another quick question about ballistics
 

last night I was only able to squeeze in a few shots at a 25 yard target. I had my scope taken off of my gun and then bore sighted it. I shot about 15 rounds at the 25 yd target with my 300 win mag using the 165 grain hornady's before I got a nice 4 shot group in the bulls eye.I ran out of daylight to get any kind of shots at the 100 yard target. My question is if I am hitting the bull at 25 where can I expect to be at say 50, 100 then 200? Any help is appreciated. I am no specialist when it comes to this stuff.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

Its hard to say. It should be higher at each of those distances. The bullet will still be on the upward portion of the arc. Now keep in mind that even a slight out of alignment is magnified 4 fold at 100.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

Ok please dont get mad at me but part ofwhat you said was incorrect.

Bullets don't leave the barrel and then go upward. Gravity acts upon the bullet the instant it leaves the barrel. The reason it appears to hit high is because the point of impact is above your line of sight at 25 yards becuase your sights and/or scope sits above the line of the bore.

Your line of sight is actually at a very slight downward angle in relation to the barrel causing it to cross the bullets path at the zero range be it 100, 200 yards etc. The bullet isn't on an upward arc, it hasn't dropped to your line of sight yet.

So you can think of it more as we are "lobbing" the bullets at longer ranges. We just increase the angle so that they land at range. There is nothing short of rocket power that can cause a bullet to actually arc up after it leaves teh barrel.

I don't blame you it's not an easy concept to get your mind around. Heck, I had to explain it to my gunsmith. :)Maybe this will help:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/bullet_trajectory.htm

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

A rough estimation using my software puts you still on at 50, probably ~2" high at 100, and close to 4" high at 200.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

It is hard to tell. I have sighted in some rifles at 25 yards that were pretty close at 100 yards. On the other hand, some guns that were zeroed at 25 yards were up to nine inches high at 100.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

thanks guys...

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

Like BA, I put used some very generic numbers for 300wm in a nifty little computer program. Try sighting in about 3/4" or 1" low at 25 yards. That should keep you on paper out to 200. With a zero at 25 yards you gonna be high at 200

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

So you agree. Good!

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

But to somebody who's never given it any thought it can be quite mind bending. I spent nearly half an hour trying to explain to my buddy that the disadvantage of using see-thru rings is that the scope is mounted higher which then increase the angle between crosshairs and bullet path...leading to more hold over. Drew pictures and everything! LOL

BTW, I don't think they're really is that much difference unless you got a long range setup. For practical woods use I would like them if they didn't introduce the other problem about getting a good cheek-weld. (for me at least)

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

At the range where I work on the weekends, I had a fellow who had the same problem with his .300 Win Mag, you should sight in at 100 yards unless your range restricts you to 25. There is really no way to tell, seen guys get pretty good 3 or 5 shot groups in the X ring at 25 yards, only to be 3-4" high at 100 yards. You just have to shoot and see.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

That's probably why they adjustable cheek peices and monte carlo style stocks. Cheek weld is imperative for precision shooting. Most people suggest a low profile scope mount system.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

go to remington.com and find the remingotn shoot ballistics program. i use it and it seems to be pretty accurate. you can pic and weight bullet and style that they make in that weight. you can type in a sight in yardage and a zero yardage, for example my 7mm mag would nee to be sighted in a little under a half inch low at fifty yrd to be zeroed at 100 yrd. and dead on at fifty will hit dead on again at 150. its a useful program.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

I think James B. hit the nail on the head. Although on paper a rifle in the 30/06 velocity class, with a scope mounted 1.7" above the bore, should be about 3.5" high at 100 yards when sighted in dead on at 25 yards; you might in reality be anywhere from a little low to 8" high at 100 yards. Don't shoot at a deerfurther than100 yards away until you get back to the range to check your 100 yard zero.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

I always thought you were better off with a low scope mount rather than a high see through. What am I missing here?

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

Maybe a stupid question, but why don't you just start over and sight it in where you want it? I'm assuming you don't want the zero of a 300 win mag to be at 25 yards?

It would be way easier to bore sight at 50 or 75 yards, or even just start at 100 for that matter, then zero from there.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

You're not missing anything. You're thinking correctly.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

The only time I have used a 25 yard target for big game application was when I wasn't on the paper at 100 yards. Otherwise, you are right - not muchreason to shoot a pistol ranges. I would much rather be confidently zeroed at 100 yards and figure the 25 yard impact point from a chart, than be zeroed at 25 yards and figure the 100 yard impact point from a chart.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

You will be shooting high from my experience. Here is a 25 yard calculation with no wind for Hornady 165 grain .300 mag. You can probably get away with dead-on aiming out to 300 yards.

(25 yard zero)
Range - yds. Path - in.
250
100 3.1
2003.4
300 -1.1

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

If you hit EXACTLY @ 25 yards then your bullet will impact 3 in. high @ 100,4 high @ 200,dead on @ 300

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

In theory this could be true if you knew the exact muzzle velocity of the load,the exact ballistic coefficient of the bullet and the exact height of your crosshairs above the center of the bore.

RE: another quick question about ballistics
 

25 yards is okay for getting close but you must go to 100 yards and usually want to be one to two inches high depending on caliber and bullet weight. When sighting in at 25 yards wher it hits at other ranges is going to depend a big part on how high your scope is mounted on the gun the higher the scope the further off you will be. example I have two 06s one with see through sites sighted in at 25 I found it was 4 inches high at 100 and 11 inches high at two hundred. The other with low rings 1 1/2 high or so at 100 and almost right back on at 200.