have a huge issue need some advice from seasoned hunters

[akashasdaddy]

I am feeling like a kid on Christmas eve, and I started going though my pack making sure I have everything. I bought some gloves today so I decided to run a few snap caps through to see how the trigger pull and cycling was. I noticed that when I was aiming that my muzzle seemed to be pointing a little lower than what my scope was saying I was aimed at. I had my firearm sighted in at 200 yards and now it seems that my scope is 2 inches Higher. so my first question is, is this normal to be high when aimed at something only a muzzle length away, when sighted in at 200 yards? If this is not normal (which I have a feeling it is not) If I have my gun bore sighted again how will my aim be at 100, 200, 300 yards? Will a bore sighted weapon be useable?  Keep in mind I do not have the ability to run to the range tomorrow to sight in again, so Heading into the woods with a bore sighted weapon would be my best bet.I am asking because my wife just informed me that she has bumped my firearm a few times pretty hard.

[FC]

You might as well stay home if your rifle is just bore sighted..Find a way to verify the sighting of your rifle or just plan on not being able to hit anything.

[Hyde]

You have to shoot it a few times.  Don't chance 350 days of waiting and possibly a shot of a lifetime to chance.  Go on your lunch hour if necessary, or (cough cough) maybe you're too sick to work?  Flat tire on your way in?  Dog ate your keys?  Or just fess up to your boss and hope for some compassion (hope he/she isn't a tree hugger). 

[PolarBear]

You might as well stay home if your rifle is just bore sighted..Find a way to verify the sighting of your rifle or just plan on not being able to hit anything.

 
I had Cabelas level and bore site my daughter's rifle and it was 3 feet to the left and 5 feet low at 50 yards.  A bore sighted only rifle is as usless to hunt with as a broom stick.  You have to shoot it to get it right, there is no way around it.  Oh, and keep your wife away from your guns!! 

[jager]

I agree with what was already said....
Although, I was curious and sighted down the bore of my rifle at a distance of about 3' and my crosshairs were high about a quarter the length of the vertical "hair"
I'd keep the wife far away from your rifle. 

[BowBender87]

make time for the range or maybe you have a back up?  No sense in taking a chance on wounding an animal.

[Arteman]

Yeah, that's perfectly normal that your scope looks high compared to your muzzle if your only looking feet away, it doesn't matter where your scope is sighted in at, it will always sit the same on the gun, when you sight in a gun you don't adjust the scope itself, just the crosshairs inside.  Also I would start sighting in at a 100 yards from now on, just check your ammo ballistics chart and find out where you want to be out to 200 300+ yards and sight it in where it tells you to be at 100 yardsto achieve that mark, you can hole better at 100 then 200 and really get it dialed in, I know some people that start at 50 then move up.  Anyways, don't be alarmed if your only visually looking down your muzzle and scope a few feet away and they don't look right on.

[bullcanyon]

If you can't shoot today. Than you need to skip the morning hunt. Not at all ethical to go out with a weapon you don't know for sure where it is hitting. Thousands will do it tomorrow, but it ain't right!!

[boneaddict]

 

[jackelope]

Yeah, that's perfectly normal that your scope looks high compared to your muzzle if your only looking feet away, it doesn't matter where your scope is sighted in at, it will always sit the same on the gun, when you sight in a gun you don't adjust the scope itself, just the crosshairs inside. 

 

Your crosshairs will line up  differently 2' away from the muzzle from where they would line up 200 yards away. When is the last time you fired the rifle at a target 100 or 200 yards away? Bullets don't fly laser line straight from the rifle to the target.
You just plain can not hunt with a rifle that is only bore sighted. The last bore sight job I had done was about 10" left and a foot and a half high at 100 yards.

[ICEMAN]

It sounds like his weapon was sighted in before, but he just noticed the differential between line of sight and line of bore this evening....
 
If your rifle has not had new scope work, and has simply sat since you last shot it, it has probably not changed. Taking it in for bore sighting now is probably not needed, and would require range time anyway...
 
Eeither way....you should not take your gun on opening morning and expect to hunt with it, without knowning how it is sighted.


Remember, if your scopehairs pointed directly at your bore (where the gun is pointing) at extreme close range...you would be shooting extremely high at further distances.....  The whole point of the scope is to cross the line of sight with the line of bore at a given reasonable range...say 200 yards, not 200 inches.

