Sighting in is not a test of shooting ability; it is an adjustment process for a precision instrument. The only way to sight in a rifle is to shoot from a solid rest.

Use a shooting bench and sand bags or another rest that will support both the forearm of the rifle and the toe of the butt. Sandbags are best because the rest must hold the rifle perfectly still. You can buy commercial sand bags or make your own. Other commercial rests with dense foam between the gun and the rest are good as well because the foam provides a solid, but flexible rest. Regardless of what you use, you must support the forearm of the stock, never the barrel of the rifle. You must also support the toe of the stock near the butt. You will find that the front support must be higher than the rear. To achieve this, simply boost the front sandbag with a couple of boards, a cement block, or whatever else is handy, as long as it's stable. The key though is to try and keep the gun as low to the bench as possible.

The bench should be shaped so that there is a “wing” along your right side (for right handed shooters). This allows you to support the rear of the rifle while your body is positioned correctly for shooting. Lodge yourself into the bench so that your chest is pushing against it both in the front and on the side wing. This will wedge you into a “corner” and will make you more solid.

The gun should be bore sighted before you start. If you don’t have access to an optical boresighter and it’s a bolt-action rifle, you can remove the bolt and settle the gun into your rest. Look through the bore at the target and center the bull’s eye in the bore. Without moving the rifle, look through the scope and adjust the crosshairs until they are also centered on the bull’s- eye. One way to hold the rifle still is to cut a V-shaped wedge out of opposite sides of a cardboard box to hold the rifle. Anchor the box and wedge the gun into the cuts to hold it still while you adjust the scope. Boresighting will only get you on the target to allow you to finish sighting in by shooting. Never consider hunting with a rifle that has only been bore sighted.

Buy good targets designed specifically for sighting in rifles, they are far better than anything homemade. The aiming point should be sharp, clear and well defined. Tape a target to a large cardboard box and throw a few rocks in the bottom to hold it down.

Put a target at 25 yards and carefully fire a shot at the center. You should be able to see the bullet hole through the scope. Lock your rifle into the sandbags and center the crosshairs on the bull’s-eye. Without moving the rifle, adjust the scope until the crosshairs move from the bull’s-eye and are centered on the bullet hole. Fire another shot at the center of the target. You should be pretty close to dead on at 25 yards. If not, repeat the process.

Move the target to 100 yards and shoot from a solid rest again, being careful to make sure the rifle is steady and the scope is on its highest power. Do not try to hold the rifle as you would when hunting, placing your left hand under the forearm will induce movement. Instead use your left hand to move and adjust the rear sandbag until the crosshairs are on the bull’s-eye. You should not be supporting the gun’s weight at all, let the sandbags do that. The minute you try to hold the gun you induce movement. The only reason you are touching the rifle is to pull the trigger and so that you can avoid being hit by the scope when the gun recoils.

At this point you and the rifle should be rock steady and the crosshairs should not be moving. If you are not and they are, then you need to re-evaluate your rest and your position at the bench until everything is stable. You should feel like you are "locked in" to the bench and the rifle, almost like you are all one piece. With the gun empty, aim at the bull’s-eye and slowly squeeze the trigger until the gun dry fires. (This will not hurt a modern center fire rifle.) The crosshairs should not have wavered off the bull’s-eye. Continue to practice this dry-firing until you can do it every time without the crosshairs moving.

If the gun has any degree of recoil it’s a good idea to have a pad of some kind between it and your shoulder when you are ready to fire live ammo. There are some commercial pads on the market that are very good. Something that works well is a section of foam insulation made for water pipes. This not only has the foam to absorb recoil, but the hollow center acts like a shock absorber. These are inexpensive and can be found at any home supply store. If the gun is a large caliber, a small sandbag between you and the gun is a good idea.

Being careful to squeeze the trigger slowly, fire a group of three shots. Find the center of the group and make your adjustments from there according to the instructions with your scope. If you lack the instructions, most American scopes move one-quarter inch per click at 100 yards. Be aware though, some are half-inch and a few scopes are one-third inch per click.

If your target doesn’t have grid lines, mark a cross with the intersection of the lines on the center of the bull’s eye. Find the center of your three shot group and measure straight over to the vertical line. This will give you the amount of left or right (windage) adjustment you need to make in the scope. Now measure up or down to the horizontal line and make the adjustment so that the bullet will impact at your desired point of impact. For example many big game hunters prefer to have the bullet impact higher than the point of aim at 100 yards. Allow the rifle to cool down a bit and then fire three more carefully aimed shots. Your group should now be centered on your selected point of aim. Always fire at least a three shot group before making adjustments. If you fire one shot and adjust from that you can spend all your time and ammo chasing bullet holes. A group will show if you are flinching or experiencing other shooting problems or if your rifle has accuracy problems, one shot will not.

Let the rifle cool off completely before firing your final group to see if there is a point of impact change from a hot barrel. Remember you will always fire your first shot at big game from a cold barrel. Make certain that you adjust your final point of impact from the same cold barrel.

The Mayflower firing range has most of the equipment available for sharpening shooting skills. Spotting scopes, targets, sand bags and ear protection are all on hand for a small fee. AGFC employees are also available to answer any questions and help with the sighting in process. The Jack Cox/Scatter Creek Firing Range near Paragould is also available for sighting in your rifle.