So you have decided to try to get into rifle hunting. Or perhaps you have been doing it for a while, but are now ready to get your own rifle. Maybe up until now you have been borrowing a rifle or were given a rifle and work with what you have. Well, I am going to explain How to Sight a Rifle Scope, specifically for hunting.
The method I use will sound complicated. Honestly it isn’t complicated if someone explains it properly. The advantage to this method is that you don’t have to worry about FFP (First Focal Plane) or SFP (Second Focal Plane) scopes and the impact of magnification. This zeroing technique is meant to allow for a point and shoot approach to hunting regardless of magnification.
So let’s not waste anymore time. I will give you a breakdown of a few sighting methods, and why I prefer Maximum Point Blank Range. Then I will run through a couple of things to make sure of before you begin sighting your rifle using MPBR. We will discuss tools and equipment you will need. Of course, we will talk about the process of zeroing. Finally, we will look at some tips to use to practice for your actual hunting trips.
Why I Looked Into How to Sight a Rifle Scope
When I started hunting, I was an adult. I didn’t have any equipment of my own. The person who introduced me to hunting loaned me the equipment necessary to get into the bush and start hunting. This included the use of guns. Here is the thing, when you are loaned a gun for hunting, the rifle has already been sighted in by its owner.
So when you use someone else’s gun, you do a bit of target shooting so you learn how it is sighted in. You then use what you have, and hope that your target shooting has been sufficient. Needless to say, it took me a while to get the hang of actually shooting at and hitting an animal in the bush.
Once I had been hunting for a couple of years I looked into the specifics of the scope that was on the rifle I was using. I learned about MOA (minute of angle) and the MIL dots on a scope reticle (the dots you see when looking through the eyepiece).
The Rifle I Used
The rifle I used was zero’d at 100 yards. After my research I understood a little better how I could improve my chances in the field. Later that season I surprised everyone. I had a bull moose tag, and up until then I had always been somewhat sporadic in my ability to successfully hit my targeted animal.
Well, near the end of the season, my hunting partner and I saw a bull moose in a cut-block. He wasn’t huge, but we verified with binoculars that he was legal. The next thing we did was use a rangefinder to see how far he was (it was a logged area so no good references for distance). It turned out he was 324 yards from us. He was looking at us, and it was near last light so we weren’t going to be able to close the distance.
I got down on my knee and lined up. Realized my safety was still on, so took it off. My hunting partner was telling me to hurry up
because the moose wouldn’t stay there for long. It felt like an eternity to get lined up. I pulled the trigger! A second after the bang, the moose flinched and its head pointed upward. He then dropped right where he was, not even a step (I was really fortunate on my first moose).
My partner could’t believe his eyes. No one at home believed the story either. My hunting partner had to confirm the details before people believed it.
How I Did It
When I was asked how I did it when I wasn’t the best shot up until then (or even now), the answer was fairly simple. I learned what the bullet drop rate was for the ammo I used, and how that translated to MIL dots on the scope I was using at specific magnifications. When I was told he was at 324 yards, I lined up on the MIL Dot that would account for the bullet drop at 300 yards.
Doesn’t sound so simple when written that way, but if I said I just put the second dot of the scope crosshair on him and shot, that sounds easy. I have since learned that with a little internet help, I could set my scope up so I just put the centre of the crosshairs on the target and shoot and I will have an effective kill shot regardless of distance.
How To Sight a Rifle Scope – Approaches
From my perspective, there are three main methods of sighting a hunting rifle.
- Sight to 100 or 200 yards (whichever you feel will be the most common shooting distance while hunting)
- many new hunters sight to 100 yards whereas more seasoned hunters seem to sight to 200 yards
- Use the specs of your scope and MOA or BDC reticle (a more common style of reticle)
- MOA means Minute of Angel
- BDC means Bullet Drop Compensator
- Sight using MPBR which refers to Maximum Point-Blank Range
Traditional Option
The first method is a little more traditional. Basically you practice and adjust your scope on a target until you are consistently hitting the centre of the target at either 100 yards or 200 yards. This method is great if you typically will only shoot one of these distance as your furthest shot. Once zero’d you just aim at your target animal as long as it is that distance or closer. If it is further, a little guess work or practice (to know your scope and ammo combo) is required.
