22-250 Zeroing

Roebuck9

Well-Known Member
Hi guys i have just bought a sauer 202 22-250 and because the supplied mounts were rubbish i fitted a picatinny rail and a scope i had with new mounts no problem zeroed in no time. for example a .308 is easier to start at 25 then 50 yards and when you get it on the bull you can go straight onto 100 yds and just a tweek of the elevation turret and your done.
looking at a ballistic chart for 22-250 is there a different distance that you start to zero a scope at as 50yds and 100yds do not seem to be right as for a 308?

i did not like the first scope and have now tried to zero a second scope with a one piece single mount and 1/4 MOA per click turrets now is the problem.
my assumption one MOA is 1ins at 100yds, correct?

i have started got nowhere and went back to and at 30 yds the first shot is 16 ins low and 7ins left, adjust scope for lateral 16 clicks now second shot is16 ins low and 5ins left.

what will i need to adjust the elevation to please to to get me to zero and adjust the lateral turret to get zero at 100yds as i am now running low on ammo?

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
The way I usually zero is to take a shot aiming dead centre of the target then when I have a bullet hole from the shot keep the rifle steady aiming at dead centre and move the cross hairs to to bullet strike.
This should then have your point of aim matching your point of impact, when you move back to 100 if your not starting your zeroing at that distance you may need to adjust your elevation. Hope that makes sense
 
Have you bore-sighted the scope? Take out the bolt, support rifle on bags so you can see the target by looking through the bore. Then - without moving the rifle - look through the scope. If the reticle is off the target adjust it. Look through bore and needed repeat.
 
Hi guys i have just bought a sauer 202 22-250 and because the supplied mounts were rubbish i fitted a picatinny rail and a scope i had with new mounts no problem zeroed in no time. for example a .308 is easier to start at 25 then 50 yards and when you get it on the bull you can go straight onto 100 yds and just a tweek of the elevation turret and your done.
looking at a ballistic chart for 22-250 is there a different distance that you start to zero a scope at as 50yds and 100yds do not seem to be right as for a 308?

i did not like the first scope and have now tried to zero a second scope with a one piece single mount and 1/4 MOA per click turrets now is the problem.
my assumption one MOA is 1ins at 100yds, correct?

i have started got nowhere and went back to and at 30 yds the first shot is 16 ins low and 7ins left, adjust scope for lateral 16 clicks now second shot is16 ins low and 5ins left.

what will i need to adjust the elevation to please to to get me to zero and adjust the lateral turret to get zero at 100yds as i am now running low on ammo?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Ok I will outline how I would do it. So assuming all your mounts etc are fitted correctly and tight.
First I set up a fairly large round target at 50yds. Remove the bolt and set the rifle on bag’s and bipod or just bag’s till I have the target central looking through the bore of the rifle. Without moving the rifle (re-align if you do) move the crosshairs to the centre of the target.
Then you start with your groups at least three rounds. Find the centre of the group and calculate clicks to move (double the hundred yard/m. However I only move one direction either vertical or side to side. Before shooting another group. Then repeat till you are near enough. Then move out to your zero distance. Repeat until you have an acceptable zero.
This can’t be rushed as heating the barrel can affect your group size and for the most part we want cold barrel accuracy.
 
1MOA =1/60th of 1 degree

= 1 inch @100yards (if true) and iron sights are generally 1/4 MOA clicks on a 36” sightbase.

I dont wish to appear to be teaching anyone to suck eggs, but is the scope orientated correctly?

I zeroed my 22-250 straight off at 100yards, no bore sighting. You need to be able to see fall of shot (or spotter can) or have a large target screen.

I would rear bag and rest forend on a bag, not bipod, to zero.

Just check everything and tighten, including whether you need inserts between mount and scope.
 
Hi guys i have just bought a sauer 202 22-250 and because the supplied mounts were rubbish i fitted a picatinny rail and a scope i had with new mounts no problem zeroed in no time. for example a .308 is easier to start at 25 then 50 yards and when you get it on the bull you can go straight onto 100 yds and just a tweek of the elevation turret and your done.
looking at a ballistic chart for 22-250 is there a different distance that you start to zero a scope at as 50yds and 100yds do not seem to be right as for a 308?

i did not like the first scope and have now tried to zero a second scope with a one piece single mount and 1/4 MOA per click turrets now is the problem.
my assumption one MOA is 1ins at 100yds, correct?

i have started got nowhere and went back to and at 30 yds the first shot is 16 ins low and 7ins left, adjust scope for lateral 16 clicks now second shot is16 ins low and 5ins left.

