Introduction

Wouldn’t you like to know how to zero a scope without firing? Well, you should know that it is important especially if you just bought yourself a new rifle or a scope. You don’t have to worry about your scope of being cheap or expensive. What is important is learning the basic adjustments needed for the sight to get accurate shots.Although there are various types of rifle scopes on the market zeroing them will require the same process. Therefore, don’t worry about the type of rifle scope you have. Below we will detail the steps and some ways without firing.

What you will need to zero your scope without firing ?

Before you begin the zeroing process there are some things that you have to keep in mind. Also, there are things you will require for the process. Let’s take a look at them below.

Mount your scope

Before anything ensure that you mount the scope on the rifle so that you can aim correctly. Proper mounting will allow you to look through the scope to get precision on the target or mounting of the scope will make the entire process useless. You will need the following tools to install your scope correctly.

• Screwdriver bits
• Blue Loctite
• Bubble levels
• Torque wrench
• Rubbing alcohol
• Cleaning patches
• Manual or electronic caliper

To begin the installation start by soaking the cleaning patches in rubbing alcohol do away with oil from the receiver. Doing this will cure the Loctite. Screw the Rings to the bases. Make sure that they are not tightly screwed at this point.

Now make some adjustments by using the calipers first deal with elevation and then tighten the screws. Once you are done fix the scope and then check the rifle if it is aligned equally.

How to zero a rifle scope at 100 yards?

The first thing you require is get a target. Zeroing your rifle scope correctly at a distance of 100 yards will require you to have an immobile target. This target is what you will use to compare the adjustments.

This is why you need an immobile target to know if you are doing the right thing or adjusting the right way. Otherwise, a moving target will keep changing positions and you’ll end up messing up. The target should be at least 25 to 100 yards away. We suggest you get a bulls-eye target.

Laser or any other bore sighter you can acquire

The laser is very essential in this process because you want to be using any ammunition. The laser is necessary to improve your shooting skills. In case you do not own a scope yet, then we suggest you buy one with an inbuilt laser.

You will need a mount or a rest for your rifle.

You will have to place your gun in an immobile position. Doing this will keep you on target as any misplacement will require you to repeat the whole process. You can choose to use sandbags or books as a rest for the gun.

How to zero a scope without firing – a step-by-step guide

In other words we can say how to sight in a rifle scope without a bore sight? To zero your scope without firing will require dedication, patience and focus. The following steps will explain to you how to sight in a rifle scope without a bore sight. You must be follow all the steps carefully and make sure that you don’t miss a step.

Step 1. Place the target

Get your bulls-eye target and place it at the distance we mentioned above. You can also opt to choose any distance you prefer that you’re comfortable with or one where you can quickly adjust the target.

Step 2. Re-check your rifle placement

As we mentioned it is very essential position the rifle in an immobile position. If you are not sure how you can do then let’s take you through it. Get your rifle and fix it on a mount to make it stable and immobile.

In case you don’t have a Mount then try fixing some books underneath the rifle. You can choose anything to rest the rifle on so that it can mount it. Want to repeat zeroing due to errors.

Step 3. Insert the laser

If your scope does not have an inbuilt laser that means you’ll have to buy one. Make sure that the laser you are to buy is compatible with your rifle. Since rifles are different that way the laser will be inserted differently on each model.

You can install some at barrel edge while others in your rifle’s chamber. When you finish installing the laser, turn it on and ensure that the laser dot is perfectly in the middle of the bulls eye.

The laser comes with benefits especially if you are zeroing the scope without shooting. It can show the final destination of the bullet if it is to be shot. Using a laser is the ideal way of zeroing your rifle scope without firing.

Step 4. Equaling reticle

Lastly, settle the rifle scope along with the reticle’s target point. Now make sure to make it equal to the laser dot on that target. You will have zeroed the scope without necessarily firing.

Other methods of zeroing a scope without firing

Bore sighting and zeroing  

You may ask yourself how to bore sight a rifle? There are several ways to bore sight and zeroing a rifle. They are as follows:

Zeroing by visual bore sight

Visual boresight site has been used for centuries and it is the oldest method of zeroing a scope without firing. This method doesn’t require you to have some special devices and it is quite simple to achieve. All you need is Focus and patience. Follow these steps to zero your rifle scope with a visual boresight.

