Thread: New Tikka .308 zeroing issues

Originally Posted by timattalon

Its a Tikka. Its second hand now so its worth about twice what it was in the shop. Pop it on trade me, double your money and buy something else....

All joking aside, when sighting in, I fire a shot, stop clean the barrel and give it about 5 minutes between each shot. The latent build up of heat can cause the barrel to perform differently when hot versus cold. And when hunting it is the first shot that has to count most.

Also by giving yourself 5 minutes to settle and sort yourself out you get into a more repeatable firing position. (Practise, practise, practise) When firing strings, if you dont take your time the rifle and you can move around a bit with the recoil as an additional variation from the heat.

Thirdly, how many shots between scope adjustments? I never adjust a scope after 1 shot unless I know it is getting very very small groups. For a sight in of a new rifle, I use a group of about 3 or 4 shots before I adjust the scope and I take the time to clean between each one. At 50m there is usually not enough variation for a "group" so one shot each time to get close is usually enough, but at 100m and 200m I use 3 or 4 shots over 20+ minutes before I alter anything. This will stop you 'chasing your tail" as your shots jump around as you adjust the scope. especially if you are a newer shooter and are really shooting a 2 or 3 inch group with your technique ...

Also some scopes can take a round or two to 'settle" into place after an adjustment. Normally cheaper scopes, but these are also what people tend to buy from chains stores with a 'combo' deal.

First off now, I would suggest returning to the range, start again at 100 with 3 or more slow and delibrate shots to see where it is set now. DO NOT ADJUST THE SCOPE yet. See what size group you get. STOP and wait for 5 to 10 minutes then do the same thing at 200m.. Now compare the two groups. If you are above centre at 100m you should be closer to centre at 200m but the group should be spread a bit further apart (double the size) but if not, repeat.

Hey mate,

Thanks for all this. I will defiantly use this method next time.