Are you thinking about how to zero a rifle scope at 100 yards to get started with hunting? You might want to zero your rifle at 100 yards once you have mounted a scope on your rifle so that you can go for hunting. Before zeroing your rifle, you need to make sure that everything is well-equipped and the screws of scope are properly tightened.
When you zero your rifle at 100 yards, you will be able to shoot at the target accurately without any issues. Everyone wants to achieve the best out of their rifles, and this is the reason why zeroing is essential. In this guide, we will be showing you how exactly you can zero your rifle at 100 yards to shoot the target precisely.
What Does Zeroing A Rifle Mean?
Zeroing a rifle scope simply refers to the process of sighting-in a rifle scope. It is a way how you adjust the sights properly so that you can shoot at the target at a certain distance precisely. Zeroing a rifle scope is necessary for every rifle owners because without getting their rifle scope zeroed, the bullets can’t travel in a straight path.
You can zero a rifle at several distances, which is usually calculated in terms of yards. If you are thinking about deer hunting, zeroing your rifle at 100 yards can be your top priority. With that being done, you’d be able to shoot at its bull’s eye with high accuracy.
Courtesy: The Prepper Journal
Why Is Zeroing A Rifle Important?
As mentioned above, zeroing a rifle is an essential task for every rifle owners who are thinking about shooting at the target accurately. Zeroing a rifle can be even more beneficial if you own a rifle with a scope. Here are some major reasons why zeroing a rifle is very important:
Zeroing a rifle can help in letting you know the spot where you will be shooting, hence preventing any injuries that you could face while shooting.
Zeroing a rifle helps you to shoot at the target accurately.
It also helps you control the rifle properly and utilize the best out of your rifle.
It makes it easier for you to find out the farthest shooting distance of your rifle where you can shoot accurately.
You will be able to identify the issues that can appear while applying different shooting methods.
It also builds up your confidence to make your shooting ability better.
How To Zero A Rifle Scope At 100 Yards
Zeroing a rifle scope is something that you shouldn’t miss while using your rifle for shooting at long range. Since you have got enough knowledge about the things staying behind the zeroing technique, you might be ready to get started with zeroing your rifle scope at 100 yards. Here are all the methods you need to follow to zero your rifle scope at 100 yards.
Things You’ll Need
A proper target range excluding windy area
A target with a suitable backstop like a bulls-eye
Once you have mounted a rifle scope on your rifle, you need to ensure that everything is adjusted properly. The first thing you need to look for is whether the scope is well-seated on your rifle or not. Now, you need to look for the scope rings to make sure they are properly placed at the scope mounting base. Also, you need to make sure that there is no sort of movements at the scope mounting base and the scope rings.
Check Reticle
When you have ensured these things, you need to take a look at the reticle and make sure that you can focus the reticle in a suitable way. What you need to do here is to ensure that the cross-hairs at the reticle is well-focused. In case the cross-hairs aren’t in focus, you should point your rifle scope towards the sky and place your eye to another direction focusing on a certain object for a while so that you will have complete attention towards it. Now, you need to look through your rifle scope by turning back and make sure that the view in the reticle isn’t blurry.
Eye Adjustment
The exact thing that happens here is that your eye takes a quick judgment of what you see through your rifle scope. While looking at the reticle, your eyes will start focusing and adjusting themselves. However, if you find a blurry image, you might have to look at the end of your shooting area of your rifle and adjust the scope diopter properly. You need to keep adjusting the diopter until the reticle stops showing a blurry image which means it is well-focused.
Boresighting
The next thing you need to be doing is to perform boresighting. To do so, you need to ensure that the rifle isn’t loaded. The barrel also has to be unobstructed. You should the rifle’s bolt and place the rifle in a secure way pointing towards the down range.
Now, you need to stay behind your rifle and keep looking through the bore for centering the target. You’ve to move your rifle properly while doing so. Then, you need to adjust your rifle scope so that you can center the reticle towards the same target without moving the rifle from its original location.
Turret Adjusting
At this period, the turret located at the upper part of the scope will adjust the elevation of the reticle and the one at the side will adjust the left and right part of the reticle. While doing so, the boresight shouldn’t be very accurate, your rifle should at least be able to shoot the target at a 100-yard distance.
For boresighting, using a laser boresight and placing it at the rifle’s chamber can also be an alternative method. While doing so, you just have to make sure that the reticle is centered towards your target properly. Using a laser boresight can make your entire work easier, but using the manual method as mentioned above will help you in improving your boresighting skills.
Zeroing The Scope At 100 Yards
Once you have boresighted your rifle, you can get started with the zeroing process of your rifle scope. Before zeroing your rifle scope, you need to ensure that you have an ammunition suitable with your rifle. If you are using a different and incompatible ammunition for your rifle, your every shot will be shooting in improper targets away from your exact target. You won’t be able to shoot where you want even by zeroing your rifle scope.
How to Get Started?
When you are thinking about zeroing your rifle scope at 100 yards, it might be thinking about using your rifle for hunting purposes. Zeroing your rifle can be difficult, but if you are sure about proper equipments with your rifle, you can easily perform the entire process. You might want to use an easier grid format to try out a zero target before getting onto the main point. Doing so can help you detect your current adjustments. You can later move on to the bulls-eye target. While zeroing your rifle scope, you have to utilize your rifle rest object such as sandbags so that you will have a proper area to shoot at the target precisely. Using your muscles to support your rifle while zeroing the scope might result in getting less accurate results.
Shooting Tryouts
When you are in a proper spot to zero your rifle scope, you might want to shoot the first group of around 3-4 shots with your rifle pointing towards the center of your target at 100 yards. While firing, you will be able to detect bullet holes in the target area with the help of your scope. But, this isn’t the end. You need to keep aiming your rifle towards the bulls-eye without changing the aimed spot. Maybe you wouldn’t hit the bulls-eye at your first shot, but when you keep trying, you will certainly be able to shoot at the exact same spot.
