What Distance to Zero

**driepootx** · 10-12-2019, 20:23

Originally Posted by pre 64

Blank your mind off. Forget about ballistic charts,drop sheets,bullet BC's,nodes and all that other clap trap.

Just sight your rifle in so that the bullets impact 2 inches high at 100m...finish and klaar.
Then shoot a couple of shots at 200 and a couple of shots at 300m and note where the bullets impact.

Now you will find that at 25m you will maybe be an inch low,at 100m 2 inches high,at 200m an inch or so low again and about 10 inches low at 300m.[just an arbitary eg]

There is nothing else to do...that is it.....no dialing in,mill rad hold overs and all that rubbish.Keep it simple and enjoy.

If you decide that you want to shoot gongs at 400-500m plus and up,then other factors come into play.Untill then.ignore all this ballistic info and just enjoy.

All my hunting rifles are zeroed at 200m and what is said above is true for most calibers. The 300m drop is 8 inches for my 243 and 13 inches for the bigger calibers.

**johanvb** · 10-12-2019, 21:44

Originally Posted by pre 64

Blank your mind off. Forget about ballistic charts,drop sheets,bullet BC's,nodes and all that other clap trap.

Just sight your rifle in so that the bullets impact 2 inches high at 100m...finish and klaar.
Then shoot a couple of shots at 200 and a couple of shots at 300m and note where the bullets impact.

Now you will find that at 25m you will maybe be an inch low,at 100m 2 inches high,at 200m an inch or so low again and about 10 inches low at 300m.[just an arbitary eg]

There is nothing else to do...that is it.....no dialing in,mill rad hold overs and all that rubbish.Keep it simple and enjoy.

If you decide that you want to shoot gongs at 400-500m plus and up,then other factors come into play.Untill then.ignore all this ballistic info and just enjoy.

Agree!!!

**Messor** · 11-12-2019, 01:48

Ask an experienced opinion and you will get one.
But forget not that the opinion will NOT translate to yourself.
Those who “zero” at “x” distance often forget that a price must be paid, so they project a certain value onto another.

That is why I said shoot first, get a feel for it, then talk the talk.

**krieger** · 11-12-2019, 02:27

All my rifles, including my Opa's very old 7mm, are all set at 200m.
He hunted with that old Mauser his whole life and had it set to 200. At the time I didn't even think to ask him why. I was 8, I just did what he did. He had 50 more years of hunting experience than me. Next year I will start teaching my 8 year old grandson how to hunt. Now I can pass on my 50 years of experience; what a great feeling!

**opalsasquatch** · 11-12-2019, 04:51

I could write a Messor-like diatribe on this, but, for 200m and in...

Messor has it right. Zero it. Shoot it a bunch. Don’t make anything more complicated then it needs to be.

You will find what works for you.

**Toxxyc** · 11-12-2019, 06:18

Terrick, it's easier to shoot a target at 200m with a rifle and scope than it is to hit and IPSC popper at 25m with a pistol. You don't have the confidence to shoot at 200m yet, but you'll get there, fast, don't worry.

On to your question - for starters, I'd zero at 100m. To re-zero at 200m is literally a question of seeing how much the bullet drops over that distance, and rotating the scope turrets a few clicks accordingly - done. People make a big fuss about zeroing your rifle, but if you ask me, it's overrated. As long as you know where it's zeroed and you understand the trajectory, you'll be fine, no matter if you zero at 25 or 50 or 200 or 200.

**obasch** · 11-12-2019, 07:15

Originally Posted by pre 64

Blank your mind off. Forget about ballistic charts,drop sheets,bullet BC's,nodes and all that other clap trap.

Just sight your rifle in so that the bullets impact 2 inches high at 100m...finish and klaar.
Then shoot a couple of shots at 200 and a couple of shots at 300m and note where the bullets impact.

Now you will find that at 25m you will maybe be an inch low,at 100m 2 inches high,at 200m an inch or so low again and about 10 inches low at 300m.[just an arbitary eg]

There is nothing else to do...that is it.....no dialing in,mill rad hold overs and all that rubbish.Keep it simple and enjoy.

If you decide that you want to shoot gongs at 400-500m plus and up,then other factors come into play.Untill then.ignore all this ballistic info and just enjoy.

So 'n bek kort jam!

That is the most basic and and most sound fundamentals.

**MrK** · 11-12-2019, 08:19

Zeroing the rifle is the easy part. Going hunting and then knowing how far your intended target is, is the harder part.

**Messor** · 11-12-2019, 09:09

Hunting distances becomes a problem on open terrain where no visual references aids the shooter, we always joked about the transvalers who shoots at the heels of springbok with their 30-06’s.

But in all honesty, sighting in the rifle is child’s play since it’s done over a bench, the real problem is transitioning to the hunt where no stable rest can be found and the body have to cope with adrenaline. Some drops have been pointed out, like the bullet dropping 9cm at 200m if zeroed at 100m, but I promise you the average person have a bigger margin of error than 9cm at 200m from a field position, think about that.

That brings me to my original post, margins are not just things you keep in mind when planning a budget, you must get a balance where the average over and under is least for your shooting distance up to 200m. For example a rifle zeroed at 200m for this combo will be almost 5cm high at 100 to 125m, a normal shooting distance, couple that with the factors I have already mentioned then it’s easy to see why so many people shoot animals too high. Even here, you read it a lot, people saying they misjudged and hit a bit too high, where vitals like the heart sits very low in our animals. Animals like wildebeest, how many PH’s here have tracked them when shot too high?

I prefer newcomers (no disrespect) to rather aim at the center of the chest, in this scenario it’s much better to have the bullet drop a few cm at 200m as opposed to it being high at 100m. Zeroing at 150 makes you 5.7cm low at 200m but only 1.7cm high at 100m, I find it the best compromise for non plains game hunting activities.

But…..different strokes for different okes.

**Toxxyc** · 11-12-2019, 09:12

Also, different calibers and even different bullets will hit at different heights at different distances. It's in my opinion irresponsible to say "zero at XXXm, because then you'll shoot YYcm high at this distance and ZZcm low at that distance". It can differ wildly - enough to cause the injuries Messor talks about.