I may be way off here but...

[model 70]

after debating in my mind on where to sight my rifles in with everything from my .17rem to my .270win i've realized if i sight in about 2-3" hight at 100 yards, I can hold dead on when shooting coyotes, bobcats and bigger game out to a certain range. that way, all i have to figure out is how far the bullet drops waaaaaay out there because anything within 300 yards is dead assuming i do my part. is this correct?

[Lone Star]

Yes. Zeroing your high velocity rifles at 100 yards is foolish if you expect to be shooting at significantly longer ranges. Sighting them in to be 2-3" high at that range is the correct way to do it.

[Rocky Raab]

Hmmmm....seems like like I've heard that idea before. Lots of times.

Who was that guy?













oh yeah...ME!




All kidding aside, it's simply the smart way to sight in. There are other ways, and some people swear by them, but the 2-3" method (depending on velocity and bullet type) will do ya for most game and most circumstances.

[Evan03]

depends,

my 220 is 1" high at 100 and not quite 3"s low at 300.

[L. Cooper]

To figure out your best "point blank range" sight in (that is the term most people around here understand for this practice ) you need to think about the actual trajectory of the round you are sighting and the size of the target you want to hit.

My varmint rifles are sighted to be 1" high at 100 yards; big game rifles get 2 inches for deer sized game, 3 inches for things the size of moose. My old Win. 94 is sighted to be dead on at 100.

I don't want to have to do any calculating to keep the bullet from rising above the target at shorter distances.

[model 70]

yes rocky, i should have given you credit. after all, you were the one who helped me out with there to sight in with my .270 before deer season so thank you.

so if i sight in 2-3" hight at 100 yards, anything from 10-90 yards will be struck within' 2-3" of where i aim?

[Rocky Raab]

I ran three very common rifle loads through my copy of Oehler Ballistic Explorer. Here are the drop tables that came out:

Cartridge 50 yds 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
.243 100 gr 1.1 2.6 2.9 12.0 -0.5 -4.5 -10.3 -18.0 -28.0 -40.5
.270 140 gr 1.1 2.6 3.0 2.0 0.0 -4.3 -10.0 -17.5 -27.0 -39.0
.30-06 180 gr 1.1 2.7 2.9 1.8 -0.8 -5.1 -11.2 -19.5 -30.0 -43.0



That may be a bit hard to read, but if you compare columns, you see that with a sight-in of about 2.7 inches at 100, all three loads stay within six inches of the aimpoint out to 300 yards. The highest rise above aimpoint is just over three inches at about 155 yards. From the muzzle to 300 yards, you could hold at "center of deer" with any of the three cartridges.

[model 70]

do you suppose the same holds true for the little .17rem?

[Rocky Raab]

Basically, yes. It's a bit flatter, but here are the numbers (top row 17 Rem, second row .223.

50 100 150 200 250 300 350
0.7 2.2 3.0 2.7 1.2 -2.0 -7.0

1.0 2.5 3.0 2.3 0.2 -3.4 -9.0

Once again, hold "center of coyote" to 300.

[Evan03]

can you plug in elevation and other factors into the calculator?

my rifles may perform alot difrent at sea level then they do at 4k then again difrent at 8k.

but its close through out i think

[Rocky Raab]

I could, and the numbers would be different, but they'd still all be about the same under any similar set of conditions. That is, they'd all differ from the standard by about the same amount.

[model 70]

thanks guys. try this one...

.44 rem mag, 16" barrel carbine

shots will always be inside 50yds(much, much less most of the time).

where do you sight in and at what range?

[Rocky Raab]

If it were mine, I'd sight it an inch high at 50.

With iron sights, that's as close to "nuts on" as you'll ever need out to almost 100 yards. I haven't run the actual numbers, but if you assume something near 1600 fps at the muzzle, a typical short and blunt pistol bullet will likely be down to about 1000 fps at 100 yards. With the +1" at 50 zero, I'd guess it'll be maybe 4" low at 100 Yards.

I'll check...

Back again. It does a bit better than I thought. It'd be 1" high at 50, on again at 80, just under two inches low at 100, and 4" low at 120 yards. After that, it's "Somewhere UNDER the rainbow..." Velocity is still about 1150 at 120 yards.

[model 70]

thanks a ton rocky. now i just have to find a 50yd range. all the ones near here have a 25 and 100 yard rifle range.

[Rocky Raab]

So just use the numbers above, and sight it two inches low at 100. Then the trajectory back to the muzzle will match the numbers.