Sighting in with a red dot...how do YOU do it?

[goindeep]

I am sure I am making this harder than it has to be....I sighted in my Rem 870 youth today with Vortex Venom red dot and Federal TSS 9s out of Sumtoy .562 and IC .555 at 20 and 40 yards. 20 yard pattern is held tight underneath my bulls eye mark on both chokes. 40 yard pattern is above my bulls eye mark for both chokes. So now I don't know how to handle that situation. How do you do it, and have any of you experienced this?

[dirt road ninja]

Split the difference.

[haystaddle]

Split the difference.

Exactly right. Mine is dead on at 30. A little low at 40 and barely noticeable high at twenty. Both are well within average hunting expectations as opposed to bench rest steady.

[Fieldturkey]

I zero at 30

[Coop1082]

Use a solid bench rest and start with cheap dove loads at 12ish yards to get it close, back up to 40 and send a turkey load. Mark the spot the center of pattern hits from the 40 yard shot. Lay gun back in solid rest and aim at the spot you just aimed at. Have someone adjust your dot to the center of where the pattern actually just hit at 40 yards while the gun is held dead steady. Send confirmation shot. If it's off a hair make your slight adjustments.  Dial it "finished product" in at 40. At 20 yards your pattern can appear to be dead on. At 40 that same pattern can be 3-5" off. The adjustments you make to zero it at 40 will have a totally minuscule affect at 20 yards. Maybe a hair of elevation change but well within margin of error. If your super anal about it like I am, once you center it at 40 you can walk it back in at 30 and 20 just to check for yourself but you won't see very much difference if any at all the closer you get. You gotta think at 50 yards (this is for a vortex venom) your making 1/2" per click adjustments so 40 yards is going to be close to that. At 20 your making close to 1/8" adjustments. What moves your core 3" at 40 is barely moving your core at 20.

[paboxcall]

Use a solid bench rest and start with cheap dove loads at 12ish yards to get it close, back up to 40 and send a turkey load. Mark the spot the center of pattern hits from the 40 yard shot. Lay gun back in solid rest and aim at the spot you just aimed at. Have someone adjust your dot to the center of where the pattern actually just hit at 40 yards while the gun is held dead steady. Send confirmation shot. If it's off a hair make your slight adjustments.  Dial it "finished product" in at 40. At 20 yards your pattern can appear to be dead on. At 40 that same pattern can be 3-5" off. The adjustments you make to zero it at 40 will have a totally minuscule affect at 20 yards. Maybe a hair of elevation change but well within margin of error. If your super anal about it like I am, once you center it at 40 you can walk it back in at 30 and 20 just to check for yourself but you won't see very much difference if any at all the closer you get. You gotta think at 50 yards (this is for a vortex venom) your making 1/2" per click adjustments so 40 yards is going to be close to that. At 20 your making close to 1/8" adjustments. What moves your core 3" at 40 is barely moving your core at 20.

Exactly how I do it. Nice write up!

[coachmitchel]

Use a solid bench rest and start with cheap dove loads at 12ish yards to get it close, back up to 40 and send a turkey load. Mark the spot the center of pattern hits from the 40 yard shot. Lay gun back in solid rest and aim at the spot you just aimed at. Have someone adjust your dot to the center of where the pattern actually just hit at 40 yards while the gun is held dead steady. Send confirmation shot. If it's off a hair make your slight adjustments.  Dial it "finished product" in at 40. At 20 yards your pattern can appear to be dead on. At 40 that same pattern can be 3-5" off. The adjustments you make to zero it at 40 will have a totally minuscule affect at 20 yards. Maybe a hair of elevation change but well within margin of error. If your super anal about it like I am, once you center it at 40 you can walk it back in at 30 and 20 just to check for yourself but you won't see very much difference if any at all the closer you get. You gotta think at 50 yards (this is for a vortex venom) your making 1/2" per click adjustments so 40 yards is going to be close to that. At 20 your making close to 1/8" adjustments. What moves your core 3" at 40 is barely moving your core at 20.

I have done mine the same way, never had any issues.

[fmf]

I usually just start with bird shot at 20 yards or so, get it centered up, then check it at 40 with a turkey load and readjust as needed.

I just swapped out one red dot for another on my 20ga and I just mounted the new one behind the old one and aligned the dots together, removed them both and mounted the new one where the old one was.  Checked it at 40 yards and it was dead on.

[eddie234]

I bore sight it with my laser bore sighter then shoot BIG paper. I'll take a tape measure and measure how far off the center of the shot is from the mark I put on the BIG paper and adjust the red dot accordingly. I'll shooters a second shot to fine tune. I'll do this at about 30 to 35 yards.


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[Spitten and drummen]

Use a solid bench rest and start with cheap dove loads at 12ish yards to get it close, back up to 40 and send a turkey load. Mark the spot the center of pattern hits from the 40 yard shot. Lay gun back in solid rest and aim at the spot you just aimed at. Have someone adjust your dot to the center of where the pattern actually just hit at 40 yards while the gun is held dead steady. Send confirmation shot. If it's off a hair make your slight adjustments.  Dial it "finished product" in at 40. At 20 yards your pattern can appear to be dead on. At 40 that same pattern can be 3-5" off. The adjustments you make to zero it at 40 will have a totally minuscule affect at 20 yards. Maybe a hair of elevation change but well within margin of error. If your super anal about it like I am, once you center it at 40 you can walk it back in at 30 and 20 just to check for yourself but you won't see very much difference if any at all the closer you get. You gotta think at 50 yards (this is for a vortex venom) your making 1/2" per click adjustments so 40 yards is going to be close to that. At 20 your making close to 1/8" adjustments. What moves your core 3" at 40 is barely moving your core at 20.

This right here. Great write up coop.

[AC 870]

I screw an improved cylinder in, sight in with slugs. Then put turkey tube in and adjust from there.

[WildSpur]

I first get close with a dove load at 20. 

I then throw a turkey load in at 20.  I look for a dead center perfect zero at 20. 

I then go to 30 to see what that looks like. 

Then to 40 and see what I have. 

Now when I am at the range I rarely get a perfect day with little to no wind.  No sense  squirting away $5+ dollar shells chasing the wind.  Perfect zero at 20 and should be perfect at 40 unless you have a good cross wind.  40 yards is where you will really see imperfections.    Jmho. 

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