How to Sight In a Rifle Scope and Pick the Right Zero
To sight in a rifle scope, bore sight it, shoot groups at 25 yards, then 100, and turn the turrets by how far each group misses.
Last updated: October 5, 2026 · Originally published October 4, 2026
Every fall the range fills up the week before deer season with folks trying to sight in a rifle scope with half a box of ammo and a lot of hope. Having been a professional in the firearms industry for well over 20 years I can definitely tell you Hope is not the plan you want to use to fill your freezer. The process is. Here is how to sight in a rifle scope the right way, with the click math spelled out so you are not guessing at the bench.
Sighting In at a Glance
- Start close: bore sight, then shoot at 25 yards to get on paper.
- Finish at 100 yards: that is where most hunting zeros get set and checked.
- Click math: a 1/4 MOA click moves the bullet about 0.26 inch at 100 yards, so about four clicks per inch.
- Shoot groups, not single shots: adjust off the center of three to five shots.
- Use your hunting ammo: the exact load you will carry in the field. (yes use the expensive ammo)
How to Sight In a Rifle Scope: What You Need First
- At least two boxes of the exact ammo you will hunt with. Texas Parks and Wildlife’s hunter education course says the same thing, and they are right: a different bullet can land somewhere else entirely.
- A solid rest. Sandbags front and rear, or a bench rest. A wobbly rest makes a good scope look bad.
- Targets with a 1-inch grid so you can measure the miss without a ruler.
- A bore sighter, or a way to look through the bore (bolt guns make this easy).
- The right tools to snug the rings and base to the maker’s torque spec.
Step 1: Mount the Scope Right
Remember that no amount of adjusting elevation and windage fixes a loose scope. Mount the base, set the rings, and slide the scope forward or back until you get a full picture with your normal cheek weld. Level the reticle so the vertical line is straight up and down when the rifle sits level, then tighten everything to spec. If you are not sure your rings put the scope at the right height, run it through our scope ring height calculator first.
Step 2: Bore Sight It
Vortex lists bore sighting as step one in their own sight-in method, and the reason is simple: it gets your first shot on paper and saves ammo. On a bolt gun, pull the bolt, set the rifle in a steady rest pointed at a target about 25 yards out, and look through the bore. Center the target in the bore, then without moving the rifle, turn the turrets until the crosshair sits on the same spot. A laser bore sighter does the same job on rifles you cannot look through.
Step 3: Shoot a Group at 25 Yards
Start close. Texas Parks and Wildlife has hunters start at 25 yards with three careful shots, and The Everyday Marksman recommends starting at 25 too. Fire your shots one at a time, from the rest, aiming at the same spot every time. Do not adjust after one shot. One shot tells you where one bullet went. A group tells you where the rifle is shooting.
The Everyday Marksman prefers five-shot groups over three because five gives a truer center. If you have the ammo, shoot five. If you are rationing a scarce hunting load, three will get you there.
Step 4: Measure the Miss and Turn the Clicks
Here’s the part most people get wrong. Find the center of your group, measure how far it is from where you aimed, and convert that distance to clicks. Most hunting scopes adjust 1/4 MOA per click. One MOA is 1.047 inches at 100 yards, so each 1/4 MOA click moves the bullet about 0.26 inch at 100 yards. Vortex rounds it the way everyone at the range does: four clicks is about 1 MOA.
The catch is that a click is an angle, so it moves the bullet less up close. At 25 yards a 1/4 MOA click only moves the bullet about 0.065 inch, which means you need roughly four times as many clicks to move the same distance on paper. That trips up a lot of people.
| Distance | 1/4 MOA click | Clicks to move 1 inch | 0.1 mil click | Clicks to move 1 inch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 yd | 0.065 in | 15.3 | 0.09 in | 11.1 |
| 50 yd | 0.131 in | 7.6 | 0.18 in | 5.6 |
| 100 yd | 0.262 in | 3.8 | 0.36 in | 2.8 |
| 200 yd | 0.524 in | 1.9 | 0.72 in | 1.4 |
| 300 yd | 0.785 in | 1.3 | 1.08 in | 0.9 |
Computed from 1 MOA = 1.047 in at 100 yd and 1 mil = 3.6 in at 100 yd. Check your turret cap for its click value.
Here is a real example. Your group at 100 yards is 2.6 inches low and 1.6 inches left. With 1/4 MOA clicks, 2.6 divided by 0.26 is 10 clicks up, and 1.6 divided by 0.26 is 6 clicks right. Turn the elevation dial the direction marked UP and the windage dial the direction marked R. The arrows tell you which way the bullet moves, so you move the bullet toward the bullseye, not the crosshair toward the holes.
