How to Zero a Scope

By Published On: 26 June 2023Categories: Scopes

If you’ve just bought a brand new air rifle scope, you’ll be eager to start shooting right away. But before you begin, it’s important to learn how to zero an air rifle scope correctly. This means aligning the sight so that your aim point and the point of impact coincide, making it easier to hit your target.

But how do you zero a rifle scope if you’ve never done it before? In this guide, we’ll explain what zeroing a scope means and how adjusting your scope can help to improve your shooting accuracy. We’ll then talk you through how to zero a scope at home or at the range, step-by-step.

Zeroing a Scope: Understanding the Basics

Zeroing a scope is a fundamental task that every air rifle shooter must undertake. This means correctly setting up your scope so that your pellets land where your scope’s crosshairs are pointing, allowing you to make consistently accurate shots. A well-zeroed scope is crucial for precision shooting, especially if you’re hunting or participating in competitions.

The process of zeroing involves shooting at a target, assessing the point of impact and then adjusting the scope’s turrets accordingly. Without proper zeroing, your shots could veer off target, regardless of how carefully you aim.

Adjusting for Windage and Elevation

Every modern air rifle scope has two turrets for adjusting the crosshairs. The top turret is for adjusting the elevation (up or down), and the side turret adjusts for windage (left or right).

The adjustments on these turrets are typically measured in minutes of angle (MOA). 1 MOA roughly equates to one inch at 100 yards. So, if you’re 100 yards from your target and you adjust your windage turret by 1 MOA to the left, your shot will move by approximately one inch to the left. If you’re wondering how to zero a scope at 25 yards, 1 MOA would translate to roughly a quarter of an inch.

Some scopes use milliradians (MRAD), a metric measurement that equals 10cm at 100 metres (or approximately 3.6 inches at 100 yards). It’s important to familiarise yourself with what measurement your scope uses, and how many ‘clicks’ of the turret corresponds to 1 MOA or 1 MRAD.

How to Zero a Scope Step-by-Step

Zeroing your air rifle scope is a crucial exercise that you can’t skip if you want to maximise your shooting accuracy. This simple step-by-step guide explains how the process works.

Step 1: Mount Your Scope

Before you begin zeroing, you need to ensure that your scope is correctly affixed to your air rifle. How to do this will depend on the type of scope and rifle, but generally, you’ll need to attach the scope using a mounting system. Ensure that it’s level and at the right distance from your eye for a clear picture. Make sure the mounts are secure, but avoid over-tightening, which could potentially damage the scope.

Step 2: Set Up Your Target and Stabilise Your Air Rifle

Once your scope is properly mounted, set up your target at a known distance. If you’re a beginner, you may wish to start at short range, e.g. 10 yards. As you become more proficient with your rifle and scope, you can gradually increase the distance until you reach your desired shooting range. Remember, if you change the shooting distance significantly, you’ll likely need to re-zero your scope.

With the target in place, it’s time to prepare your rifle for zeroing. Stabilise your rifle, preferably using sandbags or a shooting rest. The idea here is to eliminate as much human error as possible by keeping the rifle stationary.

Step 3: Align Your Crosshairs and Shoot at the Target

Next, align your scope’s crosshairs with the centre of your target. This will be your initial aiming point for your first group of shots.

Fire three to five shots to provide an accurate reading of where your gun is currently shooting. It’s important to remember that at this stage, you likely won’t hit the bullseye. This is not a problem, as you’re just establishing a baseline to adjust from.

Step 4: Adjust Your Scope

Take note of where your shots landed and their position in relation to your target. You can now adjust your scope accordingly.

Start with the elevation turret, which adjusts the point of impact up and down. If your shots landed too high, rotate the turret in the direction labelled “down,” and vice versa. Next, adjust the windage turret (on the side of the scope), which moves the point of impact left or right. Again, if your shots landed to the right of where you aimed, turn the turret towards “left,” and vice versa.

Make sure not to move the scope or rifle while making your adjustments. We recommend taking it one turret at a time, firing 3 shots between each adjustment. If you want to save ammunition, you can measure the distance between your aim point and point of impact, and calculate how many clicks to adjust each turret. Alternatively, you can employ a trial-and-error approach.

