I figured I would post this as a refresher if your a bit rusty or for others who may not know to learn and be able to sight in very quickly and effectively this is my procedure others are also correct this is just what I find works well to sight in with a fairly minimal amount of rounds

MOA , Minute of Angle is an angular measurement

looking at a compass you see 360 degrees each degree of angle is then broken up in to Minutes for a smaller measurement

like an minute of time a Minute of angle is 1/60th of the degree

a 60th of a degree or a Minute of Angle MOA is approximately 1 inch at 100 yards it is actually 1.047 inches which only really mattes beyond 500 yards so just 1 inch at 100 yards for sight in purposes

in this diagram you can see that beyond an MOA being and inch at 100 yards 2 inches at 200 yards 3 inches at 300 and so on , the fractions also work 50 yards is 1/2 inch and 25 yards is 1/4 inch .



I also included 12.5 yards 1/8th of 100 yards a MOA is 1/8 inch because sometimes you get that gun that is not on a sheet of paper at 25 yards , if you can move the target in to 12.5 yards 37.5 feet you don't need to be exact pace it of is fine it is about getting on paper to find out what adjustment you need

now if you can't get on a 20x20 inch target at 25 yards you likely have other mounting issues

as an example a Vortex crossfireII 2-7x32 has 60moa of windage and 60moa of elevation adjustment if you are greater than 15 inches off point of aim with point of impact it is a good time to check your mounts.

you also want the scope as close to the center of it's adjustment range some people when they mount a new scope will turn the adjustment all the way right then all the way left counting stop to stop then back to the middle and the same for elevation adjustment this centers the cross hair in the middle of it's adjustment range where you would like for it to be for best function. if all the mounting is strait this should get you a good starting point to fire your first group from 25 yards.

Inches = Minutes = Clicks

at 25 yards a MOA is 1/4 of an inch on the target most common hunting rifle scopes are 1/4 moa per click of adjustment
If you are off 2 inches at 25 yards you are off 8 moa and to move your optic at 4 clicks per moa you need to turn 8moa X 4 clicks per moa=32 clicks in the appropriate direction.

this is a link to my preferred sight in target for 25 yards because it makes it simple https://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=9833.msg83223#msg83223 the one inch squares with grid or the one inch squares with grid ink saver

this is 1 inch black squares on a 1/4 inch graph paper , because 1moa = 1/4 of an inch at 25 yards each grid square is 1MOA meaning all you need to do is count the grid squares you need to move over from the center of the group to the center of where you aimed


in this target I fired 3 rounds with my red marker , find the center of the group , then count over squares to my point of aim and count up squares to my point of aim , the center black square (this is the ink saver version) I counted 8 right and 6 up.

I need to move 8moa right x 4 clicks per MOA = 32 clicks , most newer scopes like the Vortex have numbers around the dial and not just clicks you can more easily move 8moa without counting clicks.

notice the green dot that is where I really want to be having bullet impact with most center-fire rifles at 25 yards because the optic is typically about 2 inches above the bore axis so when calculating generally you want impact 1 inch low at 25 yards so that you are not excessively high when you move to your 100 yard target

because I want to be 1 inch below the center of the point of Aim at 25 yards I only want to move 2 moa up 2moa x 4 clicks = 8 clicks up

once I dialed in my correction , I will tap the housing of the turret with side of my thumb knuckle , this is old habit and it may not be needed any longer but it doesn't hurt , back 30-40 years ago it was not uncommon to dial in a correction only to have that correction actually take place during the recoil of the next 1-3 rounds , when I used to work gun deer sight in's I learned from the old timers there who had little brass hammers around 1 ounce they would dial in correction and 5-6 taps with the little brass hammer on the turret housing and it would help some of those scopes to move before the shot. I made up a set of tiny brass hammers for my dad and I when we worked sight ins but I frequently forget to bring it to the range on one or two rifles my thumb knuckle works fine

then I fire a second group typically it is almost exactly where I intended it if my group is within an inch of intended it is good enough as long as it isn't above the center of the point of aim 1 inch higher than the top of the square would be 6 minutes high at 100 yards and since that is compounded by still being below line of sight at 25 yards it is more like 10MOA high that could easily be off the target at 100 yards.




