Time to check your rifle Zeros!

[Picher]

Fall hunting seasons are just a few days away in most parts of the country. Most of the people on this site shoot a lot and keep their rifles sighted-in, but we all may have a rifle that's only used in the fall, and it's not a good feeling to start hunting deer, etc. unless the zero is checked...and using fresh ammo, whether factory or handloads.

Wood stocks tend to change zeros with humidity changes, but synthetic stocks will hold zero for a long time, unless bumped, etc. I haven't fired my deer rifles since last season and I'm very conscientious about checking rifle zeros, and my handloads, before November. Within the past few days, I've also helped neighbors sight in their rifles.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a new stock for one of my .223 Rem. 700s, bedded it, and sighted it in. It's a "sweet-shooting" rifle now...not because it shoots a lot better, but because it fits me better! It shoots just as well as it did, but the stock is more comfortable, both from the bench and carrying/shooting in the field.

It's nice having a one-bench shooting range a quarter-mile from the house, in a former commercial blueberry field, allowing up to 440 yards (with a little effort). The only problem is that it's susceptible to wind, due to the openness. I also have the option to shoot down a woods road that more sheltered, but the backstop isn't as good and it's closer to neighbors (noise factor) and it's only safe for 100 yard shooting.

It's also neighborly to offer your services, or range use to friends and neighbors.

 

[Reloadron]

Good point(s) and a reminder. Living in Ohio I hunted West Virginia. I would always arrive at my friends place a few days before opening day just so we could get out to an abandoned coal mine and get some sighting in done. Tis the season. To all of you getting out to do some hunting be safe.

Ron

 

[bassjam]

I never really enjoyed checking my 12ga slug gun's zero. But now that Ohio permits straight-walled rifles it's entirely different; I shoot my .357mag lever gun enough through the year that I probably don't need to check the zero...but I'm going to anyway.

 

[Captcurt]

I stay ready. My hunting rifles go to the range at least once a month. In fact 2 are going this afternoon along with a couple of pistols and my GP. The Ruger will take a couple of does this year. It really likes 180 gr XTP's with a stiff load of AA#9 or H110.

 

[Reloadron]

I never really enjoyed checking my 12ga slug gun's zero. But now that Ohio permits straight-walled rifles it's entirely different; I shoot my .357mag lever gun enough through the year that I probably don't need to check the zero...but I'm going to anyway.

Wasn't that a nice improvement in the hunting laws. Finally opened the doors to rifle.

Ron

 

[Picher]

I stay ready. My hunting rifles go to the range at least once a month. In fact 2 are going this afternoon along with a couple of pistols and my GP. The Ruger will take a couple of does this year. It really likes 180 gr XTP's with a stiff load of AA#9 or H110.

Do you find that your zero changes through the year? If so, you might glass-bed or pillar-bed your bolt-action rifles, free-floating the barrels. Stocks warp during moist periods, then dry out in the fall. Wood-stocked, pillar-bedded rifles with full-floated barrels don't vary zero much, or at all, during the year. I encourage anyone to do it, especially to that hunting rifle you use the most during the fall.

 

[Captcurt]

Do you find that your zero changes through the year? If so, you might glass-bed or pillar-bed your bolt-action rifles, free-floating the barrels. Stocks warp during moist periods, then dry out in the fall. Wood-stocked, pillar-bedded rifles with full-floated barrels don't vary zero much, or at all, during the year. I encourage anyone to do it, especially to that hunting rifle you use the most during the fall.

All of my hunting rifles are synthetic and pillar bedded. I had a Ruger 77 270 that had a nice piece of fiddleback on it that went sour on me after about 20 years. I glass bedded it and floated the barrel. It helped, but it still didn't shoot like it did before. I get a kick out of some of the stocks out today. Most have a barrel channel that you could slide a piece of corrugated cardboard under. You can clean them out with a Q-tip. I have several gunsmith books and really admire the old world work. Uncle Jack O'connor would have a stroke if he saw what many companies are putting on the market now.

