Bore Sight Your Rifle
We have seen shooters coming to the range with newly scoped rifles who are not able to place a bullet on their target at 100 yards. We start at 25 yards. Removing the bolt, we center the target through the bore. We check the scope to verify that the crosshairs are also on the same spot. We fire a couple of fouling shots to see how close we are. We then fire one shot for accuracy. We adjust the scope to place the impact of the bullet in the center of the target. If we had to make a large adjustment, we might take one more shot to fine-tune our adjustments. Remember that it takes four times the scope adjustment to move your bullet’s impact at 25 yards as it does to move the impact at 100 yards. We move the target to 100 yards to begin testing for accuracy and group size. Testing for accuracy requires a lot of patience and time. You do not want your rifle barrel to overheat. A hot barrel may cause your shot group to open up and certainly will cause the center of impact to rise.
We believe that if you have a quality scope with lapped rings, have broken in the barrel and found the right bullet, your rifle should shoot a group size of 1 1⁄2 inches or less at 100 yards. We think that with today’s rifles and ammo, you should obtain groups closer to the magic 1 inch or less with a little work at the range. Even with a 1 1⁄2-inch group at 100 yards, that group becomes 4 1⁄2 inches at 300 yards and certainly accurate enough to take deer ethically at those distances.
If you’re unable to consistently achieve this degree of accuracy, you should have your gun checked by a gunsmith and then spend additional time practicing at the range.
Zero Your Rifle for 200 Yards
Look at the drop chart in the Gallery below for several favorite deer hunting loads zeroed for 200 yards. You quickly see that with a 200-yard zero, you can place the crosshairs on a deer’s vitals and make that shot from close up and out to 250 yards without adjusting your aim.
We realize that some hunters shoot far less than 200 yards while others shoot farther. This chart is simply a guide to where your rifle can be expected to shoot at varying distances.
If you do not have a 200-yard range, notice that at 100 yards, you can zero your rifle about 1.75 inches high and be about right for 200 yards. We test our rifle’s final zero with one shot from a cold barrel that has had only two fouling shots. Think about it – you shoot your deer with a cold barrel. Normally, we will not clean the barrel of our hunting rifle again until the end of the season.
If you zero your hunting rifle in the heat of the summer, your bullet will impact lower during the colder winter hunting season. Try to get the final zero on your rifle when temperatures are closer to your hunting weather.
Stay In The Rifle
We think that more deer are missed at 30 yards than are missed at 300 yards. We are asked frequently to check the zero of a friend’s rifle who has just missed a deer at close range – so close in fact, that something must be very wrong with that rifle. It is just human nature to pull your head up to admire the shot you just made on a deer, especially when it is so close. You cannot make that movement and hit where you are aiming. Follow through with the recoil and stay in the rifle.
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