How to Zero the Service Rifle for Competition

By Jim Evenson
In order to be able to hit the center of the target, the service rifle must be aimed properly and have
the sights set properly. The process of getting the sights set properly to hit the center of the target at
various distances, and in varying conditions is called Zeroing the Rifle.
For the Competition shooter there are three types of Zeros that the shooter must understand.
1. Mechanical Zero - Having the Elevation wheel turned all the way down to the lowest setting,
and having the windage knob set to dead center.
To set the Windage to Mech. Zero, turn the windage knob left or right till the index line on the large
aperture aligns with the center mark on the sight base. (See Below)

2. No Wind Zero (or True Zero) -- The sight settings required to place a shot or shot group into
the center of the target at any given distance (or range), on a calm day without any wind that might
cause lateral movement of the bullet’s flight. Note that any given rifle may require that the windage
be normally set left or right of Mechanical Zero a certain number of clicks as an artifact of just how
that rifle shoots. The No Wind Zero of that rifle and that shooter may also be different for each
position that the shooter fires from. The Zeros for prone position, Sitting position, and Standing
position may all be different even when shot from the same distance. Be sure to record No Wind
Zeros from each position normally used. Example: I record my No Wind 200yd Sitting Rapid fire
Zero as 14e – 3R That is 14 clicks of elevation up from the bottom on the elevation wheel and 3
clicks Right from Mech. Zero on the windage knob.
3. Local Zero -- The sight settings required to place shots into the center of the target allowing for
changes in wind direction, wind speed, and other weather conditions. Local Zeros would also include
factors such as shooting uphill, downhill or local knowledge that certain rifle ranges may not be
exactly the distances listed on match programs. Example: A 500 yd. match at a rifle club may
actually be 540 yds. or a 600 yd. match might be 585 yds., and the pits at one rifle club that I have
shot at are 110ft higher than the 600yd firing line. Local conditions, along with local weather
conditions will affect the zeros used on that particular day. Record corrected zeros for those
conditions so you can repeat them next time shooting at that range.

AR-15 Service Rifle Sighting System consists of 3 elements --

1. Post type adjustable front sight. The post can be adjusted for height by depressing the spring
loaded detent in front of the post and rotating the sight post with the tip of a bullet.
Post rotates 4 clicks per full revolution and each click up or down raises or
lowers the strike of the bullet 1.2 in /100 yds range.
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2. Elevation Wheel -- Horizontal wheel at base of rear sight. Each click clockwise raises the
strike of the bullet approximately 1 inch per 100 yds. range.

3. Windage Knob. – is on the right side of the rear sight. The windage knob is used to move the
strike of the bullet left or right on the target and to compensate for local wind conditions. Turning
the windage knob clockwise 1 click moves the strike of the bullet ½ inch to the right per each 100
yds. range. Turning the windage knob counter clockwise moves the strike of the bullet to the left.

Initial zeroing of the rifle

1. The front sight should be adjusted so that the base of the post is flush with the body of the
front sight. To do this press down the detent with the point of a bullet or a “sight adj. tool” and
rotate the front post clockwise to lower the post and counter clockwise to raise it to the flush
position
2. Rotate the Elevation wheel to 7 clicks up.
3. Set the Windage knob to dead center---Mech. Zero

Fire a 3 shot group

1. Set a target out at 100 yds. This target should be as large as 4ft by 4 ft., clean with no holes,
and have a bull’s-eye of approximately 3 in or 4 in. Draw centerlines (cross hairs) through the
bull’s-eye side to side and top to bottom of the target.
2. Fire 3 shots and examine the target. Draw a line from hole to hole making a triangle. Place a
dot in the center of the triangle and measure up or down to the horizontal centerline, left or
right to the vertical centerline.
3. For each inch your group center is above or below the horizontal centerline, rotate the front
sight 1 click clockwise if above the line and counter clockwise if below the line.
4. For each inch your group center is off to the side from the vertical centerline, rotate the
windage knob 2 clicks clockwise if your group center is to the left, and counter clockwise if to
the right.

Repeat firing the 3 shot group and initial adjustments.

1. Now your Group center should be approximately centered on the bull’s-eye. It doesn’t have
to be perfect.
2. If you ran out of front sight adjustment, you would need to add in some rear sight adjustment.
Rotate the rear sight wheel up if you can’t rotate the front sight down any farther, and rotate
the rear sight wheel down if your front sight gets too high. I like to have about 7 clicks up on
the rear sight when zeroed at 100 yds. The front sight will not be readjusted from now on.
3. If you run out of windage adjustment – see: Zeroing the windage Scale below.
4. Record your initial 100 yd. zeros—how many clicks up (from bottom) and left or right of
Mechanical Zero on the rear sight. Such as: 7e-4L
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Move the target out to 200 yds. (Distance for Offhand and Sitting rapid fire
Matches)
1. Move your target out to 200 yds. and adjust the rear sight up 1 click (std. sights). Fire a 3 shot
group and examine the target for group center. If necessary readjust the sights (rear) to center
up your group. At 200 yds. each click of the elevation wheel will move group center 2 inches
up or down, and each click of the windage will move the group center 1 inch left or right.
2. When centered up at 200 yds. record your “Local Zeros” for that day and conditions. If the
wind was calm and not a factor, these zeros would be “No wind” zeros for 200 yds. in
whatever position you were firing from.

