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Got a new to me rifle yesterday, and was eager to zero and shoot it. Also had new scopes on 2 older rifles and they needed zero and range time too.

A month ago I ordered out 2 Hawke Illuminated reticle 2-7X32 scopes to be put on some of my lighter varmint rifles. One went on my Ruger American .17HMR, and the other on my H&R/Sako L461 .222.

The new to me rifle, a Sako AII .243, got an also new to me Leupold VX1 3-9 that I acquired on the fire classifieds.

I have always bore-sighted from a gun vise with the bolt removed, but this week I bought a bushnell laser bore sighter, and used it on the .222 and the .243. Long story short, I shoulda saved my cash. The laser bore sighted rifles weren't on paper at 50 yards, and one wasn't on paper at 25. I did things the hard way at the range and got on paper to move to the 100 yard line.

The range was busy today, and all groups estimated by looking through spotter. Gridded targets essential

An early bright spot was the .17 HMR which I'd bore sighted with the bolt pulled. I fired 3 at 50, made an adjustment and fired 1 more. Then I set it aside to take to the 100 yard line.
At 100 I fired 3 rounds and looked through the spotter. Loaded 3 more and fired with the same hold. Wound up with an approx 3/4" group with one called flyer that opened it up to ~1 1/4".

The .222 took it's usual place as the small group shooter of the day. After zero was achieved, My final group was five 50 gr vmaxes into what looked like maybe 5/8" at 100.

The .243 I had no handloads on hand for. The loads I had were neck sized for my Model 70 and wouldn't chamber easily. I had bought 100 rounds each of factory Norma and Federal 100 gr loads that I took to the range for this Sako
Both loads shoot pretty close to the same POI, but the Norma load gave the better groups, averaging 1 1/4" with one remarkable group that was right at 1".
I wanna say that the packaging on the Norma ammo was stupidly excessive. They come in plastic packs, inside the box, similar to what Federal uses, but they have a little stop catch molded in over the base of the cartridge. I had to use a leatherman tool screwdriver to pry them out of the plastic.Might have not been as bothersome on a warmer day, but at 30 degrees it was a pain in the ass.

I was pretty happy with the day. I'm not a bench rest shooter my front rest is a Plano box with a piece of 1" foam laid across the top.

Scope observations.

I bought the Hawke scopes for their illuminated reticles. They have a good rep for forgiving eye box, and standing holding the rifle, I'd agree with that. Put them on a bench and lean into them, and I struggled just a bit for eye position on 7X.
These scopes are marked as 4 clicks per 1". I think the actual movement is finer than that, to the point of being excessively fine. They did move consistently and positively while zeroing both rifles.
The illuminated reticles allow a choice of red or green Illumination at 5 different brightness levels. The green is much more visible, almost to the point of being too bright on it's lowest setting. I haven't yet shot them under low light conditions, but I'm guessing that red level 1 will be the magic.

And then the new-to-me Leupold on the .243. I might not have even noticed that I was struggling for eye position with the Hawke scopes, til I picked up the .243 with the Leupy mounted. What a breath of fresh air to go from 3 to 9X with no neck stretching or strain whatsoever. But that's not news to Leupold fans.
All of the movements were positive and crisp, and zeroing with this scope was a breeze.

Grasp the plastic pack with the more open side facing your thumb and the primed end of the cartridges up. Press on the shoulder of the cartridge with your thumb and the round will come out easy peasy.

Was gonna call bullshit, but I thought I better try it. You saved Norma an ugly email...

I wouldn't bullshit you.

Nothing like a good range day report. Carry on...

I wanna say that for decades I had no problem, even with a 3-9X scope, zeroing on 3X with a 1" X-ring at 100.
That ship appears to have sailed...

There are moments when I'm doing stuff when I think about how it's gonna fly when I write about it here.
JeffO's name crossed my mind while I was fighting this yesterday. Thank God for a leatherman

We all have face-palm moments - it's all part of being human and oftentimes quite refreshing to see admission.
It's when those moments become trends of a particular individual that ridicule begins.

I really like those Norma shell holders. I snap them in half so I can have 5 quiet extra rounds in my coat and 5 in my bino pack. Too bad my 257 Roberts didn't like the ammo. Wish I could get a few more of just the shell holders.

I like those holders for similar reasons.

Took my windy morning 2-2-22 walk with the .222, and I figured out something about the green reticle illumination on the Hawke scope. If you're standing in snow in daylight it can be hard to see the reticle if you're shooting into a dark creek bank. The green reticle is awesome for this porpoise...

Same here, really good sturdy design.

Okay I am with you on ease of getting an easy sight picture but what Leupold do you have that has crisp and positive movements?

Every one that I own, with the exception of a couple of older ones with friction adjustments. And those are always positive and trouble free.

Maybe I'm just lucky that way