Introduction

Never underestimate the power of a good scope. If you ask me how to use a rifle scope work? well, in my opinion, rifle scopes are supposed to increase your shooting accuracy whether you are hunting or shooting at a bull’s eye. They generally enhance the level of accuracy of every shot you take at your target. However, if you do not know how to use it properly, such a high level of accuracy might not be achieved after all. Like any other gadget, using a rifle scope require some level of experience or skills for optimal performance of the scope to be achieved. As much as an excellent quality scope is needed for an accurate shot to be made, how you use it also matter a lot.

Here is how to use a rifle scope, in other words, how to adjust a rifle scope like a professional

Magnification Power

You can choose a scope based on magnification power. It is an essential aspect of scope, usually uttered in two numbers such as 4×32. The figures represent how well the scope can magnify your target and increase both precision and the quality of the image. A professional should know the amount of magnification power that would be perfect for the kind of shooting task at hand.

Fog Proof or Waterproof

The quality of rifle scope you choose based on resistance to water or fog, among other factors may make all the difference in accurate shots with your rifle. Real hunting enthusiasts often look for those rifle Scopes that are closed with O-rings, and that boasts waterproof safeguard.

These qualities often make scopes suitable for use even in the rain, fog or even in swampy places. Some scopes are often designed or packed with nitrogen, which makes them dependable in every climate. As an expert, choosing a scope that would survive extreme environments would be a great place to start winning both as a shooter and as a hunter.

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• waterproof rifle scope cover
• fog proof scope in here.

Set It Up

It is very important to learn in regard to how rifle scope adjustments work because if you know your rifle properly and adjust it perfectly you will definitely enjoy shooting. Before you begin to shoot, it is important to set up your scope appropriately. How well you accomplish this task will greatly determine your level of success in a shooting game or on a hunting ground. Viewing your target through a well set up scope will help you see the bull’s eye more clearly besides increasing to a greater extent the level of accuracy. Besides, doing it right will help you understand how to use a scope for long range shooting too.

When setting it up, you should begin by adjusting the reticle and eye relief. The cross-hairs, dot, or any other aiming device in the scope is what is known as the reticle. You have to position it well inside the scope for better functioning. You can achieve this by loosening the mounting rings first then turning the scope until your article is in an upright and centered position. You should be able to see the reticle in a normal firing position. That is when you know you have adjusted it right. Confirm if the placing is right and tighten the rings just tight enough to hold the setting in position.

Eye Relief

The eye relief essentially lets you view into the rifle scope at a little distance from your viewing eye. It normally ranges from 3 to 6 inches. The control knob can be at the end of the scope, depending on the type of scope and can be adjusted by turning it on either side.

However, in most scopes, the eye relief is adjusted by moving the whole scope back and forth through its mounting rings until you achieve your most preferred eye relief. Make sure you tighten the mounting ring firmly when you are through with the basic set up. Achieving the right set up will boost your ability as a shooter or as a hunter.

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Parallax Adjustment

If your rifle scope provides for parallax adjustment, modify it according to the distance of the target. Most scopes allow shooters to position their reticles on the same distance plain as their targets. It is every shooter or hunter’s desire to hit the center of the target or get an accurate shot. To increase your chances of achieving this goal with every shot, you need to know how to adjust parallax.

Various parallaxes have on them distance calibrations that can guide you. However, do not trust them completely since some may be inaccurate. Based on your eye relief and the distance to the target, parallax changes slightly. Adjusting them to accuracy is not an easy task, especially if you are new to shooting. You may need some time to get used to doing it the right way.

You should not fire your rifle before you obtain the perfect sight picture of the target. As you view through the scope looking at your target, and with the reticle upright and centered, you are supposed to get a clear and crisp picture of the target.

Likewise, if there is black on any side of the picture, it is supposed to be symmetrical. If the picture has the qualities mentioned above, then it qualifies to be regarded as the perfect picture, which is what you need to make a more accurate judgment about your target.

The Basics of Sighting

In order to become a skilled hunter or shooter you must master on how to sight in a rifle scope. As you sight in your target through the scope, and before you make that vital shot. There is a high chance that you will make several adjustments before you find the perfect sighting or picture of your target. To shoot like a professional, you have to sight like one first. Hitting the bull’s-eye does not just happen like a miracle. You have to put your reticle precisely on target.

If you have a few bullets to shoot spare, to shoot off the bulls-eye before you finally hit your target. You should take a few calculated shots and adjust the reticle accordingly after each missed shot until you can hit the target. If you hit too high off the target, it means you need to adjust your reticle upwards.

If you hit too low off the target, you adjust it downwards. When you make such adjustments, it helps you bring the bullet to the reticle. You know you have sighted like a professional when the height of your shot spot is the same as the height of the target as shown on the reticle.

Similarly, you should apply the same concept with windage. If you shoot off to the left of your target, it means the reticle needs to be adjusted to the left. If the shot goes to the right, adjust the reticle to the right. When adjusting the reticle, you can begin with either. You can adjust windage before elevation or vice versa. Either way, you will be in a good position to shoot like a professional.

Zero In Your Rifle

With the reticle perfectly adjusted and the shots hitting precisely at the dead center, the next step is to zero the rifle in. Zeroing in actually means setting up the rifle in a static position, usually on a rifle stand. It helps the rifle to stay in a controlled position and fixed in place so that even when you fire the rifle, it remains static.

The steadfastness of the rifle when a shot is made also contributes greatly to the level of accuracy. Therefore, a shot that is sighted in through the rifle scope should go straight to the bull’s eye. If you do all these like a professional, your shots are going to be directly on target just like they should. The more you achieve perfect shots with fewer attempts, the better off you will be.

Once you have mounted your rifle on its stand, the next step involves zeroing in the reticle onto your target like a real pro. At this stage too, you will be required to shoot a group of three bullets to check accuracy. Use the windage and elevation knobs to adjust or zero in your scope. You know you have successfully zeroed in when each shot you take consistently hits the center of your target.

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Cross-hairs in the Centre of Your Target

Adjust the scope to position the cross-hairs at the center of the target at zero distance. You will be needed to recompense for position, distance, or breeze by hovering and dropping the cross-hairs accordingly. You have to keep the midpoint always on target.

Caring For Your Scope

As an expert, you should maintain a habit of storing and maintaining the scope accordingly. The lenses are protected by covers that are placed over them. On the other hand, exposing the lenses to scratches and abrasions ruins them. Read the manual to learn more about how to take good care of your scope. Cover the lenses every time you are not using the device. You should also keep the entire scope covered with sleeves when you are not using it.

you can check out the rifle scope lens cover in here.

Final Verdict

I hope the above article made you understand on how to use a rifle scope in more professional manner. With these tips, you can learn to adopt the right methods for using a rifle scope and you will be well aware about inside a rifle scope. It will help you use your rifle like an expert and even improve your accuracy and shooting skills in general. Knowing how to set up a scope, how to zero in, and how to care for it are the key to success. How well you do all this can determine if you are a professional or not. This guide can help you understand how to use a scope for long range shooting.

The post How to Use a Rifle Scope like A Professional appeared first on Scope Picks.

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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