 

[Picher]

All of my hunting rifles are synthetic and pillar bedded. I had a Ruger 77 270 that had a nice piece of fiddleback on it that went sour on me after about 20 years. I glass bedded it and floated the barrel. It helped, but it still didn't shoot like it did before. I get a kick out of some of the stocks out today. Most have a barrel channel that you could slide a piece of corrugated cardboard under. You can clean them out with a Q-tip. I have several gunsmith books and really admire the old world work. Uncle Jack O'connor would have a stroke if he saw what many companies are putting on the market now.

So the bedding wasn't the problem with the Ruger 77. Did you check the bore to see if it was worn out, leaded-up, or some other problem besides bedding? Even a weak striker spring or dirty bolt interior can cause poor accuracy.

 

[Archie]

I must agree with Picher. One should at least check one's rifle (or shotgun or handgun) when shooting the firearm with different ammunition or after a non-firing period. I've met too many people who have never test fired a new gun and are then disappointed they cannot find the shots. Wood dries out, lubrication dries out, parts fail, and ammunition won't chamber, fire or extract. Find out by a short 'testing' period prior to serious use. Not during serious use.

 

[illinoisburt]

Uncle Jack O'connor would have a stroke if he saw what many companies are putting on the market now

I don't know for sure on that. He wrote quite a few articles bemoaning rifles changing zero and having to fiddle with stock screws and scopes every day on some hunts. He might say things are ugly but I wager he'd be tickled with current accuracy and reliability.

 

[FL-NC]

I have another month before bow season even starts here. But I am heading out to the woods Sun. to see if the hurricane destroyed my blinds and stands.

 

[Picher]

Another thing I've done if there are handloads left over from last season, is to run them through the seater die, just to "crack" the bond that may have formed that could cause slight differences in release pressure when fired. You can hear the bullet "snap" free when run through the die after taking part of a turn of the seating stem. It doesn't hurt anything, but I'd only do it once and immediately re-set the seating die after all the hunting rounds are processed. The rounds should be "fresh" for hunting season after the process.

 

[Sniper66]

I check my zero on all my rifles periodically and before/during every season. It's fun and it helps me shoot with confidence. Zeroed two .243s just yesterday in preparation for the Kansas "antlerless" Only took 5 shots with each rifle and no adjustments needed. Shot <1" with both at 100 yds. I'm ready

 

[Gordon]

everything I own are zeroed at 50 yards and rechecked at 200 yards. Only rechecked at 200 if a flat shooting cartridge and they are rezeroed at 200 if needs be. Most are not needed to be moved much ! If a short range caliber then 50 yard zero is checked at 100 yards and noted but not rezeroed ..

 

[Skylerbone]

I had a new rifle and barrel combo to check this year, a new barrel and scope as well. Both were zeroed by me, checked and adjusted for my daughters’ eyes. After youth season, I’ll swap the one barrel/scope for my muzzleloader barrel and zero its new glass along with my backup front stuffer.

Batting 1 for 1 so far, with another hunt scheduled for this weekend.

 

[LoonWulf]

Mine are never sighted, I keep taking the scopes off.......
well 2 are usually on, the .280 and the .375, those dont get messed with, and they get shot enough that im confident they are where they are supposed to be.

We dont have seasons here except bird, and muzzle loader, so thats really the only thing i ever "check sight" Everything else its grab which ever gun happens to have a scope that hasnt been messed with recently.....

 

[Trey Veston]

My first hunting rifle is a .257 Roberts from around 1982. Winchester XTR Featherweight. I last sighted it in in 1991. That was the last time I shot it. Took a nice 4-point buck in Idaho with it. I drug it out of the gun room the other day, put a new Nikon scope on it, and headed to my dad's range where I normally shoot. I hadn't been out there for a couple of months and he warned me that he rented out his pasture to a couple of horses, so go round them up before shooting.

I got out there and the dang horses were right in front of the target. I also discovered that they had taken to scratching themselves on my target stands and had ruined the 25 yard and 50 yard set ups. Herded them back into the barn and started sighting in the new scope. Best group I could manage was with factory Hornady ammo at about 2". I was not impressed. But, it's a pretty rifle...

 

[Picher]

The stock has a horizontal or angled grain structure that, if in varied humidity conditions could cause a more vertical warpage tendency if tightly bedded and you live in a climate that has considerable humidity fluctuations. If you suspect that there are humidity variations that can be affecting group sizes or POI, there are some things that can be done. Pillar bedding and full free-floating the barrel are two that come to mind.

