Zeroing you guns?

[b116757]

I zero at 300 and for most bottleneck hunting cartridges that will result in point blank (within 5" circle) out to 500 yards. Unless I know I will hunting at 100 or less.

This is ridiculous statement. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and think your confusing 5MOA with 5” many bottle neck cartridges would require 5 MOA of adjustment at 500 yds with a 300 yds zero but that 5 MOA at 500 yard is about 30” not 5” as stated. Please check your numbers.

 

[b116757]

Well, you are correct. Now where the hell did I come up with that? Point blank is only out to 380 or so with a 300 zero. Maybe I need to start actually shooting my guns again?

I see your correction disregard my last post.

 

[Native Hunter]

Lets make it simple - Memorize the drop and drift tables for any fast caliber like a 300 Win Mag or a 7 MM Remington mag (as shown below) and it will cover a multitude of other fast calibers for shooting a deer out to 300 yards. For any greenhorns, if you don't believe me, compare the drop and drift for the following setups with a 200 yard zero and look out to 300 yards. You won't miss a deer if you have any one of them memorized but are shooting one of the other calibers. They are nearly identical.

7mm Rem Mage with a 140 grain bullet
300 Win Mag with a 165 grain bullet
25-06 with a 115 grain bullet
264 Win Mag with a 130 grain bullet
22-250 with a 55 grain bullet
243 with a 85 grain bullet
And the list goes on and on..........................

 

[Mtyhunter]

I've always started my hunting rifles, lever action, and muzzleloaders at 25 yds zero, and surprisingly they are all pretty damn close to a 100yd zero. Usually one 3 shot group gets me fine-tuned from there to a 100yd centerpunch. Has always served me well out to 300yds with my goto .270.

 

[Turkish]

Why I like zeroing at 25 yards. Generally it’s on also at about 200. I use a ballistics calculator for the caliber and load to know exacts.

Cool thing is that for most calibers that means I will be less than plus/minus three inches up to 300 yards with a dead aim. Plenty big for deer kill zone.

Having trouble understanding this. 1/4” off is impossible to detect. If you zero at 25, this could mean an inch of error from POA at 100. Being consistently and inch to the right (for example) at 100yds is unacceptable to me. How do you only zero at such a short distance?

 

[roymunson]

Hey Roy what scope did you put on your 450 BM? I need to start shopping for 1. Would like up to 14x probably just for the sighting in if nothing else.

I don't have a 450 anyumore. I bought a 444 Handirifle. Love that thing and would only trade it off if someone found me a 444 marlin lever. That's nearly as difficult as finding a perfect woman, so I won't hold my breath.

I have a 3x9 on that 444. No need for more in Ohio. I've killed 1 deer in the state at over 100 yards in my life.

As for my big banger, I have a 300 WSM that I'm shooting 180 TTSX reloads for moose in a couple weeks. Had a leupold 3x15 on it and convinced myself it was walking around, when in actuality, I think it was just a hot barrel and barrel mirage.

So I sold it and spent the money on an2.5x10 Nightforce. Judas priest that's a slick scope. I kinda miss the big magnification, but in toying with things, have found I shoot better and without the target panic if I stay zoomed out more. 10x gets me on steel at 400 yards which will more than suffice for what I wanna do.

 

[PatinPA]

Haha you guys will hate me. I typically just throw a box out around 50 yards and if I hit within a few inches of the sharpie circle i drew. Eh good enough. But my shots are 100 yards or less, and typically 50 and in.

 

[roymunson]

Haha you guys will hate me. I typically just throw a box out around 50 yards and if I hit within a few inches of the sharpie circle i drew. Eh good enough. But my shots are 100 yards or less, and typically 50 and in.

I have enjoyed the pursuit of being accurate. However, I take a similar tact with my bow. I know i'm not a tournement archer. I just wanna kill deer.

