zeroing my scope?

[Vash1023]

looking for help and suggests for zeroing my "new" scope on my 30-30.

are there 30-30 specific targets?

what distance does everyone recommend?

[bdhold]

100 yard ranges are common enough, and if you zero at 100 yds, you should still be in the kill zone at 150 yds.

[jnyork]

100 yards will work just fine for you. You could use almost any kind of target, they sell "sight in" targets of all sorts, OR, you could just use a blank sheet of paper with a 1" black square target paster in the middle of it, has always worked well for me.

[Blaine]

There is probably a little sighting-in graph on your ammo box showing the drop for regular and long range....

[JB]

I'd set the target up at 100 yards. The size of the "spot" depends upon the power of your scope or lacking scope, how good your eyes are. You didn't say if your hunting or just punching paper with this rifle. If hunting, my old rule of thumb with most rifles is 1.5" high at 100 yards. That generally puts me in good shape out to practical (for me) hunting ranges. If you want to be precise, the website of whatever ammo you're shooting probably has trajectory charts. Of course actually shooting it at various ranges beats the heck out of charts.

[Shasta]

First of all, did you mount the scope yourself, or was it done by a gun shop? It really helps to have the scope bore sighted initially, and most shops do that.

I like to start with an 18" square target at 50 yards to get initial settings, then zero at 100 yards. I often see guys start right out at 100 yards, with no spotting scope or binoculars, then are unable to even hit the paper, and wind up moving the target closer and closer until they can find out where the bullets are hitting. Seems doing it the other way around would be better, especially without a good spotter.

SHASTA

[Chuck 100 yd]

I sight my .30-30`s to hit about 1 1/2"- 2" high at 100 yd.

[Tycer]

I start at 25 yards with the 100 yard big game target from http://www.mytargets.com ; I stick six of them on a big piece of cardboard and get dead on at 25 3" high and move out to 100 and finish from my field position, not from the bench.

If you can use a rest or very solid bags, you can take one shot with the cross hairs on your point of aim. Then re-sight to the same point of aim and - WITHOUT MOVING THE GUN AT ALL - adjust the scope to line up on the bullet hole. That will get you darn close and maybe right on if you did not move the gun at all and aimed exactly where you did the first time.

One thing about leverguns - for me - they do not shoot to the same point of aim from the bench as when I shoot them from field positions. Ever.

When you shoot from the bench with a levergun, put a piece of tape or some mark on both the bag and the forearm to make darn sure you rest the forearm in the exact same spot for every shot. Moving the forearm fore and aft on the bag will change the point of impact.

[Blaine]

I start at 25 yards with the 100 yard big game target from http://www.mytargets.com ; I stick six of them on a big piece of cardboard and get dead on at 25 3" high and move out to 100 and finish from my field position, not from the bench.

If you can use a rest or very solid bags, you can take one shot with the cross hairs on your point of aim. Then re-sight to the same point of aim and - WITHOUT MOVING THE GUN AT ALL - adjust the scope to line up on the bullet hole. That will get you darn close and maybe right on if you did not move the gun at all and aimed exactly where you did the first time.

One thing about leverguns - for me - they do not shoot to the same point of aim from the bench as when I shoot them from field positions. Ever.

When you shoot from the bench with a levergun, put a piece of tape or some mark on both the bag and the forearm to make darn sure you rest the forearm in the exact same spot for every shot. Moving the forearm fore and aft on the bag will change the point of impact.

I agree 100%....which is why I don't let the rifle touch the rest, be it sandbag, or rolled up coat/blanket. I Rest my hand/wrist/forearm and hold my rifle in my left hand. I can't prove it, except I get really good results that way. Ditto for handguns....the handgun never touches any part of the rest.

[Dave]

I would start at 25 yards before going back to 100. Like some of the other guys I have found levers don't like sandbags. I always put my hand on the forearm between it and the bag like I was holding it normally.

[Griff]

I start at 25 yards with the 100 yard big game target from http://www.mytargets.com ; I stick six of them on a big piece of cardboard and get dead on at 25 3" high and move out to 100 and finish from my field position, not from the bench.

If you can use a rest or very solid bags, you can take one shot with the cross hairs on your point of aim. Then re-sight to the same point of aim and - WITHOUT MOVING THE GUN AT ALL - adjust the scope to line up on the bullet hole. That will get you darn close and maybe right on if you did not move the gun at all and aimed exactly where you did the first time.

