What distance do you sight?

[Scapegoat]

Exactly. I wasn't clear. With ring 5 of the nine and zeroed 1cm high with the bullet I use (from the zeiss tables) the markers on the ring for 150, 200, 250 etc etc to 600 all land the bullet exactly on poa. No holdover/under etc Just dial in and shoot I am a stalker too and some of the ground very arable with no cover will require 300m shots with no mistakes. Ditto for Chamois at 400/450m. Works perfectly on the Rem Mag I wouldn't dream of that distance with the .275 Rigby, it just isn't up to it, but great for my woodland stalking. End of day we all zero and shoot with whatever we are most comfortable with.

S

The thing is so many people say they are "zeroed (insert distance of choice) high at 100." It's clear from their next statement that this is done to exploit the flattest part of the trajectory of the bullet, and as long as you know where the bullet actually strikes the point of aim (ie where the crosshairs actually sit on the target) then it's a useful setup.

However, I'm not necessarily convinced that it hasn't simply become "received wisdom", and I've heard people advise a novice to zero an inch high at a hundred, "Cos that's what I've always done lad". You see it every time anyone ever asks a zeroing question, especially on Facebook. What they aren't telling the novice, and I suspect often don't know themselves, is WHY??!!

As I tried to point out, you need to know where your round is going to strike at any given range. A few minutes with a ballistic calc will show you that a round, say from my .243 with a muzzle velocity of 3700 fps, a weight of 58 grains and a BC of .250 and a scope to bore height of 1.95" will produce a curved trajectory that will climb to the zero point, climb above it, peak, then drop back down to a secondary zero, then drop away below the POA by a predictable amount over increasing distance. You can experiment on the calculator to give different zero ranges, all other variables remaining constant.

Say I then decide to use the "point blank" method, where I decide that an acceptable margin of error is an inch above or an inch below where the crosshairs sit on the target (POA), I then look at which zero will give me a max height of one inch above the POA, and note where that zero drops back to a secondary zero. It so happens that a 50 yard zero gives me 1.2" high at 150 yards, and back on zero at about 200. It drops to an inch below around 225 yards, so there is my Point Blank.... I don't need any holdover or holdunder. That's about perfect for foxing. .... I rarely encounter them any further away, and anything up to the edge of the field is point and shoot.

SO now I can go and zero my rifle at 50 yards. The group is tight, and can be precisely adjusted using 1/4 MOA clicks to reliably strike the absolute centre of my aiming mark/target. I'll then set up a target at 150 and 200 to confirm, but the zero is 50 yards, not 1.2 inches high at 150 yards.

 

[sh1kar]

Yes indeed. In the end if one is taking shots out to say 300m the only way to be certain is to shoot 100-300 targets at 50m intervals and see exactly what the bullet is doing and the real world clicks required. I don't mind holding over at say 200m but after that judging holdover on a small Roe target for say 300m gets tricky to judge it right and I would rather do the clicks and let the scope do the work

S

 

[sh1kar]

Yes indeed. In the end if one is taking shots out to say 300m the only way to be certain is to shoot 100-300 targets at 50m intervals and see exactly what the bullet is doing and the real world clicks required. I don't mind holding over at say 200m but after that judging holdover on a small Roe target for say 300m gets tricky to judge it right and I would rather do the clicks and let the scope do the work

S

Was aimed at Tulloch. Scapegoat we are saying much the same thing

S

 

[nobber]

1 inch high at 100yds, bang on at 40 yd’s and bang on again at 200 yds

 

[Scapegoat]

Was aimed at Tulloch. Scapegoat we are saying much the same thing

S

I possibly clicked the wrong post to reply to!

 

[Scapegoat]

1 inch high at 100yds, bang on at 40 yd’s and bang on again at 200 yds

Excellent!

 

[Heym SR20]

Don't disagree with the bang on at 50m zero. But you have to be pretty sure it is bang on. One of my rifles was shooting a wee bit high at 50. When I checked it at 100 it was quite a bit higher than I wanted.

Edit - just looking at the data tables for the ammo RWS 7x65R with 140 grain HIT, not surprised by the above.

For the 100m zero its 0.8cm below at 50, 2.8 cm low at 150 and 9.6cm low at 200m.

For the Most recomended distance of 188m zero, it is 1.2 cm high at 50, 4cm high at 100, 3cm high at 150m and 1.6cm below at 200m.

I was probably 2cm high at 50 so not at all surprised that it about 3 inches high at 100 and was just missing over the top on a clay sized gong.

 

[bogtrotter]

I am a stalker so most shots are under 150 yards certainly so for clients might stretch it a bit myself but even then not much more than a little over 200, so no need for dialling in, no need for fancy scopes ,I do have a variable but could do
all I need with a decent fixed power and did for many years .
So an inch high at a 100 yards is more or less spot on for stalking.

 

[Scapegoat]

Don't disagree with the bang on at 50m zero. But you have to be pretty sure it is bang on. One of my rifles was shooting a wee bit high at 50. When I checked it at 100 it was quite a bit higher than I wanted.

Edit - just looking at the data tables for the ammo RWS 7x65R with 140 grain HIT, not surprised by the above.

For the 100m zero its 0.8cm below at 50, 2.8 cm low at 150 and 9.6cm low at 200m.

