Scope Zero Check Thread

[SouthPaw]

Several hundred miles in a truck bed, a few backpack rides to shooting locations, and about 120 rounds of shooting in mountains since the last post.

View attachment 856392

This rifle got a new stock today. This is the first mechanical change I've made to it in a couple thousand rounds. First ten rounds right after the new stock was swapped in and torqued, the rifle is still zeroed.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

RSS 6.5 CM, haven’t touched the zero since initial zeroing last June.



RSS .223, same story.



The “You Suck At Shooting” sticker remains firmly planted on my rifle case.

 

[Wiscgunner]

RSS 6.5 CM, haven’t touched the zero since initial zeroing last June.

View attachment 860820

RSS .223, same story.

View attachment 860822

The “You Suck At Shooting” sticker remains firmly planted on my rifle case.

Just my 2 cents but if you want to improve those groups you might want to try a couple things that affect lateral stringing of groups.
1) getting more square to the rifle. Less angled shoulder blades, more perpendicular to bore
2) less cheek pressure when gripping the rifle. Cheek WELD is a poor term, more like cheek gentle caress.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Just my 2 cents but if you want to improve those groups you might want to try a couple things that affect lateral stringing of groups.
1) getting more square to the rifle. Less angled shoulder blades, more perpendicular to bore
2) less cheek pressure when gripping the rifle. Cheek WELD is a poor term, more like cheek gentle caress.

I'll keep that in mind. Might have to break the gopro out to check my alignment with the rifle. Inconsistent cheek position is something I need to find a solution to.

Had variable winds 5-18mph on the kestrel, left to right up the draw we were shooting across. Imagine that played a part in the .223. May have overcorrected with the 6.5. Should have better shooting lane options next weekend in the desert to try to get parallel with any wind.

 

[Wiscgunner]

I'll keep that in mind. Might have to break the gopro out to check my alignment with the rifle. Inconsistent cheek position is something I need to find a solution to.

Had variable winds 5-18mph on the kestrel, left to right up the draw we were shooting across. Imagine that played a part in the .223. May have overcorrected with the 6.5. Should have better shooting lane options next weekend in the desert to try to get parallel with any wind.

I set my rifles up so I do NOT get a full picture in the scope but almost. Once the rifle is gently snugged into position, sight picture becomes 100%. This insures my head is at the same focal distance every time and helps reduce errors with parallax.

Get someone or a camera on a tripod behind you to see what your rifle does when you adjust your position. It is amazing how much extra movement there is with a little angle out of square and especially the heavy angle that is so common.

Angled to rifle
Note the muzzle jump and direction?


More Square to rifle
Notice the difference?

Try to avoid setting up your rifle or body position in a way that induces stress which will affect POI.

Very often I see guys with rifles setup where their scope is too close or too far forward because they mounted the scope to the rifle, not to their neck length. It is also VERY common for people to mount scopes to some degree of closeness to the barrel instead of the size of their head. Both of these errors cause scrunching up to get into a position. This scrunching is not at all conducive to accuracy.

Drop your head forward into alignment with the scope as opposed to leaning it over on top of the stock. No benefit to lowering your eye to almost the point of bore sighting the gun. The canted head encourages more cheek pressure on the stock with translates to more muzzle movement under recoil. Lighten the cheek pressure to just a caress and groups will shrink more.

If your groups are vertical, focus on improving your rear support or lightening up the “loading” of the front support.

Hope this helps you

 

[Justin Crossley]

Zero check at the NRL Hunter in Arbuckle today. Haven't touched the rifle since my match a few weeks ago. Rifle road on top of gear in Decked drawer on the way home from last match. Was put in safe and then pulled out and put in hard case for the flight to California.



Shot 8 rounds at 100 yards mostly to verify velocity and it's still zeroed.



Next I dialed up 7.6 MILs and held 1 MIL of wind and center punched the antelope target at 986 yards.

 

[Castle Rock]

That’s a really weird way to carry ammo, what is the reason behind that?
A bit of wind, rain, dust etc and you have a filthy mess