Been doin' this for about tha last 40 years. Here's a suggestion, take it or leave it. Instead of starting at 25 yd, start somewhere between 35 and 40 yd. The reason you were ~5" high at 100 is because you shot, and corrected, at 25. The bullet was still on its upward trajectory toward 100 yd. Remember that the trajectory of the bullet goes from BELOW the line of sight, (LoS), of the scope, UPWARD, reaches an apex in height above LoS, then descends again toward impact at the target whatever that range may be. Therefore, the bullet crosses the LoS TWICE on its way to the target. For MOST modern rifle/scope setups, that first crossing occurs between 35 and 40 yd from the muzzle. If you set your close "get on paper" target at 35-40 yd, then do exactly as you describe for adjusting the scope, you should be MUCH closer to "bullseye" at 100 yd. Again, if you start at 25 yd with your "get on paper" shots, you're going to be HIGHER THAN 4 times your "error" at 25. The system described in this video WORKS. USE IT. You can refine it, by setting your "get on paper" target distance and 35-40 yd instead of 25.

GOOD stuff MATE 👏👏👏👏 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 I have been Pro Shooting for 47"years Now and this is EXACTLY HOW YOU SHOULD ZERO YOUR RIFLE! WELL DONE MATE! WELL DONE. cheers from South Australia...👌👌👌👍👍👍🦘🦘🦘👏

09:05 "hey everybody while we're waiting for the barrel to cool I'd like to sales pitch" LOL you fired one shot!! 🤦‍♂

This reminded me of sighting in my rifle every fall with my great uncle. You’re such a kind soul to learn with! Thank you!

Thank you Ron. Simple and clear, right to the point, as always.

I'd Really Like to Thank You for ALL of your Experience and Calm way of explaining it to Us! This Tip is Priceless as a Brush up to the Experienced Hunter and Especially to the New Shooters.

As an old shooter, both experience- and age-wise, I still really enjoyed this video. That is the method that I use, (well, I don't look through the barrel, but I do adjust the sighting to the hole in the paper, and go from there as necessary) although I don't get to shoot much anymore. Thank you for the fine video.

Awesome video, Ron. Thank you. I love watching you work and the love you have for shooting shines through.

Good advice on locating the zero on paper. When sighting in a big magnum like a 338 Winchester, I always shoot with a substantial glove on the left hand and it resting on the bag. The idea is to have some pressure of the gun on the shoulder so it does not get a flying leap at you. Beware of sling swivels, etc., but it increases your tolerance to having to fire several shots to complete the sighting in, and when done right it really does not open the group up that much. Oh, and a high gun position of course for anything with heavy recoil, you do not want to be stock crawling with your elbows locking your body in against moving with recoil.

Brother, you are an amazing human being. I’m emotional after watching this after an hour and 100 rounds trying to find zero. Thank you so much. You have demystified my entire range time.

Great Stuff Ron 🇺🇸🗽🇺🇸👍 🦌 The Vermonter

Thank you Ron for the refresher on sighting in. Always good to review in preparation for hunting season. Have a good week.

Really enjoyed your technique that a friend taught me on the first scope I ever mounted to my .243. I never knew what a lead sled was then but the technique is solid and I have passed it on as well. Very good of you Sir to share this and may the good Lord always be with you!

Cold bore shot is the most important shot when hunting. After doing all this check the cold bore shot another day or after the rifle has completely cooled. Great job as usual Keep'em coming!

This method is one I’ve seen before and I like it because it uses a minimal amount of ammo, important to consider nowadays! This video was filled with solid advice but the greatest idea was allowing the barrel to cool between shots. And, finally, check your zero a few more times on future range trips so you’re getting honest results with cold barrel shots. Ron, this was a winner of a video!

Thank You Ron! This is an excellent video. Both in information and presentation it surpasses anything I have ever seen. I will be following you for more training.......

I have watched a LOT of people try to zero a scope and really struggle. I have shown them the same way you just did. They are amazed how simple it is. I watched a young man shoot a 30-06 with 180 grain bullets in a 742 semi auto. It beat the gee-whiz out of him. Then I showed him how to move the crosshairs to the bullet hole and only took a couple of rounds after that. He was dumbfounded that it was that easy. Thank you again Ron for explaining the right way to do it!

Love the 260 Remington, I own 3, 2 bolt actions and an ar10 style with Wilson combat barrel, all great shooters. Nosler Partition Trophy Hunter, extremely accurate 125gr.

