Help zeroing my new pcp

[kingston73]

Hello, been reading this site for a long while but this is my first post. I’ve had limited pellet rifle experience, for about 3 years I’ve been shooting a b25 springer. I was never great with it so I kept the range below 20 yards. My zero with that rifle was 10 yards and I could hold the target and hit where I held from 10 to 20 yards with minimal point of impact change.

i recently upgraded to a Gamo Urban (the only pcp that was in my budget) and it’s a new world. Much easier to shoot than the b25 and also shoots much flatter. The b25 was shooting 14 gr .22 pellets around 730 FPS. The urban I haven’t changed so it’s shooting the same pellets at whatever the factory set velocity is, maybe 100 FPS faster? I zeroed at 10 yards as with my previous rifle and at 20 yards it’s hitting about 2 inches high and still hitting high at 30 yards.

My question is this, if my max shooting distance will be about 30 yards what zero distance would make the most sense?

 

[blackdiesel]

If 30 yards will be your max, then zero it at 30 yards. Make sure 30 yards is your second zero point. Since you said you are new, I'm going to point out some basic stuff, if you already know it, disregard. When you fire a pellet the trajectory is an arch. Meaning it leaves the barrel and began to rise before falling at the end. Your first zero will be before it rise and your second will be where it falls. An example, I zero my Gauntlet at around 15-16 yards, first zero. Mine shoots flat from this point out to 35 yards. I know I can aim bullseye on target at anything between this point out to 35 yards because the arch of the pellet have not risen. Around 40 yards it's hitting high and about 50 yards it's back down. 

Just set up targets at 15, 20, 25 yards to see the Point of Impact (POI) at those distances so you would know your holdover.

 

[steppenwulf]

+1 30 yards for sure. then test on paper at other yardages to see how high/low your poi is.

 

[Dirte]

Blackdiesel is right. I zero at a distance at what I generally shoot at, unless I need farther than my scope turrets will allow.
The free Hawke Chairgun Pro app will give you good information. The picture is an quick example of some of the information you posted. Assuming 830fps,14gr Crossman pellet??? and a 30 yard zero. Also a zero at 10 yards. It show the trajectory.

 

[crittahitta]

Yuup i agree with all. Also get that free app and play with it til you understand it. It is great. But dont assume your gun shoots a particular FPS because the manufacturer says so. They lie or use light pellets. Use a chronograph and be sure. If you dont have one save up and get one. It is a great and necessary tool for airguns. Good luck with your new rifle.

 

[sirk]

BS. the pellet would rise only if you had the barrel bent up or the gun pointed up. The barrel is straight sitting in the action pointing FORWARD.
instead what you have got is the scope is pointing DOWN.
how far down it determines where it intercepts the pellet trajectory. it can be that it will not, if the turrets are too high, or in one point (some people zero like that) or 2, first the near zero, then the second (the second is what you enter into chairgun) along with the scope height.

the 0,0 black line is not the horizon, it is the line of sight . Does not matter much where you zero it, you still have to learn the holdover/holdunder points gravity acts on the pellet.
There is no airgun shooting like a laser, will not shoot where you point it at unfortunately.

the higher your scope mounts, the more you will be off vertically at short distances, this will improve with range.

 

[Guest]

The pellet starts to drop as soon as it leaves the barrel(gravity), this is why the barrel has to be pointed up, thus causing the arch that people are talking about.

 

[kingston73]

Thanks for all the answers. I just put that app on my phone and will definitely spend some time trying it out.

 

[sirk]

if you look at Dirtes app setting, incline is set to 0.
Correct me if thats not the case.

you must point the erector tube inside the scope downwards, if it was just forward just like the barrel, you would never had the pellet crossing the crosshairs.
smarter manufacturers have 10-20moa built into their scope rails. mounts.

if you dont own one of those, you will end up cranking your turrrets a lot, or shimming or using adjustable mounts.

if you level the line of sight with the horizon, sure the barrel will be pointing up. It is like throwing bricks.
thats why you have to learn the holdover/holdunder points. The further you shoot or the less fpe the gun has, the more pronouced the curvature is.

the zero line in chairgun is the line of sight. it is not the pellet trajectory.

I would start by finding the good pellet, which groups tight, then you can mess with the scope, mounts and turrets etc.

 

[crittahitta]

Sirk i thought that incline means from you gun to your target meaning shooting uphill or downhill. If not Im sorry and I have been using it incorrectly. I wish there were good instructions for that phone app.

 

[scottblair]

"sirk"BS. the pellet would rise only if you had the barrel bent up or the gun pointed up. The barrel is straight sitting in the action pointing FORWARD.
instead what you have got is the scope is pointing DOWN.
how far down it determines where it intercepts the pellet trajectory. it can be that it will not, if the turrets are too high, or in one point (some people zero like that) or 2, first the near zero, then the second (the second is what you enter into chairgun) along with the scope height.

the 0,0 black line is not the horizon, it is the line of sight . Does not matter much where you zero it, you still have to learn the holdover/holdunder points gravity acts on the pellet.
There is no airgun shooting like a laser, will not shoot where you point it at unfortunately.

the higher your scope mounts, the more you will be off vertically at short distances, this will improve with range.

Sirk's explanation above is absolutely correct. A pellet, or bullet, always leaves the barrel in a straight line, then starts to drop due to gravity. That's why we always must align our aiming device's, (scopes, peep sights, red dots, open sights, etc.), downward to intersect the projectile. This in turn is what creates the illusion of an arching trajectory.

 

[Dirte]

The scope is the zero point. I put in the example/picture the scope height of 1.75. All barrels are tipped up. I'm sure that is what blackdiesel meant when he states the pellet rises. Ya....... You can't deify gravity, and the pellet is not an airfoil. I think most airgunners know this, but I'm surprised how many of my occasional powder gun shooting friends think that bullets rise.
My RAW has a 22 moa also built into the rail to get even more use out of the scopes turrets for long shots. This is needed because of the large designed arch of a drag stabilized pellet. Early Matt Dubber has a great video on this.

 

[sirk]

think about it the other way, imagine you have the scope clamped tight fixed in vice with the middle of the crosshairs set on the bullseye, the gun is free but attached by a pair of adjustable mounts. by adjusting the mounts you leave the scope in the optical axis.
You adjust the angle of the action by the mounts so you make the whole action and the barrel point up so the pellet instead of hitting the ground it makes it to the target like a mortar.

to change how the pellet flies, you have to adjust the power output and pellet. by adjusting the scope you are not adjusting the path of the pellet relative to the action.

you zero the scope not the pcp. my example with the vice is what you are asking for a Help with zeroing the pcp, no one does it. So you should correct the title.