zeroing my rifle

[rancher1school]

I was medicaly discharged out of the army in march 09 and with some of my left over money I bought a Wincherster Model 54.

The rifle is has stored in my fathers gunsafe since the day i brought it home. i was brought up zeroing it during deer season when he said now is not a good time.

now that deer season is over i asked him again. and he said" we can do that some time." the problem is that I want to do it and some time soon. from the tone of his voice he really did not sound to ethosastic. at this point i really dont know what to say or how to say it to him.

i apercate the input.

(i know i dont have the best spelling)

[dirtnap]

Hit the little "abc" in the top right hand corner of the message window you are typing in, it will spell check for you.

As for zeroing the rifle I always use a laser bore sighter to get me on paper and dial it in from there...it's cheaper(eventually the 20.00 laser will pay for itself in saved ammo) and you can get it close at home(if you have the space).

[Fjold]

You went old school with that model 54. Does it have a scope or are you shooting open sights?

Get the gun out of Grandpa's safe get a secure storage where you live and then get yourself to the range and zero it yourself.

Set it up on sandbags at the 25 yard line and pull the bolt out. Look through the bore and center it on a target. Without moving the rifle look through the scope and see where the scope (or sights) are lined up to. If the scope is below the target you need to adjust the scope down, if the scope is lined up to the right of the bore then you need to move the scope right to compensate. (Yes, down and right, I know it sounds backwards but it is correct).

When you get the scope close to where the bore lines up, then you can shoot a couple of shots at 25 yards and adjust the scope from there (Now if the bullets are low and right, you would move the scope up and left.) Before, you were moving the point of aim to meet the point of impact and now you are moving the point of impact to meet the point of aim.

Sight in your rifle to hit directly at the center of the target at 25 yards and then move over to the 100 yard range, you should be real close now.

[CSACANNONEER]

F the laser crap. Save your money and zero your rifle with one shot:


Zeroing a rifle is too easy if you have a steady rest system. First, you mount the scope (or irons), remove the bolt and set the rifle in your rest system. Next, look down the bore and point it at something like a bush or rock or indentation in a berm and ceter your "target" in the bore. Then, without touching the rifle, adjust your sights to point at the same target. You are now "bore sighted" without having to buy a thing. Next, depending on the caliber and distance, you'll want to add (or subtract) a little elevation to account for bullet drop. Finally, you're ready to install your bolt and shoot. So, with the gun still in the rest(s), instal the bolt, aim at you target (a shoot-n-see works great for this), put one round in the gun, reaim and fire. Now you should have two distint points of reference, your "point of aim" or POA and your "point of impact" POI. You've only fired one shot and your almost done. So, now you re-aim at your original POA and take your hans off the gun. Check to see that it is still aimed properly. Then, without moving the gun, you adjust the scope (or other sights) to point dirrectly at the POI. You are now DONE. One shot and your gun is zeroed at whatever distance you choose. At this point, I suggest putting a few rounds down range and making whatever minor adjustments you feel are needed. I taught this to a 13 year old and he hit a clay pigeon at 1000 yards on his third shot. The first was his sighter. The second was 2" low and the third dusted the bird.

If you are in the LA area, we can set up a time and place to do this soon. If you're in the central valley, I could meet you at the Coalinga range sometime in Nov or later. I might even be able to get to Sac or the Bay Area around the holidays. If you are further north or too far south of LA, it shouldn't be hard to find someone to help you.

[rancher1school]

that really is not the aswer i was looking for, but you seem like the right kind of person to ask about the deamla that i have.

i undersatnd firearms safety, always keep the firearm in a safe diraction and alwasy check to see that it is loaded when taking possesion of it. (taking it out of a safe.)

my paerents dont really fell confertable with me and firmarms first of all, my grandma owns 200 acres so a place to zero in is not a problem.

the problem is me getting it out of the safe, moving 1/4 of a mile to my grandparents house. without seeming to pressing on the matter.

[dirtnap]

It's only 20.00 and two seconds later you are on within a couple of inches at whatever distance you want. In the field, yeah you may not need it(on a bolt action), but when you are at home(and you cant just look down the barrel) it's the only way to get it done. I use the laser so my rifle is not a giant paper weight until I get a chance to dial it in. It's cheap, easy, and faster than the old way.

As for getting your parents to let you out with the rifle, maybe talk to grandma/grandpa and see if they can take possesion of it and keep it there for you to use.

[Timberwolf]

What am I missing here - you said you were given a medical discharge from the USA - hence I assume you're at least over 18 and with military training. What is the issue with you telling your Dad that you need your rifle and going to shoot it? Why don't they feel comfortable with you having firearms given your prior military training?

[covertcombatant]

What Timberwolf said.
Something doesn't add up here!

[B Strong]

The Cannoneer nailed the process, and CG is a wealth of technical information on every firearm related subject, but it seems that you're looking for advice as to how to get your rifle away from your father.

In that, we're not going to be able to help.

If your father is in control of the rifle, and you don't know how to retrieve it from him, how in the world can we help?

[zinfull]

It may have to do with the type of medical discharge.

jerry

[CSACANNONEER]

It's only 20.00 and two seconds later you are on within a couple of inches at whatever distance you want. In the field, yeah you may not need it(on a bolt action), but when you are at home(and you cant just look down the barrel) it's the only way to get it done. I use the laser so my rifle is not a giant paper weight until I get a chance to dial it in. It's cheap, easy, and faster than the old way.

As for getting your parents to let you out with the rifle, maybe talk to grandma/grandpa and see if they can take possesion of it and keep it there for you to use.

$20 per caliber adds up fast! I've got a $40 boresight set that does every caliber from .17 to .510 but, I don't even use that anymore. My meathod works with any gun, even if you can't look down the bore, you can use the meathod. Boresighting just puts it on paper quicker. Also, the laser is just as far from perfect as anything else. A laser projects a flat line. A bullets tajectory is an arc. So, with the laser, the longer the distance you want to zero at, the more it will be off. The POA, POI meathod will still need to be used so, why spend $20/caliber?

[devildog999]

It may have to do with the type of medical discharge.

jerry

I was thinking the same thing