Thanks for this video! I am traveling to Wisconsin to deer hunt with my cousins, and using a new scope I've never shot with. Used your method, fiddled with the screws to get the scope on paper. Was zero'd in 5 shots. Appreciate it!

I've tried this without a solid lock in . You MUST have the equipment seen here. Great video!

I use a good bore sighting system, they're not very expensive. It puts me on paper and reduces ammo consumption. Ron, your demonstrated, in the field, method is still useful today. Thanks for the video.

I bought my Remington 700 about 4 years ago and was so excited to zero it- I really wish this video existed back then!! This is like watching Bob Ross teaching me how to zero a long range precision rifle and I mean that in the best way possible lol. Thank you so much for this thorough explanation. Your enthusiasm and sincerity made this so much more enjoyable to watch!!

Most effective and economical method of setting up a scope I have ever seen. You have used logic and planning instead of a hit and miss approach.

I'v used this method for a long time, but it's been a long time since I've actually done it. Thanks for the refresher, it never hurts to see if there is anything new or if I've forgotten something.

Great advice and a very good tutorial. Even as a kid sighting in our .22 bolt-action rifles, my dad taught me the benefits of bore-sighting with a new scope. On high-power rifles, once you achieve acceptable zero and know the trajectory of your ammo, get off the bench and practice shooting at various distances to get familiar with your rifle. I use plastic gallon milk jugs filled with water (frozen or not) to simulate the approximate size of a deer's vital area. Spaced at various distances for your anticipated hunting range, they provide a good reactive target for visual effect. If you can hit a milk jug at 200 yards under field conditions, you will get a clean kill on your deer-sized game. Keep up the good work!

This is by far one of the best videos I've ever seen for sighting a rifle and scope in. No "tacticool" bro shit (don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good gun humor video), no talking down to the viewer, no narcissistic "I'm a super expert because...", just a simple teaching video with great techniques learned from experience and a certain fatherly enthusiasm to it. Great vid.

I get my scopes mounted by Ken Davis, a master stock maker and scope guru. His first step is to lay a solid metal bar in the scope mount trough to ensure coincidence with the centreline of the barrel. Before mounting and bore sighting the scope, he zeroes the scope "clicks" to their vertical and horizontal midpoint of travel, and then mount the scope. Minor adjustments of the mounts will ensure that the range of "click" movement is equal, thus ensuring a good (equal) vertical and horizontal range of "click" coverage for whatever load I develop for the rifle. 👍

I like to think I was good at zeroing a rifle until I saw Ron’s expert class on it. I’ve done this method many times now and works in usually 2-3 shots. The trick for his is going between the ranges to make your adjustments easier. Only thing I’ve added is my 1st and 2ed zero for the 2 ranges vs 25/100

fantastic. Thank you very much for this. I inherited my grandpas 30-06. probably hasn't been shot in over 40 maybe 50 years. Shot it the first time the other day and it was almost spot on. Just needs a little adjustment and I needed to know what to do. Thanks. It's tough not being able to ask him questions about this gun. He made it himself and I have no idea what parts are used. What kind of ammo he liked to use. All that stuff. I look at it as a challenge to figure out. I think he would be proud of that. Hope to get my first deer with it this season. maybe next.

with all the new gun owners over the last few years...this is a very helpful video...im going to share it on my social media pages. In the last 2 years Ive taken so many people to the range and taught them how to shoot and sight in a gun. But this will save me time and ammo. (always seems to be my ammo that gets used LOL). For the guys n gals who money may be an issue...sand bags or ones like your video are sold at walmart and are cheap. Or big socks full of rice or playbox sand are even cheaper and work fantastically.

For all you young folks watching this video the old guys know what they are doing. Not only does this work it saves time and money. Thanks Ron for another excellent video.

I watched a different video you made on sighting a scope. I followed your advice, and it worked. I only wasted 2 rounds instead of 20 lol. good stuff thanks man.

You did a really good job at explaining this technique which is the proper way of doing it. I was a tier two operator in the Army and we called it a two shot zero, as long as you’re on paper it only takes two shots to sight in. Good job sir!

I bought one of the shot savers (bore sighter) long ago in the USA. A Leupold prism of sorts that magnetically clips to the end of your barrel. Works very well!

Best tutorial on the topic I have seen. One issue for many people is their own skill. Lots of people can't trust themselves to aim the rifle and pull the trigger the right way in one shot, in which case I recommend 3 shot groups and adjust to the center or throw out outliers.

