Story and photography by Tom Claycomb III

Theoretically you wouldn’t think sighting in your rifle s that big a deal — unless you’re a hunter. As a hunter you understand there are a million variables involved. To the common bloke you just run out to the nearest pasture, set up a five gallon bucket, fire a few shots, make sure they hit the bucket and you’re good to go.

However, to the hunter you want pinpoint precision. What if you only have a small window through an opening the brush for a neck shot on a trophy of a lifetime? You don’t want to miss!

You should have your rifle sighted in with precision in mind and be confident enough with your shooting ability so that if you miss, you’re shocked. The older I get, the more I demand accuracy out of my rifles. To get pinpoint accuracy you’ll have to religiously take a few steps.

PROPERLY MOUNT YOUR SCOPE

To begin, make sure your scope is mounted rock solid. That may sound basic but usually the simple things in life are what confounds the wise!

First, make sure mounts are screwed down tight to specifications. Then mount the scope and screw it down to the proper foot-pounds. On both the mounts and rings it is important to properly tighten them down. Too much and you’ll strip the threads, not enough and they’ll shake loose.

I got a wrench from Brownell’s that allows me to set the torque to the proper specs. You’ll also want to make apply Loctite to keep the screws snug.

When mounting the scope, make sure of the proper eye relief. What I mean is when you shoulder your rifle you shouldn’t have to move your head closer or further back to achieve focus and full sight picture. It should be just perfect. When you have an opportunity for the big shot, you don’t want to have to worry about anything else. Also make sure the crosshairs are level.

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