Adjusting Scope With Tryout Result
Now that you have thrown away some shots from your first group, you can look at the target spot and measure the center of your bullet holes to the bulls-eye target. When you have the measurement, you need to adjust your rifle scope properly. You might be using a rifle scope having the adjustment of 1/4 MOA since this is the same case for most scopes available out there. While zeroing your rifle at 100 yards, 1 click will turn over the impact zone of your bullet by 0.25 inches. At this distance, there needs to be 2 clicks left and 4 clicks down with your rifle scope.
Adjusting Bullet Impact With Turret
The bullet’s impact can be elevated with the help of turret above your rifle scope, whereas to move it left and right, the turret on the scope’s side will be helpful. If you want to know proper direction where you need to turn over your rifle scope, you can just look at the scope to find a printed text at the turret with proper information. During our research with a certain rifle scope, we had to turn the turret clockwise to move the bullet’s impact towards the upper or lower region. What you need to do with your turret really depends on the type and brand of scope you are using. You don’t need to worry about it since you will be able to find enough information at the printed region on your turret.
How About An Example
Let’s look at an example! Suppose the bullet impact hit 1″ towards the right and 0.5″ towards the lower region. This means you need to turn the top turret 4 clicks clockwise and the side turret 16 clicks anti-clockwise so that you will be able to move the bullet’s impact towards the bulls-eye target (up and left).
The Final Step of Zeroing
When you are zeroing your rifle scope at 100 yards, the movement of your bullet’s impact towards the left and right should be totally accurate. It isn’t mandatory for the case of elevation of your bullet’s impact at this range. When you zero your rifle scope at 100 yards and shoot at a shorter distance while hunting, it might be easier for you to adjust the scope properly to make the bullet hit the exact target spot.
When you have adjusted the turrets properly, you can shoot a few shots at the end to make sure every adjustment are done perfectly. If the bullets hit at the bulls-eye target, you have successfully zeroed your rifle scope at 100 yards. If the bullet holes aren’t in your target spot yet, you might want to perform some essential adjustments with proper measurement and try firing a few shots again at the target. You can continue doing so until your bullet holes appear the exact same spot where you have aimed at.
When you are ready to go for hunting the next time, your rifle scope is likely to be zeroed already unless you had dropped or damaged it the last time. However, looking at your rifle scope every time you go for hunting can help you ensure whether the rifle scope is properly zeroed or not. You also need to make sure all the screws are properly tightened before going for hunting the next time. You might also want to try out throwing a few shots to be sure about it.
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Tips For The Perfect Zeroing
When you are thinking about zeroing your rifle scope, there are several things you need to know about. Many rifle owners make usual mistakes most of the time while zeroing their rifles. Some rifle owners also wonder about the differences between zeroing and sighting-in of their rifle scope. In fact, both of them are synonyms of each other and have the exact same methods. Here are some tips that can help you to zero your rifle perfectly.
The first thing you need to do to zero your rifle perfectly is to get a suitable scope for your rifle.
You also need to get the perfect scope rings and mounting base to mount a scope on your rifle before zeroing the scope.
Before zeroing your rifle scope, you need to make sure everything is adjusted and mounted properly with tightened screws.
The most important thing you need for shooting with your rifle is the bullet. You need to spend your time looking for the perfect bullets for your rifle to zero the scope for hitting the targets with high accuracy.
Boresighting your rifle in a proper way by adjusting the turrets with your rifle unloaded and barrel cleaned will help you in zeroing your rifle perfectly.
You shall try zeroing at long ranges first and later try at short ranges. When you are doing this, it can be a difficult task for you at the beginning while zeroing at long ranges. But, when you keep gaining experience and start shooting at the bulls-eye target accurately at long ranges, there’d be no chances of shooting inaccurately at shorter ranges. Trying out by zeroing at 200, 150 or 100 yards can be a good choice at the beginning.
This last tip may not be for perfect zeroing, but it is really important for you to do every time you are going for hunting. When you have zeroed your rifle scope once, it will stay zeroed for a long period of time, provided that the scope and its components aren’t damaged. However, checking whether your scope is zeroed or not prior to going for hunting can be your top priority.
Conclusion
Now that you have learned about the method of how to zero a rifle scope at 100 yards, you might want to try it out in action in real life. Once you are able to do so after trying out several times, you might want to try out zeroing at other ranges as well. The only thing you need to ensure while zeroing is that everything is properly adjusted and the reticle is in focus.
We believe you’d be able to zero your rifle perfectly with the help of our guide. If you still have any issues, you might want to write down to us in the comments so that we’d be able to help you out right away.
Now that you have purchased the perfect recurve bow for your use, you might be interested in getting the best arrows for your recurve bow. While choosing the arrow for your recurve bow, you might be thinking how to choose arrows for recurve bow. You might have to go through a hard time looking at every aspect and ending up with several arrows and not knowing which one to choose.
While choosing the best arrows for a recurve bow, you need to consider several things. Throughout your entire time spent on this guide, we will be presenting you the perfect way to choose arrows for recurve bow.
What Is A Recurve Bow?
Recurve bow is a type of bow which consists of several limbs. When the bow is unstrung, these limbs stay against the archer. This kind of bow is the most popular type of bow in the current era since it can store a large amount of energy as well as distribute the energy effectively throughout the overall parts of the bow. Due to this special feature, this bow provides a large amount of energy to the arrow, hence increasing its speed.
The limbs of this kind of bow are of a reflex design which helps in increasing the speed of arrows so that they can travel with a higher velocity. With the inclusion of a large rise, you won’t feel any sort of vibration while holding this stable type of bow. These bows can shoot at the exact same spot where you have aimed at since they are usually pointed towards the center which results in highly accurate results.
Features of a Recurve Bow
This bow can store a large amount of energy.
The limbs in recurve bow are able to boost the speed of arrows.
This bow can distribute energy all over its parts as well as the arrows effectively.
This bow is pointed towards the center which helps in increasing the accuracy of your shots.
This bow features an arrow rest where the arrows can be placed when not used.
A bow sight is included in this bow which acts as an aiming aid.
Uses of a Recurve Bow
You can use a recurve bow to shoot arrows with higher accuracy.
Recurve bow can be used to experience a faster traveling rate of arrows.
