Sighting in a rifle/optic

[mannix]

..

[Punkface]

I'm not really sure what your question is either.

Buy a ton of ammo and shoot the piss out of your rifle though!

[mannix]

I guess it is simple - am I right to think that the skill of the shooter will have a significant impact on the quality of the sighting-in process, even using sandbags and things that take some of the human-input out?

[Brian]

Yes, absolutely.

I'd suggest moving it up to 25 yards and practice, practice, practice. Since you're new, I might start with 5 or even 10 round groups just to see how your consistency is. Don't try to compensate for the bullseye, just aim for the exact same spot every time and see if your holes all show up together. Definitely don't adjust your scope every group until you're consistent.

One other thought - it may not be as much fun, but I'd suggest taking the scope off for the next few trips to the range and practicing with your iron sights until you get the hang of it.

If you feel like you're improving, but your groups are still all over the place, ask the guy sitting next to you at the range if he'd be willing to shoot a group or two for you.

By the way - welcome to the board, and to the AR addition.

[Zombie Steve]

Well, even if your groups are big, you can zero the rifle... assuming the groups are also round.

Do your best - work on fundamentals - breathing, trigger pull, etc. If I'm not mistaken, your red dot covers a 2" area at 100 yards. It's always hard to use red dot sights for precision for this reason.

Last suggestion - use targets that really give you a good, repeatable sight picture. In other words, a huge black NRA 10-ring style target might not be conducive to getting great accuracy. Try something with a hole in the middle that makes it easy to line up the same way each time.

Heck, try the big square on this page:

http://www.varmintal.com/atarg.htm

...or the diamond in medium range targets on this page:

http://www.6mmbr.com/targets.html

[JohnnyEgo]

Three rounds is better than one, but still well within the margin where random fluctuations can have a pretty big effect, particularly for a novice shooter. The more you shoot, the more data you have about what you are actually doing. Move it up to five or ten. That will give you a much better idea of what you are actually doing. If your five or ten shots are more or less in a group, you can adjust your sights so that they end up more or less in the center ring, then practice to make the group smaller. If they are scattered about all over the place, then something is likely wrong with your gun, your optic, or your technique. Assuming your optic isn't loose, then it's most likely technique.

If you are really new to the AR, you have some options. You can try to teach yourself how to shoot with advice from friends and the internet and copious amounts of practice. This is the route I went down many years ago. Or you can pay someone to teach you, one-on-one or in a group. This is the way I wish I had done it now. The costs of either approach are ultimately about the same for the outcome, but quality professional instruction really cuts down on the time component.

[gos]

If you're an inexperienced shooter, 3 round groups may not be sufficient.

As was said above, aim small miss small.

[Irving]

Just in case it needs to be said, don't try to cover whatever dot/square/circle with your sights. Hold your sights just below it (pumpkin on a post) or something similar so you can more easily hold in the same spot every time.

[KS63]

Trigger control is huge, too.

[mannix]

Thanks! No iron sights on this rifle, I had to put SOMETHING on it, opted for the Sparc. I've been shooting most of my life, off and on (pistols and shotguns, .22 rifle as a kid) - I'm not totally new to the game, just have very little experience with sights/optics. I put a silly laser/light thing on my 1911, sighted that in @ 10 yards, that was interesting - the laser is ~2" below the barrel, so at five or twenty, accuracy (vertical) goes out the window. Close enough for intended purpose (perforating paper), but, yeah, learning about that stuff. I'd never really had to think of of "windage" and all that.

Dunno. Yet another ambiguous post. I'll bring the target in and see what I get.

I was using an "official" NRA 100 yard sighting in target. The range had blue and orange, I liked blue better - and I'd bet that the center "hole" - no ink in the center of the target - is 2", as my dot FILLED it. Was fun. I'm pretty happy with it, just really curious how right it is.

Thanks!


Iain