Sight alignment of a rifle

The flight of a bullet is not a straight line to the target. Gravity, air resistance and energy loss all influence flight. A hunter must always take that into consideration when sighting-in. A bullet sighted-in to hit a bull’s eye at 100 metres might be 1 inch or 2.5 centimetres above the bull’s eye at 50 metres. You need to know what type of game will be hunted, and only sight-in with the ammunition that you will use while hunting.

The key to sighting-in a firearm is to reduce all movement between your shoulder and the rifle. You will need a good solid bench to sit at, and a solid rest for the firearm—sandbags, carpeted wooden blocks or a tripod all work well. It is important that you exercise breath control at the moment the trigger is pulled, because the rise and fall of your chest when breathing can influence a bullet’s trajectory.

Trajectory is the arc of the bullet from the firearm’s muzzle to final impact. A bullet will rise and fall, crossing the line of sight twice over a certain distance. Knowing the flight path of your bullet will allow you to adjust your point of aim to the bullet’s point blank range.

Mid-range trajectory is the bullet’s highest point above the line of sight. This will usually occur halfway between target zero and the muzzle.