Hi all,
Does anyone know of, or would like to a write a beginners tutorial for zeroing a scope.
I wonder because I was trying to zero my scope on my new bsa superstar(yay
), but it was an utter disaster. I don't have any of this fancy stand,vice or gun bench jiggery pokery and this makes it really difficult to duplicate shots exactly every single time!
So does anyone have any tips, for a complete beginner with little equipment, on how to zero a scope.
Cheers,
Will
Oks its a Spring gun so you cant Clamp it ot rest it o na hard surface etc and how you hold it has to be consistant r it will not group
Remember there is a Large powerfull spring and a lump of metal you release that jumps fwds moving the gun about a lot before teh pellet even starts to move and is still rebounding backwards while the pellet is moving up the barrel this cannot be helped so you need to get the gun to bounce jump and reciol the same every time so you can get the pellets close into a group. THis is why heavy guns are better for Springers they help damp the bounces.
Zero at a distance of 10-12 yrds on a full sheet of paper ie A4 at least (with a good back stop ) this range you should be able to get touching groups of 3 to 5 pellets use a 1/2" black filled Dot as a aim point forthis you can use a fairly stable position like a sitting resting the gun on your fore arm and knees or seated with a bench to rest on But use a pillow to support your fore arm and hold the rifle with your hands dont just rest it on a pillow etc
once you can group you can adjust the sights to bring the pellets with in the 1/2" dot (Check the Scope instructions on which way to turn teh dials etc)
once your zeroed liek that you can use more aim points per page ie up to 12 is good for A4
you have now set the first cross over of the pellet trajectory and the line of sight in the scope . The barrel is below teh scope by 2" (ish ) the pellet rizes from this to the zero point we have just set it then keeps rising to approx 25yrds ( 3/4" to 1" above the cross hair) then drops back to the cross hair at its second zero point at 35-40 yrds before falling away after that
you can now set a target at 30-35 yrds ish and be fairly confident its pretty close to zeroed so should at least hit a A4 sheet if not with in a couple of inches
practice here needs to get groupings back to the 1/2" range
once Fine tuned on Zero at the longer range you can shoot groups of 3-5 pellets at 5yrd intervals always aiming at the 1/2" dot and you can see where the pellets hit (high or low ) depending on range and importantly relative to the cross hair you can see in the scope
also now try shooting groups at targets i nthe differnt positions you intend to use in actual shooting ( ie you dont have a beanbagged bench and chair if hunting)
as a springer you will see a differnt impact from kneeling and standing or prone etc as they make the bounce different
PCP has no bounce so isnt hold sensitive in the same way
once you get happy then 1" exploding chalk discs at 30yrds standin unsupported is a fun way to practice
ther are of course lots of variables in sett up and things that can go wrong to prevent you getting a group or even being able to adjust the scope enough to get a zero etc
ATB
Duncan