This bow is used in the Olympics for archery sports.
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How To Choose Arrows For Recurve Bow
While choosing arrows for recurve bow, there are several things you need to consider. You might be using a recurve bow for either hunting or target practice. For both of the application areas of archery, there are different aspects you need to look for while choosing arrows for your recurve bow. Here are some of the essential aspects you need to look for while choosing arrows for recurve bow in both cases.
Draw Length
Courtesy: Topbow Website
Draw length is one of the essential factors you need to look for while choosing arrows for recurve bow. Finding the most suitable draw length involves two steps; one with your arm span and then another with the wall measurement.
Draw Length in terms of Arm Span
Every step you need to go through while finding a suitable draw length with your arms are given below:
First, you need to spread your arms without pulling the blades of your shoulder together. While you are doing this, the arms need to be parallel to the floor.
The next thing you need to do is to request someone near you to get a measuring tape and measure the total distance between the middle fingers of both of your hands along the spread arms.
Now, you need to divide the total distance by 2.5, which will present you an estimated value of the most suitable draw length.
Let’s look at an example! Suppose the distance between the two finger tips of your middle fingers is 50 inches. When you divide this by 2.5, you will obtain 20 inches. Hence, 20 inches can be the approximate draw length in your case.
Courtesy: Hunter’s Friend
Draw Length in terms of Wall Measurement
If you aren’t yet sure about the draw length, you might want to confirm it with the next method. What you need to do to calculate estimated draw length in terms of wall measurement are mentioned in the following steps:
First, you need to face towards the sideways along your wall.
Now, you need to extend the arm you will be using to hold the bow in front of you. While doing so, you need to keep your hand in the form of a fist.
Then, you need to keep the fist against the wall and your arm parallel to the floor.
The next thing you need to do is to turn your head towards the wall to simulate the exact same time period when you’d be holding a bow in your hands.
Then, you need to measure the longest distance between your mouth and the fist.
When you have measured the distance, it would be your estimated draw length. If it is same or approximately same as the one calculated with your arm span, you might want to go with this draw length.
If you get a different value in both cases, you might want to add both values and divide by 2 to find out the average draw length, which would be nearly equal to the exact draw length.
Length of Arrows
Now that you have figured out the estimated draw length, you need to find out the perfect arrow length. Finding the perfect arrow length is very easy if you have calculated the draw length since you just have to add 1-2 inches to the draw length to calculate the most suitable arrow length. If your draw length is found to be 25 inches, you can just add 1-2 inches, which means 26-27 inches would be the perfect length of arrows in your case.
Courtesy: Twin Coast Archery Club
Draw Weight
Draw weight of arrows is one of the most essential things you need to look for while choosing arrows for your recurve bow. The main thing you need to consider is to choose whether you will be using heavier or lighter arrows. Choosing the most suitable draw weight of arrows depends on where you will be using your recurve bow. Here’s what you need to know regarding the draw weight for both hunting and target practice purposes.
Draw Weight for Hunting
If you are looking for arrows for hunting, you need to look for the perfect weight of arrow which can penetrate deeper into the fur first, and then the skin, followed by flesh, and in some cases, the bones as well. Without these, you won’t be able to drop your target animal down to death easily. To penetrate through all these body parts, there needs to be certain level of kinetic energy. You also need to look for the type of arrow heads you will be using. Since large amount of kinetic energy is required in this case, getting a heavier arrow would be the perfect choice. With this option, you will certainly be able to drop the target down to death when the arrow strikes on it.
Draw Weight for Target Practice
In case you are thinking about getting arrows for your recurve bow that you will be using for target practice, you might want to go for lightweight arrows to cause less harm to the objects. During target practice, you don’t need to penetrate deeper, but you just have to make a hole on a certain object like a piece of paper, a target board, a cardboard or a soft, compressed foam. To create a hole in these objects, very less amount of kinetic energy is enough. For this same reason, we highly recommend you to go for lightweight arrows in this case.
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Tips To Choose The Best Arrow For Recurve Bow
Choosing the most suitable arrows for a recurve bow involves several factors as mentioned above. It can be a tedious task for you to choose certain type of arrows and you might be in a dilemma to choose one among several best type of arrows. Taking this in mind, we are providing some major tips that will help you to choose the best arrows for a recurve bow.
Choosing the perfect arrow material
Arrow materials are also one of the major things you need to look for while choosing arrows for a recurve bow. Generally, arrows are made up of several materials such as carbon, aluminum, wood or fiberglass. Every material have their own advantages, but it is all upon you on which one you need to choose. Here are some of the major points surrounding every arrow materials.
Carbon Arrows
They are highly durable.
They can shoot with more accuracy.
They are able to travel in a straight path and hit the target.
Heavier carbon arrows might help you in deeper penetrations.
These arrows are very consistent and recover faster during flights.
Aluminum Arrows
These arrows are very affordable.
They possess tighter tolerances than the other arrow materials.
These arrows are designed in such a way that you can fine tune them in a lot of different ways.
Nock bushings in some aluminum arrows utilize the nock presses to increase the shooting accuracy.
Wood Arrows
These arrows are highly affordable.
These arrows produce less noise during the flight than other type of arrow materials.
These arrows can balance the speed with proper knockdown ability.
Fiberglass Arrows
These arrows are very powerful.
They are also highly durable.
Despite possessing large amount of power, these arrows are still very affordable.
Choosing The Perfect Draw Weight
As mentioned in our above guide, choosing the most suitable draw weight really depends on where you will be using your recurve bow. If you will be using your bow for hunting purposes, it is highly recommended to go for heavier arrows. If you are just using your bow for training and target practice, you might want to prefer lightweight arrows.
Design of Arrow
The design of arrow really depends upon what kind of arrow you want. You might get stained arrows made up of wood since they can get stained even before being packed for sale. Carbon and aluminum arrows are available in different forms, but the cheapest one available are those with a black matte finish. Fiberglass arrows are usually available just in black.
