Gun guys: help me sight in my 10/22? or not?

[sky_blue]

Hubby got me a very cute Ruger 10/22 for Christmas. Finally got out to Pawnee to do some plinking. Fun! But my scope is off by like 2 feet. We messed around with different mounts (see thru and not) and scopes off other guns and the best we could get was within about 8" of the target. That's more than I can adjust for with the little knobbies on the sides, yes? Twisting the knobs just moves the scope a tiny tiny bit. Is there something here I should be doing that I'm not? Do I take it to the gunsmith? I thought I should just be able to screw on the scope, then adjust with the knobs to dial it in. WTF?

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk160/sky_blue909/jen10_22.jpg

[PhL0aTeR]

do you get a good grouping? If i were you, i would rest my rifle on a bench when i was sighting it in as well. Your scope adjustments should have quite a bit more in them.... squeeze 2 rounds, check, adjust accordingly, squeeze another 2 rounds, adjust accordingly..... are you out of adjustment? the 10/22 is a good plinker, i could poke a hole in a quarter from 100 yards with mine.

[Foolds]

Bore sighting makes it much easier to sight in a rifle. I basically gets you on target the first time then you make 4-5 adjustments and you should be all set. I have a bore sighter but I'm not sure what part of town you are in. You can do it the hard way of firing two shots and having some one watch where they land then slowly adjusting the scope. Inside of the screw off caps will be two adjustments one for left, right, one for up,down. Aim the gun at say 100 yards and fire at your target twice. Then have your spotter tell you say high and left or high and WAY left. If you are any where near Thornton let me know I will look and see if I have a .22 cal pin for the bore sighter.

[DavidofColorado]

What they said above. But also if you are in the neighborhood of sportsman warehouse you could ask them if they can sight you in. They did mine for free. I was thinking about taking all my guns in there and have them zeroed at 100 yds. That's a nice little present too.

Also check to see if the scope is mounted securely on the rifle. If it wiggles it will throw off your point of impact.

[sky_blue]

We have this little "laser on a stick" that you stick in the muzzle and it points where the gun is aiming, but then you look through the scope and the red dot is far far away from the crosshairs. Clicking the adjusters on the sides of the scope moves it only in tiny adjustments, and I run out of adjustment before I can get it lined up. Maybe my scope is junk.

[Sortarican]

We have this little "laser on a stick" that you stick in the muzzle and it points where the gun is aiming, .... Clicking the adjusters on the sides of the scope moves it only in tiny adjustments, and I run out of adjustment before I can get it lined up. Maybe my scope is junk.

That's a laser bore site, just what Foolds was talking about.

And yes, it sounds like your scope or rings are junk.
There's an outside chance that the ring bases are bad/incorrectly drilled or
the receiver was machined so off center that your beginning zero is too far off to adjust.

One question raised that you haven't answered is do your groups stay together or are they all over the place?
Together = Mounting issues.
All over = scope.

[sky_blue]

I'm not sure the answer to that. I fired off like 10 rounds using the scope and none of them hit the target (I thought maybe the holes were too small to see--turns out I wasn't hitting a durn thing). Then I switched to just using the normal gun sight for the rest of my shooting. Guess I need to go back out and put some more rounds through it (oh darn) and check the grouping...

[PhL0aTeR]

I'm not sure the answer to that. I fired off like 10 rounds using the scope and none of them hit the target (I thought maybe the holes were too small to see--turns out I wasn't hitting a durn thing). Then I switched to just using the normal gun sight for the rest of my shooting. Guess I need to go back out and put some more rounds through it (oh darn) and check the grouping...

I assume you had someone with you? if so, their job is to spot using a scope as well and they are supposed to tell you where your shot loanded, and yes, even if its not on the target. IMHO if you are THAT far off, move your target closer, zero it in at 25 or so, then move to 50 or 100. In other words, the farther you are shooting, the more off target you will be, so move closer before doing anything rash like spending money for someone else to work on it or sight it in.

[Sortarican]

+1

Or go inside a barn, close the door behind you, and shoot.
If you can't hit the broad side, give up.:eyebrows:

[puckstr]

Jen very nice stainless 10/22.. .. :music:Sex-say:music:

[DavidofColorado]

Make sure that the stick isn't wiggling and try again to adjust the cross hairs until they are about an inch above the red dot. If you can do that you will be sighted in if not on target. But you should also immobilize the gun. If it won't adjust and more one way screw it all the way in the other direction and then try it again.

The reason I mentioned bringing 1" above where the red dot is, that will keep you on target for some distance. But if you zero the cross hairs up with where the bullet hits you should do it at 100 yds.

[Airreed]

+ 1 on the rings

What's your grouping look like without shooting with the scope? Is it pretty tight (1 inch grouping).

[httc84]

A quick story. A long time ago, I put a really cheap scope (my first) on an air rifle. I spent over an hour twisting the knobs to try to get that scope aligned. It wouldn't adjust more than an inch either way and had no repeatability. I was about ready to chuck the entire thing.

I got to playing around and - lo, and behold - the knobs were covers that screwed off to reveal the adjustment screws for the scope. Not saying anything, just sharing my experience with my first scope.

Also, plus 1 on moving the target in until you get a round on paper. Best way is to get a gun vise, shoot a round on paper, then adjust scope to match round. Without a gun vise, trial and error always works. And plus 1 on bore sighting. Usually gets the first round on paper with a new scope.

BTW - sweet little rifle!

[PhL0aTeR]

A quick story. A long time ago, I put a really cheap scope (my first) on an air rifle. I spent over an hour twisting the knobs to try to get that scope aligned. It wouldn't adjust more than an inch either way and had no repeatability. I was about ready to chuck the entire thing.

I got to playing around and - lo, and behold - the knobs were covers that screwed off to reveal the adjustment screws for the scope. Not saying anything, just sharing my experience with my first scope.

Also, plus 1 on moving the target in until you get a round on paper. Best way is to get a gun vise, shoot a round on paper, then adjust scope to match round. Without a gun vise, trial and error always works. And plus 1 on bore sighting. Usually gets the first round on paper with a new scope.

BTW - sweet little rifle!

good post, i must admit, i, too did the same thing when i was about 12 years old sighting in my first hunting rifle

[sky_blue]

Thanks for all the input guys. Hubby mucked around with it some more in the basement with the bore sighter laser (much to the cat's delight). With the gun clamped onto our homemade rack we use to wax snowboards he moved the target close and tried to center it. With the gun stable and the target close it finally became apparent that one of the adjustment knobs on the scope doesn't do squat. Up-down adjustment works, but not left-right. I thought it was moving really small increments, but it ain't movin at all.

The story about turning the caps is funny. I totally tried to turn the caps first. I did figure it out...

[DavidofColorado]

Don't get the red dot. I just took mine out to get it sighted in and I noticed that the glass in it is broken.