what will i need to adjust the elevation to please to to get me to zero and adjust the lateral turret to get zero at 100yds as i am now running low on ammo?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Hmm. 16 ins low at 30 yards seems a helluva low poi! Not an exact science but that equates to over 4 feet at 100 yards which at 4 clicks to the inch at 100 means that you would in all likelihood run out of adjustment long before you make zero!
This suggests that to me that your scope is not mounted concentrically/right to the bore so I would remove the scope, check mounts are correctly fitted - some need be mounted with the correct mount to the front and rear, if happy centre the scope’s reticles by counting clicks of adjustment then going to the halfway point, remount scope, bore sight as mentioned above and with rifle held firmly (a third hand is useful) adjust reticles to match bore picture, fire a test shot or two then adjust accordingly. If you have that third hand put the crosshairs on the bull you have just shot at then still with the rifle held solidly move the crosshairs to the pou ofbyour test shot. Simples!
The attached extract from Sako will give you good starting point of likely trajectory from the 22-250 and others for comparison.
Good luck.
🦊🦊
33DDD0DF-1608-407D-B34A-DAD5671326FA.webp
 
Also make sure you know which way to turn to increase elevation - most turn anticlockwise for height, a few are ‘right for height’

Should be the manual/online
 
Zero saga latest. took your advice and removed the scope from rail. the single piece mount (make unknown came with scope) seemed good quality but due to what I shall relate would appear to be made in Aisia!!!! by some one who does not mount scopes to rails!!!!!

The mount has 4 cross bolts twice as thick 5mm as the scope ring bolts which do drop part way into the picatinny rail castleations. the castleations are from memory 283mm wide but at each end the land is twice as wide. the 2 end mount bolts were digging into the picatinny rail wide lands so as I was firing a shot the bolts were digging into the picatinny rail and moving the scope. more so at the muzzel end of the picatinny rail. (propriatory german brand from a genuine supplier)

I removed the offending metal from the piccatinny rail and will try to zero again tomorrow. it would have been easier to put on new two piece mounts but I did not have any to hand.
 
Zero saga latest. took your advice and removed the scope from rail. the single piece mount (make unknown came with scope) seemed good quality but due to what I shall relate would appear to be made in Aisia!!!! by some one who does not mount scopes to rails!!!!!

The mount has 4 cross bolts twice as thick 5mm as the scope ring bolts which do drop part way into the picatinny rail castleations. the castleations are from memory 283mm wide but at each end the land is twice as wide. the 2 end mount bolts were digging into the picatinny rail wide lands so as I was firing a shot the bolts were digging into the picatinny rail and moving the scope. more so at the muzzel end of the picatinny rail. (propriatory german brand from a genuine supplier)

I removed the offending metal from the piccatinny rail and will try to zero again tomorrow. it would have been easier to put on new two piece mounts but I did not have any to hand.
Now that really would cause a few problems…..
🦊🦊
 
Take it all to your trusted gunsmith and let him/them mount the scope for you, he may even sight the rifle in for you if you ask nicely. then go and enjoy it!
 
Hi guys i have just bought a sauer 202 22-250 and because the supplied mounts were rubbish i fitted a picatinny rail and a scope i had with new mounts no problem zeroed in no time. for example a .308 is easier to start at 25 then 50 yards and when you get it on the bull you can go straight onto 100 yds and just a tweek of the elevation turret and your done.
looking at a ballistic chart for 22-250 is there a different distance that you start to zero a scope at as 50yds and 100yds do not seem to be right as for a 308?

I'd suggest looking at a ballistic calculator such as ShootersCalculator.com Basic inputs it needs are details of the bullet (BC, weight etc), the height of the centreline of your 'scope over the centre of the barrel, easily measured, and muzzle velocity. If you don't have these exactly, for your ammo, you'll probably find some data from a factory ammo manufacturer or bullet manufacturer that will be close enough.

E.g. I've just had a quick play with https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/22-250-rem-55-gr-v-max#!/ data for the ammo, and https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/22-cal-224-55-gr-v-max-250#!/ for the bullet.

Assumptions, 3680 fps muzzle velocity. 200 yard zero. G1 BC 0.255. 1.5" sight height.

Resulting in the following:

1657840378993.png
Seems like a good trajectory, flat within an inch to beyond 225 yards. Generally I find a 200 yard zero to be a good sort of figure. Puts you dead on at 50m and 200. Obviously do your final zeroing at 200 yards, not the simplistic sort of "inch high at 100 yards" beloved of some. Though in this case it would be 0.91"

Also agrees precisely with the Hornady data for the cartridge. Which is a good sign.

1657844201217.webp

Firstly I would set a Sight Height of zero to represent a boresight. This results in drops of 0" at the muzzle (obviously), and the following drops from the boreline.

1657841060354.png
As you can see, you should be able to get on the paper within a few inches purely from a good boresight. I use a collimator rather than squinting down the barrel though, I highly recommend one, mine is a Bushnell version that uses spuds to locate in the muzzle, but I see Bushnell make one now that sticks onto the barrel using a magnet.

