2" high@100

[Hoshua1]

I read a blurb about some guys kill zone theory and I thought I'd bounce it off you guys. He's got it figured out so that his rifle is 3.5" high at 100 and 3.5 low at 300 I think. He doesn't entertain any real hold-over when he deer hunts because his kill zone is 7" between 100-300 yards. He more or less points and shoots. I have a nice wil dot scope and I have done a little work measuring ranges. My gun likes the cheap stuff and so do I . Fed PowShock 100gr .243 . I've been looking at the ballistics chart on the Fed site but I feel confused. I'd like to be able to embrace this theory pertainig to my rifle but within a 75-250 yard range of field. Please advise. I am curenntly zeroed at 2" high @100.THNX

 

[Geno]

You can do this with any sighting system...reddot, scope or even iron sights. A .300 Wea. Mag with 150 factory-loads is basically good to a hold of 375 yards with no adjusting when zeroed at 300 yards. If you really hop-up your loads you can stretch that range to close to 400 yards. There are softwares that calculate this for you.

When I hunted with .257 Wea. Mag and .300 Wea. Mag I zeroed at 300, aimed the crosshair off the top of the back at 400 yards and at 500 yards I aimed off the top of the back with the duplex post's tip. Longest shot I took was 525 yards. All the same, if you plan to take what we call bean-field shots, you have to know the trajectory a and how much power you have remaining.

 

[bearmgc]

Best way to cheack out the drop is to actually shoot at the ranges you expect to hunt and at the maximum range you feel comfortable at. I've never completely relied on ballistics for hunting situations, because I want a clean kill. Are you going to be hunting with this rifle, or is this just range practice?

 

[esheato]

Google "point blank range" and you'll find out everything you want to know.

Ed

Edit: Calculate your PBR here

 

[dm1333]

If you have access to a longer range range (that sounds kind of stupid) you can check it yourself. Put out 100 yard zeroing targets at 100, 200 and 300 yards and then aim for the bull on each and see where your shots hit. I'm still breaking in a .308 but I'm going to zero 2 inches high at 100 which should put me 2 inches low at 200 and then test it at the 200 yard range. I don't see me taking shots over 200 yards where I am going to hunt this year.

 

[DMK]

Ah, the Point Blank Range method

My gun likes the cheap stuff and so do I . Fed PowShock 100gr.

I'm assuming that you are shooting 243?

I'd like to be able to embrace this theory pertainig to my rifle but within a 75-250 yard range of field. Please advise. I am curenntly zeroed at 2" high @100.THNX

According to my PCB ballistics software, Federal .243 PowerShock 100gr. SP (and fudging a bit using a Hornady SP bullet with a .381 BC and Federal's spec of 2960fps at the muzzle) should give you approximately +/- 2" out to 239 yards (that's a 202 yards zero or 1.9" high at 100 yards). The highest point is 1.9", you'd drop to -2.7 at 250 yards, -4.7" at 275 and 7" low at 300 yards.

If you zero at 221 yards (2.5" high at 100 yards or 1" high at 200 yards) then you'd have approximately +/-2.5" out to 263 yards. You'd be 2.4" high at 225 yards, 1.7" low at 250 yards, 3.5" low at 275 and 5.7" low at 300.

So it sounds like your current zero is in the ballpark although I'd do the 1" high zero at 200 if it were me.

he's got it figured out so that his rifle is 3.5" high at 100 and 3.5 low at 300 I think.

According to my software and the same bullet data as above, a 253 yard zero (3" high at 100 yards) would give you +/- 3.5" out to 300 yards. It would be 3.3" high at about 335 yards and 3.4" low at 300 yards, dropping to -6" at 325.

 

[Charles S]

DMK excellent post.

I agree that maximum point blank range works for the majority of hunters who take the time to understand it. I use maximum point blank range.

Point blank used to be free ware and that is what I have always used. Although I have toyed with the idea of using the Barnes program it gets really good reviews.

Around here most people just subscribe to the theory that: "I sight it 1 or 2 inches high at a hundred yards and I can shoot to 400 yards." Better yet: "I sight in an inch high at 25 yards so I am 1 inch high at 100 and that is perfect."

