Redneck bore sighting reduces range time
There was a time when a buddy of mine and I shot our hunting rifles pretty much year-round, so we didn’t care how long it took or how many rounds we expended ensuring that our scopes were dead on.
But when our families began growing and life got in the way of our shooting time, we would inevitably find ourselves on the range the week before the season, trying to fit in a quick sight-in session.
Usually, our twin Remington 700 7mm Mags were dead on, but on those occasions when they weren’t — or we decided to try out a new round — we would run round after round through our barrels until we were satisfied.
No, we weren’t smart enough to buy a bore-sighting kit. Or maybe we were just too cheap. Probably the latter.
And then one of us — I honestly don’t remember who — discovered an easy way to adjust the scope that provided 2- to 3-shot sight-ins.
It only works for bolt-actions, but it couldn’t be easier.
First, place the rifle on sandbags or in a shooting vise and place a target at 25 yards or so.
Pull the bolt out of the rifle, look through the barrel and adjust the rifle’s position until the center of the target is as close to the center of barrel as possible.
Now, without moving the rifle — that’s vitally important — look through the scope and see where your crosshairs are placed. If they’re not sitting on the center of the target — in other words, right where you pointed the barrel — adjust them until the aim point matches the barrel’s aim point.
Now, take a shot. It should be pretty much dead on.
Make any adjustments necessary, move the target to 100 yards and squeeze off another round.
You still should be pretty much dead on — all you have to do is adjust the reticles appropriately to accommodate the distance.
Send one more round downrange to double-check your impact point.
Normally, I would move the crosshairs to an inch high at 100 yards and let it ride.
I’ll be set for shots out to 300 yards after burning only two or three rounds.
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