if the group moves the wrong direction farther away from point of aim by the amount you moved you moved the adjustment the wrong direction go the opposite direction twice this is where is is very handy to have made notes of your clicks and direction with arrows indicating the rotation you dialed in.

if the group strings toward the point of aim you may want to fire a few more rounds till it settles to a group.

some low power and red dot optics are 1/2moa adjustment , the manual should indicate this in that case number of MOA needed x 2 clicks per MOA = correction

Good read . But those of us that have done it all our lives it looks like you made it complicated to some . LOL


Let me give laymans terms. Mount scope level as best you can. Shoot target size of car hood at 25 yards first. make adjustments. Shoot again. When close move back to 100 yards , shoot again. More adjustments ,go hunt when satisfied. IF you miss paper (size of car hood) at 25 yards . After half a box of shells review mounting procedures.....

Good info Pete-all that I would add is that if you bore sight before the first shot, you shouldn't need a car hood sized target. Sighting in shouldn't take more than a few shots.

Actually after a 1/2 box of shells, you should take the Win Mod 70 by the barrel and wrap it around a tree and go buy anything else. Can you tell that I had one for a short while...very short.

I'd like to know what a good rule of thumb is...like an inch high at 100 yds? I know there are many different scenarios, just looking for a good go to.

Sometimes I put the gun on my lead sled with the bolt removed and look down the bore at something small like a light switch. Then adjust the cross hairs centered but about 1.5" high. Gets you close and also works at the range with the guy next to you can't get on paper to help him out.

Great wright up.

thanks
I don't normally need more than the 8 1/2 x11 target maybe the cardboard target backer

just my experience I let the gun smith at gander mountain bore sight one for me once , it was free with the mounting
most off scope I have ever worked with 16 inches low and left on the first group soured me on bore sighting.

if you start in the middle of the adjustment range and you need to move more than the adjustment something in the mounting is wrong.

my methods are intended to need the fewest specialized tools

because one person might be sighting in a 12ga slug gun with rifled slugs and the next a 7mmSTW

I think https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/ using a calculator is the best advice

I like to be a little high at 100 with a rifle because if I am spot on at 100 then everything else is below form that point out it depends what I am shooting at as to what I set at

if I was using 180gr power shok 308win by Federal and were I was hunting would never present any further than 200 yards a 175 yard zero would be ideal it would be 1 1/2 high at 100 and 1 1/2 low at 200 everything would be minute of heart between zero and 200 yards

1 1/2 high at 100 yards would be good for a lot of hunting applications , any generalization is wrong at either extreme

keep in mind all this how high at 100 depends on the height of your scope above bore axis I am assuming you are between 1.5 and 2.5 inches above bore axis my guns are around 1 7/8 to 2 inches for hunting rifles

Bore sighting is only supposed to get you on paper at short range. And by short, ive seen sometimes you need to put powder burns on the paper.

Good info!

it may be more complicated , I see a lot of people who don't understand the math of it , they will put up the big cardboard shoot and they get up , down left right but not how many clicks so if they are way off they will turn about a dozen clicks fire 3 , turn a dozen fire and they do walk the groups in they may have fired 20 rounds to get on at 25 yards.

the math of it helps you to move a known amount

for some there is also a fatigue component if they admit it or not the while they say the 300wm doesn't bother them their target may show different 40 rounds later

if I feel good about the shot I may only fire 2 them make my initial move then 2 more to confirm I got it right then I can move to 100 yards fire 3 move as needed fire 3 and I am likely about done I have rounds left to confirm I am good at 200 if your windage is good at 100 and good at 200 then you have a strait mount

