alleyyooper

All that shooting takes time and money. A chart will put you in the ball park with out spending all that time and money.


Also take the human factor away and use a sled or rest of some kind to hold the rifle while doing the shooting.





Al

Nomercy448

While the shooting - as any shooting - does take time and money, what's the point of having a chart, proven or calculated, unless you're going to shoot? Just wanna feel good about having a drop chart taped to your stock like a "sniper?" A guy doesn't have to shoot pound upon pound of powder to suss out their projected drop chart.

What I honestly think most folks do wrong is use a 100yrd zero. Unless you're hunting Nickels and quarters, OR never shooting beyond 100, a 100yrd zero makes little sense.

Second biggest mistake is assuming your POI doesn't drift throughout a year, or throughout the life of a rifle. Temp stable powder or not, your bullet won't fly the same at 500yrds on all conditions, so having a rudimentary chart from any ballistics calculator OR EVEN ONE PRODUCED BY A DAY AT THE RANGE doesn't mean schitt.

alleyyooper

Guy was not talking about shooting deer, he was talking about trajectory. Best to find that out by taking the human out of the equation.


If he were talking deer hunting I suggest to practice the way he hunts.


Al

Nomercy448

A time for every tool.

Nobody does jumping jacks during a football game, but they all do them during the week at practice. Not many folks hunt from a sled or machine rest, but it makes sense to use them for optics set up, load development, etc.

SecondChance

Tru dat!!! I have had guys come out to my place and shoot and when I asked if they wanted to use the bench they said no. So I said ok, grabbed a cup of coffee and chair and proceeded to watch. I saw the one guy pull out his weapon, load it and then start shooting. He pulled the scope adjustment caps off and begin to start twisting like he was dialing in an old radio for Tokyo!!! I asked what he was doing and he told me he was sighting in his gun. I asked him if he needed to use the concrete bench and bags. He told me he knew what he was doing and that I should mind my own business when it came to his weapons!!!! I very gently suggested that the bench and bags may help him for his scope adjustments a bit more accurate for his needs. He proceeds to strongly inform me that there are no benches and bags in the timber and that I should mind my own business, AGAIN. I then went inside, pulled out my ML, my 20ga Mossberg Trophy Slugster, 44 Mag Lone Eagle and my .460. I sat down at the bench with all 4 and proceeded to cut out the bullseye of his target, which up to this point was null and void of any holes except 1 at the very top corner. We were shooting 50yds. I then asked him again if he needed any help. He told me that he would take care of it and I should leave him to fix his weapon problems and not bother him. Upon this last encounter, he was drinking some coffee and I detected a smell of alcohol. I asked if he had been drinking and he said that is steadies his nerves. I then STRONGLY informed him to clear his weapon, case it and return to the vehicle upon which he arrived in. He said that it didn't hurt anything and that he was over 21. I then again informed him that he was at MY house, MY private range and that if he pursued this issue any further, MY report they would be reading upon his introduction to the locals hospitality!!! His partners were now FULLY engulfed with his ignorant decision and ******ed him away and back home. The one guy who we all had common acquaintance with apologized beyond the end of the world for this and promised that he didn't know and that he would never bring him back. I told him that and along with maybe never to around him with weapons may another smart decision as well. This just happened 2 days ago.

d80hunter

Do not sight your .308 at 100 yards. Look up Maximum Point Blank Range. Use that method to find where you want to sight your rifle. For instance, my 7MM-08 is zeroed at 225 yards. The bullet hits 2.5 inches at 150 yards at 2.5 low at 300. I can shoot from zero yards to 300 yards using my crosshair. That covers most of your hunting shots.

You really need to be shooting your gun at different ranges to determine all this. Starting out with a ballistic calculater is a good start. Then use a solid rest for all your practicing. Once you get used to the feel of the rifle and sighed in start shooting in field conditions. What you do on a bench will never be as good as in the woods so learn your limitations.

Nomercy448

Eh - guys have killed game for over a hundred years with 100yard zeroes. I personally only use 3" for my MPBR calculations, as I've never been comfortable being 2.5" PLUS HALF OF MY GROUP SIZE off of my target. A +/-2.5" MPBR at 300yrds with a 1moa rifle means my impact might find itself 4" under my aiming point - which might mean I blow through below the heart and lungs, instead of hitting them.

I do zero my optics for longer ranges, typically, to allow me to minimize my corrections, but I DO hold for elevation/range when I make a longer shot. It's not so difficult to estimate 2-3" of hold over out to 300yrds (~4x thickness of your crosshairs), which lets me take out the slack in that 4" above, bringing my "miss margin" down to only 1.5" instead of 4". I also hold under for closer shots, although it's less critical to do so, since 1moa at closer ranges is incrementally smaller.

And of course, if you're hunting golf balls, a +/-2.5" MPBR tolerance doesn't work. The OP didn't say anything about hunting, so there's no way to know what his tolerance margin might be.

So for the OP's sake in this learning process, MPBR is a great philosophy, but it's not without it's own faults and it isn't a free lunch.

alleyyooper

My brother sent me an E mail Saturday saying he had took his 308 out and checked the zero for Tuesdays fire arm deer opener. Said he was 2 inches high at 100 yards so should be right on at 200 or more.
I used to hunt the same place he hunts so I really got a good chuckle out of his mail. If you were to get a shot at even 50 yards it would be considered a really long shot there.
Normal deer kills there is about 30 yards max, and he knows that too.
Figure he was thinking about hunting My Up deer camp where you can shoot can shoot over 300 yards across cranberry bogs and on the beach. But I am not hunt at my UP camp this year.


Al