Step 5: Repeat the Process

After adjusting your scope, shoot another group of shots. Evaluate your shot placement, and if necessary, adjust your turrets again. This iterative process may take several rounds, so patience and perseverance are key.

You’ll know that your air rifle scope is correctly zeroed when your point of aim aligns with your point of impact: in other words, your shots are consistently hitting the target. However, remember that many factors can affect your shooting accuracy – such as wind speed and direction, your distance from the target, and the type of pellets you’re using. If any of these factors change, you may need to re-zero your scope.

To guarantee good performance, it’s also important to choose the right scope for your weapon. Check out our buyer’s guide to air rifle scopes here.

Visit The Wolfman for Quality Air Rifles, Scopes and More

Welcome to The Wolfman: the UK’s one-stop shop for air gun enthusiasts. Head to our online store to browse an enormous range of air guns, rifle and pistol scopes, mounting systems and other shooting essentials, from pellets to gun slips.

We only carry products that we’d happily use ourselves, and work with trusted industry brands such as Hawke, Immersive Optics, Air Arms and more. We pride ourselves on our customer service, competitive prices and free UK delivery on all orders.

If you have any questions about our website or products, contact The Wolfman today – our friendly team will be happy to help.

Related FAQs

Q: What distance should you zero your air rifle scope?

When adjusting your air rifle scope, you need to consider the type of air rifle you’re firing and the type of pellets. For indoor use, you’ll likely need to sight your scope at 20 to 25 yards, for medium-range choose 30 yards, and for long-range, you should sight your scope between 40 and 50 yards.

Q: How do I know if my air rifle scope is zeroed?

A: Shoot a group of pellets at a target placed at the distance you think your scope is zeroed for. If the pellets all hit within a tight grouping, then your scope either is or is close to being properly zeroed.

Q: Why does the distance to zero an air rifle scope matter?

A: The further away your target, the more your pellets will drop. If you’re zeroed for 20 yards but are shooting at a target that’s 30 yards away, your pellets will hit below your point of aim. Therefore, if you know the distance over which you’ll be shooting, zeroing your rifle before shooting will give you better results.

Q: What is parallax error?

A: Parallax error is when the crosshairs in your scope appear to move when you move your eye. This error can cause you to miss your target, e.g., if your eye and the scope are aligned differently for a second shot than they were for a first.

Q: How can I adjust for parallax error?

A: You can fix minor parallax error by adjusting the focus on your scope. For more significant error, you’ll need to move the position of your eye relative to the scope. Find a position that’s comfortable for you and take care to return to the same position for each shot.

Q: What is the difference between an open sight and a peep sight?

A: Open sight is a rear sight with a notch to allow for aiming without the use of a scope. A peep sight is when you’re looking through a small hole in the back of the scope.

Q: Which is better for air rifles, an open sight or a peep sight?

A: It depends on preference, as there’s not a lot of difference between them. What makes much more difference is how much you practise with your air rifle of choice and sight of choice; so, your accuracy with a new PCP air rifle for example is more about how much you practice rather than the kind of sight you have.

Q: What is holdover/hold over?

A: Holdover is when you aim above your target because the pellets will drop as they travel to the target. The further away your target, the more “holdover” you’ll need to account for. The term comes from conversational use, i.e. “With the target so far away, you’ll have to hold over.”

Q: How do I estimate holdover?

A: You can use a holdover chart specific to your air rifle and pellets. Holdover charts show the amount of holdover (in MOA or mils) for a given target distance.

Q: What is windage?

A: Windage is the horizontal adjustment on your scope that allows you to compensate for wind blowing from left to right or right to left. It’s important to make this adjustment because even a small amount of wind can blow your pellets off course and cause you to miss your target. This effect is magnified over greater distances.

Q: How do I determine how much windage to give my pellets?

A: You can use an anemometer, which is a device that measures wind speed. If you don’t have one, you can estimate the speed by observing how leaves and branches move in the wind and guessing. This is something that comes with experience.

About the Author: The Wolfman Store

After over 30 years experience in the Airgun trade, The Wolfman Store are delighted to announce our new website, enabling us to supply direct to the shooting community for the first time. Combining a vast stock of established favourites with exciting products new to the UK, The Wolfman Store will be striving to provide unparalleled service at the most competitive prices.

Related Products