Sighting in your rifle

[Turbodude]

Anyways, kind of embarrassed about asking this question, but anyways what power level do you typically use when zeroing in your rifle at 100 yards? Kind of struggling here with he season approaching and have been switching back & forth between low power & high power with no consistent accuracy what I consider accurate . Have always been better at shooting a shotgun but now these skills are dimensioning with age. getting old sucks.

 

[taskswap]

3-4x for 100yd, 6-7x for 200yd. I have a 4-14x scope and never zoom it past 8. As I'm sure scores of others have experienced, I shoot much better at lower zoom powers.

 

[D_Dubya]

For zeroing off a bench I turn the magnification all the way up. Bag up and get rock steady

 

[Hilltop]

It's actually a great question. My buddies and I just discussed this recently and we have been shooting for a long time. It really is personal preference. I sight in prone with front and rear supports so the rifle is extremely steady and then use the highest magnification on the scope so I can hold precisely where I want to hit.

 

[kidoggy]

imo there is no need to overthink it.

I seldom turn mine off 9 so that is how I sight it.
never had an issue finding an animal in my scope and have seldom needed a follow up shot.

 

[RICMIC]

A quality scope should be consistant at all settings, but a BDC style generally has to be at the highest setting. I just sighted in my Tikka T3 after some modifications, and with a Shepard scope it has gradients to 1,000 yards. My older eyes don't focus like they used to, and the higher magnification helps me to draw a finer bead on the target. After the 100 yd., I use the gradients out to 200 & 300. While hunting though, I generally leave the scope set at 4X unless it is a long range shot. My last cow elk was at 420 yds. with this setup (30-06). Am headed out to CO in a couple weeks to try it again. Good luck

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

A quality scope should be consistant at all settings, but a BDC style generally has to be at the highest setting. I just sighted in my Tikka T3 after some modifications, and with a Shepard scope it has gradients to 1,000 yards. My older eyes don't focus like they used to, and the higher magnification helps me to draw a finer bead on the target. After the 100 yd., I use the gradients out to 200 & 300. While hunting though, I generally leave the scope set at 4X unless it is a long range shot. My last cow elk was at 420 yds. with this setup (30-06). Am headed out to CO in a couple weeks to try it again. Good luck

Spot on for sure!

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

It's actually a great question. My buddies and I just discussed this recently and we have been shooting for a long time. It really is personal preference. I sight in prone with front and rear supports so the rifle is extremely steady and then use the highest magnification on the scope so I can hold precisely where I want to hit.

Yep!

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

No matter what scope is on the rifle (mine are all variable power), I crank them up to max while sighting in. Remember to change the power back after the shooting session.

I am a member in a gun club that has an excellent range. I set up the bench so I am really comfortable, my rifle supports ( sand bags, etc) adjusted , eye & ear protection and get to shootin. I also use multiple targets so I can use different guns without going downrange changing targets too many times.

I recently had some eye surgery and noticed that my focus was not real crisp. So I adjusted the focus on all my scopes. The thought came that I had not touched the focus adjustment in years. Simple to do and I am going to do it every year during my sightin sessions.

Probably more than you want to know, but useful info anyway.

 

[memtb]

Having a 300 yard range right out the house back door, aids in playing around with 100 to 300 yard zero verifications. I always use the highest power setting to shoot a group, hopefully, representative of the rifle’s capabilities! We use a 300 yard zero , where the higher power settings help. Then, we “may” do a quick verification at 100. Though, I don’t think that the minor, if at all, zero changes will be a serious issue on close range shots......at least on big game. On our longer shots.....we generally have sufficient time to “dial-up” to a higher power setting! memtb

 

[Turbodude]

Thanks, I was reading somewhere that it was better to sight in at a lower power due the higher power sometime creates more wobble when you are trying to steady the rifle looking down range. Will give a try tomorrow.

 

[JimP]

I'll crank the scope up as high as it will go just to get the best view of the target. If I am sighting it in I want the best group that it can shoot so it is off of bench and bags to get rock steady.

I love it when I can look through the scope and actually place the crosshairs onto the lines that are on the target before I pull the trigger

 

[Turbodude]

You guys were correct, went down to the range & got my gun dialed in. 1 thing I like about this forum is everybody here is great about information in helping others and not a lot of drama you encounter on other sites, thx.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Lots of experience here and we all try to be helpful. Glad everything worked out for you. Now go fill that tag.

 

[RICMIC]

Thanks, I was reading somewhere that it was better to sight in at a lower power due the higher power sometime creates more wobble when you are trying to steady the rifle looking down range. Will give a try tomorrow.

The "wobble" that you se at a higher magnification was always there, you just don't notice it much at a lower magnification.

 

[mallardsx2]

Max power for sighting in for me.

 

[ScottR]

I was going to reply, but I would just be echoing at this point. Rock steady takes care of any issues.

 

[go_deep]

I've honestly never even thought about it, thanks to the OP for posting the question, good info everyone!