what distances do you zero your hunting rifle?

[thomis]

I'm gearing up to do some mid to long range target shooting with my two hunting rifles (.243 Win and .308 Win), and testing some different handloads. I've been playing a lot with one of the ballistics calculators. I really like a 25 yard zero for both guns/calibers. It boils down to this: at the "highest" part of the arc, there is only 3 or 4" to account for (above the arc, that is). The return to "zero" is probably at the extent of what I'll be shooting at. If I did have to shoot at a deer at 300 or 400, there is less holdover than if I had it zeroed at 100. For instance, look at load "L" in the .243 table. Load L has a 25 yard zero and comes back to zero at about 220 yards. At 300 yards, there is a 6.7" holdover.

If the same load was zeroed at 100 yards, the trajectory is closer to the line of sight out to about 175 yards, but at 300 the holdover is twice as much. I guess its just a personal preference and depends on what distance you shoot most. I'm interested in seeing where you hunters zero your rifles.

 

[rcmodel]

I zero most calibers 1.5" to 2.0" high at 100 yards depending on caliber.

A 25 yard zero is not precise enough to sight in a rifle for long range accuracy.
If you are off 1/4" from exact center of the group at 25 yards, you will be off 4" at 400 yards.

And thats a clean miss on a Prairie dog or crow.

rc

 

[Captcurt]

If I am hunting out west where I might have a long shot I sight my rifle to shoot 3" high at 100 yards. Be it my 270, 257 Weatherby, 30-06 or 300WSM. That puts me around 4" high at 200, dead on around 275 and 8" to 14" low at 400. With the exception of the 257, my maximum range without holdover is 325 yds. There is very little difference in maximum pointblank range between calibers when sighted in like this.

 

[MCgunner]

250 yard zero, can go 275 and stay below 3" high on the 7 mag. I think point blank range is zeroed at around 273 IIRC, but I just zero my .257 Roberts, my .308, and my 7 at 250 yards and they're all somewhere just over 2" high at 100. Works for me. I don't hunt out west anymore, but still seems like a good zero range for these calibers. I shoot bullets with boat tails, good BCs.

I zero my .50 inline at 100 with a BIG 385 grain Minie.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I have my .243 zeroed at 250 yards with an 87gr. Hornady VMAX at a speed averaging 3382 fps. At 300 yards I am dropping about 3" and in between 0 and 250 yards the bullet does not rise over line of sight more than 2.5".
Fore reference in an antelope hunt last year in Wyoming I had to dial 5.5 minutes for a 600 yard shot, at 310 I aimed level with it's back and dropped right into the top end of its shoulder and at 175 I was slightly higher impact than what I aimed.

If you are only getting 29XX out of an 87-85 gr bullet you are not getting near the trajectory performance out of a .243 that is possible.

 

[Dr T]

For my hunting rifles with MV between 2000 and 3000 fps, I use 3" high at 100 yards.

For example, for a 25-06, this equates to a 275 yd. zero.

My rule of thumb is that, for ballistic coefficients of greater than 2.5, the point blank range is

PBR in yards = (MV in fps)/10.

Example, if the MV is 2800 fps, my personal maximum point blank range will be 280 yards.

While this is not exact, it is close enough for the field conditions I encounter in West Texas.

 

[Jesse 8]

What others have said. About 2in. High at 100yds.

 

[theriflespeaks1863]

As a result of location-

I sight in all of my rifles at 50 yds, with the point of impact being dead on at that range. Here in the Wisconsin northwoods and the Portage/Columbia County area where I hunt, there are very few areas where I even have the opportunity to take a shot beyond 150 yards. I hunt mainly with a MN 91/30, so all I have are irons, anyway. I can make consistent hits out to 200 yards with a decent rest, and not have to use any kentucky windage at all. Looking at some of the ballistics charts for the 203gr. rounds I use, I've determined that the arc is still on the rise even at that distance, and given that it is a 2 MOA or better rifle, I have good insurance of a hit IF I need to reach out. I don't know the FPS or ft. lb. energy on those rounds at the given ranges, but I do know that the two deer I shot this season didn't need much convincing. Neither of them ran more than 15 yards post-impact. A good solid hit in the vitals pretty much cleans them out.

