By Shelby Hicks
One of the greatest accessories you can add to your hunting rifle is the scope. A good hunting scope can help you increase your accuracy without forcing you to spend hours on the range. If you are new to the world of hunting scopes, mounting and zeroing your scope can feel overwhelming and impossible.
Once you have an idea of what needs to be done, you will not doubt yourself again. Use this list of what you need to have and what knowledge you need to be armed with to successfully mount and zero your hunting scope. Let us get started.
Mounting Screws
First, you will notice that there are a few different sets of screws that come with your scope. The types can vary depending on what scope you purchased.
Keep in mind as you tighten each of these screws that you will want to treat them like you are working on something as complicated as a car. This means that you will want to tighten the screws in careful increments to ensure they tighten all the way. This divides the pressure evenly across the screws, helping keep them from breaking.
You also want to keep in mind that with all these screws, many of them can be assorted sizes. Do yourself a favor and keep directions or a key close by to help you keep track of what screw goes where.
Mount Bases? Scope Rings?
Mount bases, scope rings, installation? Oh, my!
If you have the type of scope where these are separated, it will help you install the bases and rings. A good trick of the trade is to degrease the top of the receiver and apply a very thin coat of nail polish. This will help keep the various parts from moving around as you install them. Doing this to the thread of the base screws will help you, as well.
But do not feel pressured to do this. It works for many, but not for all.
With so many parts to install, it will behoove you to have a torque driver prepared to help you tighten the screws properly. Different screws can require a varying degree of force. Keep this in mind as you read the manufacturer’s instructions to look for the recommended pressure.
The manufacturer’s recommendation is imperative because if you tighten the scope rings too much, it can irreversibly damage your scope and make it unusable.
Aligning the Crosshairs
Now that you have successfully gotten your scope and all the parts together, how do you align the crosshairs and zero it in?
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To align the crosshairs, find a straight vertical object, like a door frame, and carefully align the vertical crosshair with the straight vertical object while also referring to the horizontal spirit level on the horizontal receiver. You will now carefully tighten the screws, continuously checking that the crosshair continues to be aligned correctly.
If the crosshair changes some, do not worry, simply adjust accordingly. If you finish and find yourself looking at the mounted crosshair and see it is crooked, be sure it is not just you sitting crooked, as this is always possible.
Eye Relief
Now is the time to adjust the eye relief. To do so, you will want to place the scope as far forward as possible, then adjust it as necessary until you have a full field of view. This is typically once the scope is three to five inches away from your face. As you are adjusting, be sure you are holding your rifle in the way you would if you were firing the weapon.
Once you have the full field of view, keep the scope in that position and use your spirit level. Carefully tighten the screws to secure the scope in this position.
Boresighting
Boresighting is where you align the center of your barrel (the bore) with the target. Now, you will align your scope with your bore, but you want to keep your expectations in check. Until you have fully put everything in its place, your sight may be off a little.
First, you will want to lay the rifle in a cradle or on sandbags to steady it. This is so that as you adjust, the rifle will always be in the same spot. You will not have to move it around multiple times.
Next, you will align the center of your bore with the center of your optic. This can be done by looking down 25 yards. You do not have to do more than 25 yards because once it is aligned, it will be aligned at farther distances as well. Plus, sighting at 25 yards makes it much easier to see the center of the target, thus cutting the time commitment in half.
Now, you will want to be able to see down the barrel from the back of the receiver. Depending on the type of rifle you are using, you may need to remove the upper receiver or the bolt if you are using a bolt action rifle. Now, you take turns adjusting the bore and the optic to match up with the center of your target.
Once this is complete and everything is tightened, you have successfully zeroed your scope.
Conclusion
If you are a woman just beginning to learn how to hunt then reading the “how-to” pages of mounting and zeroing your scope can feel overwhelming. The best thing to do is to go out and work on it for yourself. You can use this guide to help you get started. Once you see how it works, you will be ready to target practice and hunt in no time.
Shelby Hicks
Hello! I am a Momma of 2 angels and 1 earthside baby. They are the sweetest blessings and are my reason for living! I am a born and raised East Tennessean, living in the valley of the Smoky Mountains. My pastimes include hiking, camping, gardening, and preserving food by way of canning. All these things have brought me joy, but even more so now that I have gotten to share the magic of the outdoors with my son. My favorite things about camping are laying in the hammock by the creek, and cooking in cast iron over the open fire.
