Sighting in 22-250

nv2056

New member
I just bought a new 22-250 rifle and was wondering what you experts would do as far as getting it nuts on. I only shoot paper when I sight a gun in and it will be a hunting and ranch gun, not a bench or beauty piece. I know this has probably been beat to death already, but I dont know how to search forums so sorry if its a dead horse.
The rifle is a Tikka T3 because it looked like a good truck gun, and I have read good things about them. I dont reload and will be shooting factory loads, most likely Hornadys.
I know that its not apple for apple but I used to shoot a .17 HMR for years and could kill ground squirrels at 50 yards or 300 yards on a regular basis because I shot all the time with it and knew what to do at "about that far" type ranges, and I never used a range finder and I dont even have one. 22-250 ammo costs to much to just figure it out, so what do you guys who shoot a lot do. I know it depends on the country but in Nevada it really varies. I usually dont see them until there about 100-200 yards out and that would be most of my shooting ranges while hunting......But when your out in a pasture and see one at 500 it would be nice to know roughly how high to aim. I have both federal 55 grain sierras and 40 grain Hornady bullets. Thanks very much!!
 
If you can get an actual chronograph speed reading for that bullet in your gun you can calculate mpbr (maximum point blank range) or make a range chart. Here is a link that explains it:

http://www.rmvh.com/MPBR.htm

Here is a link to a ballistic calculator, but again you will need to know the speed your bullet is traveling.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/

One factory bullet that shot well in my gun is the winchester 45 gn hollow points (white box). I hand load so this is the only factory ammo I am familiar with. It shot at 3950 fps in my gun. You could punch in that data and get a rough idea where it will be hitting.

You should be able to get a mpbr of about 320 or so with a 22-250 and that will be sighting in at about 270 or about 2 inches high at a hundred yards. With the winchester white box ammo sighted in 2" high at 100 you would have to aim 11" high at 400 and 29" high at 500.

Now this is just general reference numbers but they might get you in the ball park.

Hope this helps
 
bro, i am new to this predator hunting, but i am not new to weapons. if your nominal range to target is between 100 and 200 yards, i would split the diffrence and zero it at 150 yards. another thing to consider is if you are going to be using iron sights or is it scoped? i am assuming you are using a scope, so that will help a little. when you are zeroing your weapon you need to shoot 3 shot groups. get a pack or sand bag (something the lay the rifle on to steady it) and fire 3 shots at the dead center of the target(wihtout adjustying anything). the rounds should all impact in about 3 minutes of angle (about the size of a dip can) this will allow you to see where you need to adjust your scope to. make adjustments and fire 3 more. if you need to adjust from there then continue the process until you get it where you want it (dead on). another thing is that these smaller rounds are affected a good bit by the wind. the wind will really make them "dance" (blow them around) so if you are going to take a 500 yard shot make sure you compensate for windage.



here is a good link to help you with the ballistics. http://www.gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satelli...2-250+Remington

hope this helps.
 
when i first got my 22-250, Savage 11fcns-22"-1:12, i tried several factory ammo to find what was "best for my rifle". it was costly and was only limited to what i could find at BassPro and Sportsmans Warehouse in Henderson, NV before they shut down. i also live in Vegas, well Henderson now. i tried at least 6 to 8 different types of ammo from different makers and bullet types. i got good results from Federal and Hornady with v-max bullets in 50gr and 55gr. i stuck with Hornady in 55gr. with the Hornady and many other makers you can get velocity info on their factory ammo which is GREAT help when trying to figure out bullet drop at distances. the Hornady tells you right on the box. the 55gr Hornady says it goes at 3600 fps and the 50gr at 3800 fps i believe from "what they tested", i believe a 24" barrel. then just go to the makers site and use their ballistic calculator and figure out your bullet drop in 50 or 100 yard increments out to 600 yards. then write it down and tape it to the inside of your rifle scope pop-up-lid on the rear. thats where i keep mine.
i've since started loading and thats just a whole new extensive topic i wont get into cause you didn't ask. but if your interested good info is on www.reloadersnest.com the Tikka T3 is an excellent rifle from what i've heard. good luck.
 
