308 Bullet drop

[Stalker62]

Some estimates I’ve read say a 2” drop at 200 when zeroed at 100 m...

Pick a side.



Then get out there and send some lead (other metals are available), and record your 'fall of shot'.

Then you know what your bullets are doing in your rifle.

For my rife with a ballistic turret, it is on 100 yards, Green is 200 yards, and the Yellow is 300 yards (I have not bothered with the Red). I know which bullet this is (record everything) and it is just a case of range, dial and shoot.




I have another 'deer rifle' (not a ballistic turret) and that is 1.5" high at 100 yards (Good out to 250 yards) or to put it in 'really old money'...


3 Barley Corns high at 0.45 Furlongs...

 

[paulbshooting]

I shoot 150 grain lead in my 308 and set with 200 yard zero. At the ranges I shoot its then aim and shoot, mainly on roe and fallow. I have setup the ASV turret and tested that "just incase" the need arises

 

[Tingers]

After reloading and shooting factory .308 I'm very weary of listening to tables supplied on boxes. As mentioned there's a lot of variables affecting a bullets path from depressing that trigger. I think the key is if your using factory, is to find a bullet that shoots well through your rifle (hopefully the cheapest) and check bullet drop on that. Then learn to shoot it well/ know your limits.

I've always had 130-150 gn bullets both lead and non toxic. Never had a problem with bullet drop, only issue is the person behind the rifle fluffing the odd shot over the years (thankfully at paper).

 

[paul o']

Roll of wall paper place it at your max shooting range zero then walk back or move the target back fire one round at your zero mark at each range ! this will give you all the drop data from your rifle with your ammo .
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But pre doing all this once you have a good zero and found what kind of group your rifle will give you first then move on to the above at longer ranges.
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once you have the data and you know what your rifle will do! go back to your sheet of wall paper.
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When I do this test on mine I draw a line or two 6" apart from top to bottom and with small dots one inch apart from top to bottom as a quick ref to work out my scope adjustments.
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Copy all your data down and then back at 100 or your zero start to diel up/down and see if your rifle and test drops are the same along side your factory ammo box data! when you adjust your scope and your see how far or close the factory data off/on in clicks or Inches /CM .
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Lets play and say your box tells you this is what the factory test showed there ammo will do this.
100 =0
200 =1.5
300 =4
400 =10 inches

And in real life you find its ?
100= 0
200=2
300 =5 .5
400 =14 inches

So knowing how many clicks to the Inch or CM you need to adjust at each range to make the correction to match there ammo to your rifle your have all the info your need to make that shot without a tummy churn when you need to take that 300 yrd shoot. Make a small cheat card up and clear tape it to your stock as a quick guide or as I do I place white dino tape around my scope ring and mark off my ranges.

 

[NullMac]

Ball park roughly roughly so a typical 150gr round at a typical 2850 fps. In this case I chose 150gr Sierra Gameking

200 yards ~ 2 moa (3.5" predicted)
300 yards ~ 4 moa (13.1")

 

[Ak51535]

I shoot .308 123gr Sako ammuniton and liek others have said I find them flatter shooting than some 147gr and 150gr bullets, when zeroed at 100m they drop 1.3 inches at 200m. Even with their lighter weight I've seen great expansion on them.

 

[Bowland blades]

Having recently acquired a Sako 85 308, I’m looking into what ammo to use, and bullet drop estimates. Some estimates I’ve read say a 2” drop at 200 when zeroed at 100 m, others go as far as 3.9” of drop at 200 when zeroed at 100. Any advice on the best ammo and grain to use, and what experience has taught you about actual bullet drop would be much appreciated.

When we are talking deer rifles ... Drop compensating isnt an issue to about 300 yards , reading the wind can be though .
Zero a 130-140 bullet at 200 yards and forget to 300 yds on medium and large deer the size of the kill zone wont be missed by trajectory issues , just lack of experience .
The bullet for me would be a Barnes TTSX as light a bullet they do for a 308. Heavier bullets kick more and make it harder to spot your strikes because of the recoil. Barnes copper hold very high weight retention

 

[Highmeadow]

Thank you all for taking the time to give me such a wealth of feedback! Plenty to mull over here, I’m much obliged to all of you. Cheers

 

[jthyttin]

Zero a 130-140 bullet at 200 yards and forget to 300 yds on medium and large deer the size of the kill zone wont be missed by trajectory issues , just lack of experience

This is downright dangerous advice. 130gr TTSX leaving muzzle at 900m/s (derived from VV max load for shorter 130gr TSX), zeroed at 200y, will drop 19cm / 7.5" at 300y. And that's the theoretical POI, half your shots drop even more.

That's unacceptable even for fallow, and in previous discussions BB seems to refer to roe as "medium size deer".

 

[Tingers]

Irrespective of calibre, when looking at bullet drops we need to factor in group size to that as mentioned above. And be realistic of your own ability. For instance (theoretical) my rifle shoots 1 moa let's say on a nice range day. In the field that soon becomes 2 MOA when shooting from sticks. Now factor in a shooting angle and a whole host of other factors that could be even bigger, this is where practice and knowing your limits come in.

Assuming the target is 200m your group size is going to scale to 2" from a bench and 4" in the field. If you go with the assumption your trajectory puts the bullet path on the bottom of the realistic kill zone. The majority of shots fall outside of the kill area, when visualising the kill area as a circle and the shot group as also as a circle only a fraction of both overlap. Just like a vertical venn diagram. If in doubt practice, practice and more practice. (those number are made up for the purpose of things).

 

[Tingers]

I have seen experience shooters who I know can shoot well, miss intended impact points by multiple inches/ cm's with nothing more than a little buck fever and rushing.

 

[kieran222]

Mine is 2 inch drop at 200 yards zeroed at 100 yards. Sako 123 grn.

 

[Bowland blades]

This is downright dangerous advice. 130gr TTSX leaving muzzle at 900m/s (derived from VV max load for shorter 130gr TSX), zeroed at 200y, will drop 19cm / 7.5" at 300y. And that's the theoretical POI, half your shots drop even more.

That's unacceptable even for fallow, and in previous discussions BB seems to refer to roe as "medium size deer".

The factor of screwing up and we where talking larger species is cut down a heck of a lot shooting the Tunnel system I suggest . If someone doesn't practice it they are going to make mistakes . I mention nothing of the deer taking a step and nothing about wind !
In truth the kill zone is pretty large, taking shots to 300 it is normal to safe side for wind and hold a tad high or a tad low even . 7 1/2" inches low is not going to mess up a broadside shot on a large deer with a 200 yard zero
Roe deer are a medium deer , they are smaller than Sika and smaller than fallow ( though fallow can be all over the size range spot to spot ) . The Roe offer a heck of a lot more for a clean shot than CWD and Muntjac
Fact is pointed in the right place at 300 yards with the 200 zero you are in no way out of the critical zone for a clean kill (drop wise) on " THE LARGER SPECIES " If the calibre is legal ! If you think you need to range it , dial it , check with a wind meter then wind your range in because your shooting beyond your skill set
Bit up , bit to the side still applies regards wind and contours