What distance should I sight in my ar 223 for night hunting?

R

Ricky Bobby

New member
So I’m going outside this afternoon to hopefully sight in my ar for night hunting. This will be my first ever night hunting rig. I just purchased a handheld thermal scanner that showed up this week and I just put a Sightmark Wraith HD on my ar that I plan to hunt with. This night hunting is all new to me so I need to ask what distance you all suggest I sight in at? I’m pretty confident I’d like to keep my shots 250yds and under ... possibly stretching out to 300yds if I can positively ID and the occasion calls for it but like I say I’d prefer my shots 250yds and under. I’ll be setting up in open fields next to blocks of timber and hopefully calling them out into the open. I’m thinking if I am sighted in about 1 1/2” high at 100yds I’d probably be good to hold dead on a coyote from 50yds to 250yds but maybe I’m not thinking correctly on this. What do you all think?
 
Your thoughts are perfect in my opinion. My distances are about exactly the same as yours. I have no problem shooting those distances with a 1 1/2 zero at I00 yards. I typically don’t need to shoot out to 200-250 yards at night. But if I have to, I can. I’m currently using, Hogster 35 for scanning and .223/Sightmark Wraith 2x HD.
 
You didn't describe what velocity or bullet weight you are shooting. My 16"AR suppressed shoots a 50 gr. V-Max at between 3,200 and 3,250 fps with a stout load of A2230. I sight dead on at 55 yds. That puts me at just slightly over an inch high at 100, and just under 1.5 inches high at 150 yds. I am just under half inch high at 200 yds. and right at 2 inches low at 250 yds.
 
I sight everything at 50/200 Its just simpler to me to have one set of holdoffs no matter the lighting or range to bait pile ect..
 
With that bullet at 3100 fps my program says you should sight-in dead on at 40 yds. which will put you 1.1 inches high at 100 yds. and just under 1 inch high at 150 yds. You should be .6 inches low at 200 yds. and 3.4 inches low at 250 yds.

That is assuming your scope center is 2.5 inches above the bore. The advantage of sighting dead on at the closer distance is obviously made easier with thermal scopes. Of course there is still the need to shoot and verify that it is doing what the ballistics say in the real world.
 
I test and come up with different zeros that work best for 40-200yds shots for each caliber (handloads), rifle and scope height such as:

6.8 SPC II = 50 yds
30 Saber Cat =50 yds
.308 = 1.5” high at 100yds

.223/5.56 = 40 yds

.243 = 75 yds
 
Use jbmballistics.com and put all your load/bullet data in and play with the zero range until you get what you like.
 
This summer after watching many youtube vids decided to give the 36 yd zero a try. Shooting factory 55 gr PSP loads I love it. Shooting out of a Seekins rifle with a 16in barrel it has been great. I used it to cull several bean eaters out of the fields and a few coyotes got mixed in as well. The drop is only supposed to be a CDs width between up close to 300yds. So far I cant complain.
 
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