3 dollar a piece sabot slugs are a good time to run the math and save the money

a zero at only one distance is a snap shot in the alignment unless you have 2 or more points to confirm you are not assured it will shoot true to the sight

I worked on a 22 that clearly was not in alignment sight in perfect at 25yards , at 50 was left , at 75 is was further left at 100 further left yet

Pete, you are going to confuse me, I've switched over to Mil lol

If you have 60moa adjustment in a scope more expensive scopes are 70moa maybe a little more


60moa at 12.5 yards is 7.5 inches

60 moa at 25 yards is 15 inches

if you can't get on a pizza box at 12.5 yards you have mounting issues no bore sighter needed Gander mountain soured me on bore sighting

those laser bore sight cartridges could be handy to cut a few rounds off sight in remember that you need to be about half the distance that the center of your scope is above the center of bore axis still at 25 yards if that is 2 inches move the cross hairs to 1 inch above the laser dot.

then either you are ahead of the curve or completely lost.

but for rough calculation there are 0.3 mill to a MOA so if you need to move 3 moa you need to move 0.9 milrad most milrad optics are 0.1 milrad to the click or the graduation is in 1/10s of a mil

Some of the laser systems have way too much play in them. First one I ever bought you couldn't hit paper with depending on how the laser was turned

Thanks

I hadn't tried any 20 dollars or more for each caliber for a very limited use tool seems to much to me
could be handy if they worked right , but tried and true is still working with a little math

with the 1/4 inch grid at 25 yards hardly any math

Great write-up Pete. Thanks.

I encourage anyone seriously interested in riflemanship, rifle hunting and ballistics to check out Nathan Foster's website, ballisticstudies.com . Nathan is a marksmanship and ballistics expert, consulting for military, police and competition shooters around the world, but he's a big-game hunter at heart. On his website he has real-life ballistic data on nearly every hunting cartridge in existence, including effects on game. His position as an outfitter in New Zealand gives him the unique opportunity to shoot hundreds of weapons, and he has spent decades shooting targets and animals, doing autopsies and recording info on every one. The result is his website is a treasure trove of information.

Happy reading.

A fair rule of thumb- Dead on at 17 yards is close to sighted in for Maximum Point Blank Range for standard deer rifles. If it's one of flatter shooters, that may stretch out to 22 yards. This is ignoring things like the nuances of different velocities, ballistic coefficients and line of sight above the bore. It is a general rule of thumb and is one that I've used for Thirty-some years.

IF your sight is down around 1 inch like with Iron sights this is true for 308 30-06 ect those rounds would be about 2.5 inches high at 100 and on at 200

if your sight is 1.8 inches above bore axis you would be 6 inches high at 100 yards with a 308

there is a time I use a sight in like this BSZ battle sight zero where you would hit a man target with the same hold 0-400 yards an AR-15 with a 2.6 inch high optic or 2.5 inch high iron sight sighted to be exactly on at 25 meters with XM193 ammo will shoot 6 inches high at 100 yards , 10 inches high at 200 yards 7 inches high at 300 yards and 3 inches low at 400 yards . shooting AQT qualification targets at 100-400 yards this allows for the same sight picture during stage 1,2,3 and the only time you have to think about it different is during the 400 yards slow fire

that target is 18 inches tall by 24 wide

in stage 1 you get 2 minutes standing at 100 yards 10 rounds one mag
in stage 2 transition to seated 55 seconds 200 yards load and reload load 2 and 8 in mags
in stage 3 transition to prone 65 seconds 300 yards load and reload load 2 and 8 in mags
in stage 4 slow fire prone , start prone 5 minutes 400 yards, 10 rounds one mag

it is a simplified concept that if you always shoot just above the belt buckle you get hits on a man from 0 to 400 meters that it makes little difference where you hit them or what range they were at in-between on a man standing or crouching