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Zeroing a new 17HMR.


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I got a call the other day from a mate I met while shooting clays on Boxing Day at Worsley. He had just brought a brand new CZ 17HMR complete with a new BSA Sweet 17 Scopem, Bipod and sound Moderator and he wanted to know if he could come to the quarries and have me help set it up.

I like to think that I am never one to refuse to help a fellow shooter so it was arranged for him to come through today (Weather permitting). As it was there was a fairly clear sky with just a light breeze so he arrived as planned and we set off to the quarry. I decided to video the morning, trying to show an improvement on my previous videos by using a tripod that had been very generously donated to me by "Dougy" - At this stage I would like to say a very big thank you to Dougy, it has made all the difference!

We tried shooting the rifle at a small target at 55 yards but the scopes would not let us get any closer than about 15 inches to the left of the target before they ran out of adjustment. The first thing we checked was the moderator, trying the rifle without the moderator on it but that made no difference.

I put my "thinking head" on and remembered that I had seen this problem once before and it had been cured by quite simply taking the scope mounts off and turning them round 180 degrees. This we did and managed to get the rifle so that it would hit the target.

The rifle was then zeroed in on a paper target at 55 yards and then "fine tuned" on a measured 100 yards.

Being a new rifle I suspect that the grouping and accuracy will improve a little more after a few hundred shots have been fired through it but it was certainly good enough to try to get it "christened"!

Before we left the quarry I wanted to check the scopes on my .243 so that I could take that with me to the permission I was taking Chris to in case Charlie put in an appearance. This I did quite quickly and then let Chris have a shot as he had never fired a .243 before. He was quite surprised by the recoil but even more surprised by the noise - I do not use a moderator on my .243, but managed to put a shot within half an inch of a 20mm bull!

We arrived at the permission and had a long chat with the landowner before setting off for a walk about! Within about 10 minutes we spotted a young rabbit at about 70 odd yards which I told Chris to try a shot at. This he did and bowled the rabbit clean over from "free standing" but it managed to kick it's way below ground before we could get to it. There was a fair sized pool of blood so I am pretty sure that it was killed and it was just it's nerves that got it below ground.

A further walk gave around the permission us a couple more rabbits for Chris to have a go at - He killed both of them cleanly. The first at about 65 yards which dropped on the spot and the second at just over 100 yards with a perfect head shot - Not bad for the first time that he had used the rifle or "fired it in anger".

All in all it was a great day and I was happy to have helped Chris out not only to get the rifle set up and zeroed but to get it well and truly christened as well.

 

Here's the video of our couple of hours out together:

 

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Lovely little area for the targets. Glad you helped him to the end product - a successfully zeroed rifle.

The quarry that I use is one of the safest places I have ever come across for zeroing rifles as you can shoot out to any distance up to about 250 yards with completely safe 40 foot high backstops and there is no way that any member of the public could get anywhere near to the firing or target area without being seen - It's private land anyway without any "public footpaths"! The owner (Who I have an excellent working relationship with) is more than happy for me to tale friends up there zeroing or shooting when the quarry is not in use as it deters kids from going there and "playing" on the machinery! The farm covers some 130 acres all told and adjoins another 90 acre permission that I have.

It's all well and good helping someone to get a brand new rifle and scope zeroed in properly but if it's a "hunting rifle" I don't feel that the job is done completely till it's been properly "christened"!

It was a real pleasure anyway! :good:

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well done mate.

a couple of questions do you clean a NEW gun before firing it as they often come with a coating of light grease in the lands which could cause pressure and bulge the new barrel.

secondly do you ever bore sight a gun first to get it near the target this can save 10 rounds, maybe not the end of the world with a hmr but anything bigger is a real saving.

regrds john

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I'm with John here - I boresight using my mark I eyeball. Take the bolt out and use a neighbours chimney pot and adjust the scope to that. So far (touch wood) I have always got on the paper at 50 yards.

 

I'm sat here with a new scope and mounts on my desk as planning a major swap about with scopes.

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well done mate.

a couple of questions do you clean a NEW gun before firing it as they often come with a coating of light grease in the lands which could cause pressure and bulge the new barrel.

secondly do you ever bore sight a gun first to get it near the target this can save 10 rounds, maybe not the end of the world with a hmr but anything bigger is a real saving.

regrds john

Hi Gents, in answer to John's and "Apache's" "very valid" points. Yes, being a brand new gun it was thotoughly cleaned before Chris brought it through. I was aware that new barrels often come with thick oil or grease inside them which would just make cleaning more of a chore afterwards and could well effect the "sighting in"! If it had been a centrefire I would also have taken a cleaning kit with me and cleaned between each couple of shots to help the barrel setting in. As it was a rimfire I did not feel that too much importance needed to be put on this.

With regards to "bore sighting" it, I do use a bore sighter when I am at my friends but as I do not own one myself then I had to do without on this occasion. Also, being a brand new rimfire I wasn't too worried about bore sighting it first as the extra few shots were intended to help the new barrel start to "copper up" a little. Again, with a centrefire it would have been a different matter, especially with the cost of centrefire ammunition.

However both of your points are very valid for anyone trying to set up any brand new rifle, so well done for pointing them out and questioning me on them!

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Hi Gents, in answer to John's and "Apache's" "very valid" points. Yes, being a brand new gun it was thotoughly cleaned before Chris brought it through. I was aware that new barrels often come with thick oil or grease inside them which would just make cleaning more of a chore afterwards and could well effect the "sighting in"! If it had been a centrefire I would also have taken a cleaning kit with me and cleaned between each couple of shots to help the barrel setting in. As it was a rimfire I did not feel that too much importance needed to be put on this.

With regards to "bore sighting" it, I do use a bore sighter when I am at my friends but as I do not own one myself then I had to do without on this occasion. Also, being a brand new rimfire I wasn't too worried about bore sighting it first as the extra few shots were intended to help the new barrel start to "copper up" a little. Again, with a centrefire it would have been a different matter, especially with the cost of centrefire ammunition.

However both of your points are very valid for anyone trying to set up any brand new rifle, so well done for pointing them out and questioning me on them!

Thanks frenchy, but if you remove the bolt and clamp the gun you don't need a toy to bore sight, point the barrel at the target by looking through the bore and then adjust the scope to line up with the target, its as easy as that.

regards john

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