Today was the 3rd week in a row I've taken my AR to the range. Can't get the damn thing sighted in. It's frustrating beyond words. I'm probably doing something wrong, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is. I've used sand bags borrowed from the range, as well as an ammo box as rests. Sitting down doesn't work as I'm short and having the rifle on a rest with sitting down means I'm not tall enough to see through the red dot (Vortex Strikefire II). So I end up crouching down. I've tried red dot alone, as well as red dot and front sight. I have red dot sighting in targets from the intro to defensive carbine class I took last month, but I'm lucky if I get a shot or two on the edge of that target (taped to a larger target, required by range).

I'm either far right or far left. I'm probably jerking the rifle or something, but I can't tell what it is right now. I took the class with a borrowed rifle and I'm really blanking on the sighting in part of the class.

Indoor range (150 ft rifle range). I've been keeping my targets at the minimum of 25 yds.

I'm clueless here. Suggestions? I'm trying to schedule one of the instructors from the class to do a private session with me, so I can get the thing sighted in and correct whatever I'm doing wrong, so I can actually begin to enjoy my rifle.

Ensure your barrel nut is torqued correctly and the barrel does not wobble or shift from hand pressure.

Ensure the red dot sight is not malfunctioning and giving you a wandering zero and this can be mount related.

Do you have iron sights?

At 25 yards, zero the iron sights with the small peep hole, and well... watch this video.



The above video is kinda boring, but it will cover the basics.

The red dot can then be zeroed in the comfort of your living room by adjusting the sight so that the red dot sits on the front sight like the dot above a lower case i .



If it drifts off the top of the front sight post while firing, the red dot is a no go.

Scope mount is tight. It's mounted with the mount that came with optic. Barrel doesn't wiggle at all.

Yes, I have iron sights - Magpul MBUS.

Bring a booster seat so you can sit down on the bench. I bet your problems disappear after that.

Are your irons zeroed? I hope you used a different rifle for the class and didn't run this one without a zero.

Should I take the red dot off and try to do it with just the iron sights?

I took the class with a borrowed rifle as I didn't have one of my own at the time. Irons are not zeroed on my rifle either.

Leave the red dot on the rifle, just turn it off when sighting in your buis.

You need to zero your irons first. Doesn't matter if the red dot is still on there, or not, just turn it off so you can focus on the irons. After zeroing them, adjust your dot to sit right on top of the front site post and make sure it stats there when firing.

For future reference, you shouldn't take a class with a weapon that's not zeroed. Unless it's a novice course and they'll be teaching you to zero as part of the curriculum, using your own rifle.

Class rifle was zeroed.

Try sighting in left to right at the shortest distance available, then go out to 25 meters for up and down adjustments.

Oh, okay. When you said irons weren't zeroed on your rifle "either" I thought you meant the one you took to class wasn't zeroed, and neither is yours.

Also, at 25 yards there will be parrallax(yeah I can't spell).  It is important th have your check weld the same with each shot, and that will be difficult from your shooting position.

Topic Moved

This is what you need to do.  At the range I go to they have  various height booster blocks so you can be at the correct height on the bench.

The best way to zero is off a bench at correct height with a rifle rest or bipod.

After venting my frustration on a local gun forum, I've got a few offers of help that should pan out, including the instructor from my class. Good thing because I have no booster chair or anything that would work as such. I just want this fixed so I can begin to enjoy my rifle. Thanks for the input.

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That will be the best way to go.  Having someone help you.  As long as they know what they are doing.    Let us know how it goes.

Yes, they know what they're doing.

I have no trouble hitting what I aim at. I was ringing a steel target at about 100 yards multiple times in the carbine class and knocked it over. Figuring out red dots, on the other hand...

You'll get it.  Sometimes it just takes someones help.  Plus you may have a hardware issue.  Maybe not.

I'm putting my money on operator error.

I'm putting MY money on operator error! LOL. ;-!

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Point of impact moves with directions on your optic.  i.e., "L" moves impact to the left.  Without looking up your optic, I'm going to guess 1/2 or 1/4 MOA adjustments.  If you're on paper -especially a grid- it's super easy, just measure how far your group is L/R and UP/DWN to where you're aiming and adjust the scope accordingly.

At 25 yards, 1/2 and 1/4 MOA adjustments are going to be really small -- i.e., 8 or 16 clicks to go an inch.

It really WAS operator error. ;) That and simply being too short. Instructor from my class brought a rest and sighted it in for me. Then I ran a couple of mags through to make sure I was shooting properly. All good and now I can shoot the shit out of it. :)

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Good to hear. I shot a little contest one time with a very accurate .22 bolt gun. It was a little improv - I grabbed a folding chair and rested the forearm on the stretchy fabric of the chair back. Shot like a one foot group at 20 yards. Totally embarrassing.