Best way to check out the drop is to actually shoot at the ranges you expect to hunt and at the maximum range you feel comfortable at. I've never completely relied on ballistics for hunting situations, because I want a clean kill. Are you going to be hunting with this rifle, or is this just range practice?

Excellent advice!

 

[Jim Watson]

Depending on the O.P.'s reference shooter's caliber, 3.5" high at 100 yards is going to be somewhere near 6" high at the actual midrange vertex of trajectory. Too much. Two inches up at 100, more than that at 160, on at 200 or so, and two inches down at 220 is pretty close for most hunting rifles.
A friend bragged incessantly about his 457 yard shot, but one day he got gabby and told The Rest Of The Story. Seems he ignored the rangefinding feature of his Shepard scope and just popped away til he got lucky and killed the mulie before running out of ammo.

 

[mustanger98]

Here's the ballistic calculator I've been playing with lately.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/index.html

The way I've been figuring it, if my .243Winchester with iron sights is holding a clay bird at 100yds, it'll do it to 200yds. If the bullet's clipping the top of the clay bird at 100yds, it should be good to 300yds.

I'd want to try that on a 300yd range before I tried it on a deer for reasons of hunting ethics and the humane kill. I figure the deer's kill zone to be like a 10" paper plate... keep it on the plate to 300yds and you can make a good humane kill to that distance.

 

[Hoshua1]

Serious THNX. I keep you guys in my back pocket(my top 4 bk.mrks folder) because of the consistant availability of support. You have always delivered with highend/highroad responses. I appreciate it. Sometimes the littlest things hang me up but this thread is helping to make my first hunting rifle(savage 10 in 243) contend with my second . I picked up a Handi Sporter and put a rugged Choate butt stock on it. With a lug bedded, wood forend on it that 30-06 is my favorite rifle to shoulder. It shoots the same make/model ammo as the Savage but I'm sure when my ammo budget allows there is a lot of room to improve. But they're both around 1" inside 200 with synthentic stocks/forend. Great pair. Can't wait to be reloading. Hopfully I'll hunker down and start trying this winter. Got a lot of literature from Gramps. Been reading a lot from different schools. Still pretty heavy but the water will clear eventually. When that comes together I want to invest in a great rifle. Different thread maybe but if you don't mind a quick mention...when it came time to have a shooter. A gun that could handle it. What'd ya want in hand? Right now it's the Savage for me. great rifle. Love the accu T. A little long for my frame but the smith I consult insists the 22" barrel is needed for a full burn. I like the Handi for the close comfort. I think it's only 38 overall. Food for thought. THNX again.

 

[mustanger98]

Different thread maybe but if you don't mind a quick mention...when it came time to have a shooter. A gun that could handle it. What'd ya want in hand? Right now it's the Savage for me. great rifle. Love the accu T.

Well, when I needed my shooter to perform on a deer, the shooter I had in hand was my Winchester 94 in .30-30 (made in 1971) with the Lyman #2 tang sight and 150gr CoreLokts. This combination does the job for me. However, I also have a Savage in .243Winchester w/ AccuTrigger... mine's the Model 11GL (hunter series, left hand).

For either rifle, I set the rear sight so it'll hold a clay pigeon at 100yds. The .30-30'll do to probably 200yds and the .243's probably good to 300yds as I previously mentioned. I've seen what .243'll do on a deer too. I set that AccuTrigger real light so the pull weight don't have so much effect on my sight picture.

 

[Hoshua1]

You're hearing me. Good gun. Glad to have it.

 

[theCZ]

I've never done the sight in high at a certain range, I just spend time shooting at every range I intend to shoot at. With my 223s that happens to be from 25yds (jackrabbits& groundsquirrels) to 350 yards (coyotes). I know that with my handloads and sighted in at 100 I can basically put the crosshairs on a coyote for a heart/lung shot at 200 without having to worry about too much drop. I've known people to do the 2" high at 100 and then never bother to check it. Actually, that's what most people do I think...