How to Sight in a Crossbow: 5 Steps to Getting Your Eye In

Sighting in a crossbow is different from sighting in a traditional archery bow.

That’s because the mechanics of a crossbow are very different.

Instead of drawing back on your string, you load bolts into your crossbow, pull the trigger, and fire away.

Crossbows don’t have strings to be sighted; instead, they have an adjustment rail for the scope and iron sights.

Sighting in crossbow scopes may seem tricky at first if you have no prior experience with these types of bows, but once you know what you’re doing it won’t take long at all!

Read on to learn how to sight in a crossbow.

What You Will Need

First, let’s go over what you’ll need to make sure that your crossbow is perfectly sighted in. Here’s a quick rundown:

How to sight in a crossbow scope – Video Tutorial

Before you do anything else, start by making sure that your crossbow is sighted in.

To do this, you’ve to make sure that your crossbow is level and that it is facing the same direction as your target.

Then, you’ve to shoot a few practice bolts to make sure that you’re hitting your target.

The goal of these practice shots is to make sure that your crossbow is shooting where it’s aiming.

If you’re not hitting the bullseye, your crossbow needs to be sighted in.

If you did this correctly, your bolts should be hitting near the center of your target.

Now that you have your crossbow sighted in, you want to test it again and make sure that it’s still sighted in.

You don’t want to fine-tune your crossbow again and again as you sight it more and more, so you need to make sure that it’s adjusted properly the first time!

To do this, set up your target again at the same distance as before, and shoot a few more bolts at it.

If your bolts are landing in the same place as before, your crossbow is still sighted in.

If your bolts are hitting a different place on your target, you need to fine-tune your crossbow.

Now that you have tested your crossbow and have determined that it isn’t sighted in, you need to fine-tune it so it is hitting the bullseye.

To do this, you’ll want to remove your bolts from the crossbow and unscrew the adjustment rail.

Now, you’ll have to look at your crossbow to see which way the adjustment rail should be turned.

Most often, if your bolts are hitting off to the left, they’ll need to be turned to the left.

If they need to be turned to the right, your crossbow is still sighted in.

You want to fine-tune your crossbow until your bolts are hitting the bullseye.

Now that your crossbow is sighted in and hitting the bullseye, it’s time to adjust your bolts so that they’re landing in the same place.

To do this, you’ll first want to take your bolts and string them onto your crossbow.

Then, you need to pull back on your bow sight and sight your bolts in.

You’ve to adjust your bolts until they’re hitting the same place as your crossbow.

Once they do, they’re sighted in and ready to go!

Now that you’ve sighted in your crossbow and are certain that it is properly sighted in, it’s time to make sure that you’ve done everything right.

To do this, shoot a few more practice bolts at your target and make sure that they are landing in the same place.

If they are, you’ve done a good job sighting in your crossbow!

Once you’ve confirmed that your crossbow is perfectly sighted in, it’s time to put it to use!

Conclusion

Sighting in a crossbow doesn’t have to be tricky; it just takes a little bit of know-how.

Yes, it’s true that crossbows don’t have the same strings as traditional bows, but that doesn’t mean that sighting a crossbow is difficult.

Once you know what you’re doing and which parts of your crossbow you need to adjust, sighting in a crossbow is easy as pie!

And once you’ve sighted in your crossbow, you’ll be able to shoot accurately and precisely—plus you’ll have loads of fun shooting with your buddies!