GREAT TIPS for LONG RANGE shooting accuracy!

[scottls]

TIPS for LONG RANGE shooting accuracy!

Ever notice that you are dead on at 100yds, but right or left at 300yds...!?
light bulbI now get GREAT centered groups at 500yds..., after I finally figured out how!?- MT's #1 gunsmith & Leupold techs, put me onto my solution!
-I just took my Caribou at 489yds!- Tikka T3 .338mag (Federal Premium), Swarovski TDS scope (100 to 500 yd marks), Leica range finder (a rangefinder, is a MUST!).

Here is the problem!-
1. Your scope has to be "!perfectly!" aligned to bore (1" dowel..., doesn't do it!)!
2. Then your windage crosshairs have to be "!perfectly!" vertical to bore (tip!- level your rifle when shooting long distance!).

My ultimate FIX!-
Notes!: This is MUCH easier with 2 people!- one to hold gun steady/sight down scope..., while tightening screws!
Blue loctite ALL screws (stock to action also!)!

1. Center your scope to bore "!perfectly!" - Put your rifle in a gun vise, and put a laser full chamber/bore dot (I used Cabela's...), on a far wall...
a. Now center your windage crosshairs to dot- total stop-to-stop turns, divided by 2...
b. Turn screws on rear ring mount, and "!perfectly!" center on dot .

2. Level your crosshairs "!perfectly!"...!-
Note: I've tried "several" crosshair leveler tools..., and finally got the GREAT/easy one my gunsmith uses!- "EXD ENGINEERING VERTICAL RETICLE INSTRUMENT" (leveler too!) (Brownells)).

Want to check your scope alignment?- Level your rifle, hang a plumb-bob string on far wall..., and see if vertical crosshair is "!perfect!"!?

3. Now go range, & fine tune!
ENJOY!

 

[Forester]

Your method will work about as well as you can "eyeball it"...you might read this and give it a try.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/reticle-perpendicularity.php

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Good info. What do you think of putting a scope level on? I know from all my years of shooting archery competitively that you can not do it with out a scope level. Without a level to reference weather or not you are canting, there is no way to really tell. It seems that a rifle would be the same, just longer distances.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but have been thinking about this lately.

Thanks, Steve

 

[davewilson]

i have a level that rides on the action feed rails and i level my gun with it. then i rotate the scope till i get groups that hit on the verticle line as described above. you might not be perfectly leveling the scope, but you make it so the gun shoots on a verticle axis that is in accordance with the way it tracks.

 

[silvertip-co]

I've had this theory for a while that the rotational forces of the spinning bullet 'also' cause left or right drift at longer/longest ranges, depending on whether the rifling is left or right hand. But that's just a funky idea I thought of, wish I knew more physics.

 

[Ridge Runner]

not a funky idea silver, I have read a couple places where 1k bresters use 1moa on dead calm days for spin drift not sure how they come to this conclusion, just what I've read.

Now as to leveling centering all that
before mounting scope turn it down to lowest power, hold it against a mirror, you'll see the reticle and a reflection of it, turn the turrets until the reflection is exactly in line with your reticle, your turrets are now centered. I put a b-square level on my base then mount the scope.
I set the rifle on the floor at one end of my hallway pointed to my living room paneling (approx 50'), I set the eye relief and line the reticle up with the plumb line on the paneling and tighten the rings.
with the rifle still leveled and the reticle on the edge of the plumb line I now slowly turn the elevation turret 1 complete revolution each way and note how the reticle crawls up and down the edge of the line. if it wanders enough for me to see it I adjust the scope and repeat.
RR

 

[britz]

Not only does spin drift have affect on EXTREME long shots, also, if the bullet is airborn for extended periods of time the rotation of the earth can affect a shot - more in the relm of artilary than rifle shooting however

 

[ol mike]

Your method will work about as well as you can "eyeball it"...you might read this and give it a try.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/reticle-perpendicularity.php

Yuup -let the rifle tell you when the bore and reticle are inline..........

Everybody should take the time to read the tech. articles provided at the top of the front page ---huge confidence builder for me...

 

[FullCurlHunter]

This may be a silly question but here it goes...

How do you make sure that you are holding the rifle level in order to then level the scope?

I don't know if puting a level on the action is a great way to check this...there may not be any perfectly flat angles to set a level on...

Maybe I am not understanding the two articles above...

Someone please enlighten me!

Thanks

 

[WhiteMeat]

Almost every scope has a flat surface on the bottom of the turret housing... Quite a lot of rifles have a corresponding flat area underneath the turret housing also... Removing as much of the 'human' element as possible would yield more consistent results I would think

Sniper's Hide - Content

 

[Michael Eichele]

I've had this theory for a while that the rotational forces of the spinning bullet 'also' cause left or right drift at longer/longest ranges, depending on whether the rifling is left or right hand. But that's just a funky idea I thought of, wish I knew more physics.

It is a fact. It is called "spin drift". This is caused by the nose of the bullet being pointed in the direction of the rotation of the bullet (albiet it is an ever so slight offset). Air pressure on the opposing side of the projectile pushes the bullet off course a bit. Not much. About 8-12" at 1000 yards for most hand carried sporter style rifles.

 

[Michael Eichele]

This may be a silly question but here it goes...

How do you make sure that you are holding the rifle level in order to then level the scope?

I don't know if puting a level on the action is a great way to check this...there may not be any perfectly flat angles to set a level on...

Maybe I am not understanding the two articles above...

Someone please enlighten me!

Thanks

You can put a level most scope bases after they are mounted to the action. Once the rifle (by use of the base) is level and secure so as to not move, then you can begin leveling the scope.

Hope that helps!!

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Not only does spin drift have affect on EXTREME long shots, also, if the bullet is airborn for extended periods of time the rotation of the earth can affect a shot - more in the relm of artilary than rifle shooting however

Not really...if you consider the 50 BMG and 416 Barrett to be rifles.

Both spin drift and the Corealis effect have an effect at extreme ranges.