I glass-bed, usually with pillars, and floating the barrel to prevent touching the barrel channel from about 1 1/2" of the receiver to the end are important to consistency, if not optimal accuracy. In other words, I want my hunting rifle to shoot to the same center year-round, but don't care as much whether it groups 1/4 MOA or 1/2 MOA. My rifles generally shoot best groups with fully-floated barrels, so I don't have to make a decision to either put in a pressure pad or not. (The only rifle that is different is the Ruger 10-22, which has no rear stock screw and a flexible receiver...so it needs a pressure point.) If you do the bedding yourself, be sure to put spacers, both under and ahead of the recoil plate.

The other consideration with your rifle is the narrow forend, which is probably desirable to you, but I caution that using sling support can cause rounds to deviate from normal POI. So, if there's a tendency to use a sling for support, it would be best to have about 3/32" space between channel and barrel.

If you do pillar-bedding and glass bedding the entire action and about 1 1/2" up the barrel channel. The rifle should then shoot well, provided the ammo and shooter are up to the task. The other benefit from pillar/glassbedding is that POI should be stable year-round.

 

[WVRJ]

I do a fair amount of gunsmithing,not quite enough to make a living,but enough to help support my own firearm habit.It's a given that customers will come dragging in rifles that couldn't get the job done when season started.I'm amazed at what some of them will take hunting.I've seen loose scope mounts,triggers with rust and dirt,loose bedding screws,bent scopes and stuck bolt stops just to name a few of the ailments I've seen.I live in rural WV,and some of the stuff these old timers will come up with about rifles is quite comical.I had one guy who said he needed a new gun because his 270 pump just won't keel any more.He pronounced it keel instead of kill,but the story he told was a sad one indeed.He told me he had knocked three bucks down only to have them get up and run away.I mentioned something about how well it was zeroed and he was very quick to let me know that he checks it every few years,and it's still right on at 25 yards.The discussion went further,and he was calling keeping a couple of shots on a cardboard box plenty good for hunting,and no,it wasn't his shooting,that rifle just wouldn't keel any more.
Most years,I either build myself a new rifle or give one a makeover,and this year's no exception.My 40 year old M700 280 Rem is now in a Magpul Hunter 700 stock,and it's sporting a Shilen barrel in the 280 Ackley Improved with a new Leupold VX5HD 4-20 optic.I'll hunt mostly with that rig in the more open country or my little M7 308 for when my back will let me take a walk in the more dense cover.In it's original configuration,that 280 went for 28 hunting seasons and didn't need the caps taken off the scope.It was in an HS Precision stock that was well bedded,and had a good scope and mount.
Picher came up with a great topic,and he's absolutely right about checking the zero,making sure everything is tight and functional and that the gun is in safe operating condition.I had my primary deer gun out last Sunday,and was knocking the daylights out of a 16 inch square steel plate at 1,025 measured yards.I think it's pretty well zeroed,but when some of the guys come out to my range to check their rifles,I'll probably still have to set it off a few times just to show off.
Seriously,we all owe it to the game we hunt to be able to take an animal with a clean,swift kill.My best rifle is capable of doing impressive things at long range,but I know my limits.If I have a marginal hit on a steel plate,it doesn't matter.A bad hit on a deer is a tragedy.I've seen more than one suffer horribly.Twice in my life,I've finished deer off that had their lower jaw shot off from expert marksmen trying head shots.
Know your limits,your rifle's limits and hunt with ethics.I hear too many guys talk about how far away they can kill deer,and am always thinking how much I hope they don't get the chance to shoot that far.

 

[Trey Veston]

The stock has a horizontal or angled grain structure that, if in varied humidity conditions could cause a more vertical warpage tendency if tightly bedded and you live in a climate that has considerable humidity fluctuations. If you suspect that there are humidity variations that can be affecting group sizes or POI, there are some things that can be done. Pillar bedding and full free-floating the barrel are two that come to mind.

