.204 Ruger----50 yd. sight in?

Jhedges

New member
I was calculating some ballistics on my .204 ruger and i computed everything with a 50 yd zero and i found that it would only be 0.9 inch high at 100 yards, 0.7 inch high at 200 and -3.2 low at 300. I know that the .204 is a very flat shooting gun but i just dont know if it would be a good idea or not to sight in at 50 yards.

Now in the past i have always sighted in my rifles at 100 unless it is a rimfire and i was just wondering if anyone has tried this or sighted in at 50? I kind of want to try it for this coyote season with my Encore Pro Hunter but i just wanted to get some input from everyone else.
 
I sighted my 204 in at 1 inch High at 100yds. I put the rifle on paper at 200 and found that the rifle was very close to the same impact point at 100. I shot another group at 250 and was just a half inch low on the target. I have never zeroed at 50 but my trajectory that I have seen out of my rifle seems to be close to what you are saying. I have shot 2 coyotes at around the 300 mark this year and did not hold high and killed both.

I would still sight in farther than 50 yds.
 
Set up 1" high @ 100 yards. Then anything form 0 - 250 yards just shoot center mass and all will be good.

You should practice at the longest you want to shoot ,it will make the close stuff easier.
 
Where you sight your rifle in really doesn't matter as long as you know where it shoots at any given distance.

A friend of mine sights his 6mm in at 3 inches high at 200 yards and he shoots really well. I would have trouble with that set up.

Just be sure that if you zero at 50 you shoot paper at 100 and 200 and 250 to be sure you know where you are at. Most shots you will take are well within 250 yards.
 
A lot of shooters have found that with most modern rifles, sighting in at a closer target can save you a lot of time and ammo when sighting in a rifle and scope. In most cases this "first" sight is done between 20 to 25 yards, when the flight of the bullet comes up through the line-of-sight for the first time. With most small caliber rifles,
 
Ok i redid the calculation and if i sighted in at 100 yards in the 30 degree weather for this winter it would be a half inch low at 50. Should i measure that half inch low on a target and sight it in a half inch low at 50 if i dont have access to a 100 yard range?
 
While you haven't given any details of the round your shooting, even without checking it sounds about right.

But that means if your target is at 50 yards, you should be 1/2" lower than the light of sight. You want your cross hairs to be on the bullseye, but your point of impact will be 1/2" lower.

When sighting-in close, minor measurement differences can make a big difference when you increase the range and the effect of angle changes on your shot. I recommend that you take it and try it at a 100 yard range to verify before hunting with it.
 
If you call all your coyotes into 50 yards go ahead and sight in there. You can do all the calculating you want and you will still be wondering if you can hit that locked up coyote at 200. Nothing replaces a fired round on paper to verify what you think the point of impact should be. I have been sure of my accuracy at a certain distance and went to my range and found I was wrong. I check my zero often throughout the season, at 100, 200, and 250.

I hate the thought of walking long miles only to find out that I missed the coyote at 150 because I was too lazy to check the rifle before hand.

I have gone with guys and gave them the first shot only to find out that they sighted in with different ammo the day before and their zero was off 3 inches at 100 yards.

Be sure of your zero, you won't regret it.
 
FWIW, my ballistics program estimates the drop/rise at various ranges.. I always start sighting in at 25 yards to get on the paper and get it close.. I set the bullet impact approx where the program indicates.. Then I shoot at 100 yds.. Rarely is the 100 impact where I want it..

The only way to really know is to shoot those ranges and see where it hits.. The biggest draw back is the amount of clicks on the scope required at closer ranges to get a correction.
 
Good post
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The "sighting in at short range and then calculating where you should be at long range" theory has never sat well with me. That is because it isn't worth a shitt.

There is no shortcut that works reliably. Do the trigger time and reap the rewards.......
 
Originally Posted By: zilla The biggest draw back is the amount of clicks on the scope required at closer ranges to get a correction.

You're not kidding. I don't like standing spitting distance in front of a target and dialing 64 clicks to get where I want. I go straight to the 100yd line after bore sighting. Almost never have to go back to shorter to figure out where I'm at. Like never, really........
 
Alright. I am just gonna find a way to get 100 yards out somewhere and just sight it in there. Im shootin 32 gr V Max's out of an Encore Pro Hunter and i have sighted it in at 100 Yards, and shot multiple shots at 200 to see where it hits. I dont want to sound like a dummy arguing about a 50 yard sight in. In all truth i have not sighted it in at 50 yards i had just looked at the numbers and was curious on if it would work and was just going by the numbers which is the thing not to do. I know i have to test it out, and i will probably go on and get it all sighted in at 100, because i rarely would take a shot over 300 yards on a yote.
 
Oh I wouldn't let them chase you away from thinking about and even trying it. In fact check it out next time you get to a longer range. The results can be pretty close, and yet, as I said from the beginning, always practice at longer distances. A 1/4" difference at 25 or 50 yards can make a big difference at 250 yards.

It's interesting our different experiences on shooting and what we expect from others. I would have said a guy in Kentucky (Jhedges) might never get to take even a 200 yard shot. In general, I envision Kentucky as too wooded and rolling to get a longer shot, but probably less wind?. SE Michigan--I would expect the same but a bit more open but more people, therefore less shooting. Wyoming and Nebraska---now there you get to shoot longer distances but more wind. In Oregon we're half and half. The west side is a lot of tall timber and mountains which means shorter 150 yd shots, and the eastside is often where longer shooting get made due to it being dryer with sage brush and desert, and more wind. It makes a difference how you shoot, including how you sight-in.
 
The "numbers" can get you close, and can be used as a reference, bu they are hardly, if ever, dead on. You really need to tweak it in via actual trigger time at each given distance. Once you do, happiness is achieved, along with confidence, and experience.

Michigan is a mix. You have some open farmland, mostly bean and wheat fields, cut cornfields, and such. Up north, it can be extremely thick. Thicker than anything in I've seen Kentucky, and about as thick as woods can get, I'd imagine......
 
Sight at 50 yds - tweak at 100 yds. I personally would go 1" high at 100 and not worry about much for a long ways. (But, I have a habit of "wondering" later, and checking at 200 or more)
Mark
 
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