditions and approaches to this process I've learned, and what you choose partly depends on your application. For me, I intend to shoot some kind of long range precision discipline in the future (1000m). I followed the Paramount Tactical method, made sure to torque everything to manufacturer's spec (spec for the rings-rail, spec for the rings-scope), and to take my time, not rush, and to fix mistakes as they happen, especially when leveling. I used a Wheeler scope mounting level kit. I leveled the scope from the top of my elevation cap that I determined beforehand was perfectly level while using a witness level on my barrel to ensure the rifle remained level at all times.

[The better approach is to use a machinist's parallel and level from the base of your turrent housing, but I don't have a parrallel).

Paramount Tactical has really great, detailed videos on scope mounting and gets you thinking about what to look out for when doing this work. Area 419 (or Gavin from UR?) has a video on wet-mounting scopes, which is interesting. I wet-mounted my scope after watching it because it was easy to do and convincing.

Results are pending; I'll try to follow-up here after my range session.

 

[waldo54]

Bore sight then shoot at 25 yards, after that move back to 100 and you should be close

 

[thirdeye462]

Results are pending; I'll try to follow-up here after my range session.

Okay. So,

I'm back from the range.

Bore sight was successful in 3 rounds.

At 100m, I got what I think is a good zero. Five round groups testing 4 different factory ammo brands. I also shot a 10 round group just because.

I didn't get around to doing a tall target test. That's for next trip, I think. I was too busy breaking in the barrel, which was a PIA, and just shooting for enjoyment because it's brand new rifle - and my first time at the range as a new member.

Attaching the evidence.

Jackhy, how did you make out with the scope mounting? Did you manage to get out to the range at all and try to bore sight again?

 

[Patpat]

First make sure your scope is properly installed. Sometimes a second pair of eyes helps when sighting in

 

[Jahnj0584]

FWIW, when bore sighting, choose the corner of a target so you can do both windage and elevation at the same time.

I bore sighted a new to me scope this afternoon at 50 yds. The first round hit the steel target. The next round hit a 4" gong a bit high. Adjustments were made and the next round hit a 3" gong. All in it took 4 rounds to be where I wanted it at 50 yds. Next step will be 100 yds.

Pfft, I've done it in 3! Shoot at dirt berm, dial to match impact, shoot paper, adjust final. I am A LOT better of a shot than you 8D

 

[steamy teabag]

Okay. So,

I'm back from the range.

Bore sight was successful in 3 rounds.

At 100m, I got what I think is a good zero. Five round groups testing 4 different factory ammo brands. I also shot a 10 round group just because.

I didn't get around to doing a tall target test. That's for next trip, I think. I was too busy breaking in the barrel, which was a PIA, and just shooting for enjoyment because it's brand new rifle - and my first time at the range as a new member.

Attaching the evidence.

Jackhy, how did you make out with the scope mounting? Did you manage to get out to the range at all and try to bore sight again?

Nice work, looks like she like Sako and Norma.

 

[thirdeye462]

Nice work, looks like she like Sako and Norma.

Thanks! Lots of room for improvement in terms of my fundamentals, but a pretty good start, I think.

Yeah, the Sako TRG 136s were impressive. They measured consistently round-to-round, with really tight tolerances; noticeably tighter than the Hornady 147s. Not too sure about Sako's powder charge consistency, but so far so good it seems? I look forward to more testing. I had also noticed that Sako loads their bullets relatively long-ish - at least compared to the box of Norma I had.

 

[Chazzer]

Quality mounts (direct or rail+ring), lock-tite where appropriate for security, level rifle and optic, and follow manufacturers torque specs. The most common reason to have a hard time zeroing your rifle is a failure to do these things. ESPECIALLY over torquing the rings. If you squeeze or crush the tube, the internals may be prevented from adjusting as needed.