How to Use a Rifle Scope Properly

When it comes to hunting and shooting, the most important part is to aim correctly and shoot precisely without letting the prey to run away. Most of the newbies deny the fact that how a good rifle with a little more price than ordinary one can deliver accuracy and precision. When it comes to choosing the rifle, it is important to look for quality riflescope that can give accuracy while shooting. In most of the cases, riflescopes are not well made and put the hunter in sheer agony when they miss the target. The simple solution is to invest in a good riflescope that will never give the chance to the prey to breathe once more. Especially if you are shooting from longer distances, you can’t catch the prey with your eyes and that is why Riflescope is used by professional hunters.

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Tips on How to Use Rifle Scope Properly

The power of riflescope is around 1.5x to 50x for traditional rifles. When it is adjusted on rifle, it is bore sighted from the shooter. When shooting with the riflescope mounted on top of rifle, make sure to adjust the range to zero. This means that at distance X the shot will land closely where the gun is aimed that does not include wind speed or elevation. Standard combat rifles are commonly zeroed at 100 yards. From now on, we will take on 100 yards as zero distance.

1. Decide how far off target a pellets lands

Now modify the scope accordingly. This is the most straight way to zero the scope. Majority of scopes have wind age and elevation dials which can be twisted to compensate for impreciseness. The height is commonly on the upper part and have an impact on the bullet’s point of impact (POI) upright. The windage is commonly on the right side of the riflescope and moves the bullet’s POI straight.

2. Ballistic Plex reticle or mil-dot

Many riflescopes have either Ballistic Plex reticle or mil-dot, which lets the hunter to shoot without any difficulty at distances more than the zeroed point.Riflescopes come with a diagram to show based on the bullet’s caliber, speed, and heaviness where to track up the reticle. While the caliber and weight are stress-free to mimic, the speed is a very explicit thing to a rifle. You will possibly have to make your own diagram for your rifle if you desire to be as precise as possible.

3. Tuning the elevation and windage for the particular situation

If you know how military snipers use rifle scope fine tuning the elevation and windage for the particular situation. It is not possible for amateur shooters or recreational hunters to find precise measure of wind speed and other things that can affect the impact of shot and adjust the riflescope accordingly. It is better to calculate it roughly and hold off the reticle. In this case, you don’t have to re-zero the scope. There are numerous factors one has to keep in mind. Here are some of them you need to keep in mind.

It is necessary that you calculate the distance to target for zeroing of the scope. If it is not at zero distance, you need to consider bullet rise and fall. Speed of bullet is the main factor in affecting the amount of bullet drop. Cross wind directly impacts on how far the bullet will land. Under 100 yards, there is not a big issue but with lighter bullet under 300 yards with 8.0 km/h wind speed, the bullet landing area can move up to a foot or more.

The weight of bullet is also one of the biggest factors when it comes to shooting at a longer distances. It will decide the maximum range of a bullet on how far it can reach depending on the mass of bullet and aerodynamics coefficient. It also depends on the cross wind that will move the bullet.

Targeting at different elevation even for a few yards is called shot angle. It is another factor that decides the impact, fall and speed of bullet. Therefore, it is important to take into account. There are some minor effects that are not considered when considering the impact of bullet. The temperature of the ground and distance from the ground can cause bullet to rise. When the ground is warmer than air in summer season, there will be less bullet drop and vice versa. Temperature and humidity have very little effects on the flight of bullet. On very long shots that is more than 1000 yards, even the bending of earth should be considered in order to take accurate shot.

The world of technology is advancing and with the help of Personal Digital Assistant or laptop you can calculate the position and impact of bullet. These devices calculate by assuming you are targeting at zero reticle. It is the most effective and useful way for precise and accurate target. However, if you are on target shooting, re-zeroing can put you in lot of trouble. If you are not adjusting or managing the position of reticle, you should calculate how many clicks in each directions were used. It will be easier for you to set the scope back to zero at the end of the day.

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4. Adjust the parallax

Modify the parallax if available in your rifle scope according to distance of your target. Majority of rifle scopes lets the hunters to position the reticle on the same distance plain as target. It is very necessary to get accurate shot. A number of parallaxes have distances mentioned on them. It is a good source of guideline, but they are not very much accurate. On the basis of shooter’s eye relief and target’s distance, the parallax will change slightly. It is very hard to adjust them accurately but if you practice a lot, you will be enough skillful to estimate the parallax position on the basis of distance to target.

A good way to trick the parallax is to keep your head in a relief position where you can observe the black around the corner while seeing down the scope. Move you eye and head to get the black area balanced on all corners around the reticle. For accurate and precise shot, parallax hold great importance. It is normally set at 150 yards when it comes to fixed parallax scopes. While for 1000 yards, the reticle will be at 8 inches off the ground. While for 500 yards, the maximum is an inch and half off.

5. Placing the cross hairs in the center of your target

Adjust the scope correctly while positioning the cross hairs in the middle of your target at zero distance. You may require to recompense for distance, position, or breeze by hovering or dropping the cross hairs, keeping the mid-point on target.

Buying Tips for Rifle scope

Care must be taken when buying riflescope. Good and quality riflescopes are never available for cheap. If you want to invest a little more bucks on riflescope, don’t hesitate to do so because investing today will means a lot in the future. There are many companies misleading the customers through catchy advertisements and high claims but when it is brought to use, there is nothing special. Make sure to read the specifications and user reviews so that you can know what the positive and negative aspects of particular riflescope are.

There are plenty of online and local stores dealing in hunting equipment that includes shotguns, rifles and riflescopes. Make sure to go for the reputed retailer selling quality products without compromising on quality. You must also go through reviews and return and replacement policy. Majority of good retailers will also offer free replacement and parts services for a limited time period. It is good to check the riflescope when it arrives because sometimes the parts are defective that can be returned immediately. If you are not satisfied with the product, return it as soon as possible.

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Ask for warranty when you buy riflescope. Most of the great brands offer parts warranty for one to five years, depending on brand. All of the riflescopes are not made equally and in case of problem, it needs to be identified. Make sure to read the terms and conditions mentioned on the back of warranty card. Some clever retailers will trick you with tricky terms and conditions. Make sure to read the points carefully and ask if there is any ambiguity. Also make sure whether the warranty will be applicable to the person you sell out riflescope in future or not.

Another thing that you need to consider is to buy scope that comes with internal adjustment. It is very important and most of the people ignore this feature. Even if you are not a professional shooter, you must ask for adjustable riflescope. In the future, you might need another riflescope and want to invest money. It is also very important because it will affect the range of shooting the bullets.

Last but not the least, make sure to consider the assembly of scope body. Keep in mind that your riflescope is going to have to bear rough handling on a regular basis, especially when you have to go for hunting in rough areas.