I think I am going to Re-Zero all of my Long Range Arms for 300 Yards. Take your favorite Killing Guns, get out your favorite Ballistic Calculator and really look at your Trajectories. Between your 0 yard and your normal 100 or 200 yard zero range, look at the highest point in the arc to that range. Now change your zero range and push it out to 300 yards. Really not much effective difference there is it? Now take a look at the trajectory between your zero to 400 yards at both 100 or 200 compared to a 300 yard zero. Here’s what I’m seeing. I hold on the Kill Zone regardless of range. No more of this “Hold on the top of it’s back” BS. At most, even with a gun that drops a lot, such as a .308 or .30-06, I might hold at the top of the kill zone – but I’m still aiming for Kill Zone and hitting in Kill Zone. This works out especially well with the Magnums and their flatter trajectories. The old stand by of 100 yard zeroes is still needed for some guns, but for your Hunting guns, it doesn’t make any sense. And that wild ass guess of “Two Inches High at 100” is starting to kinda do the same thing, but without actually knowing what your gun is doing. So next time I go out to zero, I’ll start at 100 to know where I am at, then push it out and actually zero at 300.
Due to your geographic location you can have no problem doing that…where I am the longest range IS 300 yards. Trust me, I would love to be in an area where I can shoot as far as the eye can see.
Back when i did a lot of shooting I just zeroed for 3 inches high at 100yds with my 270 and 6mm… was good all the way out to 250
I’m pretty sure those rounds are good for a lot further than 250 with 3″ High at 100.
Lots of graphs here:
http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=65679
Have zeroed my 25-06 at 300 yd for years. Makes it simple for me. Dead on at 300, 12-14″ low at 400 & approx 2′ at 500 yd. Beyond that I can’t see good enough anyway!
I recall we would set our sights for 300 meters on the M16A2 and shoot at a scaled target 25 meters away. The projectile at 25 meters was still climbing,but was at the same height above ground that it would have dropped back to at 300 meters. This will variey with calibre,projectile weight and weapon, but it can work when range space is an issue.
I came across a ballistics calculator here; http://realguns.com/calc/exteriorballistics there are two features I really like, one is the ‘point blank’ feature. You figure what target size you want, say 4 inches, and the calculator will tell you how far you can hit somewhere (high or low) on a 4″ target without any hold over. The second feature I like is that it’ll give you the near zero as well as the far zero.
All this is mere conjecture as far as I’m concerned. The longest range I can zero at is 200 yds. The longest shot I can take in the area I hunt is thirty yards, 90 feet. Point blank is anywhere I can see hair. Depending on my mood at the time my rifle of choice is either a .50 Percussion muzzleloader or a .30-30 break action single shot (H&R Topper) with reduced power handloads. No sense waking up an entire county when a nice quiet “POP” will do it.
If I had the loot, I’d have a barrel in .25-35 Win. made up for the single shot. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. And did I mention FUN?
Gerry N.
Gerry N.
Back in my youth the Browning catalog, the best free reference ever offered, recommended zero at 250 yards. When I was in the US Army we used the “Canadian Bull Zero” at 25 meters which gave us a 250 meter zero.
This target is for more modern ARs and gives a 300 meter zero:
http://www.bobdbob.com/~deneb/doc/targets/m16a2-25m-zero.pdf
Geoff
Who notes his .308 is zero at 250 yards and I need to confirm that, sigh.
My .270 Wby is zeroed at 300 for the same reasons. Here in South Texas, the first deer I shot, as an eight year old, was at 240. I like knowing that I am dead on at 300, 22″ low at 500 and deliver the same amount of energy at 300 as my pet .270 Win load did at 100.
The ballistics calculator JFM posted is nice. Like the fact that it will find the B.C. for you by listing the bullet you are using.