Remove the bolt and place the rifle on a stable base. The base can be sand
bags, rolled up towels, or a nice commercially sold rifle rest. The goal is
to support both the forearm and butt so that the rifle naturally points at
the center of your sight in target without any help from you.
Rifle on stable base for sight in...
Set up a bold target (one you can easily see, like a bright orange or black
circle) at 25 yards from your table. Place it the same height as your
rifle.
Adjust your rifle so that when you look through the bore from the rear of
the barrel, you see the target in the center of the bore. If you have the
rifle supported the rifle right, it should now point at the center of the
target without any input from you, hands off.
Target as seen through bore...
Now look through your scope. It will probably be pointing at a spot near
your target but not at the center of the target.
Target as seen through scope...
Take the caps off the scope and play with the knobs… The one on top will
move the cross hairs up and down on your target and the adjuster on the side
moves the crosshairs left and right on your target. Most scopes have an
arrow with a letter indicating that if you turned the adjuster in the
direction the arrow indicates, the point of aim will move in that
direction. Take your time and move the adjusters four or five clicks at a
time until the crosshairs are pointing at the same spot as the center of the
bore.
When both are pointing at the same spot, reinstall the bolt, put your eye
and ear protection on, load and fire one round at the center of the 25 yd.
target. Relax and be sure to gently squeeze the shot off. If you did your
part on the above steps, you will now have a hole in your target within an
inch or two of where the scope was pointing when the shot was fired.
Get the rifle settled back into the rest so that, hands off, the scope
points at the same spot you held it on to fire your first shot, the center
of the target.
Gently turn the adjuster knobs to move the scope’s point of aim to the point
of the bullet’s impact. You are making the scope point to where the barrel
is launching lead. When you have it pointing at the hole, you are ready for
shot number two.
Move your target out to 50 yards. Another shot at 25 yards is a waste of
ammo. Load and fire one round at the 50 yard target. This hole will be a
little high and maybe a little left or right. Settle the rifle back into
the rest so that, hands off, the scope points at the point of aim you took
for your second shot, the center of the target. Move the adjuster knobs to
move the crosshairs from the center of the target to the new bullet hole.
Time for your third shot. Move the target out to 100 yards. Go ahead and
take your third shot. It also will be a little high on your target. Most
hunting rifles work really well if you sight them in with 1 ½ inches high at
100 yards. This will make the gun shoot about dead on at 200 yards and be
an inch or so low out to 300 yards. All within 3 inches of your point of
aim out to 300 yards. Move the adjuster knobs to place the crosshairs on a
spot 1½ inches under the bullet hole from your third shot. Go ahead and
take a few more shots if you need to get the gun dialed in a little
further.