50 yard vs 100 yard zero for AR15

N

NEO Hunter

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I cant decide which would be more benenficial for me when sighthing in my AR-15. Do I want to zero for 50 yards or 100 yards when shots will mostly be under 200 yards and probably in the 75-100 yard range. Thanks for the opinions.
 
The sights and the barrel are so far apart on the AR sighting in at 50 yards is going to cause problems. Plug the numbers onto a ballistics program and you will see.

Jack
 
Unless shooting for tight precision shots, I zero my ARs at 200 yards to give me the better Maximum Point Blank Range capability...That's doing the initial setting at 50 yards and then fine tuning the optic/sight at 200....

When I was shooting action matches, I would set my zero where the majority of my shots would be needed if I could get my hands on the description of the stages ahead of time...I could adjust accordingly for the extremes that would be encountered...

In the case below (iron sights), I knew my range was going to be 125 yards for 12 stationary targets with no shoots (white) involved...


I was able to only have one 'miss' that barely hit a 'no shoot'...
 
My AR Pistol which is specifically for SD is sighted in @ 50 yards. Sightron dot 1x optic.
AR-15 rifle. 100 yard zero as is all of my hunting rigs (Both SP's and rifles)
 
Given what you said, 100 yds seems logical to me.

I have taken 2 deer with my RRA AR thus far, and 1 coyote. Conditions in the area are the same, 200yds max. Mine is set at 100 yds.......
 
27yds or 25 meters is the millitary standard for 55gr ammo. A 25 meter zero will be dead on at 300 meters. Anything in between is within a few inches and will not matter much. This is for iron sights so if using optics I prefer a 100yd zero.
 
Originally Posted By: MNHNTR27yds or 25 meters is the millitary standard for 55gr ammo. A 25 meter zero will be dead on at 300 meters...

So technically, they're using a 300m zero...

To the OP's question, a 50yrd zero with A2 sights doesn't make sense to me if you'll be shooting at 75-100, occassionally 0-200...

I generally zero for the range I will be shooting the most, with an MPBR twist. So if I think I might be shooting 75-150yrds on average, I'll probably zero for 125-150, which extends my MPBR if I decide to shoot farther. The hold-under for 75yrds on a 150yrd zero is almost nothing, whereas the hold-over at 150 for a 75yrd zero is multiple times bigger (still within MPBR, so not necessary except for precision shots).

I only zero rifles to 50yrds if I know I'll be shooting less than 100yrds for 100% of shots.
 
Originally Posted By: VarminterrorOriginally Posted By: MNHNTR27yds or 25 meters is the millitary standard for 55gr ammo. A 25 meter zero will be dead on at 300 meters...

So technically, they're using a 300m zero...

To the OP's question, a 50yrd zero with A2 sights doesn't make sense to me if you'll be shooting at 75-100, occassionally 0-200...

I generally zero for the range I will be shooting the most, with an MPBR twist. So if I think I might be shooting 75-150yrds on average, I'll probably zero for 125-150, which extends my MPBR if I decide to shoot farther. The hold-under for 75yrds on a 150yrd zero is almost nothing, whereas the hold-over at 150 for a 75yrd zero is multiple times bigger (still within MPBR, so not necessary except for precision shots).

I only zero rifles to 50yrds if I know I'll be shooting less than 100yrds for 100% of shots.
You are correct. My point is that it is not much of a difference. Like you are saying why not push your zero out farther when it covers everything in between.
 
There is a great video on Youtube by Travis Hayley on this topic. This is the link.
I prefer 50 yds. It is easier to get zeroed and easier to check your sights from time to time. Sometimes 200 and 300 yard ranges are hard to find.
 
If i sight mine in for 5o it will be to high at 100, still shooting low at 25 and 50 because the scope is so high, so 100yds for me.
 
Originally Posted By: MNHNTR27yds or 25 meters is the millitary standard for 55gr ammo. A 25 meter zero will be dead on at 300 meters. Anything in between is within a few inches and will not matter much. This is for iron sights so if using optics I prefer a 100yd zero.

If you look at the M16 or M4 zero target, 25meters is zeroed for 250 meters. thats the reason they tell you to hold a little high at 300 meters.
 
rio said:
There is a great video on Youtube by Travis Hayley on this topic. This is the link.
I prefer 50 yds. It is easier to get zeroed and easier to check your sights from time to time. Sometimes 200 and 300 yard ranges are hard to find. [/quote

Thanks for the link, I will take a look
Click to expand...
 
After watching the video, is anyone really surprised to find out that somewhere between a 100-200 produced the longest mpbr? (200 looked better than 100, I usually figure about 150-175 zero to maximize my mpbr).

He's not the first one to test fire for mpbr. Most guys just run it through a calculator and save themselves some time and ammo these days.
 

If the majority of your shots will be 75-100 yards, then that's where I would wish to be sighted.

Then - shoot at other distances up to 200 yards to learn the trajectory of your particular load so you will know what to expect if a 200 yard shot presents itself, or even a 150 yard shot.

I do most of my coyote shooting at a 60 yard bait site, so I'm sighted "drop-dead on" at that distance. The other day I rechecked zero at 60, then put a target at 94 yards
(my 100 yard target due to range limitations) to get an idea of trajectory with my Bushmaster .223.

Every coyote I have taken here so far has been under 100 yards. I probably need to tweek the sighting a bit more to even up the two, bringing the impact a bit lower and to the left slightly.

Here's what it looked like. The center shot was a 60 yards, and the higher one at 94. There was
slightly over 1/2" difference. Both are still coyote-dead accuracy for the range where I do my hunting.





I would suggest you perhaps do similar by sighting in at the distance you do the most shooting,
and then get an idea of where the bullet will hit at various ranges. You can then adjust accordingly.




 
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