Great lesson, thanks

Great advice - wish I knew that 10 years ago, hehe. Yes, in the subsequent years I learnt to boresight and things became so much easier AND cheaper. Some time ago I zeroed a Mauser M18 (.308 Win) using the boresighting technique. I sighted on the centre of a water tank whcih was much more than 25m away. I took the rifle at the range, and fired the fist shot and could not see the impact hole. So I shot another, and I could not see it. Oops...zoomed in and I saw that I was on the black of the bullseye - on an A4 paper!!! Brilliant.

I've had good luck with a bore laser. It will easily pay for itself in a single outing with ammunition costs these day. Usually can get you close very quickly. Put a dot on the target, then line up your crosshairs.

My step-grandfather, the hunter and outdoorsman in our family, died before he could teach. me how to hunt past an adolescent age. Thanks for helping me figure out how to sight my rifles. There's a lot of bad advice out there.

Thanks Ron I'm on my way now to the shooting range to actually sight in my scope and 6.5x55 Swede, always get great advice from you

Great techniques and I've used them all with great success. One note when looking through the bore and then moving the crosshair to align with the bore. Take into account that the adjustments are counter to what you would think. In other words, Up is Down and Down is Up. Likewise, Left is Right and Right is Left. Thanks for sharing Ron. Good advice.

Actually, I like the 25 yard boresight. For hunting I deliberately set the rifle 3" high at 100 yards. Gives me a small balistic window out to 250 yards for no calculation (fast) shooting when targeting moving game at distance.

Thanks Ron, another great and helpful video. I have a few rifles I need to dial in this year. You know how that is, always adding to the arsenal.

Thanks Ron!! With love from Sweden ❤

There's some interesting folklore about sighting in. I tend to favour a simple boresighting by removing the bolt and placing the scoped rifle onto a stable rest. Adjust it so you can see your target bullseye, placed at 25m, then see where the scope is indicating by looking through it without touching. Do a gentle adjustment and dial those crosshairs onto the spot indicated by the bore sighting. Shoot three rounds to confirm placement. Adjust scope and fire to confirm. Back it out to 50m, then 100m, and adjust for your cartridge and conditions. Most modern sporting cartridges will give a maximum point blank range of 300m or more with a 3" high shot placement at 100m. If unsure then just use that figure and you'll likely be on target at 200m, a few inches low at 250 and around six inches low at 300-350 depending on cartridge. Of course if you're using a big old 45-70 you may want to sight to point of aim at 150 with a 4" low at 200 and 8" at 250... after which it falls of the proverbial cliff haha.

love your system, its the same one i have used since my first rifle :)

Thanks for this video Ron👍👍

Thank you Ron for your time.

Great video, and yes, to help the reticle to seat I always tap the turrets with an empty casing after making an adjustment, reticles will definitely stick especially on cheap scopes.

I did this for two of my dads 30-06. Got them zero at 25 and both shot 6" high at 100. Very good effective way to dial in with few shots. But keep in mind at 100 you will be high, bullet is still in upward arc.

This was right on. Thanks for talking about heat on the barrel . I shoot my 30:06 165 boat-tail 2 inches high at 100 yards. It gives me a range of more than 300 yards with out worrying. . Thanks so much. I am 66 years old and have done this all my life.

Ron I love the way you carry on. I could listen to you talk all day long.

Great advice! I'm new to hunting at 40years old. Never grew up hunting but have two boys and girls and want to get them outdoors in nature. I'm learning with help from you all. Have been struggling dialing in rifle. I need to be confident and sure I can ethically dispatch game at distance. Thanks again. Now going to range to put into practice.

That is one thing I like about the Leadsled. I only use mine when sighting in after new load development. They are great for that and the method you outlined is what I have used for years. It is amazing how many rounds I see guys at our range go through trying to sight their guns in.

Thanks so much for sharing your expertise and knowledge. A well explained video👍 Stay well Ash from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I started shooting airguns a few years ago. I have twice as many air rifles as I have scopes and change the scopes around frequently. This has made my skill at sighting in a 2 or 3 shot process. Perfection thru practice

As always great video! You always explain things in a way to make everyone understand. I love watching your videos.

This was a fun video. From a professional that works in production you get high marks in my book. Great personality on camera, great camera work, great sound. I’m not a long range shooter but you made it fun and inspiring. Great work.

Thanks. Your really great.

I so appreciate your videos Ron.

