How do you zero your centerfire rifles, and why?

[Sourdough]

Again, where you are sighted in for is not a big deal.  Practice and knowing where it shoots at any given yardage is whats important.  One day the shot may be at 50 yards, the next shot may be a 350 yards.  Know your gun.

I carry three guns on a reguler basis.  A 30-06 Handi, good out to 500 yards.  A TCR in .338 Win Mag, also good out to 500 yards.  And a .338/378 Whby, good out to 800 yards.  All three guns are sighted dead on at 300 yards. 

[SHOOTALL]

I guess its not to you !
but the ? was how i do it , and if i do i like to give myself the best chance at making the best shot ! the way i do it i can use the same hold past 275-325  ( depends on bullet weight ) yds for a 30-06 and hit the kill zone without holding high or low , didn't check a table for your ctg. but at a 300 yd. sight in ya may have to hold low at close range and if the target is moving thats a lot to keep in mind when the trophy of a life time is trying to give ya buck fever ! anyway if your way works for you thats all that matters , but if ya have an opertunity to sight a rifle in try it my way once ya might like it , i have to be honest i have missed more deer close than far  with a scope ! good shooting !

[Dave in WV]

And those that hunt where 100 yards is a long shot, why on earth would they zero for 250-300 or beyond?

Because even the thickest forests have power line right of ways. Around here there are plenty of hayfields, you might have to shoot across.

If you know where you're going to hunt, you can sight in for what works best for you.  I know in advance there will be no powerline right of ways or hay fields.

[*ROCK-MAN*]

I would say that 99.9% of my rifle shots have been between 50 to 200 yards.My goal at the range is to come away with the same high at 100 as the low is at 200.This usually comes to around 1.5 - 2 " high at 100.I start out at 100 going by the manufactores ballistic chart for the given ammo and the confirm at 200.Minor adjustments from there every time.

[SHOOTALL]

*ROCK-MAN* the way i proposed you have no adjustments from muzzle to way past 200 yds. for a gun that shoots that far to begin with ! most likely past 300 !

[*ROCK-MAN*]

Shootall,Not sure what your calling way past 200 but the ballistic chart for my load zeroed at 200 shows a 6.4" drop at 300.It also shows that to be 1.4 high at 100.So the way I set it up at the range yesterday was 1" high at 100 which gives me a 1'' trajectory from 50 out to 200.There may be better ways for others but this is what Im looking for and I believe that was the question.
Thanks,
Rock

[Coyote Hunter]

*ROCK-MAN* -

Your way of thinking is perfectly valid.  Certainly if I was planning to head shoot game I would choose a zero method that minimized the maximum rise of the bullet, similar to what you have done.

Using a 168g TSX at 3246fps (my .300 Win Mag load), and zeroing for a maximum rise of 1” (which works out to 0.96” high at 100 yards, 1” high at 125 yards), the bullet crosses back through line of sight at 190 yards.  That would work just fine for many applications.

[SHOOTALL]

ya'lls way is great for ya'll and it must work or you would not use it , the ? was how i did it , and if i have a known kill zone ' ie. heart lung area and can sight in so i can hold center of the zone and be assured of a hit in that zone then thats what i do ! thats all , i find it easier in the field for me , out to the distance where bullet drop take me below the kill zone . at that point i would have to do what you do aim a little higher , but i don't recall shooting at a deer where i would have been in a situation that needed a higher hold , most of the deer i have taken were under 75 yards , on small game i end up doing what ya'll do because the kill zone is so small anyway !
and after thinking about it ,what makes it work better for me might be we hunt with hounds and alot of our shots are at moving deer !

[Coyote Hunter]

ya'lls way is great for ya'll and it must work or you would not use it , the ? was how i did it , and if i have a known kill zone ' ie. heart lung area and can sight in so i can hold center of the zone and be assured of a hit in that zone then thats what i do ! thats all , i find it easier in the field for me , out to the distance where bullet drop take me below the kill zone . at that point i would have to do what you do aim a little higher , but i don't recall shooting at a deer where i would have been in a situation that needed a higher hold , most of the deer i have taken were under 75 yards , on small game i end up doing what ya'll do because the kill zone is so small anyway !
and after thinking about it ,what makes it work better for me might be we hunt with hounds and alot of our shots are at moving deer !