Most people usually prefer the design of arrows with several camouflages finishes, carbon weave, wood grain patterns as well as the combination of multiple designs. You also need to look for the price of arrows while looking at their design. If you can pay a little more amount of money, you can get arrows with any sort of design since these aren’t too expensive as other equipments.
Choosing The Perfect Arrow Length
While choosing the perfect arrow length, you need to find out the most suitable draw length of your bow at the beginning. Once you have the draw length, you can just add 1-2 inches in it to find out the best length of arrows.
Generally, most people have the draw length of around 25-30 inches, which means arrow length of 26 to 32 inches can be the best choice. Getting arrows of around 30-31 inches would be the top priority for most people.
Conclusion
With the completion of this guide on how to choose arrows for recurve bow, you might have found out about several factors you need to look for while getting the most suitable arrows. Choosing arrows for recurve bow really depends on where you will be using the bow (hunting or target practice) as well as the draw length of your bow.
If you purchase arrows which are very small or very large as well as too light or too heavy, you might have problems while adjusting with your bow. Therefore, you need to search for the one that can meet your requirements. If you have any confusion regarding the different aspects you need to look for to choose arrows for recurve bow, you might want to write down to us in the comments. We’d try to get back to you as soon as possible.
A gun safe might be impenetrable, it might save your guns and your other valuable possessions from falling into the wrong hand. But there is another enemy that a normal gun safe might not be as useful as you think it would be. That enemy is humidity. But do gun safes really need dehumidifiers? We’ll answer that in detail here.
Humidity can be defined as the amount of water vapor that is present in the air. Water Vapour is the gaseous state of water invisible to the human eye. Hence, it is something that the gun owner has no control over. Humidity can cause much damage to your gun. In colder environments, moisture build-up inside the safe as air reacts with the cold steel. This, in turn, results in the accumulation of rust inside the cold steel and this will destroy the gun’s looks and worst case scenario, it’s internal working.
Do Gun Safes Need Dehumidifiers?
First of all, let’s see what dehumidifiers actually are.
What is a dehumidifier?
A dehumidifier is basically an electrical appliance which decreases and maintains the humidity level in the air mainly for health or comfort reasons. However, there are natural dehumidifiers too. The humidifiers used in a gun safe are a bit different in design and usage. These humidifiers are used to make sure that your gun doesn’t rust.
Why do gun safes need dehumidifiers?
When there is a limited flow of air into the safe, the humidity level in the air rises. When the humidity level rises, the steel inside the safe reacts with this air. This is known as oxidization. The gun also oxidizes with the humid air and this results in the formation of rust. When steel gets rusty, it loses its characteristic properties making the gun weaker and unattractive from the outside. If the rust develops inside the gun, then the internal workings of the gun may halt. Bullets can jam and the trigger mechanism may fail. Hence, humidity is a serious problem.
If your safe is used frequently, it may not require a dehumidifier because it’s getting all the fresh air constantly every time you open it. But, if your gun safe is opened rarely then, you should get a good dehumidifier.
Factors Behind The Humidity
We now know why is it so important to make sure your gun safe is dry. Let us now see all the factors that determine the humidity level inside a gun safe.
Climate
Humidity levels are largely climate specific. Tropical regions (like the coastline) will definitely be humid. These regions are really the place where humidity dwells. So, if you are someone who’s living in such type of area then, it’s safe to say that you need a very good dehumidifier to safeguard your guns.
The Frequency of Safe Access
How often do you open your safe? A question that you must ask yourself. As we’ve established earlier, opening the safe frequently lets the flow of fresh air inside the safe which decreases the humidity level. In contrast, if you don’t open the safe frequently, you might as well invest some money and get a really good dehumidifier.
Safe’s Location
Your safe’s location also plays a vital role in determining how much humidity it gets. Lower sections of the house are generally more humid. If you are a person who keeps their gun safe in the basement of your house, then, a good dehumidifier is a definite requirement.
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Types & Sizes of Humidifiers Used In A Gun Safe
Dehumidifiers have a wide range of shapes and sizes. They also have a great variety in their complexity and they can be used with each other too. Mainly there are two types of dehumidifiers: Electric and Non-Electric.
Non-electric Dehumidifiers
These are the dehumidifiers that don’t require any electricity. They are either rechargeable appliances or natural materials. Some main types of Non-Electric Dehumidifiers are explained below.
Desiccant bags
Desiccant bags are the cheapest dehumidifiers. They’re easy to use and they do not require electrical access to work. In addition, they are reusable and don’t require a replacement. This makes it long lasting and ideal for your gun safe. You just need to bake the bags at low temperatures for one night, every few months. This helps the bag to remain intact. These bags remove moisture from the air and are very good dehumidifiers.
Silica
Silica is a hard, colorless compound which is unreactive in nature, occurs as the mineral quartz and as a main constituent of sandstone. Silica’s distinct property of dehumidification makes it very good dehumidifier. Silica is used as a form of silica bags. It absorbs moisture and keeps things dry. There is one catch though, silica shouldn’t be kept in contact with the metal of your gun. It can damage the gun. Silica Bags can be bought relatively easily. They’re also very cheap.
Rechargeable Dehumidifiers
Although kind of electric, we’ve decided to keep rechargeable dehumidifiers in this category because it doesn’t directly need electricity. They are a great option for keeping your gun safe dry. Rechargeable dehumidifiers are available in all shapes and sizes. They have their distinct moisture absorption capacities and some are portable too. Once bought, a good rechargeable dehumidifier will last you for ages. They have indicators to indicate if they’ve reached their maximum potential and most of them come with a fairly long recharge period. These dehumidifiers are perfect for anyone who wants a long lasting dehumidifier for their gun safes.
Electric Dehumidifiers
As the name suggests, electric dehumidifiers need electricity. They also have a whole different mechanism altogether. It contradicts the working of a non-electric dehumidifier. An electric dehumidifier, instead of absorbing moisture, heats up the internal environment to prevent condensation of the air within the safe.
Buying Guide For Dehumidifiers
There are some things to consider before buying a dehumidifier for your gun safe. Some of them are explained below.
