What do you use to sight in your new gun/scope combo? How many shots does it usually take you? Do you buy the cheaper scope mounts or solely rely on the more expensive ones? Do you typically use bags with a chair or just wing it with the mirror on your truck? What kind of setup does everyone use when sighting in a gun?

Thanks for the info

2-3 shots

Never go cheap on base and rings. They are the same as the foundation under a building. I have about $200 in base and rings on every rifle.

Bipod on the front, rear bag, prone usually. An improvised bench if necessary.

Bore sight the rifle with a lazor bore it go get it on paper.

Lock it down in the lead sled and fire 2 rounds. Without moving the rifle move the cross hairs to match the holes on the paper. Wala......

Once I get my rifle sighted in using a secure system, lead sled, or some type of vise to hold. Then I will go to the sand bags and shoot free hand, then try off hand compare the results. Off hand varied a lot.
Just my way of doing a sight in.

Best rings and bases I can afford, with blue Lok-tite. Large sandbag up front and back on a concrete table. I set the scope to it's mid-settings, counting up and down both elevation and windage knobs because you never really know where a scope is at when you buy it until you do. I'll put a large target at 25 yards, center point of aim for three controlled shots. If all is well with the scope and mounts I should have a workable group somewhere. Adjust, three more shots. Maybe adjust again and three more. After that I go to 100 yards and repeat. Finally I'll "box test" the scope to check for repeatable adjustments. If the scope passes the box test at 100 yards after about 40 rounds, I'll start pushing it to varying ranges.

edited to add: If it fails the box test horribly it gets returned for "failure to return to zero."

edited again to add: Yeah, this method takes a lot of time and quite a bit of ammo, but in the end you'll trust your gear and be all the better for it. Never have been a fan of the "two shot sight in." Trigger time is golden and can't be replaced.

Inexpensive bases and rings don't necessarily translate to cheap.
Warne, for example, are hella stout without breaking the bank.
Leupold Rifleman mounts are both inexpensive and cheap...junk in my opinion.
Seekins Precision is what I use the most and what I default to.

I typically sit at a bench with rear bag and a Rock BR front rest when "sighting in" or developing a load.
2-3 shots is typical to get POI to match POA.
Bipod and rear bag in prone.

You're right about the trigger time. But we're talking about getting one zeroed. I believe it is a learned skill to get one zeroed in as few as two shots. That means the shooter knows how to bore sight, at 100 yards properly, can skip short range zeroing, and knows how to read the correction needed to get the scope shooting center on the next round, at 100 yards.

I don't have as many scopes as I do rifles, but I do have scopes I trust to track properly. So any testing of tracking after zeroing is an ancillary project. I have the benefit of doing that at hundred yard increments to 800 yards. Being that I have scopes I trust, when something is awry I'm fairly certain I've got to adjust MV in the calculator.

Here's a video on what TBar was referring to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiOpQY2ORo4

And yes, don't get cruddy bases and rings. I do have Seekins Precision on one rifle, but that can get expensive if you have an arsenal! A lot of folks here including myself like the Talley brand. I like their model that combines the rings and bases (http://swfa.com/Scopemounts-C746.aspx). Most are in the $40 range, so they are a good deal.

The video that Ag Hunter posted is exactly what I do. Works great every time.

Last one I did was 3 shots. Really 2 but the third to confirm zero. But my technique works only on bolt guns.

I'm like another. Larger paper at 25, a couple shots, adjust, move to 50 repeat, move to 200 after that and finalize zero.

Way I've started doing it is set up a desired range. Pull bolt and look through barrel and back and forth with scope and adjust. Maybe I got lucky but it was within .75" first shot.

The smaller the bore, the more accurate I can be. 30's are tougher than .22 and 6mm. I'm generally within 6-8" at 100, on the first shot. That's good enough.

Let one I did was a 300 win mag. I was very pleased with that.

Yessir, that is very good! I've been within an inch a time or two, but ita not the norm.

Never said I couldn't sight in a rifle in a couple shots. Just not a fan of it.

Your choice, sir.

I look at it like, I got all the lug nuts tight on the first pass, why tighten them again?

I bore sight at 100 through the barrel. Done it with ar's and bolt guns using only the upper on bags with ar's. I sighted in 3 rifles Sunday with 2-3 rounds to dial it in on each. If I have my son/shooting buddy with me I will have him turn the knobs while I look down the barrel. It works.

1) Turn turrets to middle of range on scope.
2) Mount scope using quality rings and bases and use bubble level on top cap to level scope. Another level on piece of flat piece of bar stock inserted where bolt was removed from receiver or somewhere flat on rifle (receiver, rail, etc) - they should match up.
3) At range, Find a small target at 50 yd. With rifle secure look thru bore (where bolt was removed) and center target in bore by eyeballing.
4) With rifle still secure, turn turrets until cross hairs are centered on target. Back and forth looking thru barrel and scope until they match.
From here you should be on the paper at 50 yds. Shoot 2-3, adjust scope, move to 100yds and done. Once you get the hang of it only takes about 5 min to sight in.

Two shot sight in yesterday with the 45-70........

Perfect example of how it is done.

Looks great, but no way I would trust that personally. I'd have to repeat that second shot (the one in the red, right?) at least a couple more times before I'd call it done.