Rifle Sight In

Hey all,

I'm needin' to sight in a rifle or two, and I've never done it before. Can someone give me a run down on the procedure? Do I need to use the exact same ammo I'll hunt with? Or just a similar bullet weight, type, etc?
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TheGreatwhitehunter
You need to sight in with the exact ammo you will be hunting with.
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CodeRED
Where you located? You'll probably want a shooting range to do it at too. YES, you should use the same ammo for the hunt to sight it in.

1. First step should be to ensure all the sights/scope rings are securely fastened to the gun.
2. Then, bore sighting the gun in comes next - Put a target about 50 yards away from the gun, look through the bore of the rifle (assuming you've got a bolt action rifle) and position the gun until you can see the center of the target trough the bore. Then with the gun braced, line up the scope/sight using the windage/elevation screws on the scope.
3. Then you should be able to dial it in by shooting 3 round groups, just MAKE SURE youre shooting consistently without flinching or anything. Moving the scope windage/elevation as needed after firing each 3 round group.

If youre near a shooting range though, they usually have a sighting service for low cost + your own ammo that they can sight them in for you. This will save your shoulder some much unneeded punishment too! Its like getting a big head start on sighting your gun to your own self and worth it IMO.
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I've got one bolt action and one lever. The lever's got a scope mounted so you can still use the sights, too. I know the bolt's not too inaccurate at about 50 yards cause I popped a yote with it. But the lever was my grandpa's and nobody knows what he did with/to it before he died. I don't know, he mighta dialed it in years ago [-o< [-o<

There are a couple ranges a considerable drive from us, but the closest and cheapest is just a spot off the road in the National Forest that somebody made into a 200+ yards range, totally free.
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Huge29
Good advice already posted! Another option, depending on where you are, may be to have a sun shop boresight it for you. Most will do that for free, which saves bullets and your shoulder. Sometimes in can take a lot of shots, which may make you more prone to flinching and things get bad once that happens.
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Loafer
You may want to clean the guns before you go.
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Once I get a rile "close" I make sure to shoot it cold. when I shoot an animal it's the first shot out of it that day usually and when out on the range you shoot through a warm barrel and it changes the shot some. For my finaly adjustments I shoot once every 15 mins or so - just play with my bow while I wait. May be overkill but it can't hurt!
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GUTPYLZ
A lot of good advice stated above. I would refer to what CodeRed says. The only thing I do different is shoot at 25 yards. This way you're driving nails. Then move out to 50, 100 and so on. This also builds a lot of confidence, which I feel is invaluable.
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"GUTPYLZ" wrote:The only thing I do different is shoot at 25 yards. This way you're driving nails. Then move out to 50, 100 and so on. This also builds a lot of confidence, which I feel is invaluable.
 I like that train of thought. Confidence is key, especialy out past 300 yrds. Gonna try that one. Thanks
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