Absorption Capacity
The absorption capacity of desiccant dehumidifiers depends on the amount of silica gel beads. If you have a big safe, get a big desiccant bag. For electric dehumidifiers, you need to get the one with greater heating power. Bigger is generally better if you’ve got a bigger safe, but don’t use a huge dehumidifier if you’ve got a smaller safe.
Area Coverage
Make sure to get a dehumidifier that covers the total area of your safe. You don’t want the humidity to be unevenly distributed. Also, get the one with a proper size.
Installation Process
A Non-Electrical dehumidifier generally has an easier installation process. It is basically a plug and play situation. In case of the electrical variant, you need to do the cable management, get a power source and supply proper wattage which can be a little complicated.
Usability
Non-Electrical dehumidifiers are easy to use. They don’t have much to it. You just need to heat the desiccant bag every now and then and recharge the batteries of the rechargeable variant. Electrical ones come with a long user guide and different heating modes so, the usability can be a bit complicated.
Price
The final thing to consider is your budget and make a purchase accordingly. You can go with the electrical version if you’ve got money to spare.
Conclusion
Dehumidifiers are important as they help your guns to not rust by keeping the safe dry. You should definitely get one if you don’t use your gun safe that often and you want to ensure it’s dryness.
So, you just planned to mount a scope on your rifle, but couldn’t mount? You might be here for the same reason because you were thinking how to mount a scope on a rifle. In fact, mounting a scope on a rifle can be a tough task if you are a total beginner. You have to be sure whether the scope is securely mounted or not to prevent untimely firing.
However, once you have mounted the scope in a proper way for the first time, you’d certainly be able to perform the task easily the next time you’d be planning to mount the scope. Focusing on your safety and for the prevention of the sudden firing of the improperly mounted scope, we have come up with a special guide to make sure you’d be mounting a scope on a rifle in the perfect way.
What Is A Rifle Scope?
According to Wikipedia, a rifle scope simply refers to the telescopic sight on a rifle. With the use of a rifle scope, you will be able to see your targets properly so that you can aim towards them in a precise and accurate way. Due to this special feature, these scopes are used by many people in their rifles in the present time.
There are thousands of different manufacturers who are producing outstanding rifle scopes suitable for different rifles. You can have a lot of different options available for you to choose from for your rifle as well. But, things aren’t the same now as they were before.
How Are The Modern Rifle Scopes Different?
Over the period of time since rifles were developed for the first time, metallic telescopic sights have stayed as an essential component for everyone who owns a rifle. However, since the last few decades, rifle manufacturers have been removing rifle scopes in their newer rifle models, which means you have to choose a rifle scope for your rifle all by yourself. This doesn’t mean the development of rifle scopes stopped since manufacturers started this system while manufacturing rifles.
In the past few decades, several rifle scopes with breathtaking features have been developed. The modern riflescopes are equipped with the modern technologies, which means the individual development of rifle scopes have grown all the way long since manufacturers stopped combining them with rifle models. This is certainly an advantage for every modern rifle owners who are planning to mount a scope on their rifles. The modern rifle scopes can be used with any sort of rifles including the ones used in military, training, sports, seasonal hunting or just dedicated paper-punching.
So, what can be done now?
Since you can’t find rifle scopes pre-mounted with the modern rifles, it can be difficult for you to mount them yourself. This is the reason why we are presenting this guide to you to reduce all the confusion in your mind regarding the best way to mount a scope on a rifle securely.
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How To Mount A Scope On A Rifle?
A rifle scope is essential equipment for every modern rifle users who are looking to shoot at a long distance. As discussed above, you have to mount the rifle scope in a secure way in your rifle. A single mistake can lead you to get serious injuries. When you keep going through this guide further, you will find out the exact things you will be needing and the proper method of mounting a rifle scope on a rifle.
What will you need?
Before getting started, you need to make sure that you possess the following equipment:
Removable Threadlocker (Using permanent or red Loctite is restricted!)
Scope Mounting Base (not mandatory for all rifles)
Step-by-Step Scope Mounting Instructions
Now that you have all the necessary equipment with you, you can get started with the mounting process.
Getting Started: Cleaning Mounting Surfaces
The first you need to do while mounting a scope on a rifle is to clear everything including dirt, residue, and grease from the mounting area. You should make your rifle ready to get mounted up with the scope mounting base. Removing all the dirt will help you to prevent improper seating for the scope base on your rifle. When you remove the plug screws along the top of the receiver, you will be able to degrease every screw holes. While doing so, you also need to use a suitable screwdriver for removing the screws. Removing the screws properly will prevent your entire task from getting spoiled.
Securing the Scope
Once you have cleaned your rifle properly along with the mounting surfaces, you need to place it in a lead sled or any secure device before getting started with the mounting process. You also need to level your rifle while placing it for mounting. What you need to do here is to place a short level above the receiver so that you will be able to adjust the rifle in a proper position. You will be able to find a short level in any sort of small tool package that you own.
Mounting the Scope Base
Once you are ready to mount the scope base on your rifle, you need to put some gun oil on the contact area which can help in the prevention of rust formation inside the receiver and the scope base. When your gun moves backward after shooting, some of the screws in it might move and get off the gun after some period of time. This is why inserting thread locker in the screw threads might be a good choice to ensure that the screws are placed and tightened properly on the gun.
However, while choosing a thread locker, you need to go for a removable one rather than a permanent one or red Loctite. If you use a permanent threadlocker, you need to heat it up to a temperature of 500°F for the screws to get loose. It can be a tough task for you to heat your receiver up to such temperature so that you’d be able to remove the thread locker. You might even deteriorate the proper functioning of your rifle. When you have placed the thread locker and tightened it down the scope base, you need to take a look at the receiver to find out whether the screws are moving or not. Checking the screws can be easier if you use your hand to try moving them manually.
Placing the Scope Rings
Now that you have mounted up the scope base on your rifle, you need to start mounting the scope rings. To do this, you have to remove every screw along with the other parts of the scope rings and organize them properly. First, you can try mounting the lower part of the rings. Then, you can try to fit your scope on it before placing the upper rings. If you are using a pictanny base in your case while tightening the screws, you need to push the rings against the nearest rail so that the rings will be able to get placed against the rail. Doing so will also make the rings stay idle while you shoot with your rifle.
