"Before all else, be armed"- Machiavelli

A week from today, Brian and I will be Boar hunting in Middle GA. This means several things: 1) I'm so excited that I feel like a giddy little school girl. 2)There will be pork in the freezer. 3) I need to sight in my gun.

How do you sight in a gun? Well I'm glad you asked and fortunately for you, that is what today's post is all about. Sighting in a gun, also known as zeroing a gun, basically means you make the crosshairs on the scope point to where the bullet is going. With the exception of some really nice scope mounts(that are stupid expensive), every time you switch scopes you have to re-zero your setup. Aside from the fact that it's a little time consuming and can be a bit frustrating, it isn't inherently hard. They also make laser bore sights, such as this one by AimSHOT. I've never used one but would definitely love to have one. Even with with bore lasers, you should always spend time at the range to make sure that your bullets are in fact going where they are supposed to.

Keep in mind that the method and results I'm going to show you are not professional. I'm going pig hunting, not trying to shoot like Jackson in Saving Private Ryan.(FWIW, that shot through the scope is damn near impossible. I believe it was mythbusters that tested it) I am looking for decent groupings and a minute-of -kill accuracy. So basically, if I put it in the 6 inch ring inside a paper plate, that is most definitely a vital shot on a boar. When I break down and buy better optics, a bench rest, and a whole bunch of ammo to waste, I'll try for one of the perfect accurate zero's.

Things you will need:
-Patience
-A rifle
-Plenty of ammo
-A target
-Some way to measure distance(nice but not necessary)
-A person to help you spot(again, nice but not necessary)


My choice for outdoor ranges is Charles Elliot WMA Gun Range. Mainly because it's free, and it is actually a pretty nice range. Make sure to obey all of the range rules a) because it keeps you safe and b) because they WILL make you leave if you don't. I grabbed a spot on the 100yard range and  laid out all of my stuff.

So that's my Mossberg 810AHT (Technically it's my dad's BUT I've put way more rounds through it, and possession is 9/10 of the law). It's chambered in 30-06 Springfield. It's a plain-Jane bolt action rifle that came from KMart back in the day and it has a really crappy Simmons scope on it. But it more than gets the job done. The action is smooth, the trigger pull is decent, and it groups shots real nicely. On the table you'll also see a stapler, a pile of plates(targets), a pen, a screwdriver, and a box of Remington Core-Lokt 150grn bonded core bullets. The pen and screwdriver are a must! The pen is used for writing down what you adjust and how much you adjust it(in case you need to go backwards) and the screwdriver is for clicking the scope.

 This is my target. It's an 9 inch paper plate and the flat part before the ridged edges is about 6-7 inches in diameter. That is a good reference point for the vitals on a pig. Is it scientific? No. Is it fancy? No. Does it work? Yes.

 These are the caps on the scope adjustments that need to be removed so you can access the adjustment screws. They are threaded and screw right off. When removed you see this:

Each of those little marks represents 1 click. As you can read on the adjustment screw, 1 click moves the crosshairs 1/4inch at 100 yards. Therefore, at 50 yards(which is where I sighted my gun in at) 1 click would be 1/8 inch. Keep this in mind when you start changing things. and COUNT the clicks!

At this point, place your target and fill up the magazine. If you have someone that can help spot where your bullets are going, this process becomes A LOT faster. Also, for the initial shots, using a HUGE piece of paper is helpful so that you have a bigger area for the bullets to hit. It eliminates some of the guess work of trying to figure out how far off of the target you are. Switch to the plate once you get it close. I didn't have a bigger target or a spotter, so needless to say, it took a few rounds to get on the plate. I started off at 100 yards, but being that I have poor eye sight and a cheap scope, we moved to 50 yards so I could see where my bullets were going a little easier. According to Brian, in terms of ballistics, a 30-06, .308/7.62 NATO, or 7.62X54R Russian all shoot almost perfectly flat to well past 100 yards. Zeroing in at anywhere between 50-150 yards is acceptable with no worry about bullet drop.

I find it best to start by getting the rifle adjusted up/down first, then switching to the left/right adjustment. I do NOT advise trying to do them both at the same time. Changing more than one variable at a time is just a recipe for frustration. Get one direction correct, then work on the other one. Write down how much you change each time. Trying to remember the numbers while you are concentrating on shooting, other people are shooting and talking around you, and you are reloading is very difficult and unnecessary. You brought a pen, use it.

 This is the target I was using to get the up/down direction fixed. I started out low (bottom left hole) and then moved up about 1.5 inches. The deviation left and right is not me adjusting the scope, but rather me not breathing correctly on the first shot. The groups tightened up real nice: 3 shots in a row, all touching, in a grouping the size of a nickel.

That is a close up of the 3 shot group with a nickel next to it for a relative size. Not bad for shooting propped on a wood table with a crappy scope. That high shot was an over adjustment of the scope. It was fixed on the next target.

I didn't take pictures of the other target, mainly because the grouping wasn't as good. The up/down was dead on and it took about 8 shots to get the left/right how I wanted it. The last  shot hit square in the center of my hand drawn bullseye and I decided to call it a day.

As I said before, it isn't hard, it's just time consuming. Take a buddy, have some fun, and learn your gun. You'll be glad you did.