Zeroing the Windage Scale

After zeroing at 200 yds., you might find that your windage Zero is way off to one side – say maybe
10-15 clicks to the right or left. This is not unusual. This is due to the fact that the front sight may not
be installed perfectly plumb. Rotating the front sight (base) on the rifle barrel can bring your “No
Wind” zero to approximately Mech. Zero (center) on the windage scale at the base of the rear sight
body.
1. Set windage on rear sight to Mech. Zero—dead center
2. Determine if your front sight base is held in place by:
a. Set screws –proceed to #3. and #4.
b. Pins – Drive out pins, or have AR-15 gunsmith do this for you
c. Lock Tite – Use small amount of heat from butane torch to loosen Lock Tite
d. Epoxy – consult AR-15 gun smith
3. Scratch very fine “witness” marks from Sight base to rifle barrel. The alignment of these marks
will show you how much you have rotated the sight.
4. Loosen the set screws (or remove pins, loosen lock Tite, or loosen Epoxy) that hold the front
sight base in place on the rifle barrel.
5. Rotate the sight and base on the barrel just enough to see that the “witness marks” have been
misaligned by the smallest amount possible. Moving the top of the sight post only .006” is
equal to two clicks on the windage knob. Rotate Sight clock wise if windage is off to the left,
and counter clockwise if windage is off to the right. Fire a few shots at 200 yds. and see if
group has moved to center, if not, rotate sight a “little” more and repeat. Once group is
centered at “Mech. Zero” windage (or very close) secure front sight base with set screws, Lock
Tite, etc.

Move the target out to 300 yds. (for prone rapid fire)
1. Moving from 200 to 300 yds., you will find that the bullet drops about 9 in and so to
compensate you will have to raise the rear sight about 3 clicks of elevation. This is where
having a finer elevation adjustment of ½ min of angle (match type) instead of the standard 1
MOA (1 click/inch/100 yds.) is useful. 3 full clicks on the elevation knob at 300 yds. might put
your group center just a little high, whereas 5 clicks on a Match type ½ MOA sight would be
just about right. I do suggest that competition shooters install a ½ MOA elevation wheel.
2. Center your group at 300 yds. and record your zeros for Prone rapid fire.
Standard “come-ups” for known distance shooting with the AR-15 using Match
type ½ MOA sight adjustments. This varies a little from shooter to shooter and
depends on type of ammo used.
1. 100 yds. to 200 yds. -- 2 clicks of elevation (69 or 77 gn bullets)
2. 200 yds. to 300 yds. -- 5 clicks of elevation (69 or 77 gn bullets)
3. 300 yds. to 500 yds. -- 10 clicks of elevation (80 gn bullets at 500)
4. 300 yds. to 600 yds. -- 20 clicks of elevation (80 gn bullets at 600)
5. 500 yds. to 600 yds. -- 10 clicks of elevation (80 gn bullets at 600)

Marking your sights for easy reference

All too often, shooters move from yard line to yard line and either forget to add elevation or add their
elevation twice. I have many times seen shooters fire a really nice small group of shots in 300 yd.
rapid fire ended up at 6 o’clock in the 8 ring because they forgot to put on the additional clicks
required after moving from 200 yds. to 300 yds. I have also seen shooters in a Leg match fire that
first shot at 600 yds. down into the bottom of the target for a miss -- same reason. Ouch! Marking
your sights with colored paint will help eliminate this problem
1. Mark the Elevation Wheel with a vertical white line to show Mech. Zero. (figure 1 below)
2. Mark 200 yd. Zero with green line – (figure 2)
3. Mark 300 yd. Zero with Red line—and so on.

Figure 1 --White line for Mech. Zero Figure 2 -- Green line for 200 yds. Figure 3 – Windage knob marked for
No wind Zero

4. Mark the Windage knob for No Wind Zero with white or yellow line that extends onto the Sight
Base. Lining up the mark on the knob and the sight base shows you that you have NO
windage on the sights – or that you are one complete revolution off. (figure 3)

Keep good records of your zeros after firing

Each time you fire, you should record the Elevation and Windage settings that you had on the rifle,
and given the fact that your group may not have been centered up, you should also record the zeros
that you should have had on to center up that group. These would be “local Zeros” taking into
consideration the effects of that days wind and other factors. Be sure to record, the estimated wind
speed and direction, the light conditions, and the temperature so you can make a good guestimate at
what zeros you should put on if you fire at that range, and in those same conditions at some time in
the future.

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