Ron, this is a great way to sight in a rifle (that you are able to sight directly through the bore) and is the method I’ve taught my kids. Some folks start shooting at 100 yards, and only shoot 1 shot instead of 3-shot groups (in the hopes of conserving ammo), and end up with a target full of holes and no idea where it’s really hitting. I can do some boresighting at 25 yards without firing a shot, then fire 2-3 shots at 25 yards, then fire 2 three shot groups at 100 yards and be good-enough-to-go-hunting *with only 8-9 shots.*. Truly the best way to go, and no sore shoulder!

Did the same way on an old 30-06 that I changed the scope. Went straight forward. Very good advices! Thank you Ron!

My neighbor just helped me sight in my deer rifle two days ago and showed me Your way of zeroing a new scope. I'm sold. Saved alot of ammo on finding zero! Thank you for showing this way to the masses!!! Great video!

Thanks for the refresher course

This is one of the most useful videos I have ever watched. Thank you so much for making it, Ron!

A laser bore sighter saves a lot of time because you can see the bore line and the reticle at the same time.... You can do this at home before going to the range... :-)

Used the bore sighting advice this year for first time ever. Thx!

Excellent video Ron! Thanks.

Hey Ron, I love the video and I know what you mean about the scope settling in. Funny thing I always did was when I make an adjustment on my scope, whether it be elevation or windage, I always tap the scope on the side and top after I adjust the knobs. I do this with cheaper Scopes as well as expensive one. I always thought this would "lock" the reticles into place after making the adjustments. So to me it makes sense and it's something I always make sure I do. I don't think your to far off. Keep doing what you do. Thanks again

As a gunsmith I have the need to remove scopes at times and then replace them back. No mater how well one can measure or mark the scope before removal, it still should be re-zeroed by bore sighting every time. Also, if you get a sudden consistent shot placement that is for no good reason way off after it has been hitting great, check the crown of the muzzle for damage, which is more common than a scope going suddenly bad. If you shoot the same gun a lot, you might eventually get odd flyers off in different inconstant shot placement, there is a possibility of the barrel being shot out. Yet , make sure the scope is not at fault before giving up on the gun itself.

I have always enjoyed your videos. I have used this method for years, and it saves a lot of ammo.

Thanks bud great tips all the years I've been shooting I'll be watching more of ur videos

One of the best tips is if you are using two different boxes, make sure the lot numbers are the same. Different lot numbers means likely a slight deviation in how the bullets from box to box shoot. Ive had the exact same caliber, brand, model of ammunition fly much different based on the different lot numbers (different primers used, different brand of powder from lot to lot, etc.)

Awesome! I learned the free.99 technique of boresighting as you've showcased here during a friendly hunting range (100-300yd) shooting competition when I was in high school. I'm not that much older now, but I've zeroed a smorgasbord of rifles since that time, and only one or two were boresighted from the gun store. I prefer to mount and boresight my own scopes, so all of my personal rifles have been boresighted using the method you showed us. I tend to stay away from lead-sleds and other "lock down", user-error-removal tools for any shooting, but I do understand the reason you're using it or why someone would, especially for beginner or low skill level shooters. But it's almost a double edged sword if someone does not remove the gun from the lead-sled (like you did) and shoots it "raw" for the first time in the woods at big game...that's how you flinch on the buck of a life time. Or the last legal deer of the season, haha. Because I don't use lead-sleds, I can't get my rifles quite as steady as you have and as such I can't get the cross hair to the bullet hole. I like your workaround, though, which is to have a buddy twist the turrets whilst I hold the gun in place. I've got a new gun (Mark V Hunter .30-06 & Conquest V4) to zero and I have some buddies who do, too. We will be using this method when we go out to the range! Thank you Mr. Ron for another great video.

Excellent how to video. I was taught this when I was a kid. I wish more hunters would spend the time to learn this technique as it saves a lot of ammo and frustration. There are other options such as spud type bore sighters and lazers for those shooting semiautos. They work pretty well as long as you start at 25 yards and work out from there.

Hey Ron you know you did it right when someone like myself says to you..." I had an ohh! " Moment. Thanks sir!

Very good tutorial! Bare-eye bore-sighting has saved me a lot of ammo over the years. It's amazing to me how many rifle owners don't understand the basics of sighting in. Thanks!

I am an old school iron sights Marine who is new to the *OPTIC* world. This video was VERY helpful

That all makes so much sense. Wish I would’ve thought of this myself a long time ago. Thank you, sir!

