AR15 Zeros and Trajectories

[DS]

Here is an excellent article about AR15 (5,56X45) Zeros and Trajectories, posted by Molon on M4 Carbine Forums.

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=65679

I have personally used the 50 yard zero for a number of years on my rifles with 1x optics and find it to work very well for CQB to intermediate distance (0 metres to 200 metres and a bit more) engagements.

[Lian]

what's your thinking/opinion on the 100m zero?

[Charles Martel]

I have started zeroing at 200 but might try 300 as well.
http://panteaoproductions.com - is a great site for training videos. Its hosted and very inexpensive compared to buying a few videos each year.

[DS]

Most of my shooting with my AR 5,56 is done from 0 metres to 50 metres and some out to 200 metres.

I guess SD use would be around the 0 - 75 range most of the time (taking into consideration also what I have read iro LE contact distances in the USA).

I know that with my 50 yard zero I can shoot an IDPA target zero down (including head shot) from point blank out to 50 with my 1x optic sight without having to remember about mechanical offset.

I have seen a lot of people forget about mechanical offset when they shoot the close under 15m distances, especially 10m and less.

With my 50 yard zero I can hold in the middle of the head zero down with a 2.5" mechanical offset and still make the zero down. It is not exactly ideal because I have only about 1/2" to spare before I go out of the zero down with shooting 2.5" low at about 0 - 10m and more of a margin at 15m. I really try to make a point of remembering to build in some insurance when shooting the rally close targets even with my 50 yard zero but should I forget and shoot accurately it will zero points down.

With the same zero I can hit a 30cm x 30cm plate at 200m with my 1x optic and some concentration and I can do it repeatedly.

50 Yard zero is tighter "group"/smaller area from 0 - 200m than the 100m zero. With the 50 zero you can keep your rounds in the IDPA 8" circle from 0 to around 200.

Zero at 200 yards would be great and it has a very small effective zone but I cannot see that well with 1x optic to make it work effectively for me.

If I could see I would take the 300 yard zero over all else but I can see shit for zeroing purposes at 300 with a 1x optic.

I would however zero my Trijicon 1-4 Accupoint or Eotech with magnifier at 3 hundred because I can actually see something.

So I would choose and use:

- 1 x optic and 50 yard zero.

- magnified optic and a 300 yard zero.

[PAYBACK]

Interesting article. Found another great video explaining zeros.