continued from part 1 viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3890

This is Part 2 covering the actual mounting of the scope, leveling of crosshairs, bore sight made easy, bipod, and a report on investment made.

5. The preliminary mounting of the scope is similar to the mounting of the round stock except leave the top locks loose for adjustments back and forth to accommodate eye relief and to make sure the rings are not close to the junctions of the objective lens, adjustment turrets, power ring or eyepiece. These are generally the weakest and non-conformed points of the optic, so stay clear of putting clamping pressure near them. I also like to add a little strip of electrical tape to the bottom of the inside of the ring as a gasket to help prevent any movement. Once you've established the correct distances, slightly tighten as described in #3, leaving a little "play" left to level the cross hairs.

6. For leveling the crosshairs, there are a few methods. One way is to use a sparkplug feeler gauge from a flat surface or 1 piece base on the receiver to the bottom of the adjustment area on the scope. The catch is that having that having a round receiver, will not work as a shim to level the scope. Dropping a plum line using string also is helpful (aligning the vertical crosshair with the line), however I prefer to
setup a white paper out about 50 yards, and with a level and a sharpie, draw a horizontal and vertical line. It can be done closer. You can also bore sight afterwards, essentially killing 2 birds with 1 stone. Simply bring the rifle back to level, if moved, using the marks as described in step 1, then align the crosshairs to the level marks on the paper.


Then tighten the top locks as described in step 3 checking from time to time the reticle stays level with the marks on the paper.



Now the rifle is level, the scope is level and should track /adjust accordingly, and any future anti cant devices can be mounted with confidence of being accurate whether it's receiver or optic mounted style. Plus it's nice to know your optic and rifle are operating on the same plane.

7. While the paper is still up and the rifle in position, I did a quick bore sight. I drew a spot on the paper (or use the center of the cross I drew before, took out the bolt, looked through the barrel from the area of the butt of the stock, and centered the spot or cross in the middle of the bore.

Now I took a look through the scope. Are the crosshairs on the spot? No, so I adjusted elevation and windage until
the crosshairs are. A few more looks through the bore and scope to see if all is still aligned. Generally, it shouldn't take more than 6 shots at 50 yard to be on target, if the bore sight was done at 50.


8. When I purchased the optics and rings, I had also purchased a bipod flying under the Winchester banner (basically a Harris knock off, not of the same quality, however acceptable for $39.97). The only size Wal-Mart had was 9"-13". I prefer the 6"-9" for off the bench, but the 9"-13" works well in the prone position. The biggest noticeable difference is the lack of springs in the interior of the legs. This bipod also has the smooth legs, of which I prefer for micro adjustments for leveling, rather than the notched legs. Installation is simply pinching the arms that have the pins into the front sling stud, and tighten. Wiggle the bipod alittle to make sure it has seated correctly against the stock while tightening and look from the top of the barrel for proper alignment / even space between the legs and barrel. Follow manufacturers instuctions on adjustments. I will eventually add another stud or two for mounting, especially far rearward as close as possible to the receiver. This transfers weight to the receiver, causes less flex in the stock, and a better balance / pivot area to get on target quicker. It also puts adjustment knobs closer to the operator and reduces the amount of movement.

How it looks so far....






As of now, total investment:
Rifle = $127.00 (using $127.00, was actually $107.00 with a $20.00 off credit card application coupon)
Background check = $5.00
Scope = $69.97
Bipod = $39.97
Rings =$9.47
Tax = $15.08 (6%)

TOTAL = $266.49 (AS OF 01-14-2010)
Time = 3hrs



Now off to the range to see what the off the shelf barebones from the factory setup can do before any accuracy enhancements......next update LOW BUDGET .22 TRAINER-range report

sorry my pictures get cut off by 1/4.....

Nice set of instructions! Thanks for some great introductory material! I'm interested in how well it performs at the range so we have an answer to the question "How much does it cost to get started?"

what make/model of rifle is that? Savage?

It's also a good idea to simulate your hold on the rifle in an offhand position as well as possible when sighting in off the bench. In this case, that would mean using sandbags or similar to support the stock back near the triggerguard instead of on a bipod far out toward the end of the forearm. This will help the rifle recoil in the same motion that will happen during offhand shooting. That extra weight, especially when hanging on a fairly thing plastic forearm, can also seriously affect the accuracy of the rifle. Very cool write-up so far, but the bipod could be left out for both reduction of cost (spend on trigger upgrade instead?) and better usage for silhouette shooting.

Jason wrote:Very cool write-up so far, but the bipod could be left out for both reduction of cost (spend on trigger upgrade instead?) and better usage for silhouette shooting.

I would have used the Mark II F, II G, II FSS or II, but two objectives for this build were low cost and Wal-Mart, and any of those might blow both. Even the Mark II F carries a suggested retail of $233, over $100 more than the rifle TP used.

BlauBear wrote:

Jason wrote:Very cool write-up so far, but the bipod could be left out for both reduction of cost (spend on trigger upgrade instead?) and better usage for silhouette shooting.

I would have used the Mark II F, II G, II FSS or II, but two objectives for this build were low cost and Wal-Mart, and any of those might blow both. Even the Mark II F carries a suggested retail of $233, over $100 more than the rifle TP used.

well said, plus it's doing double duty as a "tactical trainer". i know from experience to just drop in a rifle basics trigger, and be done with it. that trigger upgrade would blow the budget, and i will start the modification on the trigger springs. 1st i wanted to do a baseline target before the modification, both coming in a future update. since the bipod is easily removed, and not allowed for silhoutte shooting anyhow, i included it as far as the double duty goes. i'm also going to add an extra stud as close to the receiver as i can to eliminate the "flex" issue (along with more freefloating of the barrel channel) and to provide better balance / resting weight transfer to the receiver as i have done with all of my other stuff with successful results.