Red dot and rifle scope adjustment

How to adjust rifle scopes and collimators? 

Every collimator or rifle scope has the possibility of adjusting the crosshairs in the right/left and up/down directions. This adjustment is made via the locking chimneys found on the top and sides of the riflescope or collimator body.
Their useful feature is that they "click" so to speak, both audibly and perceptually, with each rotation. This allows precise adjustment even with gloves on. Most rifle scopes and collimators also have the option of locking the chambers against unintentional rotation after adjustment.
The most important thing is to adjust the collimator/rifle scope to the distance you intend to shoot most often. Interestingly, for edged guns it is most often used for short guns 10-15m, for long guns 25-100m. So for airsoft guns, the adjustment distance is shorter especially for the long ones because of their range. Most often within 50m, no less each player's preference is individual. For both types of guns it is best to start at 15-20m after proper Hop-Up adjustment and then gradually increase. 

Riflescope mounts are either 2 ring or one piece. We have already described the difference between them in the article on rifle scopes.
 

Why is it important to have a properly installed collimator or riflescope?

When shooting, the correct orientation of the riflescope or collimator is important because it determines where our bullets will go. To make installation easier, we have created a step-by-step guide that will walk you through the entire installation phase of a rifle scope and collimator. Finally, we will also describe the process of shooting so that you are as satisfied as possible with the result.

Installing the rifle scope into the mount

1) - Fixing the gun for installation

This will make handling the gun easier and the result will be all the better. This can be done, for example, by placing the weapon in the firing stock, or by using a bipod and supporting the rear of the stock until the weapon is level. Another gadget can be a sandbag into which the gun is buried in the front. 

2) - Placing the mount on the gun

For this step, we must point out that the mount is put on the barrel of the gun (upper for rifles or bolt carrier for repeating rifles), never put on the forearm. The forearm could then cause the whole mount to occasionally move and scatter the projectile. In some cases, the mount could not even be properly clamped through poor mating of the forearm and body. We tighten the assembly with a decent amount of force once in position so that it cannot move and we don't shear the threads.

3) - Unscrewing the mounting rings 

Unscrew all the screws from the top of the assembly. We then remove the top part so that we can insert the rifle scope into the bottom part

On some mounts we may encounter adhesive tape that is, as seen in the picture, inside the rings. Its function is to fix the rifle scope after it is inserted into the mount. 

4) Inserting scope tube into the mount. 

The tube must be placed into the rings so that ideally the shielding chambers are centered between the rings. We will be adjusting this position later.

5) Returning the upper part of the mount

Now we can put back the top of the ring and the screws themselves in their original place. The screws need to be lightly tightened. The force of the tightening should be chosen so that the rifle scope tube is fixed in the mount, but so that we can adjust its orientation if necessary.

6) Adjusting the rifle scope to the shooter

Now comes the very important part. We need to adjust the distance of the rifle scope from the eye so that we can see perfectly through the rifle scope without any problems when shooting. The most commonly used distance is between 5-8 cm between the eye and the lens of the rifle scope.
This is done by holstering the gun and looking through the rifle scope. Ideally, we see the intentional cross beautifully sharp, there are no black shadows at the edges, etc. If so, we need to increase/decrease the distance from the eye.

7) Alignment of the tube 

At this point comes the next important part, and that is to align the tube properly. This must be rotated so that the sight cross is in the correct position. In most cases, placing a spirit level on the top of the peening chimney and leveling the rifle scope will help. However, the chimneys are not always perpendicular to the sighting cross. Therefore, it is best to orient the crosshairs only.
However, for those who think this is an unnecessary step, the picture below is just for reference. As you can see, the tilt of the cross tells us where the bullet will go.  

8) Tightening the screws on the assembly

Now we need to tighten the screws for the final fixing. This is done by tightening the screws crosswise. This way they will all be tightened evenly and we cannot accidentally move the tube. But be careful not to use too much force when tightening, otherwise the threads will be torn off. We can help ourselves, for example, by using a light or medium strength thread glue (very small amount) or paint applied directly to the threads. If you want to make sure that everything is tightened correctly and you do not ruin the threads, we recommend using a torque wrench for mounting e.g. Real avid, vortex optics, or entrusting this task to our service department.

Installation of the collimator

With a collimator, installation is much simpler. In most cases, just clamp the collimator to the rails and you are ready to shoot. But as with rifle scopes, the position of the collimator is important. Of course, it is not possible to write that only this particular position is the best. Every gun has differently positioned RIS rails (for example, an AK can have rails on the bolt cover as well as on the upper forearm). Therefore, it is important to test each position you choose and then decide.

Ideal collimator position for the AR15

Description of the adjustment by firing

Now we can shoot with the rifle scope/collimator. We place the weapon in the e.g. firing bench so that it is fixed but we can manipulate it freely.
Then we place the target at a distance of our choice (this is individual, but I recommend 15-20 m to start with, so that we can quickly see the hits and get a good shot of the weapon. After that we can increase the distance and then just fine tune the shot.
Aim the gun at the target so that the sight cross/collimator face is exactly on the center of the target. Then we fire and see where the hit is. Personally, we recommend shooting 2-3 times to eliminate shooter error. If the projectiles are not where we would like them to be, we have to use the chimneys to make a correction.
If we have moved the gun in any way while shooting, we fix it back to the center of the target. Then, by rotating the chimneys by hand/using a screwdriver for collimators for example, we place the pattern in the center of our hit.
We then aim again at the centre of the target and fire again. Now the hit should be either right in the center or close to it. Alternatively, we'll make the adjustment again. Once we are satisfied with the shot, we fix the chimneys against unwanted movement (if the model allows it). 

Congratulations, your gun is shot and ready for action.