Step 1. Place the rifle in a steady position

Use a gun rest to ensure that your gun is secured for example use some books or a sandbag for stability.

Step 2. Now get the bolt from the rifle. With your dominant eye left open look through the middle bore.

Step 3.  Mark your target at 100 yards. Now look through the bore again and try to see the target.

Step 4. Without moving the rifle try and sight the target through the scope.

Step 5. Finally, Once you sight the target through the scope, you can now tighten the rifle knob with the target positioned through the cross-hairs of the scope. Once you achieve this you are good to go.

Zeroing with optic bore sight

This is another device you can install into the rifle to zero your scope without shooting. Just like the laser this too can be attached in the barrel of the rifle. When you install the optic align it with your rifle scope.

Now look through that lens grid and then adjust the crosshair so that it matches the middle grid. Once you achieve this you are all set. Remember that this process requires you to do some small adjustments and you have to be very careful.

Zeroing with magnetic bore sight

This is another device you can use to zero your rifle scope. It comes with a magnet that holds the device to the rifles muzzle. The magnetic boresight doesn’t require you to attach anything to the barrel. It is good because you can match all types of caliber as well as gauges.

The boresight is ideal if you have used your rifle for long or after the rifle suffers hard drops. You only have to fix the device to the muzzle of your gun using the powerful magnets.

Why you should zero your scope?

Zeroing your rifle scope without shooting comes with an advantage. It will help you save money which you will have spent on buying ammunition. That way you can also save ammunition.

When practicing how to zero an air rifle scope without shooting you can end up firing so many bullets. In case you don’t master the zeroing process fast, you’ll end up spending lots of money on ammunition as well as wasting ammunition itself.

Wild zeroing in your scope without shooting is good let’s see how zeroing while firing is also beneficial.

When you zero with your scope you don’t only get to shoot accurately but also you can figure out if your rifle has some problems with your shooting technique.

You can get to determine the best distance you can aim at accurately based on the weapon you use and your skills.

It also gives you the confidence to shoot accurately. When you zero your scope while shooting you get that confidence that didn’t have before.

How to sight in a red dot scope without shooting?

A red dot sight is basically an optic that built on a red laser reticle. Studying on how to sight in a red dot scope without shooting is simple if someone follow the steps chronologically. The steps are as follows:

Install the scope but keep it loose. Then, adjust the scope as long as you have the proper eye relief, that means, keep the distance between your scope and your eye in a comfortable position.

Put the rifle in a solid and secure surface to keep it steady.

Line up the red laser reticle with the target. You can do this with collimator or with a laser bore sighter.

Switch on the laser bore sighter and adjust the laser beam pointing at the middle of your target. You can try bulls eye target adjustment method. The laser will point you precisely where the bullet will hit on the target board.

When you are happy with scope adjusting it is time to tighten up the scope.

You must know that your success on learning how to sight in a red dot scope without shooting is purely depends on pointing and hitting the bulls eye, so keep that in mind while you follow the steps.

It is true that you can sight a red dot scope more easily in compare to others like iron sights or magnified optics. Secondly, red dot sighting radically decrease parallax problem. So utilize this advantageous features.

Conclusion

Learning how to zero a scope without firing is very important. The entire process is also simple regardless of the method you choose to use. It isn’t a fancy thing to do if you get to focus on it in the right way. Practice is the key here and you shouldn’t give up on the first try. You will need to put in effort in order to master the skills of zeroing your rifle scope without firing. As we mentioned you will save money and ammunition when you zero without shooting. Also, you can choose to try all the methods if you want to improve your skills better and get great results as well. Remember to stay focused, dedicated, and patient as you zero your scope without shooting. We hope this guide has been helpful to you and we wish you all the best.

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Sighting, also known as zeroing refers to when you adjust the scope for the position of the reticle matches to the position of the target. After buying a new scope, you need to learn “how to sight in a rifle scope without shooting” accurately and it is very important. There is a possibility that you will waste a lot of ammunition if you Start to shoot immediately, without adjusting your sightings.