What you need to do now is to place the scope under the scope rings mounted on your rifle. The scope rings need to be at a proper distance from the objective bell as well as the turrets so that the necessary adjustments can be done. You can insert a thread locker and tighten the screws once you are sure the scope rings are far and there is a proper spacing for placement. Since you shouldn’t tighten the screws right now, you need to tighten the screws with your own hand to set up the eye relief.
Setting up the Eye Relief
To set up the eye relief, you can just pick up your rifle and hold it in the same way you do while shooting. The next thing you need to be doing here is to close your eyes and hold the rifle on your shoulder. Now, you need to look for a suitable position to place your cheek on the comb of your stock. Doing this will result in getting a suitable placement area for your rifle. Your rifle won’t have to rely on the optic for positioning your head. When you have placed the rifle at your shoulder in a proper spot, you can now open your eyes and look for the most accurate eye relief. You can now adjust the scope by moving it in any way you like to seek for a better placement area. With that being done, you will be able to shoot without seeing the black halo. You will also be able to obtain a proper view when you have done all the steps in a proper way.
After setting up the eye relief, you may not be totally sure about the prevention of black halo. If you see it again, you can adjust the scope rings by looking for a suitable placement spot.
Leveling your Scope
The next thing you need to do is to level the scope. You can do so by placing the rifle at a suitable spot and placing your level on the turret at the center. Now, you can adjust your scope properly until your reticle stays at a perpendicular and parallel position from your bore.
When your reticle is leveled, you can now obtain a precise compensate for windage as well as elevation during the shooting period. Once the scope is adjusted properly, you are ready to tighten every screw at your scope rings in a cross pattern that you did while setting up a tire. Doing this will save your time preventing you to adjust the scope rings again at both front and rear of your scope. If you want highly accurate results, you might want to keep the threadlocker dry every time before you are getting ready for the shooting period.
Sighting in your Focus
You might want to dial in ocular focus to be able to obtain a proper view through your scope. With that being done, you will be able to focus on the reticle properly. However, you may not be able to do so in case you haven’t adjusted the reticle properly. If you have aimed your rifle towards a high contrast background, you can make sure that the reticle is properly focused by adjusting the scopes diopter. With everything done correctly, you will be able to utilize your rifle scope properly with a clear reticle picture.
Does The Mounting Vary From Rifle to Rifle?
There are a lot of different types of rifles available out there. The mounting process is totally similar for every type of rifles. However, in case of some rifles, the use of scope mounting base may be useless. For those rifles, you may not require a scope mounting base while mounting a scope on your rifle. In most rifles, a scope mounting base can be used for mounting a scope on them properly. Using a scope mounting base will also make sure that the scope is seated properly on your rifle. It will also help you tighten the screws with the prevention of any sort of movements that might result in the screws being lost while using your rifle.
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Conclusion
Once you have gone through this guide properly without any confusion, now you will know how to mount a scope on a rifle and be able to mount a scope on your rifle properly and securely. While mounting a scope, you need to make sure that all the screws are tightened properly and the necessary equipment are placed and adjusted properly. It isn’t recommended for you to use your rifle without proper adjustment of the essential equipment.
If you have any confusion regarding the processes mentioned in this guide, you can feel free to write down about your issue in detail in the comments. We’d love to respond you right back away.
While using a rifle for hunting, it is really important for you to make sure you have properly adjusted all the necessary equipment before getting started. Once you are done with the mounting process of scope on your rifle, you might want to sight in it at 50 yards. Sighting in a rifle really needed to be done in a proper manner so that you will be able to shoot at your target precisely and quickly. At this stage, it is important to know how to sight in a rifle scope at 50 yards or maybe in a longer range than that.
To help you in the sighting in of your rifle for hunting, we are here with this step-by-step guide that you might find fruitful. Before getting started with this guide, you need to make sure that you have properly mounted a scope on your rifle since it is very essential for most modern rifles.
A Few Best Long Range Rifle Scopes For You
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What Is Sighting In A Rifle Scope?
In case of a rifle scope, sighting-in refers to a method of adjusting the sights properly to shoot at the target a certain distance. Since the bullets used in rifle don’t travel in a straight line, it is essential for rifle owners to sight in their rifles. The distance can be anything depending on several things, including the type of animals. If it is a deer, you can sight in your rifle at 100 yards to shoot at its bull’s eye accurately.
Why Sighting Is Important While Shooting?
Sighting-in a rifle is really important for every rifle owners especially when you are thinking to use for hunting with the use of any ammunition. In case of rifles with scope, sighting-in can turn out to be highly beneficial. Those who don’t use a sighted-in rifle for hunting might have to ruin their entire period trying to shoot at the exact target. Here are some of the major reasons why sighting-in a rifle is highly essential:
Sighting-in a rifle makes you able to shoot with your rifle properly.
It also helps in making your shoot highly precise towards the target.
Sighting-in helps to build up your shooting ability by increasing confidence.
It makes you able to identify issues with several shooting methods.
It makes you able to detect the farthest distance you can shoot with your rifle accurately.
Sighting-in also prevents any sort of injuries by letting you know the exact position where you are shooting.
How To Sight In A Rifle Scope At 50 Yards
Now that you are well-known about the basics behind sighting-in a rifle scope, you are ready to get started with the sighting-in process. You can keep following this guide to know the exact same processes involved in sighting-in a rifle scope at 50 yards.
Getting Started: Ensuring Proper Setup of Rifle Scope
When you have mounted a scope on your rifle, you still have to look for any issues regarding the proper adjustments.
>> You need to ensure that the scope is securely mounted in your rifle. You also need to check whether the scope rings are properly mounted on the scope base or not. While checking, you need to look for any sort of movements of the scope rings.
>> If everything is fine, you have to look for the reticle on your scope. You should be able to focus the reticle properly. You need to ensure that the cross-hairs are in focus. If they aren’t, you need to point your scope towards the sky and look towards an object in the opposite direction and focus on it properly.