Thanks Ron! Great tips

Nice video, that was a clean and simple explanation to how a scope works, essentially. And basically, explaining the main flaw of any hunting rifle - the wandering bore. Where I live, we have to fire 2x15 shots (2 different days, 15 shots each) with our rifles each year as practice, before we can get our big game hunting license with a final 5-shot series, where all shots must hit within a foot-wide circle. Most people go for the final test as soon as possible after that final training round of 15 shots. Most barrels must be begging for mercy at that point - I usually skip at least half an hour to let my gun cool down (and the hunter too, God knows he needs his coffee! ;) ) But yeah, this part is really important - hunting rifle barrels are so thin, they start to wander about after 3-5 shots. I can follow this development on digital screens shot by shot at my range, and it´s really opened my eyes to this effect. Before, I thought I was just getting tired and worked up, but the rifle actually plays a big part as well.

Hello from Eskimo land, Canada 🇨🇦

Excellent explanation! I've taught this technique in my Hunters Education classes for over 25 years! I've just ordered a Savage 17 HMR and trying to decide on a good scope for a decent price, but you can bet I'll be zeroing it in with this in mind!

This was great...thank you! I learned a ton.

I was advised by my Marine corps there's a reason why that rifle has the sling and bipod tabs are in the VERY front of the stock. It's because that's the most stable place for precision shooting combined with the sandsock on as far backwards as you can get it comfortably. That's exactly how it works, so put that dam front rest all the way to the front unless your bipods on it. These deer rifles don't have beavertail forends, most are pretty slim, so they are more difficult to master, so put a towel of some sort between the bag and the forend. I dam well guarantee you that's how she's done. There's still some more fundamentals of marksmanship, but building a properly Supported shooting platform is job#1, job#2 is natural point of aim. Job#3 is proper grip and the relaxation of the trigger finger,with proper cheekweld and pocket of shoulder weld. Well, there's a whole damn checklist of abunch more things you have to pay close attention to before you can always make that shot, I ain't going to tell the rest of it tho, it's complicated.

Very good Mr. Spomer. There are lots of new people to our sport these past few years. I am sure they would find this useful if someone hasn't explained how to easily sight in a rifle yet.

Excellent and Outstanding!!!

This video has been so helpful, thank you for this information. I’ll study and learn it, and share it with others.

Also, an optical collimator has much to recommend it. I bought a Bushnell collimator 40 years ago along with a set of arbors, and it has paid for itself several times over my lifetime. GREAT video, Ron!

I use this method, and it works for all my scoped rifles. Like Ron said, "It's free". Great method to get your bullets to hit right where you're aiming. Great video Ron! Keep 'em comin'!

The timing of this is perfect. In an hour I'm about to go sight in the 7mm-08 I bought last month for this fall. It has a 3-9x40 I had laying around mounted to it.

Thank you for your help

Those lead sleds do help for the initial sight in but I've tried them and ended up with 2 completely different zeros... meaning shooting in the sled I had 1 zero and shooting off bags I had another. I have no clue how that happens my only guess is harmonics but it's happened with 2 different rifles so I quit using them. I've also seen guns beat themselves up to the point action screws loosened up when using the harder bucking cartridges like 300 Win Mag. But again they're definitely a good tool to have... Great video as always keepem coming brother!!!

One thing when a person adjust a scoop. After you make 4 click's up down left or right, tap the turret too make sure the cross hairs have moved and are not binding. IE make 4 click's tap the turret then move the next 4 click's (if you had to make 8 click adjustment)

That's an awesome way to find zero! Never seen this way before! I'll have to review and remember this for my next rifle and scope setup. Thanks Ron!

Been using this little system since the mid 80s, because that's when I to figured it out while lining up scope's for myself and family and friends. It works!

You can use a laser bore sighter in your house on the wall to get your left and right then adjust your up and down where the crosshairs are about an inch above laser dot. This will save you a round or two. It depends on how tall your scope is above the barrel, but If you don't have a long range to sight in, I have found a 30 yard dead on zero works pretty well. 25 yard zero puts the 100 yard shot too high my experience.

Remember, when adjusting the turrets to chase the bullet hole, you must turn the turrets in the opposite direction on where you want the cross hairs to move. Example: if you want to move the cross hairs up like in Ron's video you must actually turn the elevation dial down. The azimuth turret is the same, must turn right to move the cross hairs to the left. Hope this helps.

Short and to the point! Thanks man. Appreciate the content.

Best video explanation I’ve ever seen! Thank you Ron!!!