Do you know that you can sight your newly scope without having to shoot and wasting your ammo? If not, let me confirm for you that you can incredibly sight your scope correctly without having to shoot. It is of great necessity to learn how to sight in scope without shooting to ensure your shooting is accurate. Are you asking the methods you can use to sight your scope without having to shoot?

Relax, this article got you covered it will precisely give you the four methods that can help you save your ammunition. I will also let you know the energy that you need to apply in the unnecessary shoulder recoil. Besides, I will outline the benefits of using each of the methods and any other relevant details.

How to sight in a rifle scope without shooting – The Methods

There are various methods of aligning your bore axis and the target. In this section, we will briefly give details of the various methods you can apply to sight your scope without necessarily having to shoot.

Visual Bore Sighting

The first way of saving your ammunition is visual bore sighting. Visual bore sighting entails observing through the riffle bore clearly without having to shot. It is among the simple methods of sighting your scope perfectly without having to shoot. When doing visual sighting, first you will have to position your firearm on sandbags to stabilize it.

It is important to ensure that your firearm remains in a very steady position during the sighting period to avoid unnecessary inconveniences. Place the target 100m from the tip of the barrel then try closing one eye and look at the target through the bore with the other eye. Keep on adjusting the ripples knob until it is in line with the target. All through the process practice patience until you get what you need. Also, don’t forget to keep your firearm stable.

Laser Bore Sighting

Secondly, you can try laser bore sighting. It is an instrument used in mounting the arbor. Rather than the usual inspection, the laser technology uses parallax to allow movement in the barrel. Do not require movement of the bolt hence the most appropriate and accurate method of pre aligning a firearm barrels bore axis with the target you are aiming. 

The standard type of laser bore sighter is the cartridge-shaped bore sighter. When using it, the laser bore sighter emits the laser beam to the target, then adjust the scope reticle to the laser dot.

The other type of laser bore sighter is insertion which is kept into the bore or using a magnet. Make sure you also align the barrel, and the laser projection is on the target. Accuracy prevails well in this method, and you can prove how accurate you are by viewing the orientations of notches in the gun.

Advantages of Laser Bore Sighter

The main advantage of this equipment is that it incorporates the latest technology, thus assures 100% accuracy and keeps your eyes from straining by getting you closer to the center.

It comes in bullet or mounted shape; hence, you can pick the most appropriate form. The bullet-shaped installation is done in the gun’s chamber while the mounted shape fixing is on the extreme part of the firearm barrel.

Whichever the way you choose the laser technology helps to get the target easily, scope, and the barrel in alignment and you will see the laser spot on the rifle scope. Make adjustments on the body of the scope if necessary, and you will be sure of a perfect zeroed riffle.

Optical Bore Sighting

Aligning your firearm barrel with your target is advisable to have zero optical sights. Some people choose to do the alignment while shooting, which lead to wastage of the expensive ammunition. To avoid wasting the ammunition you can try scope sighting using the optical sighting.

Optical sighting is also known as eyeballing, and it involves the use of naked eyes. The optical bore sighters are available in different varieties which implies that the method of setting them is different. Whichever the type you use in sighting your scope ensure that the crosshairs match to the middle of the grid, if not, adjust it. Also, ensure that the lens is in line with your scope to enhance the accuracy.

For AR rifles, you will have the upper receiver and the lower receiver. You can drop the upper receiver from the lower receiver and easily remove the bolt carrier group to expose the line of sight in the barrel.

Fix the upper receiver to sight on the top riffle and co-witness through the barrel to align the target with the bore axis for accurate shootings later. If you have the bolt action rifle, you can remove the bolt to view through the barrel. After doing the alignment, proceeds shooting close or on the target.

Advantages of Optical Bore Sighter

This method of bore sighting takes a lot of time but saves on the cost of the ammunition due to the accurate shoots that you will make throughout the shooting process. Another drawback of this method is that it needs the use of naked eyes. With the naked eyes, it is difficult to see clearly through the tunnel, especially when dealing with firearms with long barrels.

Magnetic Bore Sighting

Regardless of the activity, you will be undertaking with your firearm; it is of great need to prepare your equipment. When using a firearm, whether in hunting or shooting for fun. Among the things you should not forget to do is to align your bore axis with your target. Otherwise, you will be throwing your ammunition to the air because you will miss the target. When bore sighting the scope you may prefer to do magnetic bore sighting. To know more about the magnetic bore sighting keep your eyes on this piece.

