Why would you not sight in at 100 yards?

[nmbarta]

I zero everything at 100 and dial from there. Quick shots are close or I'm not taking them. Past 300 I have time to dial or I don't have time to shoot.
I used to zero at 300, but in a quick shot scenario for me it's better to be able to hold on. My tendency is to hold high (hard to overcome years of hold overs) so it's very unnatural for me to hold low.

 

[nmbarta]

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.

We posted at the exact same time, my reference to quick shots was not in response to your post. Bad timing.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I do most of my zero work at 200y. Once the rifle is zeroed and confirmed drops at long range then i will generally carry the rifle dialed to 300y or more commonly at max point blank range. For those who don't know, this is the range that maximizes the rifles scope setting to where when held dead center the shot will lands inside a 5" radius circle. With fast rifles this will often be 325-350 yard zero and allow for a dead hold out to 400-450y and hold top of the back for another 50y. When you can hunt out to 450y and hold hair and when shots are farther make calculations and adjustments, you are a deadly efficient hunter. Animals under 500y are more likely to know you are there. Beyond 500 they rarely do and typically you will have much more time to make the proper set up and calculations to make the shot properly. In my style of spot and stalk hunting max point blank range is more important than max range capability. Shots at 500y or less are much easier and more common than 1000y shots.

 

[SavageHunter11]

I do most of my zero work at 200y. Once the rifle is zeroed and confirmed drops at long range then i will generally carry the rifle dialed to 300y or more commonly at max point blank range. For those who don't know, this is the range that maximizes the rifles scope setting to where when held dead center the shot will lands inside a 5" radius circle. With fast rifles this will often be 325-350 yard zero and allow for a dead hold out to 400-450y and hold top of the back for another 50y. When you can hunt out to 450y and hold hair and when shots are farther make calculations and adjustments, you are a deadly efficient hunter. Animals under 500y are more likely to know you are there. Beyond 500 they rarely do and typically you will have much more time to make the proper set up and calculations to make the shot properly. In my style of spot and stalk hunting max point blank range is more important than max range capability. Shots at 500y or less are much easier and more common than 1000y shots.

I read about this style of zeroing a rifle in one of my long range shooting books (Long-Range Precision Rifle by Anthony Cirincione II). They called it the "hunting zero" and in the book they used a built-in feature of Remington's old ballistic software, which that is no longer available, to calculate this. How do you calculate the range in which to zero your rifle so that it's within X amount of inches? I think not knowing how to calculate this zero is half the reason I have never considered setting my rifle at anything but a 100 yard/meter zero.

 

[willtim]

Please, Dear God, tell me you're not shooting a center fire rifle on a dog drive!?!?

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.

 

[willtim]

!?!? Please tell me you're not shooting a centerfire rifle on a dog drive!

 

[Harvey Durham]

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.

You're missing a LOT, if you sight your rifle in at 300 yards, anything closer you just hold on and shoot and you can do it just that quick. If you're sighted in a 100 yards and see something at 300 yards and hold on, you miss. A 300 yard zero you can hold on up to about 350 and your still in the kill zone. You clearly haven't done much shooting at any distance or you would never ask such a question. Holding over is a mistake period. Failing up is fine. If you hunt in the woods, you'll want a 100 yard zero.
Hope this helps and happy hunting.
Harvey

 

[Joe ziz]

I do a 200 yd zero for my 28 Nosler and then a dope card specific to my load because I might only be able to get the 500 yd range because of big open country. My coyote or predator rifle i zero at 100 and thne just make calculation past that but generally shooting within 250 yds. I guess its all about where you are hunting and the likelihood a longer shot might be needed.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

I used to use MPBR zeros before I got into the LR world. Now I zero all my rifles at 100. I may carry the rifle set for MPBR in the field depending on the most likely encounter, but my turret zero is always 100 yards. If I fall or drop the rifle and need to field test zero I think it would be easier to come up with a 100 target situation and therefore minimize wind issues than recheck a 200 or whatever other zero spec. To me this is just carrying out the famous KISS principle.

 

[lehr69]

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.

One of the reasons why is that you can usually find an optimal place to sight your rifle in to where the mils and the yardage will start syncing in 50 yard increments. Example 300yards=1 mil, 350=1.5, 400=2. This sometimes works to over 600 yards so if you have a 1st focal plane mil scope, you can make fast shots without having to dial in corrections and such. Very handy for us boys in the south hunting wild hogs that may be just crossing a woods road or clearing and you don't have a lot of time

 

[Ltbullken]

Personal preference. I sight for 200. I don't worry about any adjustment to about 225. 300 is about an 8" holdover or about 2 moa. Simple. Most of my hunting is within that range. When I go mountain hunting, I sight for 200, but have my range finder and confirm with my range card.

 

[Buzzsaw]

This is simple, most dont need to.

For very long range shooting

scopes which dont have enough come ups (elevation adjustments) to go REAL LONG. They need to start their ballistics chart at 200

 

[Poppadoer]

I respect everyone's ways of sighting in their rifles.No one knows your situation better than you.I personally set my rifles to shoot 1" high at 100 yds.Works for me.

 

[73driver]

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.

Sighting in at 100 is great for scopes with dial up turrets. I you have what used to be a more typical capped dials hunting scope then sighting in for 200 to 230 zero gives you what is called a point blank hold to lets say around 280 yards. Yes the bullet might be 1.5/1.75 high or low but that should get you your vitals hit. My 270 is zeroed so the cross hairs for 300 yds just under a deer back gets me center mass, the heavy bottom post in the duplex reticle is dead on at 400. All I need is the range and I know the holds for 300/350/400 yards everything closer is a dead on hold. So it's a light rifle and not looking to make shots past 400 anyway.