scope zero and longer range?

[Axis II]

Hello all! I hope everyone is having a good summer? I don't get on here much anymore but i need some help tonight. I made a range card last summer which disappeared when i swapped out stocks on my 223rem. I had several coyotes come out at 300yards the other night and fired about 3-4 rounds and doesn't appear I touched a single one. I adjusted my scope turrets up about 3-4'' figuring 1.5'' with 100yard zero puts you on at 200yards. We are heading back out tonight and i was doing a little research to see just how far off i really was and one source says 223rem 55gr FMJ factory 200 yard zero to hit something 300yards you need 7.7'' of elevation adjustment. Another source which comes from the local club that does 300yard rifle matches says 100yard zero=3.5'' at 300yards.

Does that 7.7 seem just a hair off to you guys? If i remember correctly it was about 3.5-4'' hold over for 300yards. I am shooting a 55gr BT at 3200fps. 1-9 twist 22'' barrel.

Thanks for any input.

I should also add im just trying to see where its at on paper but we cannot shoot a ton of rounds out there so just 4 rounds to see where it hits 100-300yards.

 

[69Precision]

7.7” low at 300 with a 200 yd zero sounds about right.
You absolutely need to shoot your rifle at the ranges you plan to shoot animals at. The numbers on the box give you a general idea, but if you want to hit coyotes in the field at 300 yards,you need to know exactly where your gun shoots. Certainly 300 yards is doable even for the average person, but only if you know you and your rifle are up to it.
If you can only shoot 4 rounds that may or may not be enough to get the job done. In that scenario I’d shoot a round at 25 to make sure you’re on paper. 1 at 100 yards to make sure you are shooting high by the right amount for a 200 yard zero. Then 2 rounds at 300 to see how close you are to the theoretical ballistics. The best way to be good at shooting 300 yards is to shoot a lot at 300 yards.

 

[taliv]

at closer ranges your sight height over bore has a lot to do with it. so you should specify. but if you're talking an AR and same height as the standard irons, then 8" is about right at 300

 

[243winxb]

 

[Axis II]

View attachment 795732

Forgive my ignorance on this one but on your chart where it says "come up (MOA) is this clicks or inches on the scope?

 

[Axis II]

7.7” low at 300 with a 200 yd zero sounds about right.
You absolutely need to shoot your rifle at the ranges you plan to shoot animals at. The numbers on the box give you a general idea, but if you want to hit coyotes in the field at 300 yards,you need to know exactly where your gun shoots. Certainly 300 yards is doable even for the average person, but only if you know you and your rifle are up to it.
If you can only shoot 4 rounds that may or may not be enough to get the job done. In that scenario I’d shoot a round at 25 to make sure you’re on paper. 1 at 100 yards to make sure you are shooting high by the right amount for a 200 yard zero. Then 2 rounds at 300 to see how close you are to the theoretical ballistics. The best way to be good at shooting 300 yards is to shoot a lot at 300 yards.

I planned on shooting at the range before I hunted but I found my chart I made with turret numbers. I was easily able to make head shots at 150-200yards (2 chucks) with my adjustments so i tried 300yards and my spotter said it looked as if it went thru the chuck and hit dirt but the chuck came back out moments later.

 

[243winxb]

I am a little confused also. I think the MOA is the adjustment made from 200 yards zero to be dead on at 300 yds? 1.8 moa/300 yds. https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/

My Savage Axis 223 is 1.5 inch high @100 yards. For a woodchuck standing up at 300 yds , i see a bit of daylight under the cross hairs to fire. 55gr Nosler.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

It should work depending on your rifle. I have a pre64 30/30 that set 3 inches high at 100 yards and using 150 cor-lock rounds puts meat in the freezer at 300.

 

[jmr40]

Stop guessing. Shoot the gun, zero at 100 and then calculate the drops. THEN actually shoot at the range to verify the drops before you take it hunting. The ballistic calculators are pretty accurate if you enter accurate data, but I still like to verify.

What type of rifle and scope? AR scopes are mounted so high over the bore that you have to take that into account when you enter data into a ballistic calculator. Scopes with multiple aiming points are pretty accurate too, as are scopes with dials that can be twisted. You can even twist dials on conventional scopes by removing the caps, but you have to know where you are hitting to begin with. A 100 yard zero creates the fewest problems. Zeroing at longer ranges can result in hitting high at moderate ranges and don't really help at longer ranges. I suspect you are missing high right now.

 

[Axis II]

Stop guessing. Shoot the gun, zero at 100 and then calculate the drops. THEN actually shoot at the range to verify the drops before you take it hunting. The ballistic calculators are pretty accurate if you enter accurate data, but I still like to verify.

What type of rifle and scope? AR scopes are mounted so high over the bore that you have to take that into account when you enter data into a ballistic calculator. Scopes with multiple aiming points are pretty accurate too, as are scopes with dials that can be twisted. You can even twist dials on conventional scopes by removing the caps, but you have to know where you are hitting to begin with. A 100 yard zero creates the fewest problems. Zeroing at longer ranges can result in hitting high at moderate ranges and don't really help at longer ranges. I suspect you are missing high right now.

Oh i plan to do all of that. I forgot to mention the reason I'm trying to get somewhat close is we usually shoot long range where we deer hunt so we don't like to sit out there and blow a bunch of rounds off so last time we printed the calculator, adjusted the scope to what the calculator said and fired. If it was off we would then adjust and fire and now we were where we needed to be. I'm just trying to get it very close to hitting the target so i don't go slinging a bunch of rounds and get the deer spooked.

Savage axis 2 22'' 1-9 HB 223rem with 55gr Nosler varmageddon BT and 25gr of benchmark. Vortex crossfire 2 6-18-44 AO, Burris medium zee rings and weaver 1pc base. The scope does have the multiple aiming points. Last time i had it out farther than 100yards 1.5'' in elevation put me dead on at 200yards.

 

[otisrush]

Forgive my ignorance on this one but on your chart where it says "come up (MOA) is this clicks or inches on the scope?

An MOA is a Minute of Angle. It's a way of measuring and speaking about the "cone" of accuracy that is created as distances get farther and farther.

"Come Ups" are how much you need to change the elevation setting on your scope, relative to where it is sighted in, to be on target at a desired distance. In the posted chart the scope is sighted in for 200 yds. (Hence, the Come Up for that yardage is 0.....meaning no scope changes need to be made to be dead on at 200 yds.....since that's what it's sighted in for.)

If you want to be dead on at 100 yds you have to adjust the scope *down* 1.2 MOA. If you want to be dead on at 300 yards you have to Come Up 5.6 MOA. Both of those up and down changes are relative (starting from) it being set at a 200 yd zero.

How many clicks are required to achieve those MOA adjustments are dependent on the scope. Many (most?) scopes have 1 Click = 1/4 MOA. But I've seen scopes that have 1 Click = 1/8 MOA. That's why, in these kinds of conversations, it's best to talk MOA, since that is a universal term. Then the specs of your specific scope will dictate how many clicks that becomes.

Roughly speaking (not entirely accurate but good enough for most folks), 1 MOA = 1" at 100 yds, 2" at 200 yds, 3" at 300 yds, etc. Hence....the use of the word "cone" at the beginning of this reply.

It can be a little geeky at first but once you familiarize yourself with it the concept works great. Just today I was at the range wanting to shoot a steel plate at 300 yds. I used my ballistics program (where I'd put caliber, bullet weight and muzzle velocity in), it told me the drop in elevation over the 300 yards. I dialed the point of impact up 4 MOA (because that's what the chart showed). I held the crosshairs on the plate......PING!

OR