Sight zero and holdover at range

[Deadeye Dick]

The big question. At what range do most of you zero your higher end springers (mine is a Diana 48) and is there a written hold over chart for different distances out to say 50 or even 100 yards with a 7ish grain pellet?
I haven't tested it yet but I would guess it's in the 900 fps range from what I have read.
Advice and help with this subject will be appreciated.

 

[dgeesaman]

25-30 yards is the flat spot at those speeds and I zero there so that all drop compensation is holdover.

 

[JohnL57]

I zero my springers at 15 yards, mainly because I mainly use them for close range rabbit hunting in the brush. As to a holdover chart, the best way is real world trials IMO. There are ballistic apps out there but I've never found them necessary for the type of shooting I do.

 

[iAMzehTOASTY1]

I asked this very question recently. General concensus was around 40 yards.
It also depends on what you are aiming to hit. Pun intended https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/where-is-your-zero.1290160/

 

[Frogy]

Hw50s177. Zero 20yd 7.9 gr pellet. Hold on out to 35. 40 is half mill dot. 50 is milldot an a half. 100 is 3 an half mill dots Hw90. 22. Zero 25. Hold on. To allmost 50 maybe half at 50. 3 mill dot at 100 16 gr pellet Diana 48 177 cal. 10 + gr pellet zero 25. Hold on to 40 1 mill at 50. 100yd na. HW95 field pro 177. Zero 20. 8.4 gr pellet. ( well it a pain in my ) Hw97 177 8.44 actually it almost mirrors the HW50s Hatsan 65 springer 22 cl zero20. Can hit a 25 yd spiner they have all been run over the chrony but can’t seem to lay my hands on that information

 

[maxtrouble]

I zeroed all my springers to fifty yards for consistency's sake. I practice my hold under at twenty and thirty yards and it works like a champ on those damn cow birds.

 

[Deadeye Dick]

Hw50s177. Zero 20yd 7.9 gr pellet. Hold on out to 35. 40 is half mill dot. 50 is milldot an a half. 100 is 3 an half mill dots Hw90. 22. Zero 25. Hold on. To allmost 50 maybe half at 50. 3 mill dot at 100 16 gr pellet Diana 48 177 cal. 10 + gr pellet zero 25. Hold on to 40 1 mill at 50. 100yd na. HW95 field pro 177. Zero 20. 8.4 gr pellet. ( well it a pain in my ) Hw97 177 8.44 actually it almost mirrors the HW50s Hatsan 65 springer 22 cl zero20. Can hit a 25 yd spiner they have all been run over the chrony but can’t seem to lay my hands on that information

This is the type of info I'm looking for. Thanks.

 

[JDR]

I was thinking for the Gun Slynger competition at Pyramid Air, I would zero at 25 yards as the targets are 10, 25, 35 and 55 yards.

 

[Mycapt65]

Just realize that when using mildot values for holdovers that those values change at different magnifications.

Well that's with common second focal plane scopes. First focal plane scopes the mildot values remain constant.

This is why my squirrel gun has a straight 4x scope. This way the holdovers never change. With my other guns with variables I have to try to remember my hold over at what power. It's not easy.

 

[Frogy]

Just realize that when using mildot values for holdovers that those values change at different magnifications.

Well that's with common second focal plane scopes. First focal plane scopes the mildot values remain constant.

This is why my squirrel gun has a straight 4x scope. This way the holdovers never change. With my other guns with variables I have to try to remember my hold over at what power. It's not easy.

Yes. Should have said all my scopes are 3x9- 40. Set at 9 power second focal plane scopes

This is the type of info I'm looking for. Thanks.

 

[josh3rd]

Leave it on 9x 0 at 30 everything else is hold over but aside from real world data as me shooting on target at different yards you got to know that will be the best bet for your rifle and your particular pellet. You can chrony your rifle and put it on a ballistic data program and it gives you pretty close idea of where it should be hitting at but nothing like actually shooting at a Target at particular yards and then find out what you'll hold over is there.