For a flat shooting round really any round, if my farthest shot will be 200, 0 at 200. From muzzle to 0 you'll have maybe 1.5" rise and drop. So pretty much anything from your tootsies to 200 hold dead on and pull the trigger.

Read up on maximum point blank range, sight your rifle for your target size and ignore a '0'.
 
I'm going to sight in dead-on at 250 yards. From Chuck Hawks:

The maximum point blank range (+/- 1.5") for a typical 55 grain spitzer bullet at a MV of 3600 fps is 254 yards. The trajectory of that load looks like this: +1.3" at 100 yards, +1.5" at 135 yards, +0.6" at 200 yards, -1.5" at 254 yards.

Sighting in at 250 opens the max PBR a little, but 2.0" is perfectly acceptable on coyotes, IMHO. Keeping in mind that it's only max PBR at one point and anything closer or farther is less than max. If you can reliably differentiate between 1" at these distances, you definitely need to be doing the egg shoot at the PM Hunt.
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I have a 500 yard range in my backyard and actual range testing with my .223 says that when zeroed at 250, I can put the crosshairs just below the back of a coyote at 300 and the fat part of the duplex on his chest at 400 (which means the crosshair is just clearing his back). At 500, unless I've ranged it and have a really good rest, I'm just throwing lead (and I've killed 'em at that distance, but not consistently). On paper, I can't tell any difference between the .223 and my .22-250 but that's partly because I shoot lighter bullets in the former and heavier ones in the latter.

In any case, I sight in all my rifles dead-on at 250. I'm trading useful scope settings at longer distances for a slightly larger max PBR.


 
I've got a Tikka T3, very nice rifle.(If you use a rifle mounted bipod watch the sling swivel on the synthetic stocks, I've epoxied mine back in twice.)
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I started using Winchester hollow points but found they blew large holes in the coyotes, switched to Ballistic Silvertips and they worked well but were pricey, tried Hornady 55gr V-Max because they were cheaper and had the bullet drop on the box (That actually turned me from a Winchester to a Hornady shooter).
I know there are folks here who know a heck of a lot more about ballistics than I do, but when I sighted my rifle in with the Hornadys I used information in a predator hunting book and sighted it in at 265 yards. This should give me a MPB range of 310 yards or so for most distances I'm shooting, I just hold on fur, a little higher up if they are farther away and so far it's worked well for me.
 
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If your shooting factory & you dont have a reliable bore sighting tool, you may want to consider zeroing the rifle at 50 yrds. This sight in ussually zero's the fast shooting rigs like the 22-250 at 200 yrds with out the wasted ammo. You also get a good ideal of how accurate the combo is right away. Of course you need to check the performance after & make adjustments if needed, but I have found that most times a single ragged hole dead in the center of a 1/2" circle at 50 yrds & that rifle is good to go to 250 yrds without any additional adjustments.

This is just my way of doing things! so to each there own..
 
Thanks very much for all of your input I really appreciate it. This site has been so helpful in so many ways, so thanks again!
 
I don't know about being wise but I do own a 22-250. I reload but also shoot factory ammo on occasion. The best 200 yard ammo I've tried is the Remington/UMC 45gr hollow point at 4000 fps. Outstanding accuracy - three bullets in one hole at 100 yards in front of witnesses. I sight in at 100 yards and at that range I want the impact to be 2" high (dead on at 200 yards). However, it will drop 40.2" at 500 yards.

At langer ranges I use 55 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips which I reload. They are extremely accurate as well and the drop is only 33" at 500 yards. Remington sell them as Ballistic Silvertips. Go here for some really good info.

http://www.winchester.com/Products/rifle...2-250+Remington
 
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