Sighters
Also: Sighting Shots
Warm-up or practice shots permitted before a scored string so the shooter can confirm zero and current conditions.
Sighters are non-scoring shots that the rules of many disciplines allow before a record string, giving the shooter a chance to verify the rifle’s zero and read the current wind and light before any point counts. They let the competitor fold the moment’s conditions into a working correction rather than guessing on the first round that matters.
Sighters are also where a shooter checks the cold-bore-shot behavior and confirms that recorded dope still tracks for the day’s temperature and altitude. Watching where the sighting shots group tells the shooter whether to adjust the elevation or hold before committing to the scored sequence, which is why experienced competitors treat them as data rather than warm-up noise.