MIL Dots and MOA
If you want to use the little dots below the centre mark of the scope you will need to zero at a specified distance (either 100 yards or 200 yards) according to the documentation that comes with your scope. With a scope that has MOA indicators you need to figure out how many MOA each dot represents. What I mean by this is the first dot below centre may be at 1 MOA, the second may be at 5 MOA, the third may be at 12 MOA.
After that step you zero at the recommended distance (let’s use 100 yards as an example). If you see a deer at 200 yards, you would need to know that your bullet drops X inches at the 200 yard mark. Then knowing each MOA is the same number of inches as the yards/100 (roughly). So at 100 yards 1 MOA = 1″, at 200 yards 1 MOA=2″. Now when you look at an animal at a distance, you would then have to roughly calculate the drop of your bullet at that distance, and the amount of MOA needed to account for that drop in inches, then line up on your corresponding dot below the crosshairs. Sounds complicated? It does to me, I used a little chart when I had my scope set-up like this.
Bullet Drop Compensator (User-friendly MOA)
BDC is a user-friendly version of MOA. You would buy a BDC (Bullet Drop Compensator) scope specifically for your caliber of rifle. Look at the booklet that comes with the scope and see if they say to sight at 100 yards or 200 yards. Get yourself lined up and on target at that distance. Now it is as simple as each dot below the crosshairs is the equivalent of another 100 yards.
So if I sight-in for 100 yards, the crosshairs are 100 yards, the first dot down is 200 yards, third dot down is 300 yards, etc…
Something to keep in mind is the focal plane of the scope. A SFP (Second Focal Plane) scope means the reticle magnifies and shrinks as you adjust the scope magnification. This means that your MOA and BDC dots are only accurate at one magnification (referenced in your scope’s manual. So at all other magnifications you will need to do additional math to figure out what each dot represents for bullet drop at each magnification.
Maximum Point Blank Range
The last method listed was MPBR (Maximum Point-Blank Range). This is my preferred method to sight a rifle scope in for hunting. I use one of many online calculators. Here is the process, use an online calculator to determine what zeroing in distance allows you to have everything between you and that distance hitting the target no more than 4 inches high. You may have to play with the zeroing number, as the calculators will ask you what distance you want to zero in at. Start at 200 yards or so, and keep increasing the number until you have a value as close to 4 inches as possible as the highest point the bullet will reach between you and the target. That will be your zeroing distance.
Now, look at the calculator and see what the furthest distance is beyond the zeroing distance where it shows no more than 4 inches below the target. That distance is your Maximum Point Blank Range (the furthest you can shoot and hit your “8 inch plate” by simply lining up the crosshairs on your target).
If you zero according to the calculator you then know you simply point and shoot at your target area up to that maximum distance and you will hit the magical 8-inch plate (typically thought of as the kill zone for big game animals).
I use this because I don’t have to worry abut what magnification I am using, and I can acquire the target quicker, always looking to align with the crosshairs as opposed to trying to figure out hold-over.
Things To Do Before Sighting In Your Rifle
These may seem like simple things, but they make life so much easier if you deal with them first.
Make sure the scope is mounted level on the rifle.
If the scope is not mounted level, or in other words the reticle is on a slight angle, this will have an exponential effect on the accuracy (or lack thereof) as your distances increase.
Make sure the scope is mounted in the correct position for your hold on the rifle.
What I mean by this, is when you pull the rifle up to your eye does your eye line up with the scope nicely (the eye relief is comfortable). If the scope is too far forward or too far backward the eye relief will not be comfortable and you will need to move your head around to find the sweet spot. What you want is to have the scope so that when you pull it up quickly into a shooting position, the scope looks clear and like a single open tube.
