Optimal Zero distance How do you determine?

[2rocky]

As I've been sighting in this .223 with a VX-1 4-12x scope (no turrets) I think I've found a load I want to stick with. a 200yd zero is 1.2 inches high at 100.
TRAJECTORY (in.)
100 1.2
200 0
300 -6.4
400 -19.8
500 -42.8


a 300 yard zero would be as high as 4.3 inches at 200. and -11.2 at 400

At what height above line of sight with a fixed elevation scope (duplex Reticle) do you lose the advantage of "point on hold" is 4.3 inches too much?

 

[Sam Millard]

The way I would do it is figure out the size of the target I want to hit, then determine the max rise and fall across line of sight to fit that. If I were hunting coyotes and wanted a true point and shoot, I would make sure it never rises 2/2.5" for a 5" target. Deer and elk get more leeway. Any other way has you holding over or under to hit the 5" circle.

 

[pyroducksx3]

I use a 100 yard zero. It's much easier to get a dead nuts 100 yard zero than a 200 or 300. After that I dial for everything. So all my dialing is off of my true and accurate 100 yards zero. It's easier for me to confirm my zero at 100 also. If setting the zero for max point blank aim a different zero is probably better. I shoot out to 1000 plus so any inconsistencies in my zero equates to a larger error the further out I go.

 

[Sam Millard]

I use a 100 yard zero. It's much easier to get a dead nuts 100 yard zero than a 200 or 300. After that I dial for everything. So all my dialing is off of my true and accurate 100 yards zero. It's easier for me to confirm my zero at 100 also. If seething the zero for max point blank aim a different zero is probably better. I shoot out to 1000 plus so any inconsistencies equates to a larger error the further out I go

This is what I do and recommend...^^^

 

[Ironman8]

What range are you expecting to be shooting these coyotes?

Duplex Reticle + No Turrets is already putting you behind the 8-ball for anything past 300yds or so with .223

I prefer a 100yd zero for all my .223 rifles (regardless of optic) simply because I don't have to remember hold-overs AND hold-unders. Even with a 200yd zero, you'll be using good ol' Kentucky Windage as you get closer to 300. Without Turrets or Mildots, past 300 will be fairly tough with either zero.

And just to clarify, I'm not one of those guys who tends to limit .223 to a 3-400yd gun. I was just recently shooting out to 600 with my 16" AR on 12"x24" steel with surprising accuracy and consistency. But this was with a Vortex PST (Mil-hash + Turrets....which I never touched once, only holds). What I said above was solely for his particular optic setup.

I use a 100 yard zero. It's much easier to get a dead nuts 100 yard zero than a 200 or 300.

I agree with this, if it was a RDS. Since it's a magnified optic, I think a 200yd zero is doable from a precision standpoint...but like I said above, there are other things to consider.

 

[Matt Cashell]

To go along with Sam's post, if you post your target size (Sam's 5 inches for yotes sounds good ) and load (bullet and muzzle velocity), I can punch it in the ballistic software, and give you your zero distance for Maximum Point Blank Range (MPBR).

 

[Sam Millard]

To go along with Sam's post, if you post your target size (Sam's 5 inches for yotes sounds good ) and load (bullet and muzzle velocity), I can punch it in the ballistic software, and give you your zero distance for Maximum Point Blank Range (MPBR).

And if you want to run it this way, you can keep it super simple by figuring out where it crosses the line at 100 yards and call that your "zero". I can't afford NF scopes on everything I like to shoot and have successfully killed yotes out to 400 with a couple of 22-250s and a 223 with Leupold 4-12 scopes. You just have to know your limitations

 

[deadwolf]

100 yd zero always

 

[unm1136]

My guys and I use the 50/200 yard zero. Easy on quick and dirty zero verification, and with 55 grain bullets I am within 2.4 inches poa/poi from 0-250 yards. POA/POI at both 50 and about 212 yards. This is my go to 5.56/.223 zero.

I have a book by a former SF weapons Sgt from the 70s who trains people to figure out how far away they can hit their target with their particular system, and zero to that distance. He teaches that when you are at the maximum distance that a shooter, platform, optics, and load can accomplish then you should make hitting at that distance as easy as possible, and hold under for closer ranges. For a hunting rifle I am happy with a six inch target, and my family heirloom rifle in my hands is a 2 moa gun with 150 grainers. Three hundred yards on a six inch target on demand is where I am zeroed for. For years I didn't have a range finder, but I did have a long range with a lot of shooting stations. The theory is that estimating range and hold overs gives more mistakes the farther out you are. I sort of like this, and shoot enough to know hold overs and unders out to 530 yards.As I get more consistent at greater distancesI move my zero distance out farther. It has taken me almost three years to go from a 200 yard zero to a three hundred yard zero, but that is a lot of powder burned, and if I spent time holding over at distances beyond my zero. I thought it was an interesting approach to having poor range estimation abilities in the field. Now that I have a range finder I am teachimg my daughter the traditional zero and hold over approach. Without a laser rangefinder I would likely continue to use this approach.

pat

 

[2rocky]

some good things to think of in this thread.

For a 5 inch vital, then 4.3 inches is too much rise above the los.

So I downloaded the Winchester ammo ballistic app

Punching in the Muzzle Vel of 3410, BC of .238 on a 50 gr Nosler Ballistic tip,

and fiddling with the sliders, a sight in distance of 250 yards is only 2.2 inches high at 100, and 3.4 inches low at 300.

That means I can hold dead on to nearly, but not quite, 300 yards without using the RF.

If I think a Coyote could be 300 or more, I would want to range it before firing.

 

[sendero72]

Hey Guys, I'm brand new to the forum. I think the zero has to do with the terrain and game you are hunting. I hunt the bean and corn fields in South Carolina for whitetails and a few coyotes, and the land is flat as a board and only 75 feet above sea level. I zero my 7 mag at 300 yds, then do a drop chart at 600 yds to get my initial velocities. Then on to 800 and 1000 yds to fine tune that velocity. My rifle in topped with a Nightforce 8-32x56 with MOAR crosshair. They are enough MOA hash marks above the center crosshair to get me down to 85 yds for any close-up work. I use the G7 calculator.