Set me straight on scope sighting

[meketrefe]

In terms of rapid reticle design the Horus has been the leader and pioeneer for universal and versatile reticles found
in many scope makers like Bushnell, US optics, NightForce, etc...

Some very simple....

And some quite involved for varmint target where targets are small size and where drop-comp and BDC will not work as prescribed.

In the compensating caliber-specific designs you also have the Pride & Fowler reticle designs that, while having some of the same shortcomings
of drop-comp / BDC reticles at least they have first focal plane design. This design has been also licensed to Zeiss and nightforce...

Pride scopes are around $350 at midway.

pride scope - MidwayUSA

 

[Snappo]

Oh, someone said the BDC is useless if the scope I'm looking at has a "return to zero" function with the turrets, which this does. I checked one out the other day at F&S, they're spring loaded, just pull on it after clicking the adjustment, then return to zero. I'm guessing that's great for locking in zero, so you know where to start adjustments from for additional yardage?

Right. Return to zero is a genius invention and I am replacing every one of my scopes with modern return-to-zero scopes. Here is what you do:

1) You shoot 100 and get dialed in so your crosshair is perfect to the point of impact. Then you lift each turret and place it at 100 or 0 (depending how the manufacturer marked the turret). That's your zero.

2) You shoot 200 and adjust your scope up the proper amount of clicks. On 1 MOA clicks on my Nikon M308 shooting 168 grain Lake City LR or Black Hills red box I find I am up 2 clicks. For 300 I am up 5, for 400 I am up 8, for 500 I am up 11, for 600 I am up 17.

3) Remember - once you have your scope dialed in at step 1, you should NOT have to lift the turret and drop it back in. You just click left and right to go up to a different yardage and down back to 0 for 100 yards.

4) NOTE: Most scope manufacturers make it so as you click back towards 0 from wherever you were (500 yards for example), when you click clockwise all the way back to zero the turret stops and won't go further down. This is by design and is a really good feature. It stops you from going a complete 360 degrees beyond your zero and think you are at zero and your bullets are no longer on the paper.

I have ditched most of my scopes that don't return to zero. I just sold the last of my Pentax scopes. So now I am fully Nikon Monarch, Nikon Prostaff, and Leupold Long Range Tactical. The only exception is the Springfield Armory Gen 4 which is no longer around and it's perfect for human target use and sits on a Remington 700 Police. You might want to buy one just to have it, but note that it's designed only for the 168 grain 7.62 NATO and the scope markings won't work on anything else. It also has a zero at 200 instead of 100. So there is no 100 marking on the scope. Every blue moon I see one new-in-box on ebay for about $750 to $800.

 

[Cleck]

Gotcha. So in a way, it's kinda like the BDC Spot On dope sheet/app. Instead of or in addition to the yardages, you also write down how many clicks you needed to adjust to those yardages. That way you can always refer to it as a baseline and then go from there depending on load/atmospheric conditions.

 

[Snappo]

Gotcha. So in a way, it's kinda like the BDC Spot On dope sheet/app. Instead of or in addition to the yardages, you also write down how many clicks you needed to adjust to those yardages. That way you can always refer to it as a baseline and then go from there depending on load/atmospheric conditions.

Here's how I did mine. I made each rifle it's own workbook. I have columns for distance. The rows are for different versions of ammo. I annotate my round and of course the scope in case I swap some scopes around when I'm bored.

 

[Bushmaster]

LOL, I seen all this posting FOR SURE going to happen LOL.

 

[Bushmaster]

In terms of rapid reticle design the Horus has been the leader and pioeneer for universal and versatile reticles found
in many scope makers like Bushnell, US optics, NightForce, etc...

Some very simple....

And some quite involved for varmint target where targets are small size and where drop-comp and BDC will not work as prescribed.

In the compensating caliber-specific designs you also have the Pride & Fowler reticle designs that, while having some of the same shortcomings
of drop-comp / BDC reticles at least they have first focal plane design. This design has been also licensed to Zeiss and nightforce...

Pride scopes are around $350 at midway.

pride scope - MidwayUSA

This subject could go for hours on end posting LOL

 

[Cleck]

Here's how I did mine. I made each rifle it's own workbook. I have columns for distance. The rows are for different versions of ammo. I annotate my round and of course the scope in case I swap some scopes around when I'm bored.

Nice. I like the organization. I'm guessing only U/D adjustments because you only need to compensate for wind on specific days, so it's not needed to set the scope. Just need to reach the distance

Good stuff

 

[Cleck]

Bringing this up since it's relevant in here. Maybe it was discussed before and I missed it, but what are you guys using to level your scopes when you mount them? Something simple, something expensive? I see all sorts of levels and bubbles and whatnot, but I don't know how sophisticated this needs to be.

 

[Jaywmustang]

I use a deck of cards. But u want to make sure the bottom of the scope is flat. That only works if your rifle is flat on top

 

[Cleck]

You mean as in setting it on the cards while it's in the rings, then tightening the rings, then mounting the whole rig onto the rail?

 

[Jaywmustang]

I mock my rings and scope up first. When I am happy with it, I secure the base of the rings where I want them. Put my scope in the ring and finger tight the top part of the ring. When happy with the scope placement I place cards under the scope and tighten the rings. Then pull out the cards.

 

[Jaywmustang]

 

[Jaywmustang]

I do that on my rifle, not on that jig.

 

[MilesTeg]

Interesting, the one thing I noticed is he didn't do anything for eye relief. Still it's a pretty simple method that makes a lot of sense if you have a rail and a scope with a flat base.

 

[meketrefe]

That is the lazy method and not the way to do it if one wants results.
What needs to be true is the mechanical/optical axis with respect to the bore so one should
forget about cards, levels and calipers on the rifle itself and start measuring against the projected
impact or boresight on a perfectly leveled target lets say 25 yards away.
I believe I explained the process here or in other thread perhaps.

 

[meketrefe]

Set me straight on scope sighting

 

[Cleck]

I believe I explained the process here or in other thread perhaps.

Yes, I remember that picture now, and I see what you mean. I liked Snappo's addition too - use the sight kit, but then bore sight the barrel to the reticle, like your picture. After all that, line it up w/ a line on a wall or target and see how crooked the travel is, right?

BTW, I love your avatar - I was just saying last night how long it has been since this country had a bearded President, haha.