[jackmaster]

ITS SIMPLE, skip out of work, dont hunt opening morning or do what ya gotta do to shoot your gun, i dont know one person that could even think of headn out if he wasnt sure about his weapon, what a sick feeling, a big ole buck steps out and you touch one off and hit the dirt 100ft left and 300 ft high, oh and then the world record buck walks over the hill and someone cracks him, and they get rich cause their new world record is out on tour....... yeah i would find some range time if in was you....

[coachcw]

All good advise , you need to shoot the gun atleast at twenty five yards your point of impact should be really close to your zero point , if you hit a nickle at twenty five yards your probilbly just seening paralax , assuming you havnt droppedit or anything since you last shot it .

[jackelope]

If the gentleman sighted in his rifle properly, I don't see the need to worry at all. 

It sounds like his weapon was sighted in before, but he just noticed the differential between line of sight and line of bore this evening....

Your scope is an inch and a half-2 inches higher than the muzzle as it sits on the rifle. It's not going "make up" that distance in a couple feet. If it were to look level 2' away from the muzzle, think of where it would line up 200 yards away. Assuming the rifle was sighted in properly earlier in the season then roll with it.

[high country]

Imo, to shoot a rifle that you have not verified zero on is selfish and risky with too much possibility for disaster. How do you hold for a shot if you do not know where the bullet goes? What if it is 2' high and you launch one over the ridge into a school of democrats holding a anti hunting rally? Do not shoot that gun untill it is at a Target and if you are shooting 25 yards, then I would not suggest shooting at game much farther than that. Find 100-300 yds and prove zero to yourself......it will make you a better shot, and remove excuses you might make for yourself.

BTW, once dialed in.......just put a piece of tape over the bore, do not clean it.

[jackelope]

I am feeling like a kid on Christmas eve, and I started going though my pack making sure I have everything. I bought some gloves today so I decided to run a few snap caps through to see how the trigger pull and cycling was. I noticed that when I was aiming that my muzzle seemed to be pointing a little lower than what my scope was saying I was aimed at. I had my firearm sighted in at 200 yards and now it seems that my scope is 2 inches Higher. so my first question is, is this normal to be high when aimed at something only a muzzle length away, when sighted in at 200 yards? If this is not normal (which I have a feeling it is not) If I have my gun bore sighted again how will my aim be at 100, 200, 300 yards? Will a bore sighted weapon be useable?  Keep in mind I do not have the ability to run to the range tomorrow to sight in again, so Heading into the woods with a bore sighted weapon would be my best bet.I am asking because my wife just informed me that she has bumped my firearm a few times pretty hard.

I'm reading that this rifle is sighted in, zero'd at 200 yards. I'm reading that at a muzzle length away, the scope looks high. Of course it will look high a muzzle length away.
Am I off base here?

[high country]

It all depends on how far off. your are right to about 20 yards. That is why I say, if you have to ask, go prove it to yourself.

[halflife65]

Nailed it jackelope - I thought it was a trick question.

Yeah, it should be high at a muzzle length away.  Think about where your cross hairs are physically at in relation to the muzzle.  The scope is a couple of inches higher. 

[jackelope]

It all depends on how far off. your are right to about 20 yards. That is why I say, if you have to ask, go prove it to yourself.

I firmly agree with you, HC. If there's a big enough question, a guy needs to go shoot the rifle to be sure and confident...

[akashasdaddy]

Thank you all for your very good advice. I am not sure if I worded the question correctly. I am going to try and get some shooting time in today. The problem is I do not have access to a range any more. I used to be a member of the Grays Harbor gun club but when I moved to Olympia from Aberdeen I decided not to renew my membership. I dont want to go to the woods the day before the season and scare them deer away. I WILL NOT go to the woods without my weapon being sighted in. I don't care so much about the missing the deer but I couldn't live with my self if I hurt someone. What do you guys think about a bore laser? If i put a laser in my bore then walked out 100yards, think I could sight in my weapon without letting off a shot? I think it is obvious I am a newbie to the sport but I am trying to be ethical.

[jackelope]

Thank you all for your very good advice. I am not sure if I worded the question correctly. I am going to try and get some shooting time in today. The problem is I do not have access to a range any more. I used to be a member of the Grays Harbor gun club but when I moved to Olympia from Aberdeen I decided not to renew my membership. I dont want to go to the woods the day before the season and scare them deer away. I WILL NOT go to the woods without my weapon being sighted in. I don't care so much about the missing the deer but I couldn't live with my self if I hurt someone. What do you guys think about a bore laser? If i put a laser in my bore then walked out 100yards, think I could sight in my weapon without letting off a shot? I think it is obvious I am a newbie to the sport but I am trying to be ethical.