The woods and brush around here is so thick though that most of your shots come with stalking or ambushing at ranges less than 100 yards. My longest shot thus far has been at about 60 or 70 yards. If you see a deer out at a longer range, it is- by rule of thumb- generally in a place that makes retrieval more trouble than it's worth...think mud deeper than knee level and briars over your head.

-Chris

 

[baz]

A 25 yard zero is not precise enough to sight in a rifle for long range accuracy.
If you are off 1/4" from exact center of the group at 25 yards, you will be off 4" at 400 yards.

Ditto that. 25 yards should only be used to get on paper. I use the ballistic calculators zero'd to 200 yards. Two rifles I have been sighting (one .223, the other .308) both are about -1.0" at 25 yards, and about +1.5" at 100 yards, for a 200 yard zero. I'll use that info to get on paper at 25 yards, but then put the target at 100 yards and sight it in for about 1.5" high at 100 yards. I say "about" because I'm just aiming for "minute of bad guy" or "minute of deer/hog" accuracy shooting offhand, I'm not trying to shoot 1" groups. If I'm in the 6" ring at 100 yards offhand, I'm happy, though I try to be a tad high at that range so I'd still be in the 6" ring at 200 yards. Generally speaking, if zero'd in for 200, holding dead on should be inside the 6" ring for anything out to 200, and a bit beyond. I'm happy with that.

 

[thomis]

This is interesting. I will have a lot to learn in a week when I go do this long range shooting.
Birdhunter, the 29xx for the 87 grain bullet is a conservative guess. Its a Rem Mohawk 600 (18" bbl) So I'm not expecting full velocity. But I'm taking the chronograph to the bean field so I'll get good numbers then.

 

[JimKirk]

Point Blank Range ... depending on what game I'm hunting as to what size target size I use for the PBR.

 

[gspn]

3 inches hight at 100 yds with my 7 mm mag. The longest shot I'll see on the farms I hunt is 300 yards.

 

[Captcurt]

The 3" high works great for long range but to tell the truth, most of my shots here at home are under 75 yards. I kill deer regularly with a revolver. I love to shoot long range but after bowhunting for nearly 50 years I have a tendency to set up too close.

 

[hey_poolboy]

My .22-250 is zero @ 235yds. Gives me very little hold over out to 300. At 425 I'm dropping aprox. 20".

Sent from my Flying Jelly Razr using tapatalk 2.

 

[oldpapps]

For the weapons that are suitable, I go with dead on at 100 yards. Don't get to hunt much more than paper anymore.

You list your 600 as having an 18 inch barrel. I thought they were all 18 1/2 inches.

FYI:
The same loading fired from a Remington 600, 18 1/2 inch, in .308 Springfield and a 22 inch barreled M1A. Muzzle velocity taken at 10 feet clocked a spread of 209 FPS. Granted this was just one test but it could be a trend.

 

[MCgunner]

The concept of point blank range is, you can hold dead on the animal all the way to PBR and the bullet is never over or under, for deer i use 3". So, no hold over or under is needed to PBR unless you're shooting uphill or downhill. So, even though my .308 is about 2.3" high at 100, hits zero at 250, and is PBR just under 300 yards, it shoots flat and will kill a deer at 25 yards or 250 yards with a dead on hold.

I don't see the benefit of zeroing a long range rifle at 100 yards just because where you hunt, that's as far as you think you'll ever need to shoot. I can zero at 250, hold dead to rights at 100, and kill the animal just as dead as you did. My bullet hole will only be a little over 2" higher than POA at that range on a 12" or so kill zone.

So, whether I get a hunt out in the hill country where I might get a 300 yard shot or I'm hunting behind my house in the thick woods where 50 yards is about it, my 250 yard sight in on the .308 works for me.