>> When your eyes are focused on the object, you can turn back and look through your rifle scope for a while. You need to look for any sort of blur in the reticle. What you will be doing here is taking an instant judgment over what you see through your scope. While staring at the reticle, your eyes will automatically start adjusting themselves.
>> If there is any sort of blur in the reticle, you need to adjust the scope diopter placed at a spot near to the shooting area until the reticle doesn’t show any sort of blur and is in focus.
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Boresighting
After mounting and setting a scope on your rifle, you might want to perform boresighting before using the rifle for general purposes. Here are all the steps you need to follow to bore sight your scope:
First, you need to make sure that the rifle doesn’t include any bullets. The barrel also needs to stay unobstructed.
Now, you need to remove the rifle’s bolt.
Then, you should place the rifle securely pointing towards the downrange.
What you need to do now is to stand behind your firearm and look through the bore to center the target by moving the firearm properly.
The next thing you need to do is to adjust the rifle scope for centering the reticle towards the same target without moving the rifle.
While doing so, the turret at the top of the scope will adjust the reticle’s elevation and the turret located at the site will be adjusting the windage. In this case, the boresight doesn’t really need to be accurate. However, the rifle needs to be able to shoot at an object 50 yards away.
You might also want to use a laser boresight to place at the chamber of the rifle for boresighting. The only thing you need to ensure is that the reticle should be properly centered towards the rifle’s target. While using a laser boresight, it can be easier for your scope to be more accurate. This doesn’t mean that the above processes of boresighting are totally useless.
Sighting In A Rifle Scope At 50 Yards
Now, you can get started with the shooting. However, you need to ensure that you are using suitable ammunition with your rifle before going for hunting. If you are using your rifle with a certain ammunition and using a different bullet weight for hunting, it is nearly sure that you won’t be able to shoot at your target and instead shoot at a different point
Sighting in a rifle at 50 yards can be a little tougher than doing so at 25 yards, but when you have aimed properly with a rifle sighted-in at 50 yards, it will be a lot more easier for you. It is recommended for you to try out a dedicated zero target using an easier grid format so that you will be able to find out your adjustments. However, you might also want to use bull’s eye target. While sighting in a rifle, you need to be able to shoot from a proper spot with the use of sandbags or rifle rest for support. However, it isn’t recommended to use your own muscles for support since it might be less effective and not so accurate.
When You Are Ready
When you are in a proper spot, you might want to fire a few shots at the center of your target at 50 yards. While doing this, you might see the holes of your bullet in the target with the use of your rifle scope. It doesn’t matter where the bullet holes exist as long as the exact spot where you have aimed stays the same. You can keep aiming at bull’s eye target even though you may not shoot at it precisely for the first time.
Check The Shots
When you have fired a few shots, you should look at the target to find out where you are hitting. Now, you can measure the distance from the center of your shots to the bull’s eye target so that you’ll be able to adjust your scope properly. You can find most scopes with 1/4 MOA adjustments which means 1 click will move the impact of bullet by 1/4″ at 100 yards. For 50 yards, you should have double number of clicks to move the same 1/4″ distance. When you have a 1/4 MOA scope at 50 yards, there will be 4 clicks left and 8 clicks down.
The turret lying above your scope will move the impact of bullet at the elevation and the one on the side will move at the windage. You will be able to see measurement increments on your scope’s turret including proper information regarding the direction to turn the turret in case it is similar to most scopes available. While we performed our research, we had to turn the turret clockwise to move the bullet’s impact upwards or towards the right. It depends on what kind of turret you are adjusting. In our case, the first few shots at 50 yards hit 2″ towards the right and 1″ to the bottom. The top turret had to be turned 8 clicks clockwise and the side one had to be turned 32 clicks anti-clockwise to move the bullet’s impact up and to the left.
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Ways To Adjust
You might want to go past several clicks the required number and later revert back. If you have to adjust 8 clicks clockwise, you might want to go 10 clicks clockwise and 2 clicks anti-clockwise on the upper turret. With that being done, you can press the turret so that the adjustments can be locked in, which really needs to be done to create large adjustments. You can also do so while you are using low-quality scopes. When you have made the essential adjustments, you need to shoot a few shots again at the bull’s eye. In case the bullet holes appear at the aimed spot, you might want to sight in your currently 50 yards sighted-in rifle to a longer distance. If the bullet holes didn’t appear at the aimed spot, you need to make the essential adjustments again at the rifle scope and keep shooting until the rifle gets dialed in at 50 yards.
When your shot hits the exact same spot where you have aimed at a distance of 50 yards after the final adjustment of your rifle scope, you have successfully sighted-in your rifle scope.max
Final Words
Now that you have successfully reached the end of our guide, you might have found proper information on how to sight in a rifle scope at 50 yards or any distance. You can follow the similar process with a correct calculation for fine tuning your rifle scope to sight-in at other distances such as 25 yards, 100 yards or even 200 yards.
When you have successfully sighted-in your rifle scope, the rifle scope might stay in the same sighted-in situation for a long period of time. It really depends on the material used to manufacture your rifle scope. However, if you drop your rifle scope or it loses its strength, you might have to sight-in it again. When you are using your rifle the next time, it is highly recommended for you to check out whether the rifle scope is sighted-in or not.
If you have any issues regarding the sighting-in process of your rifle scope, please feel free to write down to us in the comments. We will get back to you right away.
The spine of an arrow simply refers to its stiffness. While looking for the perfect arrows you need for shooting with your bow, you have to be aware of the basics of arrow spine. You need to know how the spine is calculated and why you need to spend your time looking for the best arrow to shoot. We will be letting you know about all these things along with the comparison between the arrow spine and arrow weight. You will also be able to find out a user guide chart at the end of this guide to choose the perfect arrows. So, if you are still wondering what spine arrow do I need, then you are in the right place now.
Some of The Best Arrows For You
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What is Arrow Spine?
Arrow spine is the measurement of stiffness of an arrow. While a model of arrow can be available in a single version, you would still be able to find out the same arrow with different spine ratings. The making of a stiffer arrow is all due to its lower spine rating. If you own an arrow with 300 spine rating and your friend owns one with 500, then your arrow would be more rigid than your friend’s.