You need to shoot the rifle.

[sirmissalot]

I agree you need to just go shoot the gun. The laser boresighter will tell you if you're close but thats not enough. Just go find a gravel pit or something up capital forest tonight and shoot your gun at 100 yards or so. If its off, you should probably take opening day off and go sight in your rifle. In my opinion your sights should be 2 inches or so higher than your bore at a few feet away... but maybe I'm misunderstanding the question.

[boneaddict]

Go shoot the gun. 

[piled-up]

All the deer in wash. Won't get shot opening morning! Take the morning off and shoot your rifle somewhere safe to make sure your still on and do not have it bore sighted 

[deerslyr]

Sounds like you got a little excited the day before season opens and started second guessing your set up....but now you wont have any confidence when you take the shot in the field so you better go shoot it

[high country]

Rifle harmonics play a big role in where the bullet goes. I can pull the bolt out and sight down the bore at an object and get closer than most bore sighting devices......but still be off by a foot at 100. Shoot it with the exact load you plan to use. Not many guns will shoot more than one load into the same point of aim. I shoot a lot and when I second guess a gun, I tag it and next time out I prove it. Then I tape the muzzle and put a note on it as to where it shoots and what load. It makes for a real confidence boost, and confidence is a serious part of the shot.

Good luck, you will only burn a few minutes getting zero confirmed, and you will shoot better for it.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Shooting the gun is your ONLY option. The gun is probably dead on but your head aint, Even if you were to bore sight it to dead nuts you would be second guessing yourself anyway. It sounds like you just dont have a spot to shoot, if your familiar with Capitol forest head up threre, if not PM me and I will be more than happy to give ya some leads on places to shoot within 30 to 40 min from Oly.

[Green Lantern]

Everybody better take tomorrow off to shoot there guns, because there shooting two inches low at three feet. lol I don't know of any set up that the center of the scope isn't around two inches higher than the riffle bore.

[huntergreg]

I went out to site in my fathers gun yesterday to make sure it was on. He hasn't shot it for 4 years. (bow hunted the last 4 years)  I shot 10 shells through it and it was way off. I found out there was a screw loose on the ring. You never know what can go wrong with a sight. My father was going to just use the gun the way is was because it shot fine 4 years ago. I Tighten it up and re sighted it in. It took 40 shells to get it zeroed in! If i was you I would go shoot it to verify what its doing. Better than blowing off a deers leg and not finding it! 

[Arteman]

Everybody better take tomorrow off to shoot there guns, because there shooting two inches low at three feet. lol I don't know of any set up that the center of the scope isn't around two inches higher than the riffle bore.

  Let's all make a deal, we will all take opening day off to double check, or triple check are guns, I promise to hold up to my end! 

[jackmaster]

you need to shoot the gun and that way you will have pice of mind one shot at a paper plate at 100yds and you will be all good.... good luck to ya, hope ya get her figured out

[remington300mag]

I went out to site in my fathers gun yesterday to make sure it was on. He hasn't shot it for 4 years. (bow hunted the last 4 years)  I shot 10 shells through it and it was way off. I found out there was a screw loose on the ring. You never know what can go wrong with a sight. My father was going to just use the gun the way is was because it shot fine 4 years ago. I Tighten it up and re sighted it in. It took 40 shells to get it zeroed in! If i was you I would go shoot it to verify what its doing. Better than blowing off a deers leg and not finding it! 

If it took 40 shots to zero that rifle, something else is wrong with it! Or the shooter! Hopefully you took a longggg time to shoot that many shots and let the barrel cool down in between, otherwise you could have seriously damaged the barrel. 

[Jingles]

Call me old fashioned but what the hell is everyone waiting until the day before season opens to check out their rifles and zero.  This all should of been done months ago with weekly trips to the range to just practice....

[PolarBear]

If you really want a treat go to Cabelas or any major sporting goods store a few days before any season and check out all the "hunters" buying new bows or rifles for their hunt in a day or two.  I have actually heard guys leaving the store with a bore sighted rifle saying that "they sighted it in at the counter, we are good to go".

[FC]

Call me old fashioned but what the hell is everyone waiting until the day before season opens to check out their rifles and zero.  This all should of been done months ago with weekly trips to the range to just practice....

