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Ya'll guided/taught me well when I got in the 1911 world.. very costly mistake for me but fun!! Now, I'm in a threshold of another unknown.... Deer/hunting Rifles.. Got invited by some big time hunters to go to Kansas December to shoot my first deer.. I never hunted and never owned a hunting rifle. The deal for me is basically "just show up we got everything covered"...Anyway, I want to have my own rifle and a good friend ( non hunter too ) gave me a rifle last night!! After a few minutes on Google, I fiound out I have a SAVAGE 300 LEVER ACTION model 99 FEATHER WEIGHT chambered for a 300 Savage!! It's got what looked like an original Scope that obvious need to be zeroed ( never done this, too) . Is this something I can use for hunting ?? The rifle looks and feels solid and probably 80 % blue finish stock got some minor nicks on it. Should I take it to a gunsmith for inspection ??? How hard is it to zero a scope for somebody who has not done it before?? Anyway, I appreciate all your inputs!! Thanks Ya'll!!
ReySC

I own a couple of Savage lever actions in .300 Savage. It is a good deer caliber and a solid rifle.

DMG

If the scope and rails are factory mounted then it's not at all difficult to zero it. Bore-sighting helps (especially if you are installing new rails or rings), but is not necessary if the scope is already on the rifle. I never bore-sighted mine, even when I changed scopes.

Start out at 25 or 50 yds just to make sure you're on the paper. Your scope will have left/right and up/down adjustment nobs that you can turn to adjust the zero. Get a general zero by shooting a 3 shot group at the target, adjust the nobs to move the center of the group towards the bullseye, then repeat. Once you have it more or less zeroed at a close range, move out to 100 or 200 yds (depending on the distance you'll be shooting) and fine-tune it.

bburgi wrote:If the scope and rails are factory mounted then it's not at all difficult to zero it. Bore-sighting helps (especially if you are installing new rails or rings), but is not necessary if the scope is already on the rifle. I never bore-sighted mine, even when I changed scopes.

Start out at 25 or 50 yds just to make sure you're on the paper. Your scope will have left/right and up/down adjustment nobs that you can turn to adjust the zero. Get a general zero by shooting a 3 shot group at the target, adjust the nobs to move the center of the group towards the bullseye, then repeat. Once you have it more or less zeroed at a close range, move out to 100 or 200 yds (depending on the distance you'll be shooting) and fine-tune it.

Thanks DMG and Bburgi for your respones.. Ahhh something new.. something learned everyday!!

Rey, congrats! I have found rifle shooting more enjoyable and rewarding than shooting pistols.

If you need help with zeroing, let me know. I've done it a few times.....

cyphur wrote:Rey, congrats! I have found rifle shooting more enjoyable and rewarding than shooting pistols.

If you need help with zeroing, let me know. I've done it a few times.....

YOU'RE MY HERO !! Yes, Travis I'll take you up on that!! Did I tell you that due to a weird turn of events I ended up w/ two more Chinese/Norinco SKS rifles, now I have three!! We will talk about it when you have time to bring the "girls" for brunch here.. And Bill, of course..
Rey

cyphur wrote:. . . I have found rifle shooting more enjoyable and rewarding than shooting pistols.

cyphur wrote:Rey, congrats! I have found rifle shooting more enjoyable and rewarding than shooting pistols.

That's going to get you a cyber noogie for sure!!!

Opps, Charles is on the warpath...

Reysc wrote:

cyphur wrote:Rey, congrats! I have found rifle shooting more enjoyable and rewarding than shooting pistols.

If you need help with zeroing, let me know. I've done it a few times.....

YOU'RE MY HERO !! Yes, Travis I'll take you up on that!! Did I tell you that due to a weird turn of events I ended up w/ two more Chinese/Norinco SKS rifles, now I have three!! We will talk about it when you have time to bring the "girls" for brunch here.. And Bill, of course..
Rey

I did see that you bought that Norinco you posted up. You're starting to sound like a collector!!


And the rest of ya.....haters I say!!! J/K

The old saying is that if you have to pull your sidearm, you messed up somewhere......

"...a good friend ( non hunter too ) gave me a rifle last night!!" I wish I had a friend like that. No, make that two friends like that. I think you will like hunting.

One more thing on the zero. I use the same ammo that I am going to hunt with to zero my rifles. Around here I don't take a shot over 100 yards most of the time. But, if I am going somewhere I think I will be shooting 200+ yards I want to make sure the round is going where I send it. Using exact same kind of ammo helps increase your chance of a clean and humane kill. Just a thought.

I hunted for several years with my father's Savage and it was a great rifle for deer. 150 Grain bullets a plenty for deer he used to use it for elk with 180 grain. Clean and oil it and it will take care of your needs.

My Dad gave me the .300 Savage that I have now in 1952 so it has been around a while. There have been numerous deer and a couple of elk shot with it so I think it is a very good deer rifle. My Dad also had the same rifle several years older that he shot many deer with.

I recommend that you sight it in at 25 yards because it has almost the same impact point at 25 yards and 100 yards. The only problem with using 25 yards for sight in is that it takes 4 times as many clicks on the scope to move it a certain distance at 25 as 100 yards. Usually it takes 4 clicks to move it 1 inch at 100 yards but will take 16 clicks to move it 1 inch at 25 yards.

I also don't recommend shots at much over 200 yards. It will shoot farther but it's balistics are not the best for 300 or 400 yards shots.
Keith

Here's a cautionary tale about boresighting:

http://www.iguanasoft.com/~jeffersonian ... .html#1284

It got even more crowded than that later, you can see at least one empty lane on the far end, with a stool upended on the bench.

One of these folks was using a laser boresighter, the type that plugs into the barrel, then projects a laser dot on the target, which you then adjust your scope to match, before continuing to sight-in normally.

This shooter forgot to remove the boresighter. And I brought my camera.






There were no injuries. The boresighter was found most of the way to the 100yd target holders. These pictures are being sent to several appropriate persons - the club's newsletter director, R/O director, club president, etc. The weapon was a fairly ordinary Savage, and I believe it was in .30-06 or a related cartridge. It is hoped that the barrel will be purchased for or donated to the club's hunter education program. Pay attention folks!

Thats a lack of paying any attention to what you're doing.

Attention to detail, there is a reason they preach that in the military.

cyphur wrote:Thats a lack of paying any attention to what you're doing.

To put it mildly.

If you read the parts of his blog that I omitted, he muttered quite a bit about "sportsmen" who show up once a year for the free sighting-in day right before deer season.

Kevin