Paper ballistics are just that.... will give you a close idea of what could be happening with a particular cartridge/bullet combo at a given range.They sometimes can be used as Charmin, also. Waaay to many variables from situation to situation. If you really and truly want to know what YOUR individual combo is actually doing at different yardages, you just absolutely have to shoot at those distances and see for yourself. Period.

I truly prefer to sight my big game hunting rifles dead on at 200 yrds. For most of them it ranges from 1.1 to 1.5" high at 100 yards. But you won't know for sure if it is dead on at 200 yards unless you shoot your rifle at that distance. My elevation is between 7,800-12,500 feet the trajectory is a tad different than sea level so I don't go buy what the manuals say I find the drops on paper at the range. But some of the new ballistic calculators online are pretty close if your dealing with elevation changes. A lot of guys are going to the idea of using a maxium point blank range zero for practical hunting applications. Which if I hadn't had my drops programmed in my head for decades it would seem like the logical thing to do. You'd be dealing with just a few inches of rise and drop in elevation from 0 to 300 yards in most rifles in that 3000 fps mark.

+1

Truer words were never spoken ! :confused0024:

That's why I use BDC reticles ~ I agree with the "KISS" principle.

Personally I like to know where my bullet will be at each distance...

I understand to each their own, but point blank isn't my cup of a tea, I think simply knowing that out to say 300yds you can just point and probably hit the animal is nice case of a quick shot.

but I'd rather be dead on at each distance, instead of high close up, and low down range, if you'll be 3" low at 300yds, hold up 3" and hit dead on.

shoot and check....and also punch in some load info in a ballistics calculator, or just check the charts from the factory for some reference.