If you have just bought a new rifle and you are lucky enough to be able to visit the National Shooting Centre at Bisley then your next port of call should be the Range Office, where you should ask for a Zero target for a 303 and they will give you a card that looks like this:

This card will only work on the zero range because the zero range is only 71 feet 7 inches long and the card is scaled to match that distance.

There is a range register in the range office in which you have to enter your details before using the zero range.

It can be quite busy when there are competitions on.

Note; These instructions are intended only for use with a .303 Lee Enfield service rifle, but 7.62 and 5.56/.223 cards are available.  It is intended for use with standard factory ammunition; hand loaded ammunition may give inaccurate results.

You should first boresight your rifle by removing the bolt and checking that when you look down the bore you can see the target, and then, without moving the rifle, check that the target is also visible through the sights.

Then load the rifle and adopt the prone position, ideally using a rest for support.

If you have sights that include windage adjustment, make sure that this is centred or set to "0".

Set your rearsight to the range of your choice.

The black semi-circle at the bottom of the target card is your aiming point, you place the tip of your foresight blade at the base of the semi-circle (in the same way that you would with a traditional "Tin Hat" target).

When you fire a shot the sight setting and the POI should correspond to the setting in yards on the left hand scale on the card.

It is NOT a good idea to start with your rearsight set at 200 if this is the first time you have done this with a new rifle, the end result if you do this is often an entirely obliterated aiming point which makes the rest of the exercise somewhat harder.

400 or even 500 is better, I know we seldom shoot at those ranges, but setting your foresight for that and using those points means that we can make a horrible mess on the card higher up, away from the marks that really matter to us most of the time (200 and 300).

Adjust (or change) your foresight blade until your shots are central and the POI on the card matches the range set on the rearsight, then wind your rearsight down to see if it is also accurate on 300 and 200.  Once it is, then it is time to take the rifle to the 100 metre firing point and fine tune it (see the previous page).