£43 from Uttings. Bushnell Magnetic Boresighter ISTR I paid £20 for mine, quite a while ago. Certainly paid for itself years ago, just in ammunition and time savings. They are also very useful for checking the tracking and range of movement of scope turrets, whether your reticle is actually calibrated, are your turrets actually MOA, do the crosshairs shift as you zoom or adjust parallax, as a confidence check if your scope has taken a knock, or just been taken off and put back onto a detachable mounting system, and so on. The collimator reticle is calibrated, just make a note of where your final zero is putting the crosshairs on it.

i did not like the first scope and have now tried to zero a second scope with a one piece single mount and 1/4 MOA per click turrets now is the problem.
my assumption one MOA is 1ins at 100yds, correct?
Actually it should be 1.047" if its properly made. This can matter if you are shooting at long range.
The mount has 4 cross bolts twice as thick 5mm as the scope ring bolts which do drop part way into the picatinny rail castleations. the castleations are from memory 283mm wide but at each end the land is twice as wide. the 2 end mount bolts were digging into the picatinny rail wide lands so as I was firing a shot the bolts were digging into the picatinny rail and moving the scope. more so at the muzzel end of the picatinny rail. (propriatory german brand from a genuine supplier)
Are you sure your rail is actually picatinny. It might be something like Warne instead, which could account for your mount not fitting.

Weaver Vs. Picatinny Style Bases
 
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Many thanks guys for all your suggestions I am slowly working through them The rail is a 0 MOA picatinny of german manufacture. I took it to the farm and tried it at 100yds after the mods i made to the rail wide end lands. bore sighted it as suggested and tried a shot.

it was at the bottom of the 24"x24ins target board so thought i would move it up 3ins by moving the impact down12 clicks before trying another shot.
off target.
Decided to remove scope including mounts and see if there were any marks on picatinny rail one small bright spec to rail where the thread had previously been touching, indicating a bolt thread was still touching. Took kit home and removed further metal from rail.

Will reassemble and try again if no improvement then it will be a change to quality known mounts.

then it is a check of the scope itself.

many thanks sharpie for your comprehensive list of data, a collimator may well be a sound investment to resolve this quickly and prove the scope is MOA.
 
it was at the bottom of the 24"x24ins target board so thought i would move it up 3ins by moving the impact down12 clicks before trying another shot.
off target.
If I have understood correctly, you have dialled your scope in the wrong direction.

If you "moved the point of impact down" by three inches, you would have struck even lower, off the target. You should have moved the "point of impact" up, not down.

The way turrets work is they have up, down, left and right rotation directions. Which moves the POI in those directions. Turn the elevation up, not down, to raise the POI relative to the cross hairs.

Usually, but not always (check yours, it's a nuisance if you have one of the oddballs), turrets are "clockwise" or "right handed". That is, you rotate the elevation clockwise to move POI down. Think of it like screwing in a right handed screw, it moves down when you turn it clockwise. Likewise the windage. "Screw it in" clockwise, the POI moves left.

I assume you had an aiming mark on the target, not just a blank board. You should have simply measured how far down from the aiming mark you struck, then dialled in the 4 clicks/inch that you needed to raise it.

A fairly clear explanation here:

BTW I made a tiny boo-boo with the ballistic chart showing a boresight. Should have set both sight height and zero distance to zero. Little difference though, but here it is anyway. to visualise. At 100 yards a boresight (squint down the bore) is only 1.27" low. Depends how good you are at squinting though, but at least you managed to hit it with the first shot, so you will get there I'm sure.

1657912465335.webp

1657912546557.webp
 
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Yep, it sounds like Sharpie is 100% on this. You've moved the scope in the wrong direction. Do you usually use nv/thermal scope? I know from experience that these you dial to the point of impact, opposite to what you need to be doing with your day scope. I've been in a right mess with myself zeroing nv/thermal by chasing the point of aim and not impact.

cjs
 
Rifle now zeroed, the trouble was the increments clicks i believe are not 1/4 MOA as per the scope and instruction manual. I moved the reticle half the distance to what I should have been to get the 100yd zero in both elevation and windage. I definately need a columnator to double check this.
So this is why I had so much trouble trying to get a zero I was turning the turret knobs twice as far and going off paper.

What is concerning is that my total elevation is 602moa clicks and windage is 131moa clicks to get a 100yad zero. I cannot have much elevation left now, but it is a stalking rifle not benchrest

The picatinny rail was sold as a 0 MOA. The one piece mount is the unknown one it came with the scope. It is aluminium with the scope rings at a 45"angle as opposed to horizontal mount with 4 retaing fixings per cap.
 
A columnator is definitely on the cards to prove the scope MOA increments though.
Put some graph paper up , you may need to thicken the lines with a pen to make it more user friendly, or search and download a zeroing target, lots come with either imperial or metric grids
 
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