advantages of different sighting distances.

[vendetta333]

i was in my shop earlier on this week and talking to an ex-scout about thousand yard comp. he's the only person within driving distance that i kno who shoots that far. anyway, he said that he has his 308 sighted in for 200 and always leaves his scope on 12x power. however on demigodllc.com, they all shoot practical 1000 comp and reccomend a 100yrd zero. i cant remember why and i am too lazy to search it out right now. but can anyone tell me the advantages of a longer zero?

 

[youngbuck]

Only advantage I would see would be shooting at a critter @ 300yd without holding over. All of my LR rigs are sighted in at 100, it is easy to remember. I will probably rarely if ever "jump shoot" anything the way I hunt now

 

[RBrowning]

One other small advantage to a longer zero is that you will have less turning to do to dial up to your target range.

But I think the biggest advantage is the longer "point-blank" range that you can shoot without having to hold above your target if you get a 300 or so yard shot while on your way to your long range hide out.

 

[silvertip-co]

I read often the mil zeros their 308s at 500 for center mass, then uses the O.T.H.U.T.B. method for longer and closer shots. Thus they are never holding over in air when shooting 1k.

 

[WildRose]

i was in my shop earlier on this week and talking to an ex-scout about thousand yard comp. he's the only person within driving distance that i kno who shoots that far. anyway, he said that he has his 308 sighted in for 200 and always leaves his scope on 12x power. however on demigodllc.com, they all shoot practical 1000 comp and reccomend a 100yrd zero. i cant remember why and i am too lazy to search it out right now. but can anyone tell me the advantages of a longer zero?

If most of your shooting is going to be done on the range and at set distances where you dope and dial all your shots there's not much reason to set your sight in at more than 200yds.

For myself most of my shooting is done on the fly normally at ranges between 300-750yds, for my long range rigs, and 200-600 with my .204 so I set my scopes for a dead zero of 450yds, and just adjust my hold accordingly.

 

[WildRose]

I read often the mil zeros their 308s at 500 for center mass, then uses the O.T.H.U.T.B. method for longer and closer shots. Thus they are never holding over in air when shooting 1k.

One of the advantages of a mildot or milrad scope is that you can set your hundred yard zero at the top mark and then through practice know your range/dot/hash relationships and have all the holdover necessary.

You do what they teach you in sniper school to graduate then you do what works best for you in the field once you have some experience.

 

[WildRose]

One other small advantage to a longer zero is that you will have less turning to do to dial up to your target range.

But I think the biggest advantage is the longer "point-blank" range that you can shoot without having to hold above your target if you get a 300 or so yard shot while on your way to your long range hide out.

Yep, it takes some experience though to remember to hold low on the closer shots but it works very well with practice.

 

[vendetta333]

yes the holding low on closer shots was what i was getting at. if one is going for a first round hit, wouldn't you first dope, then adjust, then take the shot. if you missed the shot and could see this, then wouldn't that be the correct place for a hold over. if you need a rapid follow up shot, like in hunting, or actually in combat, or in timed comp.
like i said, i'm mostly interested in competition, out past my max (around 400). but my rifles are sighted at 100 (i live in GA ). but for the eventual comp i want to do, and the elk and antelope hunting i plan to do as well, i'm wondering if i should sight out to 200? i know a 100yd zero will do, just require more clicks, but i don't want to have to hold a mile under a 500yd zero if i end up stalking within ears shot of a trophy in the field.
thoughts?

 

[Bravo 4]

I read often the mil zeros their 308s at 500 for center mass, then uses the O.T.H.U.T.B. method for longer and closer shots. Thus they are never holding over in air when shooting 1k.

Over the head-under the balls, I haven't heard that in a while. I believe thats the way they did it in vietnam era days. The way our systems are designed at least now-a-days:
M24- zero @ 100, has a BDC turret
M110- zero @ 100, has MOA turret with modified BDC, after initial zero taught to turn BDC to 300 and use TMR reticle for holdovers/hold off
M107- supposed to be zeroed @ 500, hard to do because for the most part they aren't very accurate, try to confirm at 100

Like Wildrose said, you can do what you like but the smart thing to do is what the systems were designed to do that way everybody is on the same page.

 

[WildRose]

Over the head-under the balls, I haven't heard that in a while. I believe thats the way they did it in vietnam era days. The way our systems are designed at least now-a-days:
M24- zero @ 100, has a BDC turret
M110- zero @ 100, has MOA turret with modified BDC, after initial zero taught to turn BDC to 300 and use TMR reticle for holdovers/hold off
M107- supposed to be zeroed @ 500, hard to do because for the most part they aren't very accurate, try to confirm at 100

Like Wildrose said, you can do what you like but the smart thing to do is what the systems were designed to do that way everybody is on the same page.

Shooting has changed so much in the last four decades it's utterly amazing.

Most of the scopes in the Vietnam era were k-4's and k-6's with fine duplex cross hairs and those guys were deadly as hell out to 600yds and farther on a daily basis.

 

[WildRose]

yes the holding low on closer shots was what i was getting at. if one is going for a first round hit, wouldn't you first dope, then adjust, then take the shot. if you missed the shot and could see this, then wouldn't that be the correct place for a hold over. if you need a rapid follow up shot, like in hunting, or actually in combat, or in timed comp.
like i said, i'm mostly interested in competition, out past my max (around 400). but my rifles are sighted at 100 (i live in GA ). but for the eventual comp i want to do, and the elk and antelope hunting i plan to do as well, i'm wondering if i should sight out to 200? i know a 100yd zero will do, just require more clicks, but i don't want to have to hold a mile under a 500yd zero if i end up stalking within ears shot of a trophy in the field.
thoughts?

The problem is that quite often in the field and in combat you only have a matter of seconds to get your shot off once the target is identified.

There is no time to dope and dial so if you are going to make that first shot count you have to be able to estimate on the fly knowing how to approximate your hold over/under, and windage adjustments at any given range within the ranges you are working.

This is where the art of shooting comes in vs slow, deliberate, precision shooting.

This is why I set my zero at what some would consider odd ranges and prefer to use a mildot or tactical milling scope vs other reticles. I really like the zeiss rapid z reticles as well for the same reasons.

 

[Bravo 4]

Shooting has changed so much in the last four decades it's utterly amazing.

Most of the scopes in the Vietnam era were k-4's and k-6's with fine duplex cross hairs and those guys were deadly as hell out to 600yds and farther on a daily basis.

Yep by today's standards the rifles/scopes snipers of years ago used (very effectively) are considered "cheap". You would probaly get laughed at if you were to show up at a tactical comp with a plain hunting rifle and $100 Redfield with duplex. But then again that's what them old fellas were doing...hunting!

 

[WildRose]

Yep by today's standards the rifles/scopes snipers of years ago used (very effectively) are considered "cheap". You would probaly get laughed at if you were to show up at a tactical comp with a plain hunting rifle and $100 Redfield with duplex. But then again that's what them old fellas were doing...hunting!

I started wiht an 03-A3 and a K-6.. .gun)

Some M-40's and M-24's in between along with a couple of custom models including the Barrett 50.

Last I carried was the forerunner to the M-110 with What became the MK 4 stright 16x Leupold with an etched mil dot reticle.

Probably the one I enjoyed the most was a Model 700 chambered in 300 Norma Mag with the same scope.

Grape Fruits at 1000yds were no problem at all. Of course we had some of the best long range rifle builders in the world at the time working for us.

When things got really ugly though there was nothing as nice as the M-14/110. You could put a lot of hurt down range very quickly, and extremely accurately with it in multiple target engagement scenarios.