One thing about leverguns - for me - they do not shoot to the same point of aim from the bench as when I shoot them from field positions. Ever.

When you shoot from the bench with a levergun, put a piece of tape or some mark on both the bag and the forearm to make darn sure you rest the forearm in the exact same spot for every shot. Moving the forearm fore and aft on the bag will change the point of impact.

I agree 100%....which is why I don't let the rifle touch the rest, be it sandbag, or rolled up coat/blanket. I Rest my hand/wrist/forearm and hold my rifle in my left hand. I can't prove it, except I get really good results that way. Ditto for handguns....the handgun never touches any part of the rest.

+1

[El Chivo]

I'm in favor of zeroing to an odd distance that leaves you slightly high at 100 and slightly low at 200. Then you can put the crosshairs on any target from zero to 200 and you'll hit it.

The added advantage of this is you start at 25 or 30 yards. If you set your scope dead on at 30 yards, it will also be dead on at 175 yards (with Remington 150 grain ammo). It will be just two inches high at 100 and 4" low at 200.

What goes up must come down.

The closer in you zero it, the further out your second zero. So if you zero at 25, you'll also be zeroed at 200. But your arc is more extreme so at 100 you'll be 3" high.

If you don't plan on any 200 yard shots, then sight in at 40 and you'll be 1" high at 100, dead on at 135, and 1" low at 150 - so from zero to 150 you'll be within an inch and no pondering.

But as I see it, sighting in at 100 just gives you too much drop at 150 and 200, with no particular advantage.

[FWiedner]

Taking well aimed shots at 25, 50 and 100yards and making sight adjustments as you go is a time tested way to get good results. Gives you time to get to know your firearm.

When I don't have the time or inclination to do the plinking I use a laser bore-sight tool. I set it up with a target at a known distance and then adjust the sights to match line of sight and calculated path of projectile per a ballistics table for that known distance to match the desired target range, and then I take it to the range. It usually gets me on paper at 100yds, and then I do the fine tuning on the firing line.

[JB]

The beauty of a bolt gun is that you can bore sight it without lasers or any other device. Simply remove the bolt and look down the barrel while resting the rifle on the sandbags. With your target centered in the crosshairs or sights at say 50 yards, you should be able to look through the bore and get a pretty close idea of where your bullet will be hitting. Adjust your scope so that the crosshair or sights as well as the center of the bore are pointed at the same location. That will get you close enough that you won't be wasting shots trying to get on the paper at 100.

[Old Time Hunter]

I start at 25 yards with the 100 yard big game target from http://www.mytargets.com ; I stick six of them on a big piece of cardboard and get dead on at 25 3" high and move out to 100 and finish from my field position, not from the bench.

If you can use a rest or very solid bags, you can take one shot with the cross hairs on your point of aim. Then re-sight to the same point of aim and - WITHOUT MOVING THE GUN AT ALL - adjust the scope to line up on the bullet hole. That will get you darn close and maybe right on if you did not move the gun at all and aimed exactly where you did the first time.

One thing about leverguns - for me - they do not shoot to the same point of aim from the bench as when I shoot them from field positions. Ever.

When you shoot from the bench with a levergun, put a piece of tape or some mark on both the bag and the forearm to make darn sure you rest the forearm in the exact same spot for every shot. Moving the forearm fore and aft on the bag will change the point of impact.

I agree 100%....which is why I don't let the rifle touch the rest, be it sandbag, or rolled up coat/blanket. I Rest my hand/wrist/forearm and hold my rifle in my left hand. I can't prove it, except I get really good results that way. Ditto for handguns....the handgun never touches any part of the rest.

+1

+2

Only additional comment is that I use a laser bore light to manually align the scope before my first shot @ 25 yards.

[bdhold]

The beauty of a bolt gun is that you can bore sight it without lasers or any other device. Simply remove the bolt and look down the barrel while resting the rifle on the sandbags. With your target centered in the crosshairs or sights at say 50 yards, you should be able to look through the bore and get a pretty close idea of where your bullet will be hitting. Adjust your scope so that the crosshair or sights as well as the center of the bore are pointed at the same location. That will get you close enough that you won't be wasting shots trying to get on the paper at 100.

same with a rolling block or falling block

agree with others that you want to get your windage first at shorter range and ballpark your elevation until you get to longer range.

[Vash1023]

thanks guys.