OK, Time for a Stupid Question

pyscodog

Active member
I have this friend..........that says the military says, if you sight a rifle in at 27 yards, it will be on at 100 yards. He claims pretty much any caliber. I know this to be pretty much BS because if you sight in a 223 at 25 yards, its really high at 100. I can't see 2 yards making that much difference. I have no idea where he has got his information so don't shoot the messenger. Just curious as to what you all think about this. I call BS but I'm not an expert. I still sight my rifles in the hard way. Shooting them at the distance I want them sighted in for.



Go easy on me, I'm just repeating what he told me.
 
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I have heard and seen this claim, but I thought it was 27 feet. What you are looking for is the first point where the bullet crosses the line of sight.
 
Doesn't sound like either one of you understand it at all.

Which is bizarre. I was taught this stuff and understood it fully as a small child. First time I was handed a scoped rifle, I was taught this. My kids have understood it fully since they were quite young too.

This is such a basic, fundamental concept to being able to hit what you are shooting at, I'm really kind of flabbergasted you don't understand it. But it's called trajectory. And line of sight. The two will intersect twice, once near, once farther. The distances where these intersections occur are dependent on sight height, velocity and BC. Caliber doesn't matter.

And in a lot of cases, for all practical purposes the 25 yard zero will be the same for a variety of calibers, as long as they have the same sight height and similar velocity and BC. Bolt action deer rifles is where I have seen it used a lot and most of them all pretty close to the same, for practical purposes.

The ancient practice of the 25 yard zero can get you darn close to what you want for a distance zero, if you have a clue what you are doing.

But you are both wrong.

- DAA
 
Sighted in at 25yds might be closer to dead on around 250yds
That's with a scope 1.5 inch above bore.

Around 3/4 inch low at 25yds will get ya closer to
dead on at 100yds.

A lot of variables come in to play like DAA says

AR rifle with a high scope really changes things
 
Me wrong, thats got to be a first!
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Well it’s pretty clear Dave missed his coffee....

Pysco, most ballistic calculators will have a line of sight vs trajectory imaging system/ chart/ whatever in them, which I rarely pay attention to but it is there. Unless you’re trying to shoot a deer at 900 yards in an apple orchard, it seems irrelevant to the hunter. It looks like this, but there is no magic universal formula.




Simple fact is, I can’t see the importance of this close range zero. I either sight them in 1” low at 25 then go straight to 100, or eyeball the bore at 50 (works great on small calibers) then fire a shot, correct and go to 100. It takes me 3 or 4 shots to sight in an accurate rifle. I may fine tune it a bit after a 5 shot group, but that’s all.

If I want to know where a bullet will hit at distance, I plug in carefully collected data and use the provided firing solution.

Let’s talk about Kentucky a little. I don’t really care if it’s a 222 or a 338 Norma.... if you sight in your “deer” gun 1.5” high at 100 you can just hold on em at 200 and level that horizontal crosshair on the back strap for 300. For the vast majority of people, that’s all the trajectory they’ll ever need to know. Hope this helps.
 
Agree!! I usually sight down the bore at 100 and most of the time get on paper. Most of the time....but not always. A couple more shots to zero and I'm good to go. Then do the fine tuning when I get a load that I plan on using.
 
Shooter says a 6.5x47L 140 running 2763 zeroed at 100 yards with a sight height of 1.875” will be 1” low at 25 yards.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogAgree!! I usually sight down the bore at 100 and most of the time get on paper. Most of the time....but not always. A couple more shots to zero and I'm good to go. Then do the fine tuning when I get a load that I plan on using.

Yep, if you take your time sighting down the bore will put you on a piece of notebook paper @ 100 yards at least 90% of the time. Measuring with a mil or MOA reticle usually puts me on the dot after 2 more shots.
Last one I zeroed first shot was 2 clicks above the dot.
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Originally Posted By: pyscodogAgree!! I usually sight down the bore at 100 and most of the time get on paper. Most of the time....but not always. A couple more shots to zero and I'm good to go. Then do the fine tuning when I get a load that I plan on using.

That's almost in line with what 1ASSASSIN is capable of doing. 'Cepting he never shoots more than one shot and he knows that the first shot is on target just because he says it is.
 
Well, at least I shoot. And I learned how to look down a bore and sight a rifle in a long time ago. You don't have to be an engineer to do that.
 
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Originally Posted By: pyscodogWell, at least I shoot. And I learned how to look down a bore and sight a rifle in a long time ago. You don't have to be an engineer to do that.

LOL. Dang, can't take a joke huh? And you're sounding spiteful again, psycho. You're obviously still believing everything your hero tells you about me.

So..........Do I need to take up shooting to be believable in your eyes? That sounds like something that would be extremely hard to do without at least an engineering degree. And besides, I don't own any guns.
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I guess I'll just stick with badminton.

btw - Its good to see ya' posting silly things again. It's obviously an inescapable part of your personal heritage.
 
Not spiteful at all Winny. I just agreed with fw707 and you chose me to dog on. But I'm use to that. My only hero was my father and he's dead.
 
I am sorry I over-simplified the theory, and that is all it is theory, it didn't work for me either. I shoot the first shot at 25 yards just to be sure I am on paper, then move to 50 yards and get it as close as I can, then refine the zero at 100 yards. The more distance you put it to use at the more refining you can do. I hope you can understand what I am trying to say.
 
I'm lazy. Our 25 yard range is not attached to our 100 to 300 yard range so I just use the 100 yard range. Usually use a target with a large bull on it also. If I break paper its easy to adjust after that. Usually three shots get me close enough for load work. I don't worry about bulls eye shooting until I find a decent load. I will say I have had a couple of rifles that required the 25 yard range to get my scopes on paper.
 
I'm with Dave on this, but I just saw something like this from a supposed USN Seal-now-consultant on utube, and winced cuz he acted like if you sight in at "X" yards/meters, you now know EXACTLY where it hits from there on out.....ummmm, no. Short range aint a bad place to start to make sure you stay on paper when newly sighting a firearm in, but at least checking it at longer ranges is the only way you know exactly where it hits out there. THEN, come back in to shorter ranges and see where it's hitting with your load, firearm, scope height, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogNot spiteful at all Winny. I just agreed with fw707 and you chose me to dog on. But I'm use to that.

Yes, we are all used to Whiney behaving like an AH, Bill. It's his calling card after all. smh
 
We did sight in our M16A2 at 25 meters. The way the rear sight was calibrated (elevation markings) and which peep was used (small/large) would then get you MOH to 300 meters. I remember zeroing, moving the rear one click and being sent to qualify.

MOH= minute of human, which in my case was a little green man from 50 to 300 meters.
 
Originally Posted By: Brad PhillipsWe did sight in our M16A2 at 25 meters. The way the rear sight was calibrated (elevation markings) and which peep was used (small/large) would then get you MOH to 300 meters. I remember zeroing, moving the rear one click and being sent to qualify.

MOH= minute of human, which in my case was a little green man from 50 to 300 meters.


I remember that very well.
 
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