For the Most recomended distance of 188m zero, it is 1.2 cm high at 50, 4cm high at 100, 3cm high at 150m and 1.6cm below at 200m.

I was probably 2cm high at 50 so not at all surprised that it about 3 inches high at 100 and was just missing over the top on a clay sized gong.

Close enough .....

 

[lochty]

1cm high at 50 metres with Winchester 140gr in 7mm 08 is bang on at 160m. For most stalking shots out the hill, no allowance is needed.

 

[mike243]

I zero my .243 initially dead on at a measured 35 yards, then check again at 150 where it should be between 2" and 2.5" high and then 6" low at 300, that gives me a point blank max of 275ish should I ever need to shoot that far, follow up shot only, I periodically check just at my 35 yard target, if I have given the rifle a proper clout I will go to the 150 yard mark, good old farmer has stuffed a round bail that got saturated with muck heap juice into a hedge for me to use as a backstop, although the rifle has never lost zero even after I fell out of a high seat onto it, but I do still check every now and again

Mike

 

[Kjf]

1 " high at 100yds on both my 308 and 30 06

Kjf

 

[geordieh]

The thing is so many people say they are "zeroed (insert distance of choice) high at 100." It's clear from their next statement that this is done to exploit the flattest part of the trajectory of the bullet, and as long as you know where the bullet actually strikes the point of aim (ie where the crosshairs actually sit on the target) then it's a useful setup.

However, I'm not necessarily convinced that it hasn't simply become "received wisdom", and I've heard people advise a novice to zero an inch high at a hundred, "Cos that's what I've always done lad". You see it every time anyone ever asks a zeroing question, especially on Facebook. What they aren't telling the novice, and I suspect often don't know themselves, is WHY??!!

As I tried to point out, you need to know where your round is going to strike at any given range. A few minutes with a ballistic calc will show you that a round, say from my .243 with a muzzle velocity of 3700 fps, a weight of 58 grains and a BC of .250 and a scope to bore height of 1.95" will produce a curved trajectory that will climb to the zero point, climb above it, peak, then drop back down to a secondary zero, then drop away below the POA by a predictable amount over increasing distance. You can experiment on the calculator to give different zero ranges, all other variables remaining constant.

Say I then decide to use the "point blank" method, where I decide that an acceptable margin of error is an inch above or an inch below where the crosshairs sit on the target (POA), I then look at which zero will give me a max height of one inch above the POA, and note where that zero drops back to a secondary zero. It so happens that a 50 yard zero gives me 1.2" high at 150 yards, and back on zero at about 200. It drops to an inch below around 225 yards, so there is my Point Blank.... I don't need any holdover or holdunder. That's about perfect for foxing. .... I rarely encounter them any further away, and anything up to the edge of the field is point and shoot.

SO now I can go and zero my rifle at 50 yards. The group is tight, and can be precisely adjusted using 1/4 MOA clicks to reliably strike the absolute centre of my aiming mark/target. I'll then set up a target at 150 and 200 to confirm, but the zero is 50 yards, not 1.2 inches high at 150 yards.

At "About" 200 so you don't know exactly either

 

[J111]

View attachment 125219

Close enough .....

I reckon you cropped out the rest of the shots on that group!

 

[J111]

What distance do you sight your deer rifle in for and why? I sight my 7x57 and 30-06 in about +2" @ 100yds, and dead on @200yds. that makes me about -4" @ 250yds and -8" @ 300yds. It's 2" Point Blank Range is around 240yds. with this, it's easy to figure where to aim at out to 300yds. capt david

Personally I zero at 100m and then come up 0.3mils for near enough a 150m zero on my deer rifle.

 

[foxdropper]

I zero my .243 initially dead on at a measured 35 yards, then check again at 150 where it should be between 2" and 2.5" high and then 6" low at 300, that gives me a point blank max of 275ish should I ever need to shoot that far, follow up shot only, I periodically check just at my 35 yard target, if I have given the rifle a proper clout I will go to the 150 yard mark, good old farmer has stuffed a round bail that got saturated with muck heap juice into a hedge for me to use as a backstop, although the rifle has never lost zero even after I fell out of a high seat onto it, but I do still check every now and again

Mike

How does one fall out a high seat mate ,I’m intrigued

 

[mike243]

How does one fall out a high seat mate ,I’m intrigued

I sat up there too long and my legs went numb, when I tried to climb down I had a tough of rubber leg and fell about 8 feet onto my arse and rifle, as you can imagine I dont speak of it much and I'm just glad nobody was there to see it

Mike

 

[Scapegoat]

At "About" 200 so you don't know exactly either

If anything a smidge high, perhaps 1/4 MOA at 200. But it was a slightly downhill shot, so I'm happy I know what it's doing at 200.

 

[Scapegoat]

I reckon you cropped out the rest of the shots on that group!

I had to. I didn't have any coins to place strategically "for comparison".

 

[kenbro]

Exactly this^^^^^
50m isn't an option on the poll though.
Less errors creeping in at that range.

I’d say, more errors creeping in if sighting at 50. Small errors looking pdg at 50 will be magnified when the bullet gets to 100. So, I’d say you get a better idea where the centre of your group is if you sight at 100+.
Regards,Ken.
PS. Better still if you can then go to 200 and see where your group centre is.