How to Sight a Rifle: A Step by Step Guide

The first thing you want to do is firmly mount the scope to your rifle. Many rifles come equipped with a mounting system, which helps streamline this process. Mounting systems feature pre-drilled and tapped holes for the base of your optic, while others may have a grooved rail system, such as a Picatinny rail.

While installing your scope, make sure the rings are evenly tightened and meet the recommended specifications. You'll avoid damaging your scope tube or risking it moving during heavy recoil.

Establish your setup approximately 25 to 50 yds away from your target, ensuring you have an unobstructed view. This is a solid distance for testing your scope’s accuracy and making preliminary alignment adjustments. Once your rifle is sighted, you can venture out further.

While you may prefer to hold your firearm in the field, it’s best to mount it in a vise or place it on a shooting rest while sighting to prevent movement. It is also important to begin this process with your firearm unloaded. An easy-to-find hunting accessory, a shooting rest will keep your firearm level as you adjust your optic. Many rifle mounts specifically designed for scope sighting are available, as well.

Once your firearm is secured, the next step is to visually match the position of the center of the bore with the center of the optic. When your firearm is in place, position yourself behind it wearing the proper protective gear.

Bore sighting is the step that ensures your optic is in alignment with your firearm’s barrel. Some shooters do this manually, while others prefer to use a laser. The laser dot either inserts into the chamber or attaches to the muzzle.

Once your firearm is stabilized as described in Step 3, the next step is to visually match the position of the center of the bore with the center of the optic.

For this, you will need a target placed approximately 25 yards downrange from your secured firearm. If you can easily see the center of the target when you sight through the barrel from behind the rifle, you are in the money. Now you will position the firearm so that the target’s center is near as possible to the middle of the bore.

Be careful not to shift the firearm at all, adjust your optic until the reticle is focused on the middle of the target. This can mean loosening the screws or hex nuts on your scope rings just a bit or twisting the scope to ensure you set the crosshairs, reticle or other marks at the horizontal and vertical guidelines.

Check at this point to determine whether your scope’s marks are not on the center of the target, although correctly affixed at the horizontal and vertical positions. In this case, you will need to move the crosshairs/reticles using the scope’s external turret adjustments.

You will know if you were successful in aligning the scope properly if you can drop down behind the gun to sight through the barrel and see the target in the center. If you cannot see the target at the center, re-center the target with the firearm’s bore by sighting the target through the barrel, then moving up and looking through the optic and adjusting as necessary.

Moving between barrel and optic and tweaking it as you go will lead to having both your barrel and your optic centered on the target and your bore sighting process complete. At this step, make sure to tighten any loose screws on your scope rings.

Once you have bore-sighted at 25 yards, you will be on paper for shooting live ammo at 100 yards.

After you’re finished bore sighting your rifle, take a few shots and see where they hit. Firing in 3-shot groups will give you a good idea of where your bullets are generally landing. Keep in mind that bore sighting is more of a rough adjustment, and the goal is just to get on the paper. Precision targeting toward that central red dot comes next.

Once you’re able to hit your target, zero in your sight as needed to ensure your projectiles hit the bull’s-eye. This may include a series of adjustments to your sight, accounting for environmental factors and other external ballistics (things that affect the flight pattern of a projectile).

While you’re sighting in your optic, there are several other things to consider, including:

• Eyepiece: Adjust your eyepiece so that you see a crisp, clear image of the target. Also, be sure to check the eye relief – this should be set correctly to ensure your scope won’t impact you on recoil.
• Minute of angle (MOA): This value correlates to the minute hand on a 360° clock, with each minute referring to 1/60 of a degree for precision targeting. Most riflescopes let you adjust the crosshairs in ¼ MOA increments or ¼ inch at 100 yards.
• Elevation adjustment: This turret adjusts the direction of impact up or down.
• Windage adjustment: This turret adjusts the direction of impact left or right.
• Reticle alignment: Be sure the crosshairs of your scope are aligned to the elevation direction and windage adjustments. This is especially important while shooting at a distance of 250 yds or more.

If you don’t have a scope, that doesn’t mean you can’t hit your target accurately. And many hunters and marksmen prefer using firearms without scopes, simply relying on their factory-mounted or accessory sights. Common gun sights include:

• Open sights: Also called iron sights, these are configured with a single component at the front end of the barrel and two components at the rear with a gap in between. To aim, simply align the front post with the notch of the rear sight.
• Peep sights: These are similar to open sights, but the rear component is crafted with a lens for the shooter to look through. To aim, look through the peephole to line up the target with the front sight.
• Holographic sights: Built for fast target acquisition, these sights use technology that makes your eyes think the target is closer than it really is.
• Reflex sights: Ideal for short- and middle-range targets, these sights typically have a red dot in the center for aiming. Some also have brightness settings or attachments for daytime and nighttime use.
• Fiber-optic sights: Available in green, red, orange and yellow, fiber-optic rifle sights work well in low-light settings.
• Laser sights: Aligned with the barrel, these sights project a small beam of light onto the target. Red lasers are recommended for nighttime use, while green lasers are ideal for daytime shooting.