sighting in your rifle?

joshua wasmund

joshua wasmund

New member
Hey guys,
Just had a thought on sighting in my rifles and wondered your thoughts. My idea is to sight my rifles in where the top of their arc meets the crosshairs instead of a yardage like 100. So my 22lr would be 35 yrds, 17hmr - 60, 223 - 90, and 204 - a nice even 100. My thought was you would never have to hold under any target. All of your thoughts, good and bad, are greatly appreciated thanks.
 
I think it's more natural to hold under a target than it is to hold over. Normally the sight picture for rifles and pistols with open sights is to put the front sight under or on the target, and then adjust with the rear sight. I suspect most scoped rifle shooters have a tendance to shoot low or under a target naturally.

Also the top of the ballistic arc varies not only based on caliber but velocity of each round. So it's more common to sight-in based on where the bullet rises through the line of sight of the crosshairs and then further out falls back through the crosshairs. Since in most cases, light travels in a straight line, you can use these two points to estimate where your bullet is based on your estimation of distance and knowledge of common ballstic studies
 

i would say what ever you do would be ok as long as you know what you need to do to make a good kill shot at any given distance. may take some time and rounds at the range but will pay off in the feild.
 
Okay here is my reasoning, when you sight in for a distance like 100 depending on your caliber you start low, cut through the cross hairs, then are above your line of sight, and then back on your crosshairs at say 100 yrds. Now with my 204 this isn't the case, it is climbing all the way to 100. So my thought is to find the yardage where each caliber stops rising at the line of sight and zero my rifles at those ranges. Plus a good reason to punch some holes in paper plates (my targets of choice).
 
Gravity starts to work the instant the bullet leaves the barrel, that is why ballistic calculators ask the height that the scope is above the bore line. The faster a give weight bullet gets to the target the less time gravity has to pull it down. What we call shooting flatter.
 
Originally Posted By: NastyDaddy101The only reason you shoot lower close up is scope height,bullets don't rise.

Common mistake. Actually you have to aim high close up. The bullet is below your line of sight when it comes out of the barrel.
 
I just sight my gun in at 200 yards. my 22-250 is shooting 4184fps. it is about a half inch high at 100. not a big deal for me. at 300 i can hold on top of a pop can and hit it. at 400 i hold about 12in over and can hit beer cans.
 
If you are coyote hunting sight your 223 in for 200 yards. If your scope sets 1.5" above your barrel you can hold dead on out to 250 yards. That pretty much gives you a plus or minus 1.5" out to 250 so holding dead on the center of the yote will score a hit.

You can go to Winchester ammo and use their ballistic calulator to see the arc for the different sight in ranges based on how high above the barrel your scope sets. Then you can print out the info to tape on your stock. It gives you the numbers out to 500 yards.
 
Originally Posted By: yotehunter57 bullets don't rise.

Bingo

Shayne [/quote]

They don't rise, but correctly sighted in they are aimed slightly upward. Their trajectory is parabolic. Your line of sight is, for the most part, a true straight line.
 
I'm not real sure I follow your train of thinking here either... In sighting a rifle in, the highest point in the trajectory path is not constant, it moves when sighted at different distances. Bullet Trajectory is not a rise and fall thing, it is all down hill, from the tip of your barrell. The tip of your barrell is elevated to a point above your intended target to compensate for the effects of gravity, resulting in a trajectory path that rises above the line of sight. If you sight for the peak of your trajectory path, the peak of your trajectory path is only going to move closer to you.
 
In a calling situation you need to know where your rifle will hit at close range, you will kill more coyotes under 150 yards than you will over. I sight my rifles at 50 yds and adjust for windage at 100 and 200 and leave the elevation alone. Most varmint cartidges will be half to three quarters of an inch high at 100, close at 175 to 200 but you will be within an inch and a half from the muzzle out to 200. YMMV.
 
Right it isn't a rise and fall, but to get the bullet to meet your scope it is firing at an up angle. So my idea is if you sight it in at where the bullet meets your scope then your bullet is NEVER high and low, it is just low or right on depending on the yardage of your target. The idea is to get rid of the high and low and just have it shooting low or right on your sights.
 
As suggested go to the Winchester site and play with the sight-in ranges and you will see how the drop doesn't change, only how you adjust the arc to best suit you and the ranges that you will be shooting.
 
Just be careful using those sights as gospel...unless you are shooting the exact weapon that were actually using in their test (i mean literally the same gun that they used) then your'e still going to need to play around with the drop that they advertise. It will get you close but nothing beats field/range time for knowing your weapon.
 
I know that it is kind of a weird idea, because most high power rifles aren't going to be much more than an inch high or low at most given ranges. I guess a better addition to the question is would the top of the bullets trajectory be the place where the bullet will preform its top accuracy and performance. The question comes into effect more with my 17hmr where if zeroed at 100 it is .5" low at 30 and .25" high at 70. Still effective enough on cottontails, but thought I'd see if I was the only one who ever thought of this. Too much ultimate sniper maybe? haha, but thanks again guys!
 
Quote:So my idea is if you sight it in at where the bullet meets your scope then your bullet is NEVER high and low, it is just low or right on depending on the yardage of your target.

You have the right basic idea, but evidently a poor understanding of ballistics. For instance, the the highest point in the trajectory of a .308 fired at a 1000 yd target is ~35 feet above where the "bullet meets the scope".

The basic idea I think you are trying to get to is called Point Blank Zero or more commanly MPBR (Maximum Point Blank Range).

Here's just one online calculator that will allow you to figure it out for a wide variety of loads.
 
Okay so there is a name for it, thanks. Now does anyone sight their guns in to that range or is that just a wast of time since most shots aren't going to be at that exact range?
 


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