 

[cjtamu]

This is the type of info I'm looking for. Thanks.

If you look at his info you’ll realize that he came to it by testing. Really the only way to find out. If your D48 is at full power a 7’ish grain pellet is awfully light, especially at the distances you’re talking about. Muzzle velocity might be impressive but wont carry as much energy down range and will be more prone to being affected by wind. Probably get better accuracy with a heavier pellet. Only way to find out is to test.

 

[Deadeye Dick]

If you look at his info you’ll realize that he came to it by testing. Really the only way to find out. If your D48 is at full power a 7’ish grain pellet is awfully light, especially at the distances you’re talking about. Muzzle velocity might be impressive but wont carry as much energy down range and will be more prone to being affected by wind. Probably get better accuracy with a heavier pellet. Only way to find out is to test.

I was actually thinking about looking into a springer rated 4 or 6 power fixed focal length, but they seem in short supply today. At least I haven't found one yet. That would eliminate having to adjust for zoom. I think my D48 is full power? I certainly haven't done anything to diminish it, but I haven't chronied it either. It's advertised for 1100 fps with alloy pellets but a lot less with lead I'm sure.

 

[Mycapt65]

Straight power scopes are hard to find. Then add a mildot reticle and springer rated and they all but dissappear. Well those under $300 at least. I use a $100 mildot Vantage non AO 4x on my HW50 Squirrel gun. It's parallax is fixed at 100. Still it's perfectly clear 11 yards out. Parallax error is possible but can be mitigated by centering your eye in the scope. Parallax has never been an issue for me with this set up. It'll stack pellets at ten yards where parallax error should be greatest.

The crosshairs are too thick for fine target work past 20 yards, but fine for hunting inside of 50. It's a moot issue for me because I seldom hunt anything but beer cans past 40 yards. Those I hit at 100 with this gun easily. I love the ability to randomly move between targets at near and far range without having to touch the AO or magnification. It's just a great little general use airgun set up.

Warning Vantage scopes are only spring rated to 12 FPE guns like my HW50. I'm not recommending it but I've used them on 15 FPE and for short stints on 19 FPE spring guns without a problem. I do true my barrel angles and that goes a long way to increase scope life on a springer. Running a scope close to max elevation to compensate for a springers barrel droop is death sentence. Even on a springer rated scope.

Hth
Ron

 

[cjtamu]

I was actually thinking about looking into a springer rated 4 or 6 power fixed focal length, but they seem in short supply today. At least I haven't found one yet. That would eliminate having to adjust for zoom. I think my D48 is full power? I certainly haven't done anything to diminish it, but I haven't chronied it either. It's advertised for 1100 fps with alloy pellets but a lot less with lead I'm sure.

My 56T/H has the same power plant as your D48. Ran two shots through with 8.6 grain pellets after a repair. 992 FPS. Switched to the JSB 10.34 immediately because that’s too fast for a skirted pellet. Still at 882 FPS and just under 18 FPE. Assuming your gun is healthy and you’re not at crazy altitude your numbers shouldn’t be too far off that. This is my only Diana that likes JSB though. The others prefer H&N. Barracuda Match are 10.65 grain and perfect for full power D48 platform. FTT excellent in one tuned down a little.

 

[1BadDart]

I zeroed my TX200 at 30 yards because that's how far one of my bluebird houses is from the house, the other is 50. I like a scope with multiple reticles like the Leupold Varmint Hunter reticle. After the rifle is zeroed, I shoot at different distances, starting at 15 yards and go to 50. I make notes which reticle and what the magnification setting was. This way I don't forget if I haven't shot the rifle in a while.

A couple years ago I messed with a ballistic calculator to create a drop chart. I chronographed the rifle at 1 yard and again at 25 yards, then used those numbers in the calculator. The drop chart was within a 1/4" of what I found when shooting to create my original drop chart.

