How to Sight in a Crossbow | Expert Archery Tips

Knowing how to sight in a bow is a valuable skill for archers of all skill levels. Sighting in your scope ensures that it’s calibrated to accurately match the trajectory of the crossbow and the flight path of the arrow. Naturally, setting up your scope properly allows you to shoot with better precision.

Before getting started, make sure you’re sighting in with the exact arrows you plan to use. You’re going to be calibrating the scope to the specific length, weight, and style of the arrow, so other arrows may not shoot as accurately.

Here’s everything you need to know about the crossbow sight-in process.

Sighting In a Crossbow vs a Compound Bow

It’s important to note that sighting in a crossbow requires a different method than sighting in a compound bow. With a compound bow, you follow the arrow, meaning if your arrow hits to the left of the bullseye, you adjust the scope to the left. Crossbow scopes have adjustment mechanisms that work in the opposite direction like rifle scopes. 

If you have your crossbow scope handy, take a look at it. You should see writing below the cap on the top and the cap on the right. It should have an arrow and a direction followed by a measurement and direction. This information will be your guide during the crossbow sight-in process.

The writing should look something like this (may vary slightly by make and model):

←UP

1 Click = ¼” @ 100 yds

The arrow and direction tell you which direction to turn the adjustment knobs to sight in a bow. Using the example above, turning the knob to the left (counterclockwise) would move the point of impact up. 

Using the same example, each click of the knob would represent a quarter-inch of movement, assuming you’re shooting at 100 yards. This may not always be exactly accurate—the higher quality the scope, the higher the accuracy.

Start at 10 Yards

Now that you know which direction to turn the up-down and left-right knobs, let’s get started with the crossbow sight-in process. It’s best to start at a close distance. 10 yards is ideal because you’re highly unlikely to miss the target. 

Most crossbow scopes have multiple reticles (lines). The top (center) crosshair represents the closest distance you’ll be shooting from, which is typically 20 yards. The lines underneath usually represent 10-yard increments—20 yards, 30 yards, 40 yards, and so on. We’ll go deeper into that later.

Take the Shot

Line up the center crosshair on the bullseye and take the shot. You’re going to use the arrow’s landing position to determine which way to adjust the scope. 

Start with an up and down crossbow sight in. If the arrow hits below the bullseye, you want to adjust the scope up. Using the example above, to adjust the point of impact up, you would turn the knob to the left (counterclockwise).

That’s basically how you sight in a bow. Take another shot, make another adjustment if needed, and repeat until your arrows are landing in the center of the target. Once you’re consistently landing arrows in the center, you can adjust the left-right point of impact.

Adjusting the left-right point of impact works exactly the same way. If your arrows are hitting to the left of the bullseye, you want to adjust the scope to the right. 

Remember: Always follow the crossbow sight in information on the scope. Depending on the scope, you may need to turn the knob LEFT in order to adjust the scope to the RIGHT. For example, if it says ←RIGHT, you would turn the knob left (counterclockwise) to adjust the scope to the right.

Fine-Tune the Yardage

Once you’re satisfied with your accuracy at ten yards, it’s time to set all of the reticles to their respective distances. As mentioned above, most reticles are in increments of 10. However, that figure may not always be 100% accurate. You may find that the arrow hits dead on at 22 yards, 24 yards, 35 yards, and 41 yards, for example.

After we do a crossbow sight in, we write the specific yardages on the scope itself. We recommend memorizing the yardages, but it’s nice to have a quick reference point in case you forget.

Watch Our Instructional Video

We made videos that explain exactly how to sight in a bow. Reading about it can be confusing, so hopefully these visual guides help you to better understand the process.

Crossbow: 

Boost Your Accuracy With a Custom String

Keeping your shots accurate and consistent requires high-quality equipment—the crossbow sight in process isn’t always enough. Upgrading your crossbow strings and cables is a simple and effective way to give your bow a major performance boost, especially if they're old and worn.

Here at 60X, we make bow strings for all types of bows and every archery brand. Our pre-stretched crossbow strings are individually built by Brad Patsy, a multi-world and national archery champion. We offer ready-to-ship strings and cables, or feel free to customize the bow string material and size and choose your favorite custom bow string colors.

If you have any questions about this crossbow sight-in guide, get in touch. Keep exploring our archery blog for more tips and tricks for all skill levels. 

Knowing how to sight in a bow will only take you so far. After all, even the world’s best archers are only as good as their equipment allows. Order your custom crossbow strings today to take your shooting to the next level.