 

[Mtyhunter]

Haha you guys will hate me. I typically just throw a box out around 50 yards and if I hit within a few inches of the sharpie circle i drew. Eh good enough. But my shots are 100 yards or less, and typically 50 and in.

lol, I'm about the same way, cause 90% of my shots prob avg 50 yds. I bow hunt alot, so even my rifle stand setups only allow for shorter range shots. Started hunting in the oklahoma prairie, thought I'd like to try to go out to 500 or so. Found I can go 300 accurately with my same 25-100 yd zero, but also realized 4-500 is another level, and apparently I'm not a consistent enough shot or I need better equipment. So since it can't be me, lol, went down the rabbit hole of scopes, rifles, ballistics, etc...I get the basics, but damn, it's alot more work/money than I want to do. Plus, I'm just not used to it, and it's been reallllly hard for me to sit half a day with 500yd views. Good views, but boring as hell

 

[Foggy47]

I like my guns to shoot groups of 1.5" or better at 100 yards. Most decently made rifles will shoot a decent size group with just a little tweaking around.....so why not make an accurate shot? Here in MN we seldom take shots over 100 yards....but you never know. I've got a few areas where a 250 yard or better shot is possible. I'd hate to have a 200+ yard opportunity at the "buck of a lifetime" (or any deer for that matter).....and have a gun that does not shoot a decent group. Confidence in shooting goes a long way toward killing critters cleanly.

Mostly, I have been using a single shot Henry Rifle in 308 Winchester the past two seasons.... 'cause it's accurate enough and compact and easy to carry....but sometimes I haul a heavy barrel 25-06 Savage into the stand. That Savage is capable of any range I got....and because it's so heavy the sights settle quickly and it's easy to shoot well. Normally I will take a high shoulder shot.....as I do not like tracking deer......but I'm not opposed to whatever decent shot placement presents itself. I lose little desireable meat with decent bullet placement. Also, we want to continue hunting our relatively small property.....and that goes much better if you drop the deer in it's tracks......and then gut the animal out back at camp (which we do). We haul our deer in a small trailer and then lift them on our "buck pole" before gutting 'em out. Works slick.

High Shoulder Shot On Deer - TACTEC

When it comes to deer hunting, head shots or heart / lung shots have been to priority, more recently though, one of the most popular methods is known as the high shoulder shot. This involves aiming higher up on the animal’s shoulders in order to take it down, just around the area of it’s spine, […]

www.tactec.com

 

[West_Fork]

This is ridiculous statement. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and think your confusing 5MOA with 5” many bottle neck cartridges would require 5 MOA of adjustment at 500 yds with a 300 yds zero but that 5 MOA at 500 yard is about 30” not 5” as stated. Please check your numbers.

Yup, I somehow got something in my head that was totally wrong. Not sure how, I guess I got 300 mixed up with 200 and 500 mixed up with 300. zeroing at 200 and still hitting point blank at 300 is probably what I was trying to say.

I don't use moa normally, so that isn't the issue.

 

[West_Fork]

Having trouble understanding this. 1/4” off is impossible to detect. If you zero at 25, this could mean an inch of error from POA at 100. Being consistently and inch to the right (for example) at 100yds is unacceptable to me. How do you only zero at such a short distance?

It is highly dependent on the scope height above the bore.

 

[PatinPA]

I have enjoyed the pursuit of being accurate. However, I take a similar tact with my bow. I know i'm not a tournement archer. I just wanna kill deer.

I'm the exact opposite. I practice a lot with the bow. I don't even have the possibility of shooting more than 100 yards. I'd be shooting at deer off my property.

 

[Native Hunter]

My typical rifle shot will be 300 yards (or could be more) in a shooting lane surrounded by NWSGs that are 7 to 9 feet tall. I feel that I need 2 things in a rifle.

1. A tight shooting and accurate rifle because of the distance.
2. A big bore, fast caliber with a big bullet that expands quickly, because you don't know what it is like looking for a deer in such a grass jungle.

