I was dicking around with my cute M1A Scout and turned the rear elevation knob so much that the rear sight came off. I kept trying to reinsert it and lower it so it zeros out, but I don't know where it's supposed to zero out!

THere's an M then 11 12, 4, 6, 8, 10 then it goes back to the M (meters?) then 11, 12.

Is the 11 supposed to mean 1100 meters and also 100 meters? And is it supposed to bottom out RIGHT AT THE LINE or slightly above it? For the life of me I can't make it go back in so it's right at the 11 line. GAME OVER MAN!

The rear sight goes about 34 clicks. I guess it goes over one click either side, so i centered it at 17 clicks, and it looks almost dead on the center, maybe slightly off to one side.

The rifle range I will sight in at on Thursday is only 50 yards. So I guess each click on the rear sight (standard, not NM) will be 2 inches?

I'm assuming you don't have the manual. Mine (a regular M1A) zeroed at 9 clicks from dead bottom. Most people don't fool with the graduations, so I'd just raise it 8 clicks, then zero as usual, and leave it there.

My manual says to zero the rifle then:

1) Count clicks needed to turn rear sight to lowest elevation.

2) Loosen setscrew in elevation know till knob can again rotate.

3) Rotate knob forward till 250m index line is aligned with receiver's index line. (My receiver didn't have the index, so I used a small chisel to make one - put it anywhere you want.)

4) Turn elevation knob forward the # of clicks from #1 above.

5) Rotate rear sight to highest setting, tighten setscrew, turn back to lowest setting.

6) Rotate elevation knob up # of clicks from #1, index lines should be aligned.


That seems a bit complex to me, especially when you don't have it written down, so I figure you can do it this way and get the same results:

1) Zero rifle and count clicks. Turn rear sight all the way down.

2) Loosen setscrew, align index lines, then turn forward # of clicks for zero. Tighten setscrew.

3) Rotate rear sight up # of clicks for zero. Index lines should be aligned.


In either case you'll be starting off with the 250m line on the receiver's index line, and the rifle zeroed for 25m/250m. The rear sight drum won't care whether you've turned it back and forth 1/2 dozen times, as long as you start with a 25m/250m zero and with the index lines lined up the sight graduations will be accurate at their ranges.