I glass-bed, usually with pillars, and floating the barrel to prevent touching the barrel channel from about 1 1/2" of the receiver to the end are important to consistency, if not optimal accuracy. In other words, I want my hunting rifle to shoot to the same center year-round, but don't care as much whether it groups 1/4 MOA or 1/2 MOA. My rifles generally shoot best groups with fully-floated barrels, so I don't have to make a decision to either put in a pressure pad or not. (The only rifle that is different is the Ruger 10-22, which has no rear stock screw and a flexible receiver...so it needs a pressure point.) If you do the bedding yourself, be sure to put spacers, both under and ahead of the recoil plate.

The other consideration with your rifle is the narrow forend, which is probably desirable to you, but I caution that using sling support can cause rounds to deviate from normal POI. So, if there's a tendency to use a sling for support, it would be best to have about 3/32" space between channel and barrel.

If you do pillar-bedding and glass bedding the entire action and about 1 1/2" up the barrel channel. The rifle should then shoot well, provided the ammo and shooter are up to the task. The other benefit from pillar/glassbedding is that POI should be stable year-round.

Awesome insight and advice! I've been told that the XTR Featherweights in .257 Roberts generally aren't accurate due to how they configured the long-action to feed short-action cartridges. One box of reloads for it couldn't do better than 5". I go hunting every year in Idaho with my dad and brother, but don't carry a rifle. I live on the wrong side of the border and am not paying $600 to pull the trigger, so I just go and enjoy the hunt without killing anything. Hoping to buy a home in Idaho in a few years and will go after elk with my totally custom pre-`64 Model 70 in .35 Whelen.

It has a unique stock called an Accra-Bond made by Mel Smart in the 90's. It's basically a laminated stock, but with less layers and better wood.



Then I want to take an elk with another `pre-64 Model 70. This one also custom but in .30-06 Ackley Improved. I have both an Al Biesen wood stock for it and a synthetic stock.

 

[Picher]

Awesome insight and advice! I've been told that the XTR Featherweights in .257 Roberts generally aren't accurate due to how they configured the long-action to feed short-action cartridges. One box of reloads for it couldn't do better than 5". I go hunting every year in Idaho with my dad and brother, but don't carry a rifle. I live on the wrong side of the border and am not paying $600 to pull the trigger, so I just go and enjoy the hunt without killing anything. Hoping to buy a home in Idaho in a few years and will go after elk with my totally custom pre-`64 Model 70 in .35 Whelen.

It has a unique stock called an Accra-Bond made by Mel Smart in the 90's. It's basically a laminated stock, but with less layers and better wood.

View attachment 944558

Then I want to take an elk with another `pre-64 Model 70. This one also custom but in .30-06 Ackley Improved. I have both an Al Biesen wood stock for it and a synthetic stock.

View attachment 944561

View attachment 944562

Love your Ackley with the Biesen wood stock!!!

 

[WisBorn]

@Picher I think a lot of people were listening to you.
Range was busy yesterday, as the temperatures were nicer up 70s (not 100+ heat index).
Good luck hunting this year and stay safe!

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I'm gonna try to get to the range next week. Probably won't go deer hunting, but it's fun checking the rifles and handguns out. I might even take Ole Thumper out and shoot him.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Hookeye]

I went to the range today to check a reflex on an AR and dial in the new vx3i on my Prohunter.

Reddot was adjusted to hit where irons aligned (reflex is off to side). 4 shots and its dead on at 50 yards. I killed a pile of clay pigeons in rather quick succession.

Worked like a champ.

Pasted over the target holes and drug out the 3006. 25 yd starting and boom... left a fair bit. Cranked it and hit right side of bull. Moved to 50 yards. A bit high and right. Dialed to bull on 2nd shot. Checked at 100.
1.5" high and a hair right. Clicked and put 4 into an inch ( or less ).

Cheap ww 150gr sp.

Sucks driving 45 mins one way to zero guns in less than 10 shots each LOL.

Gotta check my 700 in
243 since it got moved into HS precision stock and my 760 .35 rem since I changed scope.

Maybe tomorrow.

Range time, zeroing rifles is just something you do before season...well before season.

My stuff doesnt change unless I fiddle w it.
But then most of my crap the last decade plus has been synthetic.

 

[Hookeye]

View attachment 945274