[cottontop]

I heard a guy talking the other day about zeroing a scope. What exactly did he mean and how and why is it done?
cottontop

[Belltactical]

I'm sure this will open a can of worms and I'm sure everyone will have their own opinions but....

Zeroing a scope simply means adjusting the scope so that the crosshairs are where the bullets will hit at a specific distance. In my case, my longest range is 152 yds (thank you Nikon for a nice accurate range finder).

Since I do this over and over and over again on a daily basis, here's the short version i use. After mounting, leveling, lapping the rings and double checking we use a laser boresighter to get close/on the paper. Then fire strings of 3 rounds (remembering of course to remove the boresighter - yes, I did have an idiot working for me who left it in the barrel and no I don't want to talk about it) at 100yds and adjust for windage and elevation until the groups line up with the crosshairs. If its a calibrated mil dot reticle scope you can dial up any range you want from that point (assuming a decent reticle calibrated for the caliber you shoot). Just did one an hour ago. Only took 2 strings of fire to get it dialed in.

Hope that helps.

[cottontop]

Yeah, I understand that. I looked on the internet and found basically your same information. Thanks for responding.
Anyway, what the guy I was talking about said, was to turn each reticle in one direction until it stops and count the number of turns you made. Then, turn it in the opposite direction until it stops again. Then, turn it the opposite way again half the number of turns you made the first time. Has anyone ever heard of this? It sounds a little suspicious to me.
cottontop

[Belltactical]

Well, I suppose you could do it that way. Don't think you'll hit anything but you'll likely loosen up some of the grease in the adjustment mechanics so that's a good thing I guess but it won't to anything to align the scope with the bore but hey, have fun screwing your scope dials.

[hiwall]

The person might have meant centering the reticle and then adjusting point of impact with an adjustable base. Supposed to be some advantage that evades me at this time.

[Durangokid]

Old scopes did not have self centering reticules. The only way to Zero those scopes was with an adjustable base. You only need to follow the detailed post just given by Belltac.

[Muliemaster]

Originally Posted by hiwall

The person might have meant centering the reticle and then adjusting point of impact with an adjustable base. Supposed to be some advantage that evades me at this time.

It sets the wind an elevation moa at its center most point of the scope, then u would set the bore zero

[Belltactical]

Sure, but what's the benefit? I don't care where the dials are set when I zero the thing. I only care about where they end up when the bullet goes where the crosshairs are.

[alsaqr]

Anyway, what the guy I was talking about said, was to turn each reticle in one direction until it stops and count the number of turns you made. Then, turn it in the opposite direction until it stops again. Then, turn it the opposite way again half the number of turns you made the first time. Has anyone ever heard of this?

Yes, i have heard of it: It's called "centering the scope reticle". i always center the reticle before the scope is installed on the gun.

[Belltactical]

Still don't get it. If the scope will run out of room to adjust it to point of impact, then how does centering the reticle in the scope change anything. There a finite amount of adjustment up/down - left/right. No matter where you start from, it's a finite fixed cant be changed adjustment range. You can turn all the dials to the stops and the bring them back to POI but how does centering the reticle change the laws of physics and the total adjustment range of the scope? It's a finite fixed range of adjustment you're dealing with. Centering it won't change anything when you dial it up when firing to zero POI.