Why would you not sight in at 100 yards?

[SavageHunter11]

Something that has always perplexed me is why guys will sight in their rifles at 150, 200, 300, etc yards. Why would you not just sight in for 100 yards and learn your drops/elevation adjustments for anything beyond that? In my head, if I sight in for 300 yards I need to remember hold-overs for anything past 300 and hold-unders for anything inside 300 which is seems overly complicated. I'm a sight in at 100 yard guy but I want to understand why you would sight in at a different distance as I feel like I am missing something here.

 

[eklarsen]

If most of your shots on game are typically in the 200 range, sighting in at that range means you can point and fire without calculating, between 150 - 250 yds. Just less work and the same applies for 300 etc..

 

[antelopedundee]

If most of your shots on game are typically in the 200 range sighting in at that range means you can point and fire without calculating between 150 - 250 yds. Just less work and the same applies for 300 etc..

Sighting in 1 1/2 - 2 inches high at 100 yards accomplishes pretty much the same thing, but does mean that closer shots will need to be allowed for so there's that; assuming that you don't forget to hold a smidgen lower. Last year I forgot to hold a tad lower, but it didn't matter much.

 

[memtb]

We zero at 300 yards. Our rifles shoot flat enough, that we only need to consider that we're a little high at around 170'ish yards, and only about 10" low at 400 yards. For big game, from muzzle to 400 yards....."hold on hair"! A very fast system! At 400 yards, it's a lot easier to judge 10" holdover than say 30+ inches! If the shot is close, hold a bit low....if the shot is long, hold a bit high. For us...it's worked very well for over 25 years. This may be impractical for small targets, prairie dogs, "jacks", Rock Chucks, ect.....but works well with big game!

However, we started before range finders and range adjustable scopes were the norm! We now have both, and are staying with the old system. If the shot is over 400, and time permits.....range the target and dial the scope. Kind of....the best of both worlds! If it ain't broke....don't fix it! memtb

 

[Dr. Vette]

I sight in at 200 with 95% of my rifles; 450BM, muzzleloaders and rimfires are the exception.

Why? Because I'm never going to dial from 200 down to 100. Never, ever. They all shoot flat enough that if I'm on at 200 it's dead at 100. So, why waste turret/reticle space with the first 100 yards?

In addition, I've had them "on" at 100 but then off at 200 because any small error gets magnified with distance. Yes I'll also verify beyond 200 with many when able.

As you can tell, I'm one of those who says "Why would anyone ever sight in for only 100 yards."

 

[KyCarl]

Me too ..I set my 25-06 at 200 and from 0-300 I just point and shoot?

 

[26Reload]

LR at 250...mags at 300...
Not every hunting situations tends to be a needful scope adjustment....hunting smallish canyons and timber are my sources....longer distances than that i hope I have time for adjustments.....if not....byebye.....

 

[Don A Parsons]

Yuppers,,, same for me.

200 meter zero for the hunting rifles,,, alway leave the target shooter set at 400... Dial up and reticles takes me out to distance past that...

 

[Mike AVM]

I like to shoot at 200 and sight in there. It shows your zeroing errors from a 100. If you have a turret, just dial it back to 100 if you like. You'll notice you may be off an inch or 2 from 100. Accuracy and precision are different beasts.

 

[johnnyk]

I'm 300 yard zero for all my rifles and concur with memtb.....
"For big game, from muzzle to 400 yards....."hold on hair"! A very fast system! At 400 yards, it's a lot easier to judge 10" holdover than say 30+ inches! If the shot is close, hold a bit low....if the shot is long, hold a bit high. For us...it's worked very well for over 25 years. This may be impractical for small targets, prairie dogs, "jacks", Rock Chucks, ect.....but works well with big game!

However, we started before range finders and range adjustable scopes were the norm! We now have both, and are staying with the old system. If the shot is over 400, and time permits.....range the target and dial the scope. Kind of....the best of both worlds!"

Here in the Southeast when a buck pops out on a pulp wood road, with 25 Walkers after him, you ain't got time to be ranging and dialing.

 

[WildBillG]

How small of animals are you shooting with your bow. No I read right you said rifle even Antelope would not require a hold under with the average cartridge sighted for 200yds. One might ask why would sight in for 100 and have to dial all the time after 100yds. I could see a target shooter shooting for scoe but not on a hunting rifle of moderate to high speed.

 

[LVJ76]

It depends the what and the area we hunt. Where we hunt the coues deer the average shot is around to 200 yds or further, rarely at a 100. So we sight at 200 and in some cases at 300 yds depending where we are going to be hunting. In most cases it's a quick aim and shoot, a 3 to 5 second thing and no time to range or adjust the scope.

Now if we're hunting mulies in the desert flats where most shots will be under 100 yds then yes, we do sight in at 100. Just depends what and where we hunt.

 

[J E Custom]

Everyone has there reason for their site in distance. mine is 100 yards to start with because first I want to prove the accuracy of the rifle without as much shooter error. Once I have established the accuracy
of the fire arm Then I can move to 200 + yards. with today's scopes it is easy to crank in the distance needed for most any shot.

With Iron sites it makes it simple to set the zero at any distance with a base line of 100 yards once you establish the drop at distances to be hunted/shot it is simple to add MOA required.

I set the turret stop at zero for 100 yards and that way I can see easily what distance I have it set on. This also helps for realy close shots that might otherwise be two high. And I know how many MOA I have to crank in for longer shots at any reasonable distance.

Just my way

J E CUSTOM

 

[Sierra1wardog]

There is nothing wrong with point blank method of zeroing at 200, 300 or what ever extended yardage you want. Consideration must be made for the environmental effects at those ranges influencing an actual zero. Also understanding the point of impact for those up close shots and the limitations for farther shots. Great thing about it is if the target is within the vital zone point blank range then there is little thinking involved in those buck fever moments. Targets outside of that angular window may lead to more frustration than just dialing up from 100. I zero most of my rifles at 100 yards, as the zero will be influenced less by atmospherics, I hunt at variable elevations, I regularly shoot past max point blank and I always shot in a wide range of conditions. All these factors matter and they matter less with a 100 yard zero. One thing to consider is that I also use a scope with turrets and a modern reticle so fine tuning an adjustment or holding for a quick shot is no big deal.