Oh man I just put my new scope on tonight!!!! Are you telling me you don't think it will be alright? The guy at the store told me it would shoot 1/4 MOA!!!



/sarcasm

[True Sportsman]

If you really want a treat go to Cabelas or any major sporting goods store a few days before any season and check out all the "hunters" buying new bows or rifles for their hunt in a day or two.  I have actually heard guys leaving the store with a bore sighted rifle saying that "they sighted it in at the counter, we are good to go".

You caught a glimse of the "average hunter". I've ran into this too, and it blows me away.

[JimmyHoffa]

Call me old fashioned but what the hell is everyone waiting until the day before season opens to check out their rifles and zero.  This all should of been done months ago with weekly trips to the range to just practice....

I wait until around a week before to do my sight in. (Last Friday this year.)  I take out every mounting screw, add new loc-tite, and re-torque so I know it's good and solid.  Then make up a batch of season specific ammo--high hunt vs modern vs elk.
Get lots of practice before season with all the other guns--all year long actually.

[CAMPMEAT]

What gets me is all these guys that mount your scope like it was a marathon race and say, " you'll be on paper ". A lot of them just got hired and don't know squatolla from shineolla.

[LincolnTWilliams]

What gets me is all these guys that mount your scope like it was a marathon race and say, " you'll be on paper ". A lot of them just got hired and don't know squatolla from shineolla.

For sure!! I was browsing the rifles at local sporting goods establishment today, the fella behind the counter couldn't tell the difference between a model 700 and a model 70... I wouldn't want that guy anywhere near my rifle with a screwdriver!

So what did you decide to do? Take the morning off?

[fishingnut71]

stay on the wet side. Dont mess with our 509er deer season by being dumb.

[akashasdaddy]

Well I would NEVER head out with my gun not sighted. Thanks again for all the  input. I am new but not stupid or unethical. I did get to the range and all this was for nothing. I did not need to make any adjustments I was on. I actually shot better today than any other day at the range.  I am good to go for the morning. I really do appreciate everybody's help and concern. It is nice that so many are willing to help. I do listen to people who know more than me. I respect knowledge and take it to hart. But no worries I am sighted in and excited for the morning.

[huntergreg]

I went out to site in my fathers gun yesterday to make sure it was on. He hasn't shot it for 4 years. (bow hunted the last 4 years)  I shot 10 shells through it and it was way off. I found out there was a screw loose on the ring. You never know what can go wrong with a sight. My father was going to just use the gun the way is was because it shot fine 4 years ago. I Tighten it up and re sighted it in. It took 40 shells to get it zeroed in! If i was you I would go shoot it to verify what its doing. Better than blowing off a deers leg and not finding it! 

If it took 40 shots to zero that rifle, something else is wrong with it! Or the shooter! Hopefully you took a longggg time to shoot that many shots and let the barrel cool down in between, otherwise you could have seriously damaged the barrel. 

yes It took half the day to sight it in. I let it cool between every 3 shots. I didnt realize the scope was loos until I shot half the rounds through it. I thought it was me doing something wrong. I havent shot a rifle for over 6 years. But once I found the sight was loose I got it shooting good. I also was shooting out to 350 yards. Most of them were just shooting after I got it dialed in. 

[high country]

Well I would NEVER head out with my gun not sighted. Thanks again for all the  input. I am new but not stupid or unethical. I did get to the range and all this was for nothing. I did not need to make any adjustments I was on. I actually shot better today than any other day at the range.  I am good to go for the morning. I really do appreciate everybody's help and concern. It is nice that so many are willing to help. I do listen to people who know more than me. I respect knowledge and take it to hart. But no worries I am sighted in and excited for the morning.

You will shoot your best now that you trust your gear.....hope to see a good one hanging soon.

[highmuley]

I get all the nonsense but, it appears to be 2" higher with the bore sight or on a down range target? If your sighted for 200 and are shooting 100 it will be higher. Other than that....sight her at 100 and practice, practice, practice. Don't guess your way thru. A 9" diameter target seems big but, not at a distance, up hill, in the fog, in a westerly wind and a slight drizzle from the north. Feel me?

[scudmaster]

This may have been said.  bore sighter is only for getting you close enough to start the sighting in process, not to actually "sight in" your rifle.  They all must be shot to be confirmed with each individual load you shoot, there are no short cuts. My opinion you may want to actually "mind" missing a deer, because you might just wound it instead.