So far the best thing I have tried for that purpose is a 300 Win Mag with a hot handload, pushing a 180 Nosler ballistic tip. There may be something out there better, but this is working for us.

 

[omicron1792]

Having trouble understanding this. 1/4” off is impossible to detect. If you zero at 25, this could mean an inch of error from POA at 100. Being consistently and inch to the right (for example) at 100yds is unacceptable to me. How do you only zero at such a short distance?

This is consistent kill zone zeroing for hunting 250 yards and in. So you aim dead on and will hit within the kill zone of a deer without worrying about holdovers.

1 inch to right at 100 is 1 moa accuracy and is better than most can shoot at any time. If you’re doing long distance competitions, that “may” be an issue. If not, that’s perfectly adequate for any hunting situation you would encounter.

The 25/200 is a rough guess that on at 25 is on at 200. You can always actually shoot at 200 yards and fine tune if needed.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

1 inch to right at 100 is 1 moa accuracy and is better than most can shoot at any time.

Sorry, I'll be that guy again.

Missing your point of aim by 1 MOA means you'd be hitting the very edge of a 2 MOA target. = 2 MOA accuracy (which is still better than the vast majority of hunters can shoot). That is, if your bullet goes exactly where your rifle/scope is set up to send it which isn't how it works.

 

[omicron1792]

Sorry, I'll be that guy again.

Missing your point of aim by 1 MOA means you'd be hitting the very edge of a 2 MOA target. = 2 MOA accuracy (which is still better than the vast majority of hunters can shoot). That is, if your bullet goes exactly where your rifle/scope is set up to send it which isn't how it works.

You are correct. I think the point stands. Haha. Would still hit a 8 inch gong at 400 yards, and would allow vital zone hit on any deer within 250 yards.

My point Wind was that 1 inch off target at 100 yards is well within acceptable of most hunting standards!

On long distance shooting I use 100 yard zero with ballistic turret and dope card

 

[Telemark]

My typical rifle shot will be 300 yards (or could be more) in a shooting lane surrounded by NWSGs that are 7 to 9 feet tall. I feel that I need 2 things in a rifle.

1. A tight shooting and accurate rifle because of the distance.
2. A big bore, fast caliber with a big bullet that expands quickly, because you don't know what it is like looking for a deer in such a grass jungle.

So far the best thing I have tried for that purpose is a 300 Win Mag with a hot handload, pushing a 180 Nosler ballistic tip. There may be something out there better, but this is working for us.

Have you tried ELD-X bullets?

 

[Native Hunter]

Have you tried ELD-X bullets?

No, I haven't, but everything I hear about them is good. Do you shoot them?

PS - I have been loading the 150 grain Hornady SSTs in my 308 Win Rifles, and I'm happy with them.

 

[Foggy47]

Doing a 25 yard sight-in and expecting it to be spot-on at 200 yards is folly. If you will be shooting at 200 yards and beyond......you better get some groups at 200 yards. 25 yards is no doubt a good way to start and get on paper....but more often than not (like 10 to 1) you will need to adjust your scope again when shooting at the extended ranges. My 2 cents.

Going back in time......we used to sight in at a gravel pit and shoot off the hood of the car. Very little for rests then.....and we would just roll up a gun case and try to steady the hold with that. Seldom would shoot more than 3 to 5 rounds to sight in. Most of us did not have the money to do lots of practice. We were happy to be on a paper plate at 100 yards and would go deer hunting. This was the way it was in my youth. Most guns were never properly sighted-in in those times and most of us had iron sights to shoot with. I do not remember a time anyone killed a deer at a range of more than 60 yards. Those were the days of rhe clowns firing 5 to ten rounds in rapid succession....... lol. I do not think most folks got into accuracy and rifles until more decent rifle ranges were developed in the 70's and 80's. Yes....there were exceptions......but many did not have a clue about decent accuracy......or could not afford a gun or sight that would perform like those today. Times have changed.....for the better.