Calibration of optical scopes for hunting

Optical sight – an indispensable thing when shooting long distances. With it, you can aim the weapon at the target as accurately as possible, but this requires correct adjustment. There is nothing difficult in this procedure, and, having spent some time, anyone can properly adjust the optics.

Preparing to fire

For the installation of an optical sight, firearm rifles with Picatinny or Weaver slats are best suited. Both of these types of mounting are adjusted quickly, and the setting is held for a long time, without getting lost from the vibrations that occur when shooting. On fastenings of other types, respectively, the setting takes more time and gets lost more quickly, therefore it is better to refuse rifles equipped with them. Picatinny and Weaver bars are generally accepted international standards.

To set up a optical sight on pneumatics or firearms, you also need to choose the right environment for firing. The best option would be a large indoor shooting range. If you adjust the sight in it, the wind and precipitation will not affect the flight of the bullet. For shooting at an open shooting range, it is better to wait for a clear, windless day. If you adjust the sight with gusty wind, the process will take a long time. When calibrating per day with a constant wind of one direction, the setup will be a bit knocked down.

Another important point is how to fasten the gun while adjusting the sight. The best option is a special machine. The rifle is placed in such a device and tightened with screws, as a result, it is securely fixed. Another option – the machine, which acts only support for the rifle. Reliable fixation in this case will not work, but such a device can be made with your own hands. In extreme cases, the rifle can simply be supported on a sandbag, but the results of the shooting will be worse.

Targets

For shooting optics you can use:

a sheet of paper with a painted target — it can be represented as a marker;
target downloaded from the Internet and printed;
military targets for shooting, which can be found in special stores.

On the ground, colored targets are better seen than black and white. Color self-adhesive sheets for notes placed in the center of white paper are well suited for shooting.

There is a gradation of the optimal sizes of targets depending on the distance. If you pick up a target in accordance with it, it will be most convenient to tune an optical sight:

at distances of 50 and 100 m, an A4 sheet is sufficient;
for 200 m – A3 format;
for 300 m – A1 format.

Optics calibration on pneumatics

Consider the calibration of pneumatics on the example of the Leapers sight. This instruction also applies to most other riflescopes.

The first thing you need to put the ring on the mount rifle.
Then – unscrew their upper parts and set on the lower sight. Then return the upper parts, put them so that there was an opportunity to freely move the sight pipe.
Adjust the eyepiece distance by putting the rifle to the shoulder.
Rotate the scope so that its crosshairs take upright position and turn out to be perpendicular to the gun.
Tighten the screws on the rings, locking the sight.
Bring the crosshair to zero so that the aiming points and the hit points converge. Guide on how to do this, you need to find in the instructions that come with the scope.
Then you need to fix the zero mark sight. To do this, hold the adjustment drum and tighten the hexagon screw to the stop. The correction drums do not rotate, as their function is to prevent zero shifts.

In a test shot, the point of entry should be in the center of the target if the scope is correctly reduced to zero. If this does not happen, you need to continue to adjust the sight on the air rifle until the aiming and hitting points match.

Sighting on a carbine

In order to correctly adjust the optics on the carbine, you first need to make a basic setting at a distance of 50 to 100 m. For products of American manufacturers, a distance of 100 yards, or 91 m, is recommended.

Before you make the first shot, you need to adjust the sight to the maximum magnification, prepare the gun for the shot, aim at the center of the target. If a special machine is used, it will have to be adjusted for this, but if there is no machine, the aiming is done in the usual way. Hovering the rifle at the target, you need to make a shot, gently squeezing the trigger.

Then you need to evaluate how accurately the bullet hit:

if it was in the center of the target, then everything is in order, and nothing needs to be set up, but the chances of that are small;
if the charge has completely flown past the target, it is necessary to halve the distance and make another shot;
If the bullet does not hit the center of the target, you can begin to adjust the sight.

The first step is to remove the caps on the drums, opening yourself access to the locking screws. To twist them, you need a special key that comes with a gun.

The screws rotate on clicks. Each click shifts the charge point a certain distance. The most common riflescopes are designed for a distance of 100 yards, the price of a click is 1/4 MOA. Each click of the locking screw of such a sight shifts the point of impact by 6.4 mm.

After adjusting the lock screws, close the drums and take another shot. If the bullet accurately hit the center of the target – the setting can be considered complete. If not, you need to repeat the adjustment until this happens.

This completes the initial adjustment of the optical sight on the carbine. After that, the rifle can be accurately shoot at 50-100 meters. But no one shoots at such distances from rifled guns, smooth-barrels are used for this. The normal range for a rifle is 200-300 meters. Therefore, after the initial setting for a short distance, you need to adjust the sight to the working distance. This procedure is performed in the same way. But the price of one click when firing long distances will be different. Therefore, it will be necessary to adjust the sight by trial and error until the bullet lies at the desired point when fired at the desired distance.

Handling rules with optics

After setting up the optics is completed, you need to follow simple rules for handling it and the gun equipped with it, so that the scope works for a long time. What to avoid:

shocks and jolts falling on the sighting tube or the place of fastening of the sight to the receiver;
wiping lenses with a regular rag or cloth;
touching the lenses, even with clean hands;
lens cleaning household cleaners;
carrying and storing the sight without protective caps.

To make it easier to use a rifle, you can put a high-quality rubber eyecup on the telescopic sight. Thanks to him, you can avoid injuries that can be caused due to recoil when fired. You can wear a hood on the part of the sight opposite to your eye. Thanks to it, the illumination will decrease, and the clarity of the image will increase.

For cleaning the lenses it is better to use special lint-free tampons, and small particles from them can be removed with a squirrel brush. If you follow these tips, you can extend the life of the sight. In this case, the tuned optics will be durable and will delight with its flawless work, allowing you to shoot accurately at long distances.