Advantages of Magnetic Bore Sighter

Using a magnetic bore sighter, is the most effective and simple way of sighting your scope though it is not common. It entails fixing your gun muzzle with materials that have a durable magnetic power. The magnetic bore sighter is flexible, multi-purpose equipment that matches with a variety of gauges and calibers.

It is the perfect method for anyone who has fear in inserting anything in the barrel. If you need a zero filter after using your scope sighting for an extended period, then make magnetic sighter the ideal choice. There are no additional parts that you need to buy for it to function, which saves any extra cost.

The setting of the magnetic bore sighter is quite simple and does not consume a lot of time, thus saves time compared to other sighting equipment. It has a professional design, and breaking down of the equipment is unheard. With the use of the magnetism, it is very reliable and accurately sights your scope without necessarily having to shoot.

How to sight in a rifle scope

Before doing the actual shooting, scope sighting is essential to do some practice on scope sighting to perfect your skills and to have a few hours when in the field. Your target should have a blank background for visibility Place the riffle on stable ground or whatever rest you will be having.

Also, place your target at a distance of approximately 100yards far. Look directly through the barrel, preferably with one eye closed and spot the position of the target. After spotting the target, align it with the bore axis until all of them are in a straight line.

Thus the target appears to be center of the bore. Be careful that you will not be overwhelmed with the perfect alignment and move the gun for it will take you back to the starting point. Hence it is very crucial to control your emotions.

 After aligning the bore and the target, it is vital to align the scope as well. While aligning the scope do not touch the riffle for you may disorient it. Look through the scope and locate the direction where the reticle is while looking through the scope. Do adjustments on your elevation and the windage until they are all aligned with the center of the target.

How Scope Adjustments Work

While adjusting the elevation and the windage, there is the possibility that fear may creep in. The whole exercise may be impossible if you do not have confidence which may lead to shaking of hands and constant blinking of the eye.

When you hear of patience, possibly you think it is all applicable on mental issues. If you thought so, then you are wrong. Aligning the scope extremely needs patience because in the process, you may temper with the riffle and have to begin with the earlier step.

It is obvious that in order to master in hunting you must learn ” How to sight in a rifle scope” first.

Scope adjustments backwards

Moving the riffle a little bit when adjusting the scope is not a crime, even the professional’s temper with it. After dealing with the scope and the reticle and you made a confirmation that the reticle is centered, look through the bore and confirm that it is in alignment with the target.

If not, realign the bore and the target and make adjustments on the reticle. It may sound as repetition but trust me it is worth 100% attention if you want to do a recommendable scope sighting. It is also advisable to do some practices before going out of the field. Practices help to withdraw any fear that you may have and also instill some courage in you. Exercise helps to realize your points of weakness, and you can perfect them as early as possible. While doing the scope sighting for the first time have a professional or experienced person in scope sighting for any necessary guidance.

Choosing right equipment

Besides it is crucial to ensure that the equipment’s that you will be using are efficient and are professionally-designed to have an easy time in the field. It does not bit logic to have faulty equipment’s to make your scope sighting hard, yet it is a straightforward task with persistence.

After ensuring the scope, bore, reticle, and the target are in their rightful positions. It is time to reinstall the bolt or assemble your lower and upper. Note the markings on your scope such as R for right and U for up. If you will be using a Leupold scope, any adjustment is made on the direction.

Consequently changes in the point of the impact if you miss an inch on the right with a scope that has ¼ MOA adjustments per click, you will have to adjust your windage up to 4 clicks in the direction the L is pointing. By doing that it will move the point of impact to the left direction. To be sure that the group is moving in the right direction, you can make some shootings after ever adjustment.

“Zero” your scope

Knowing how to sight in a rifle scope includes how to zero your scope too. Most of the scopes have screws that are meant to loosen the resent dial.  Before doing this step, you can refer to your manual and study it to understand the type of your scope. To “zero” your dials out loosen your screws to rest the dials that pop up.