Now that I’m older, I realized that this is actually a skill we all need to learn, men and women alike. That ability for precision takes time and practice to build up. I enjoyed this post. I learned new terms!
Well I learned something new today. This is very thorough and helpful for anyone learning to hunt.
This is a very good read. Despite the fact that I’ve never handled a rifle before, this post sparked my curiosity on how the scope was mounted and zeroed. Thank you for providing such a helpful guide, which I may use as a reference in the future.
Interesting read! I had no idea that there is so much to consider when you take up hunting. I might want to actually try it, if I have the chance.
I have zero knowledge about this even though my brother-in-law and his sons are hunters. And now I learned a bit. It doesn’t sound complicated but I’m sure it takes time for the beginners to get use to it.
I didn’t know anything about hunting scopes before reading this. Great advice to tighten the screws in increments and to apply a very thin coat of nail polish to the rings.
I wouldn’t know the first place to start, so if one was interested in hunting this is a good how to guide to get you started.
Renee, I’m glad this resonated with you! Thank you for reading and commenting.
I will be honest – I have never tried hunting rifles. And as I read this, I realise it isn’t just about aim and shoot. There are so many fixtures that go into the aim part of it. I am not sure if I will every try this but I do know this that by the end of this post, I will be able to talk about it like a semi pro
Ami, I’m glad this post was informational for you! It is always good to be informed, even if you do not go on to use the information directly.
There is so much more about setting a hunting scope than I thought. This was a good “how to” for women new to hunting. I am sure I would not know where to start.
Thank you for commenting, Linda! It can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be!
This is interesting. It is pretty similar to archery as well I guess. Indeed a scope is a very good accessory for both archery and hunting. It is a great idea to apply a coat of nailpolish. Fantastic hack that I will definitely keep in mind. Thanks for the tip about aligning the crosshairs while referring to a vertical object.
Arya, I didn’t even think about this applying to archery, as well! I’m so glad you mentioned this and that the article helped you!
Wow….I like this! I don’t think I’ve read on assembling a hunting scope before. It felt like I was actually doing it.
Ntensibe, thank you for reading and commenting!
It is super funny that I came across this post at this moment. The reason being that I am about 15 minutes from the shooting range where we will be practicing for more adventure
Practice, girl! Enjoy it! ❤️
I’m going to share this with my sister who to the surprise of all of us, has started hunting. She’s working on her shooting skills and I’m sure this gear could help her zero in on her prey.
I am excited for her to continue learning! Best of luck to her ❤️
I am not familiar with any of this gear. It is nice to have a guide to get everything working.
Marysa, I hope it helps you get started! Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
A great read. Has given me some much welcomed insight. Thanks
I’m glad it has helped you! Thank you for reading ❤️
That’s a topic I knew nothing about. It was an interesting read. I’ve never used a rifle.
Welcome to the club, Melanie! Stay around with us and you’ll learn everything you need to know before you begin shooting rifles!
I’ve never tried using a hunting scope or anything in that regard but I’d love to, it looks so cool! Thanks for the tips!
Veronika, scopes make such a big difference! You’ll have to let us know how you like them when you’re able to try one!
The beginner guide was really helpful for me since I am planning to climb this particular mountain soon.
Abida, we are excited to be on this journey with you! Let us know how it goes for you!
Great tips! Definitely need to learn before going to hunt. It’s fun to go hunting and shooting.
Frank, it is so much fun, isn’t it? Scopes make all the difference, too.
I once turned up at the range with no clue how to zero my scopes and I was mounted incorrectly. I’m not making the same mistake again. Thank you for your guide.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Brianne!
Mounting and zeroing sound intimidating for women but your guide made it really easy start. Thanks for walking us through the process
Beth, it can be so intimidating! I’m glad to is guide has helped you feel more comfortable.
Oh wow, this is such a nice sport. Hope I could learn some time. Thanks for sharing such an informative post.
Thank you for reading, Dianne! I hope it helps you when you decide to try a scope!
Such a complete guide! I’m bookmarking this in case I get into hunting 🙂
Lani, I’m glad this can help you! Thank you for reading!