If you feel like there is a circle around your field of vision and it blocks some of what you should be able to see, this will pose problems in the field. To fix this, see if the circle disappears by moving your head forward or backward. That will determine which way the scope needs to move on the rifle to align with your body structure. It will need to shift the opposite direction that you moved your head.
How to Sight a Rifle Scope – Tools and Equipment
So if you have gotten this far, and want to move forward with an MPBR sighting of your rifle, here is what you will need.
- Your Rifle with scope mounted correctly
- Access to a ballistic calculator
- A safe place to sight in your rifle (either a range, or a large safe outdoor space – private property or public lands you are allowed to shoot on)
- Your ammunition
- Targets
- Something to accurately measure distance (i.e. a range finder)
As for Ballistic Calculators, you can find many online by doing a simple Google search. Many of the ammunition manufacturers have their own calculators online. You can also find apps that will allow you to perform the same calculations. I use iStrelok as an app for iPhone, they also have a version for Google called Strelok.
The reason I like the app is because it is always on my phone so I don’t need to find it each time, I can also save different rifle profiles and ammunition profiles. This helps if you move to different weight bullets for different game, etc.
Your ammunition box will then come in handy. The ballistic calculators will require bullet information, such as weight, coefficient, speed, etc. which is usually all printed on the box.
How to Sight a Rifle Scope to MPBR
Now that you have all the equipment you need, it is time to learn how to sight in the rifle.
Step 1
Start off around 25 yards from the target and align the scope to ensure you are “on paper” and close to centered.
Step 2
Plug in all the information to your ballistic calculator, and have it generate a table for you. Now move the target out to 100 yards if you are able to safely. Start aligning your scope with the crosshairs making adjustments as necessary to zero in on the target. You will want to adjust by the elevation or drop expected at that distance. For example, my 30.06 shooting 165 gr would need to hit 3.53 inches high at 100 yards for an MPBR zero at 260 yards.
Step 3
When you have the rifle grouping consistently at the desired spot at 100 yards, you can then move the target out to your MPBR zero if it is safe to do so. Continue adjusting until you are grouping at the centre of the target. With the above listed 30.06 at 165 gr I would be zero’d at about 260 yards.
This would mean I can hit the “kill zone plate” at anything up to a maximum of 305 yards, without worrying about anything other than lining up my reticle crosshairs with the target.
As for making adjustments to align the scope, ideally you will have some way to secure the rifle. If so, line up on the target, lock the rifle in, and shoot. Then use the windage and elevation adjustments to move the crosshairs onto the hole on the target. If you then realign the crosshairs onto the centre of the target and shoot again, you should be very close.
If you don’t have the ability to lock the rifle in place, what I recommend is to take 3 shots with a slight break in between each one. Then look to see the average distance left or right, and up or down. Use your windage and elevation adjustments to move the distance required. For example all 3 shots hit to the left by 2-3 inches. I would then use the windage adjustment to move 2.5 inches to the right. You would repeat this process until you are comfortable with your groups.
Don’t Forget
As I said, here are the things you don’t want to forget after zeroing your rifle. Being able to hit a target that is high visibility, and stationary, while you are not rushed is much different from hitting game in the bush with your adrenaline rushing, and the very real possibility the animal is going to move away.
My recommendations for newer hunters, after sighting in your rifle are the following:
- Practice standing shots. These are common while hunting unless you are in a blind or stand.
- Practice quick acquisition shots. If you are able to have multiple targets set up, have someone call out a target and you then acquire the target and shoot. Try to increase speed while maintaining accuracy.
- Practice with increased heart rates. Do a bunch of push-ups or jumping jacks. While you are doing them, have someone call out your target. Jump up, acquire and shoot.
These few tips should help you be more confident and accurate in the field.
As always, Keep Smart. In this case that means always identify your target and all items behind it before shooting, always take all necessary safety precautions when using firearms.
Keep Smart and Hunt On everyone,
Scott