Dialling in the scope

So I had bought a bolt action 22 a while back and finally got around to buying and mounting a scope. Ended up getting a Cabelas Intensity rimfire scope for $99 on sale, the reviews seemed good and I wasn’t looking to break the bank on it, seems decent enough so far.

so I installed the mounts, and bought a pair of cheap rings (yes I wish perhaps now I had spent a bit more on these) and mounted the scope as carefully as I could while levelling each component as best I could. I don’t have a laser bore sight so I just took it to the range and got started.

At 25m it was shooting about 8” low and 8” right and I was about to pack it in and buy some better rings. I figured that being off by that much at 25m would mean that I likely wouldn’t have enough adjustment in the scope to bring it inline. Or if I could get it zero’d, it would be at the extreme end of adjustment in both directions. Another shooter said hey what do you have to lose why not try ? So I did , but it took 60 clicks to get it to zero….ran out of daylight but going back this week to zero it on the 50m range.

so my question to the forum is…..is 60 clicks a lot more than you’ve had to do in the past ? How many clicks would you expect it to take before it limits out ? I just don’t like the idea of adjusting a scope (or anything really) all the way to its limits ….

There’s a number for their service dept in the box and I’m going to call and see what they say

It depends on what I want out of it.
If it does the job then ok. It could be the holes or groove on the receiver that’s out. Normally I’d adjust about 8clicks to get zero.

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Originally Posted by 73hunter

So I had bought a bolt action 22 a while back and finally got around to buying and mounting a scope. Ended up getting a Cabelas Intensity rimfire scope for $99 on sale, the reviews seemed good and I wasn’t looking to break the bank on it, seems decent enough so far.

so I installed the mounts, and bought a pair of cheap rings (yes I wish perhaps now I had spent a bit more on these) and mounted the scope as carefully as I could while levelling each component as best I could. I don’t have a laser bore sight so I just took it to the range and got started.

At 25m it was shooting about 8” low and 8” right and I was about to pack it in and buy some better rings. I figured that being off by that much at 25m would mean that I likely wouldn’t have enough adjustment in the scope to bring it inline. Or if I could get it zero’d, it would be at the extreme end of adjustment in both directions. Another shooter said hey what do you have to lose why not try ? So I did , but it took 60 clicks to get it to zero….ran out of daylight but going back this week to zero it on the 50m range.

so my question to the forum is…..is 60 clicks a lot more than you’ve had to do in the past ? How many clicks would you expect it to take before it limits out ? I just don’t like the idea of adjusting a scope (or anything really) all the way to its limits ….

There’s a number for their service dept in the box and I’m going to call and see what they say

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That's not good. Assuming you know how to "zero" a scope,let's review the steps anyway just for hellery. Take the scope off,use the mirror trick and reset the crosshairs to zero. Check your mounts to make sure they're straight and level. Check that you have the correct rings at the correct height level to the bore. Level your rifle,level your rings to the rifle and level the scope to the rings paying particular attention to equal torque on each screw in a typical cross pattern. If the scope has been mounted correctly,the rifle and scope should be very close to "zero". Use a rest to keep the rifle steady and fire one shot. Observe where the bullet lands. Without moving the rifle,carefully move the crosshairs to the bullet hole. Set the crosshairs back on the bullsyeye and fire another round. It should be dead on "zero". Get your ballistics chart out for the ammo and set crosshairs where you want them to be (eg: 1" high @ 50M for a rimfire to put it dead on @ 100M) or whatever you think will work for whatever caliber you happen to be using at whatever range you happen to need. Sometimes, rings need to be "lapped" to ensure they're in perfect alignment. Larry Potterfield has a couple of excellent YouTube videos that will show you how to proceed. Let us know how it works out.

There are scope rings that have an adjustment feature built in. I have a pair of Leupold rings on one of my rifles and I used the adjustment feature when I installed the scope. I haven't had to touch it since.

Why don't you simply turn the adjustment dial on the scope all the way to one side, then back again and count the clicks to find the total adjustment range? This should not harm the scope, and it probably has a warranty if it does.

I've installed several scopes on my rifles and used a bore sighter before going to the range. Sometimes quite a lot of adjustment was needed to get it shooting properly. This never concerned me, and only becomes an issue if you will be shooting long range, where you could run out of adjustment.

its like im reading something my father wrote hahha. my father gets all antsy when he even needs to touch his scope lol.we go sight in every year and hes never had to adjust his scope..... until last year.... what a mess lol. guy must have put like 100$ worth of sabots through that gun last year and he ended up giving up and using his other shotgun..... was the first year he didnt see a deer in almost 10 years LOL. and the first time he didnt bring that gun hunting .

i think this year hell have a little more patience and determination to figure it out though LOL