SHOOTALL -

Zeroing 1" high isn't my way but it works for some.  As mentioned earlier, I zero for MPBR for a 6" kill zone.  That's a 3" max rise.  With the .300 Win Mag I can hold high on fur at 500 and still hit.  I hunt heavy timber but do a lot more work in areas where long shots are possible.

[SHOOTALL]

CH, that's we are doing the same thing ! I hunt with a 300 WM some to !

[303Guy]

...... and end up 4" low at 325. At apogee, the bullet will be 4" high at someplace near 175 yards......... 

Help me understand this concept ..... sighting to shoot high at mid-range.  I want to understand how this works for other folks.

I sight for max 40mm rise above line of sight with a scope mounted 50mm above the bore line.  This gives me a max range of 190m at which point, the impact point is 40mm below line of sight.  But then, I shoot mostly small targets and 200m seems awfully far away.  (And since this is what I am used to, I won't be changing anytime soon).

Thanks - 303Guy

[WyoStillhunter]

All my rifles have fixed power (2.5X, 3X, 4X, or 6X) scopes mounted as low as possible.  All my shooting (practice) is done with big game hunting in mind.  Even the 223 with 6X is just a practice gun for my larger calibers.

I hunt close.  In the last five years I have fired at game beyond 100 yards twice:  an antelope with '06 at about 125 and a mule deer with .35 Rem. near 200 yards.  Last Fall I used the .444 with Weaver K2.5 to take a 5X5 mule deer at about 65 yds., and a cow elk at less than 50 yds.

I sight everything in to be 2" high at 100 yards.  I can hold on hair out to 200 yards on antelope, deer and elk with all my rifles (30-30, 35 Rem., 30-06, 35 Whelen, and .444 Marlin).

[Coyote Hunter]

... All my shooting (practice) is done with big game hunting in mind.  Even the 223 with 6X is just a practice gun for my larger calibers. ...

We think a lot alike there.

Varmints are just practice for the main event.  Paper and steel are just substitutes as well.

[Rummer]

I run the ammo I am going to hunt with over a chrony and use the ballistics tables to determine the correct 100 yrd point of impact for a 200 yrd zero.  For my 35 Whelen this is about 2.5" high at 100 yds.  This way the bullet crosses the line of sight at just about the farthest range I care to shoot and also at around 50-60 yards; the range I am most likely to shoot.

[Slamfire]

...... and end up 4" low at 325. At apogee, the bullet will be 4" high at someplace near 175 yards......... 

Help me understand this concept ..... sighting to shoot high at mid-range.  I want to understand how this works for other folks.



Thanks - 303Guy

Ok, a full mature, 5 year old buck, will usually measure 18" from the bottom of his brisket to the top of his back. He'll have vital zone of 10", located a couple of inches above the bottom line of his chest, and 6" below the bottom of his back. If I hold 6" above the bottom, behind the foreleg, the bullet will strike no higher than 10' above the bottom of his chest, and no lower than 3" above the bottom of his chest. Both shots will be in the vital zone. If I soup up my .260 to shoot a 129 grain bullet at 2900 fps, I can expect to kill him anywhere from right on my muzzle out to 300 yards. How do I know he's that far away? If I set my 2x7 variable scope midway between 3x and 4x the duplex reticule brackets a 6" bull at 100 yards. Thus, a mature buck will fill the area between the posts. If he's further off, say 400 yards, the bullet drops an additional 12", added to the 4" low at 300 yards, gives a total drop below the line of sight of 16". So I'll have to hold high, resting the cross hair on the top of his back, or 12" higher that my normal aiming point puts the bullet at the same spot as the original aiming point. If he's further away, I'll try to get closer. Of course this long range shooting requires a steady aiming position. I favor the tight sling prone, or sitting. Or better yet rested on a padded rest, like shooting from a bench. 

[303Guy]

Thanks Slamfire

I guess that what you do is the same as what I do but on different scales.  In my case, I am able to shoot at 45 degrees into a high tree and still connect as my first cross-over point is far enough out.  I prefer a higher scope mount because it suites my anatomy better - I have a long neck!  This forces me to have a different hold for my 303 - which has a high scope to clear the bolt head - so as not to get half mooned.  My 22lr has a normal scope hight to keep the bullet path close to the line of sight for smaller 'game'.  When I was shooting 22lr silouette, I was able to use the 'aim on hair' principle for all four ranges.  (That was with a Remington 512 Sportmaster - and I took all the club trophies with it ).

303Guy