 

[thomis]

yes it is 18.5" I wasn't being very specific I guess. its a .243 by the way so comparing to the M1 doesn't work I don't think, or not that close at least.
Reckon I never considered a 250 zero cause dang, thats a long way to sight in.
I'll give it a try

 

[ngnrd]

For my 270, I zero at about 2" high at 100 yards. That should allow zero holdover to about 275 yards for a 6" kill zone, which is as far as I would ever really want to take a shot on game. Even a light 10-mph breeze will push a 140gr AccuBond off target almost 6" at that distance. And I'm just not that good at judging wind downrange.

 

[rcmodel]

I never considered a 250 zero cause dang, thats a long way to sight in.

You sight in at closer range to get on paper at 25 yards.
And then get a zero at further range like 100 yards.

Then you refine that zero at 200 - 250 yards with the actual ballistics of the load you are using.

You just can't do that with a spread sheet or ballistics program.

rc

 

[watergun]

Range

Sight in at 200 yards. At 25 yards shoot a 3-shot group. It should be dead on or 1/4'' low. Cut the 25 yard group out and put it in your wallet. If your scope happens to get off on the hunt it is easier to resight at 25 than 200. I have used this method for years.

 

[MCgunner]

I sight my rifle in at 100. I've verified the ballistics program's accuracy at longer ranges. The computer works pretty well, but you have to feed it the right variables, like BC, which changes with altitude and temperature and humidity. I ain't even going to go in to crosswinds or inclination of the shot, etc, etc.

So, you see, shooting at long range is iffy. I don't have a place to practice beyond 300 yards. I limit my range to NO MORE than 400 on the perfect day/shot. But, I've only taken a couple of deer past 300 in my life. I'm not the sniper type. I pack light and don't have a spotter.

 

[DUNEZRUNNER]

I sight in my .264 win mag and my 300 wby mag to be dead on at 400 yds. This way I always hold a low up to the 400 yrd shot and if over 400 yds I have time to range the exact distance and figure my hold over. The 22-250 gets set up to be dead on at 300 yds.

 

[tc54]

3" high at 100 yards for 223/270/30-06. been using this since the early 70's. works for me.

one thing about a ballistics calculator - they give one a good "idea" as to where the bullet will strike, but one should actually shoot the rifle at known distances to ensure that is where that particular rifle places that particular bullet. change one variable (rifle, bullet, distance) and you back to guessing.

best of luck using whatever means of measurement you select.

 

[PonyKiller]

Slightly different application here, but same idea. I sight my mossberg slug gun at just under 3" high at 100. Which zero's it right about 160yds, and leaves it 3" low at 180yds.
Which for jersey standards is a very long shot, which leaves it aim and squeeze lethal for pretty much any big game hunting i could do in this state, we do have black bear hunting as well.

 

[jmr40]

With most modern rifles I zero dead on at 100 yards. I don't like the tradtional 2" high at 100 because even in the wide open Western states virtually all shots will be taken between 50-150 yards. With a 2" high 100 yard zero your bullet will impact 2-3" higher than your point of aim at the ranges you will most likely shoot. This makes it far more difficult to account for tree limbs, brush etc between you and the target. Remembering to aim low is just something not natural and unlikely to be remembered when you have to make that quick snap shot.

With a 100 yard zero the bullet will be no more than 1/2" above or below your crosshairs from 50-150 yards. The ranges where 90+% of all shots are taken. If you need to take a longer shot the difference out to 300 yards is neglible, you can still hold on hair with either a 100 or 200 yard zero. With a 200 yard zero bullets from my guns will be 6"-7" low at 300 yards, with a 100 yard zero they will be 8"-10" low. If I am smart enough to account for 6" of bullet drop, I can figure out 2" more. With either I'd just put the crosshairs on the backbone.

Beyond 300 yards a rangefinder and scope with either long range dots or turrets takes the guess work out and keeping a 100 yard zero is much simpler at closer ranges.