Step 5: Move Back to 100 Yards
The second half of how to sight in a rifle scope happens at 100 yards. Once you are centered at 25, move the target to 100 yards and do it all again: group, measure, click, group. Texas Parks and Wildlife reminds hunters not to rush and to let the barrel cool if it gets hot, and that is good advice. A hot barrel can walk your group, and then you are chasing heat instead of a zero. Take a break, drink some coffee, and let it cool down.
Vortex’s own three-shot method expects your second shot to land “likely inside of 1 MOA” once you have measured and adjusted correctly, then fires one more to confirm. The Everyday Marksman figures the whole job takes “about 20 shots, give or take.” Plan on that many and you will not be the guy borrowing ammo at the next bench.
Step 6: Pick the Right Zero Distance for Deer
A 100 yard zero is the easy default. Texas Parks and Wildlife suggests sighting in an inch or two high at 100 yards so the rifle is centered at 200, and there is a good reason for that. Here is what a few common deer loads do at 300 yards depending on where you zero them, straight out of the GGD ballistic calculator reference table.
| Load | 100 yd zero | 200 yd zero | Best zero | Dead-on to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .243 Win 100 gr | −12.5 in | −7.5 in | 240 yd | 285 yd |
| 6.5 Creedmoor 140 gr | −14.5 in | −8.5 in | 225 yd | 270 yd |
| .308 Win 150 gr | −14.8 in | −8.9 in | 225 yd | 265 yd |
| .30-06 180 gr | −15.4 in | −9.0 in | 215 yd | 260 yd |
| .300 Win Mag 180 gr | −11.7 in | −7.0 in | 245 yd | 290 yd |
All loads are Federal Power-Shok soft points, from the Guns and Gadgets Daily ballistic calculator reference table. “Best zero” keeps the bullet inside a 6-inch vital zone for the longest stretch, and “Dead-on to” is how far that stretch reaches.
Notice what that last column says. Zero a .308 150 grain load at about 225 yards and you can hold right on a deer’s vitals from the muzzle out to about 265 yards without thinking about holdover. For most whitetail hunting that covers practically every shot you will take. If you want the numbers for your exact load, the .308 ballistics chart, .30-06 ballistics chart and 6.5 Creedmoor ballistics chart break it down load by load.
Step 7: Confirm It Cold
Come back another day and fire one shot from a cold, clean barrel, because that is the shot you will take on a deer. If it lands where your group did, you are done. If it does not, you have learned something about your rifle before it cost you a buck. If you can get to 200 yards, Texas Parks and Wildlife recommends checking there too so you know how your ammo behaves at distance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my scope not sighting in?
Check the boring stuff first: loose base screws, loose rings, a scope slipping in the rings, or a turret that has run out of travel. If groups wander all over the paper instead of just sitting in the wrong spot, the problem is the mount or the rest, not the turrets.
Which way do I turn the turret?
Turn it the direction the arrow points for where you want the bullet to go. Shooting low? Turn it toward UP. Shooting left? Turn it toward R.
Is a 25 yard zero the same as a 100 yard zero?
No. A 25 yard zero is just a step to get you on paper at 100. Always finish and confirm at 100 yards or farther with your hunting ammo.
How often should I re-check my zero?
Before every season, after any bump or fall, and any time you change ammo. It costs a few rounds, and it is a lot cheaper than a lost deer.
That is how to sight in a rifle scope without burning a case of ammo. Get it done before opening morning, not on it. If you are still waiting on your state’s dates, Popular Outdoorsman keeps a current list of deer season dates by state. Now go shoot some groups.
Sources: Texas Parks and Wildlife, Hunter Education, “Sighting In Your Rifle”; Vortex Optics, “How to Sight in Your Rifle in 3 Shots or Less”; The Everyday Marksman, “The Beginner’s Guide to Zeroing Rifle Scopes”; Guns and Gadgets Daily ballistic calculator reference table. Click values computed from 1 MOA = 1.047 in and 1 mil = 3.6 in at 100 yd.
Reader Favorites
Firearms reference desk
Plain-English references worth bookmarking — the gear terms behind every review, plus NFA and carry law.
| Term | Category |
|---|---|
| Striker-fired | Action |
| MOA | Optics |
| Twist rate | Ballistics |
30 gun, ammo and optics terms explained in plain English.
Open the glossary → Network| 2026 at a glance | |
|---|---|
| NFA tax stamp | $0 |
| Permitless carry | 29 states |
| Suppressors legal | 42 states |
50+ NFA, carry and gun-law terms, from Freedom's Lodge.
View full chart →