There are two different types of arrow spine available out there. One of them is a Static Spine, and the next one is a Dynamic Spine.
Static Spine
A static spine is the spine measurement which is measured in a static state of the arrow. In a detailed way, it is a way how an arrow responds when a weight of 1.94 pounds is suspended from its center. In this case, the arrow needs to be 29 inches long and has to be adjusted by two different ends making a distance of around 28 inches. The spine rating of an arrow is defined by the total number of inches it deflects multiplied by 1000 due to the weight. For example, in the case of a static spine, an arrow of spine rating 300 bends 0.3 inches when some weight is applied to it.
Dynamic Spine
A dynamic spine defines the way how an arrow responds through the stored energy in the bow after shooting. While determining a dynamic spine, several factors such as peak bow weight, point weight, point combination, bowstring material, strands, vanes, etc. might come in place to find out how an arrow might respond after shooting. Due to this reason, several arrows are designed with a static spine. However, you will easily be able to calculate the arrow’s dynamic spine and hence make it stiffer after shooting with a compound bow. You can do so by reducing the bow and point weight, point combination, using heavier materials for bow strings and adding more strands on the strings as well as using higher vanes and nocking point. The length of the arrow also needs to be short to determine the dynamic spine.
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Confusion About Arrow Spine vs Arrow Weight
While you might be thinking about similarities between arrow spine and arrow weight and planning to replace your arrow with a lighter one to achieve higher speed, you need to know that these things are totally different from each other. You might be thinking about replacing your 330-spine arrow with a 500-spine one to reduce the arrow weight in your bow having a draw length of 29″ and draw weight of 70 pounds. However, everything you are doing is totally wrong.
Let’s Look Deeper In The Difference
The spine rating of an arrow is related to its stiffness. It depends on how much it flexes, but not the weight. When you are shooting with a bow, every arrow that passes through needs to flex a certain amount. Remember the word “certain”, because if your arrow is flexing a lot, then it might have a weaker spine rating and can be inconsistent while shooting. Using an arrow with stiff spine rating which doesn’t produce a lot of flexes after shooting can provide you consistency while hitting the target.
When you are thinking about choosing the best spine of an arrow, you need to know about draw length and draw weight of your bow. The draw length helps in determining the length of the arrow you need to use. On the other hand, the draw weight of your bow helps to determine the force required to shoot the arrow.
Relation Between Shaft & Arrow Spine
If you have a longer shaft, your arrow is much likely to flex too much. While choosing the best arrow for your bow, you can take a look at the spine selection guide provided by the manufacturer to find out what shaft you need to select to meet your draw weight and arrow length requirements. The shaft can be determined by the spine rating of your arrow. The speed of your bow might also be useful in case of faster bows since such bows can exert a large amount of force on the arrow. bow’s speed rating, since faster bows, exert more force on an arrow.
When you are looking for spine ratings of shafts designed by different manufacturers, you would be finding a lot of differences since the spine rating system isn’t so uniform. In most cases, the grains per inch are printed on the shafts which might put you into a dilemma.
Get It Clear With This Example
Let’s look at an example. Suppose there are two shafts, 330 and 400 which weigh 9.6 and 8.5 grains per inch, respectively. You might be thinking about replacing your 330 shaft with the 400 one since the weight of your arrow can be lighter. The arrow weigh less while doing so, but it is also weaker than the 330 one. This is why, replacing a 330-spine arrow with a 400 one can be a bad choice.
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If you are really looking for a lightweight arrow, you might want to prefer the recommended arrow spine. However, you also need to switch to a lightweight shaft. When there are two arrows of the same spine rating, their weight in terms of grains per inch can still differ from each other since their shaft could be different.
Here’s a comparison table which includes three different arrows which measure 29″ from the insert-end to the end of the nock throat, include grain points of 100 as well as 2″ vanes and 3 Blazers and all these arrows also consist of suitable spine rating recommended for shooting with a bow weighing in at 70 pounds. With the information displayed in the table below, you’d be able to find out that there are still a lot of options available for you to switch the arrow weight instead of changing the arrow spine ratings.
With the above information, we believe you are no longer in confusion regarding arrow spine and arrow weight. Now, it is time to find out what spine arrow you need to prefer. There are several factors you need to look for to select the best arrow spine. You can find a lot of information regarding the best spine arrow to choose with the selection charts offered by your arrow manufacturers.
While looking at the selection charts, you might be in the final stage to choose one out of the few arrows. In that case, you might want to prefer the one which is stiffer than the others. If you want to change the dynamic spine of your arrow, you can do so by switching the length of your arrow or adjusting the draw weight of the bow you are using. You might also want to consider changing the quantity of weight at the ends of your arrow. Since arrows having broadhead-like tips are highly sensitive to the proper spine in comparison to the arrows containing field tips, it is recommended for you to go for an arrow with the proper spine ratings.
Stiffer Spine or not?
Using a stiffer spine mightn’t help your arrow to flex much. With this condition, your arrow won’t be able to bend in a proper level over the riser, which results in an inconsistent arrow flight towards the target. On the other hand, using a weaker spine might make your arrow flex a lot which can also result in an improper arrow flight. This might also lead the arrow to be in contact with the riser.
This clearly means you need to look for a weaker spine rating in case your arrow is stiffer. Also, if your arrow is very weak, you need to go for a higher spine rating. Therefore, getting a bare-shaft arrow might be the perfect choice to have a consistent flight towards the target.
Compound Bow Selection Chart
Courtesy: Black Eagle Arrows website
Traditional-style Bow Selection Chart
Courtesy: Black Eagle Arrows website
Courtesy: Black Eagle Arrows website
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Conclusion
Throughout your entire time going through this article, we believe you are now well-known about arrow spine and its differentiation with arrow weight. With the help of our guide on what spine arrow you need to prefer, you might have been able to choose the arrow with perfect spine rating depending on your requirements and the situation.
If you have any confusion regarding any of the topics discussed in this guide, you can feel free to write about your issue in the comments. We’d try to get back to you right away.