Jun 18, 2016 5 min read

Really serious shooters will argue one point over and over. In fact, I once saw a friendship nearly break up over the point of sighting in a varmint rifle.

One guy thought the rifle should be sighted dead on at 100 yards, while the other hunter’s rifle was two inches high at the same distance. Missing an easy shot can cause things to go downhill rather quickly.

You need to understand the trajectory of a bullet once it leaves the barrel of the rifle.

Before proceeding further let’s make it clear the bullet does not rise in relation to the line of the bore after leaving the muzzle. It only goes up when the rifle is pointed up.

So there are two lines that need to be drawn, and they are line of sight and the line of bore. To get the bullet to hit higher at any distance the line of the bore is raised in relation to the line of sight.

Changing the difference in these two lines affects the sight in.

Another misconception in sighting in is the idea gravity isn’t the culprit in creating drop. Gravity begins to affect the bullet the instant it leaves the rifle muzzle and becomes a free-flying object.

How far it goes before striking the earth is controlled by two factors, velocity and shape or co-efficiency.

Now that I have muddied the waters, let’s look at sighting in for a variation of game animals. How high is the sight in at 100 yards?

Should it be affected by the size of the animal and expected distance it will be shot at?

Since a whitetail deer offers about 22 inches of target, it is safe to sight the deer rifle in at 2½- to 3-inches high at 100 yards. When so sighted, a .30-06 bullet will be about dead on at 225 yards.

But the height of its trajectory will place the bullet about 3½- to 4-inches high at about 175 yards. That will work on the deer with its 22 inches of target.

But on a varmint, it is easy to overshoot a groundhog when so sighted.

If a hunter is shooting at a groundhog down on all fours, he is not offered much target and it is easy to shoot over the target’s back.

While the 3-inch high sight in works on a deer, a lower sight in should be used when the smaller animal is the target of the day.

I prefer to be sighted in about 1½-inches high at 100 yards when using a varmint rifle.

Just this past week, I was hunting with my friend, Mike, and found myself missing shots I should have made. Later, paper punch showed my group to be 3-inches high, explaining the misses.

With a groundhog rifle sighted in at 275 yards and a target appearing at 500 yards, most shooters will just hold over.

The trouble is the partner who is spotting might tell you the shot hit low and now you want to correct it. At that distance it’s hard to remember just where you held for the first shot.

Even when you do, the groundhog you undershot moved and the background isn’t the same.

This is the why we run the sights.

When running the sights, the click adjustment on the scope had better be accurate, which most scopes aren’t.

If your buddy says you hit 6-inches low and your scope is advertised as having ¼ minute clicks, that means a quarter inch at 100 yards. But at 500 yards each click should move the point of impact 1¼ inches.

Long-range hunters must also be mathematicians!

More importantly, when running sights, remember to return the clicks back where they belong then pray they work. You might disagree with me but I vote for the 1½-high sight in for the average varmint rifle used at common sense distances.

When done right it works for me.

• Last week I took part in a ladies day at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club. I thought it was a great event where a group of ladies had the opportunity to handle and shoot handguns in a casual atmosphere.

Time was spent on discussions on how the firearm functions, safety and methods of shooting. It was a great idea and the ladies seemed to enjoy the outing. Perhaps it should be done more often.

• It’s not too late to visit the gun show at Arden. This is a good place to find hard to find loading components and ammo. Of course, it is the firearms that attracts most show visitors and there is always quite a lot to be seen.

Every once in a while a rare gem shows up at the show. I’ll be there looking like the rest of the people.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.