 

[Mycapt65]

I zeroed my TX200 at 30 yards because that's how far one of my bluebird houses is from the house, the other is 50. I like a scope with multiple reticles like the Leupold Varmint Hunter reticle. After the rifle is zeroed, I shoot at different distances, starting at 15 yards and go to 50. I make notes which reticle and what the magnification setting was. This way I don't forget if I haven't shot the rifle in a while.

A couple years ago I messed with a ballistic calculator to create a drop chart. I chronographed the rifle at 1 yard and again at 25 yards, then used those numbers in the calculator. The drop chart was within a 1/4" of what I found when shooting to create my original drop chart.

Yep Ballistics calculators are fun but they need the right data input to work right. It's the old GI > GO situation. All too often advertised Ballistic Coefficients are wrong. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

BC varies depending on velocity, barometric pressure, barrel riffling and probably a million other things I'm unaware of.

I tested pellet BC using my rifles and two different chronographs spread out 30 yards or more. Some were close and some were far off the advertised value. For instance H&N states the 20 cal FTT has a dismal BC of .015. That's worse than a 7 gr 177 dome. That was concerning given my then increasing interest in 20 caliber. I tested them at 46 yards apart from my R1 and the actual BC was 0.0274. That's a huge improvement over the advertised BC. Using the Actual BC from my rifle the calculators work well within shooter error.

Fwiw the JSB 13.73 20 cal tested to have a much better BC of 0.0373

 

[1BadDart]

Yep Ballistics calculators are fun but they need the right data input to work right. It's the old GI > GO situation. All too often advertised Ballistic Coefficients are wrong. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

BC varies depending on velocity, barometric pressure, barrel riffling and probably a million other things I'm unaware of.

I tested pellet BC using my rifles and two different chronographs spread out 30 yards or more. Some were close and some were far off the advertised value. For instance H&N states the 20 cal FTT has a dismal BC of .015. That's worse than a 7 gr 177 dome. That was concerning given my then increasing interest in 20 caliber. I tested them at 46 yards apart from my R1 and the actual BC was 0.0274. That's a huge improvement over the advertised BC. Using the Actual BC from my rifle the calculators work well within shooter error.

Fwiw the JSB 13.73 20 cal tested to have a much better BC of 0.0373


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View attachment 357901

Yep, the output data is only as good as the input data. I had the two velocities and my drop from 30 to 50 yards. From there it was just a matter of playing with the B.C. to make the drop work, then everything else lined up too.

 

[beerthief]

Hw50s177. Zero 20yd 7.9 gr pellet. Hold on out to 35. 40 is half mill dot. 50 is milldot an a half. 100 is 3 an half mill dots Hw90. 22. Zero 25. Hold on. To allmost 50 maybe half at 50. 3 mill dot at 100 16 gr pellet Diana 48 177 cal. 10 + gr pellet zero 25. Hold on to 40 1 mill at 50. 100yd na. HW95 field pro 177. Zero 20. 8.4 gr pellet. ( well it a pain in my ) Hw97 177 8.44 actually it almost mirrors the HW50s Hatsan 65 springer 22 cl zero20. Can hit a 25 yd spiner they have all been run over the chrony but can’t seem to lay my hands on that information

same here .

 

[josh3rd]

I zeroed my TX200 at 30 yards because that's how far one of my bluebird houses is from the house, the other is 50. I like a scope with multiple reticles like the Leupold Varmint Hunter reticle. After the rifle is zeroed, I shoot at different distances, starting at 15 yards and go to 50. I make notes which reticle and what the magnification setting was. This way I don't forget if I haven't shot the rifle in a while.

A couple years ago I messed with a ballistic calculator to create a drop chart. I chronographed the rifle at 1 yard and again at 25 yards, then used those numbers in the calculator. The drop chart was within a 1/4" of what I found when shooting to create my original drop chart.

How did you use the two numbers in the ballistic program?