how to zero a scope

[ronald]

hi i am relative new to the sport of airgun hunting .
just got a new simple scope and would like to zero it ,but how please heeelllppp.

[Born Again]

Before you start to zero the scope you need to mount it on the rifle properly. Adjust the front focus to about 50yds (if it has markings) then have a look through the scope at a fairly bright sky (obviously not the Sun) and adjust the eyebell focus until the cross hairs appear sharp and you don't have to make an effort to focus on them. Take the scope from your eye and back up a few times, the cross hairs should be instantly in focus for you.

Next, mount the scope on the rifle with the bolts loose so that the scope is able to slide, careful it doesn't fall off, you might want to do this bit over a bed. Whilst in a comfortable shooting position move the scope back and forth in the mounts until it is in a position where you can see a sharp edge around the sight picture, not fuzzy.

The cross hairs will probably not be vertical to the rifle, so now you need to rotate the scope. There are very accurate ways to do this, but as a beginner you're probably better with the rough'n'ready method. If you raise your head upwards from the rifle butt the sight picture will go black but you'll still be able to see part of the crosshairs in negative, the vertical cross hair should point directly to the centre of the rifle, this hair will appear to move as you move your head from side to side so you'll have to judge when it is central by how far it moves to each side - basically you're trying to get it even.

Tighten everything up and you'll be ready to start zeroing.

The quickest, easiest way to do this is with a Workmate. Put up a large sheet of card as a target (at say 15yds) and mount the rifle in the workmate so that the barrel is pointing at the card. Fire a shot, taking care not to move the rifle afterwards. Assuming that the shot hit the card you can now look through the scope and carefully adjust the elevation and windage dials until the cross hairs are on the hole. This is a rough Zero, and will not be accurate enough to use, but it's a starting point. Now you remove the rifle and shoot it in your normal position at your preferred range, fine-tune the elevation and windage to suit your shooting.

I'm guessing you'll want to move and tweak the scope a few times after a few days use, as you get used to it.

Good Luck.

[Buffy Vampire Slayer]

i use the same method as above but i balance a spirit level bubble glass secured with blue tac on the action to get it flat and then set the verticlal cross hair with a plumb line or the edge of a large spirit level leaning against the wall.
sounds complicated but you can do this from scope off in 10 mins easy.
NIGEL

[Born Again]

There are a few methods, I thought a simple method best as it's his first scope.

Here's a stupidly complex method I used, involving a laser and prism:

[philski]

After setting up the scope etc i would firstly practice getting your shots within a group, the tighter the better prone supported position best. Then adjust your sights use the center of the group as your starting position ie if you fired a group like a 5 on a dice the middle dot would be the center of the group measure from that point, (a group should be idealy 5 rounds but not less than 3)

point to note

Inefficient Zero. If a good zero is not achieved then the further you move
back in range the greater the error.

[hungryrob]

Before you start to zero the scope you need to mount it on the rifle properly. Adjust the front focus to about 50yds (if it has markings) then have a look through the scope at a fairly bright sky (obviously not the Sun) and adjust the eyebell focus until the cross hairs appear sharp and you don't have to make an effort to focus on them. Take the scope from your eye and back up a few times, the cross hairs should be instantly in focus for you.

Next, mount the scope on the rifle with the bolts loose so that the scope is able to slide, careful it doesn't fall off, you might want to do this bit over a bed. Whilst in a comfortable shooting position move the scope back and forth in the mounts until it is in a position where you can see a sharp edge around the sight picture, not fuzzy.

The cross hairs will probably not be vertical to the rifle, so now you need to rotate the scope. There are very accurate ways to do this, but as a beginner you're probably better with the rough'n'ready method. If you raise your head upwards from the rifle butt the sight picture will go black but you'll still be able to see part of the crosshairs in negative, the vertical cross hair should point directly to the centre of the rifle, this hair will appear to move as you move your head from side to side so you'll have to judge when it is central by how far it moves to each side - basically you're trying to get it even.

Tighten everything up and you'll be ready to start zeroing.

The quickest, easiest way to do this is with a Workmate. Put up a large sheet of card as a target (at say 15yds) and mount the rifle in the workmate so that the barrel is pointing at the card. Fire a shot, taking care not to move the rifle afterwards. Assuming that the shot hit the card you can now look through the scope and carefully adjust the elevation and windage dials until the cross hairs are on the hole. This is a rough Zero, and will not be accurate enough to use, but it's a starting point. Now you remove the rifle and shoot it in your normal position at your preferred range, fine-tune the elevation and windage to suit your shooting.

I'm guessing you'll want to move and tweak the scope a few times after a few days use, as you get used to it.

Good Luck.

How about doing this as an article so we can refer others to it when the questions come up