Without engaging the adjustments, turn the dial to 0 on the dial and ensure that you tighten the screws or where applicable, you can pop the dial back down. If you get problems on getting the paper rounds, you can try putting several targets to enlarge your target area.

After getting a single spot, you can figure out on which direction you should adjust your scope to get centered up. Using large windage may bring issues with the bases and the rings. When dialing ensure that the windage is close enough to avoid a negative impact on the elevation adjustment of the scope. 

In case you got a problem with your eyes that prevents you from seeing the center of the impact. You can make use of green target stickers or bright orange target stickers to act as your eye guide.

How to sight in a rifle scope : The Advantages Of Sighting A Scope

Bullets leaving the muzzle do not necessarily move on the specified straight line but move with a slight upward angle continually rising until the velocity is affected with the gravity. The path of the bullet is known as trajectory where a certain point the bullet comes into maximum ordinate.

Concerning your distance from the muzzle to the target, the bullets can raise above 6 feet’s from the line of your sight. To avoid these errors and wastage, scope sighting before shooting is a requirement.

Moreover, obstacles such as trees or another misplaced object can be hit by the bullet instead of the target. Hence sighting the scope is essential to avoid such obstacles which lead to wastage of the bullets or hitting the wrong targets which can be destructive. 

Sighting a scope enhance shooting skills

Besides, having accurate shoots, sighting a scope forces you to practice which perfects your shooting skills. Also, sight scooping helps to bold your confidence in shooting. Confidence in shooting is among the principal virtues you should have in this exercise. It helps to drill away any anxiety, such as fear of missing the target.

Get protection

Also, it is vital to protect your ears and eyes. The muzzle blast is loud and occurs at a very high frequency. Thus, it may cause bursting of the eardrum, which may imply you will be deaf the rest of your life hence very vital. To keep your ears wear hearing protection to keep away the loud blast.

Eye protection is also very essential to avoid damaging your irreplaceable eyes out of a bursting shell, poorly aligned cylinder or lead splitting. Further, all your body parts should have any wear that you deem essential. Your body should not be in stake at any point. Ensure the equipment you will be using is professional and has an ingenious design. Be calm throughout the exercise and avoid any possible interference or obstacles. The above pros and features should make you understand the importance of learning to sight in a rifle scope.

How To Sight in a Red Dot Scope Without Shooting

The steps on how to sight in a red dot scope without shooting is quite similar , apart from some differences, as how to sight in a scope without shooting. If you bought a red dot scope and need to learn about how to sight in a red dot scope without shooting then you should check out the following steps.

Firstly,  mount the scope but keep it movable so that it can be adjusted freely when needed. Then, put your rifle in a solid and steady surface so that it won’t move when you do the scope adjustment. You need to align with your target for the purpose of adjusting the scope. Now switch on the sighter and fine-tune the rifle by fixing the leaser beam straight middle of you target. It is better to use bullseye target to do this task. When the leaser beam hits the bullseye then you can be assured the scope is flawlessly lined up. If your leaser needed to be loaded in rifle chamber, then you make sure you have the right fit with that chamber.

After satisfactory completion of scope adjustment, the last step of  how to sight in a red dot scope without shooting is to harden the scope in order to prevent any kind of shaking the scope alignment.

Final Verdict – regarding how to sight in a rifle scope

Ammunition are very costly, and we should do our best to save them. Among the things we do to save the ammunition is to ensure that we have accurate shootings. To guarantee precise shootings, we mainly sight the scope first. Bore Sighting the scope involves pre aligning the barrel of the firearm bore axis with the target.

Bore sighting may entail shooting or not shooting to save the ammunition. Sighting the scope without shooting is possible, and ultimately you will have an accurate shooting. They are different methods of bore sighting that involve various bore sighting equipment’s. Laser bore sighting uses the laser technology, which enhances its preciseness. The optical bore sighter needs naked eyes which may be troublesome with a firearm that has a long barrel.

Magnetic bore sighter uses strong magnetism field from the magnetic materials and is very useful. To avoid issues with the ring and the base do not use a large amount windage adjustment to get on the paper. Otherwise, you will find it hard with your scope sighting.

You should note that education on how to sight in a rifle scope without shooting actually relates to hitting the target. So if you sight your rifle perfectly, then you can strike the bullseye.

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