Question about sighting in .... handloads

[Jeffery8mm]

I am seeking advice on the technique you all use to sight in your rifle handloads at the bench. Particularly of interst to me is the scope setting at which you use to shoot. I have a 3x9x50 Bushnell and have been shooting at 100yds with the scope on 5 power and get around 1 1/2 groups from a sandbag rest. Well, today I was shooting at the bench and turned up the scope all the way. Guess what, I shot a 4 shot group that 3 of the rounds was in the same hole and the "flier" was only about 3/8 of an inch away from the one holers. I was able to repeat this once and ran out of ammo. Back to the bench!!!!!
Please tell me what you guys do to sight in. Also, what sixe 'target dots' do you use? The one inch ones seem small to me. What about a 2" black dot??

Thanks

Jeff

 

[ReloaderFred]

When sighting in, I use the highest power on the scope. I also like to use target dots that are a black 2" on the outside, with a 1/2" or so white circle in the middle. You may have to make some of your own, if you can't find them.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Chawbaccer]

If it is hunting ammo in my hunting rifle I use the setting that I am going to hunt with, maybe between 3-5. Otherwise I crank it up.

 

[jeepmor]

+1 on crank it up for sighting in. If I have time in the field, I'll crank up the magnification, but I always hunt with it on it's lowest setting. It sounds like you found a vert accurate case, powder, primer and bullet combo with one hole groups. Take good notes so you can repeat this.

The shoot-n-see targets are great for this sight in work. Get close, then move to 1" grid targets and dial in from there. I got my hunting rifle groups down to 0.6 inches with several different powder charges. At max, they were open over 2" at 100 yards.

 

[birdbustr]

I always use the highest power for sighting in also. I like the grid type of Shoot-N-C targets. As far as handloads I usually get on paper with cheap factory ammo. The Federal Fusion is usually very accurate and cheap, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them for hunting if I were in a pinch.

Once I am on paper and have done most of the barrel break in with factory ammo I make my reloads at the max OAL possible that my magazine will allow at 1 grain under the max load data. I usually make 6 bullets 1 grain under max powder, then 6 a half grain stronger and 6 at max powder. I load six so I can do two 3 shot groups to see how tight the groups are. I usually do this for all different bullet types I want to try out in the rifle.

One thing I have learned is that one Powder type that shoots well in your rifle and gets satisfactory velocity will almost without exception give good results with any other bullets. So if you can't get a grouping, then it's the bullet or primer that the rifle doesn't like. One more thing, don't feel bad if you can't get <1" MOA, because most that claim that they do it don't offer proof that they did it, and if they do it, they can't do it consistently without a gun vise. I can do it on the rare occasion of giving the rifle 5-10 minutes between shots, but more importantly I always hit the center AREA of the target regardless. If I don't shoot <1"MOA It's not the rifle's fault, and that's the most important part. I'm going to hit darn close to where I intend, but the rifle has to hit exactly where it is pointing.

 

[birdbustr]

Sorry double post.

 

[Pumpkinheaver]

I use the highest power setting on the scope to sight in. I then go through the power settings on the scope and fire a round to make sure nothing moves as I change magnification.

 

[Jeffery8mm]

Thanks fort the info guys.
Birdbustr wrote.......
One more thing, don't feel bad if you can't get <1" MOA, because most that claim that they do it don't offer proof that they did it, and if they do it, they can't do it consistently without a gun vise. I can do it on the rare occasion of giving the rifle 5-10 minutes between shots, but more importantly I always hit the center AREA of the target regardless. If I don't shoot <1"MOA It's not the rifle's fault, and that's the most important part. I'm going to hit darn close to where I intend, but the rifle has to hit exactly where it is pointing.

VERY good point!! I used to think if a huntong load did not group at .75" it was no good. Spent alot of time and money chasing tose magical 1 hole groups. Now I realize it in not neccessary to do that. 1 1/2 groups with my handloads are all I need to hunt deer out to 200 yards. Of course, if a one holer comes along every now and then I do love it!!!!!!!

Thanks again

Jeff

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

I like to use the highest setting possible.

Here’s my system which I haven’t seen in this thread.

I use a black or orange box of 1 inch.

I put the box in the upper left of my crosshair so there is no light between the crosshair and the box. This way I know I’m aiming at the exact same spot on the target each time.

If your like shoot-n-see just tape the box on a bull.

 

[dakotasin]

for load development i have a mule scope (6.5-20x44 cabela's alaskan guide) that goes from gun to gun. i usually set the power to about 18x, and do all development at least at 200 yards, 300 is preferred. so, chamberings like the 30-30, 8x57, and other cartridges like those are done at 200. cartridges like the 7 rum, 7 rem mag, 25-06, 308, etc are all done at 300 yards.

once my load is found, i put the scope on the gun that it will actually wear, and sight in at the middle of the power range. so a 3-9x is sighted in at 6x, a 4.5-14 is set to 9x, etc. the reason for that is because many scopes will shift their poi at different settings - in some scopes the shift may be as much as 2" from the lowest setting to the highest. by setting it in the middle, i mitigate the shifting somewhat by cutting it in half. assuming quality scopes, your shift won't be as much, but it is still likely present. if not, great. if it is, then you have lessened it some.