guys would like your help in where to put my zero in my rifle, read from BOB O that he did it at 25 by the harmonics. Their answers are welcome
Mod Edit: Moved to General Discussion forum
Mod Edit: Moved to General Discussion forum
where to make my zero in my rifle and why
- Thread starter fcastro
- Start date
Used to be such an easy answer. If shooting " airgun ranges" say 10 to 70 yards, a 25-27 yard zero would be very common and most useful.
If trying to shoot say 150 yards, you will need to sight in either at or much closer to that range.\
Grab a free online calculator for your cal ( chairgun or such) and enter you numbers, it will all make since to you then.
https://www.hawkeoptics.com/chairgun-and-x-act-end-of-life.html
John
If trying to shoot say 150 yards, you will need to sight in either at or much closer to that range.\
Grab a free online calculator for your cal ( chairgun or such) and enter you numbers, it will all make since to you then.
https://www.hawkeoptics.com/chairgun-and-x-act-end-of-life.html
John
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It depends, but a good starting point would be 20 to 30 yards. You need to specify what your primary objective of the gun will be? That is, what distance will you be normally shooting most.
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Agree with funshine. If you are shooting squirrels in your back yard. Then what is the range you see most often? I zero at 27 yds. Then I know what 15, 20 yds is and 30 and 35 yds and just hold over slightly or under slightly. But if you are shooting 75 yds+ then it’s a whole different story.
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The main thing is probably to determine at what ranges you will be shooting the most.
One neat help for your setup is this:
The ballistic calculator John mention above (ChairGun) for either a PC or Android/iPhone has a function that calculates your ideal zero point (another mobile app, Strelok Pro, has the same function, very cool
).
Enter your basic data: pellet, muzzle velocity, scope height.
Then decide how large of a target you want to hit, say 1" is the size of your "bulls' eye", and enter that.
Then the app will calculate for you the zero point where you can get the largest PBR (point blank range), i.e., the longest stretch where you can put the crosshairs on the target without holdovers or turret dialing and still hit within the 1" of your bulls' eye.
Of course, if the calculator spits out that your zero should be at 40y and that your PBR is from 16y to 45y — but you only have 15y of range in your backyard, then this whole thing makes no sense....!
The less power your gun has, or the heavier your pellet is, the shorter is the PBR.
Matthias
One neat help for your setup is this:
The ballistic calculator John mention above (ChairGun) for either a PC or Android/iPhone has a function that calculates your ideal zero point (another mobile app, Strelok Pro, has the same function, very cool
).Enter your basic data: pellet, muzzle velocity, scope height.
Then decide how large of a target you want to hit, say 1" is the size of your "bulls' eye", and enter that.
Then the app will calculate for you the zero point where you can get the largest PBR (point blank range), i.e., the longest stretch where you can put the crosshairs on the target without holdovers or turret dialing and still hit within the 1" of your bulls' eye.
Of course, if the calculator spits out that your zero should be at 40y and that your PBR is from 16y to 45y — but you only have 15y of range in your backyard, then this whole thing makes no sense....!
The less power your gun has, or the heavier your pellet is, the shorter is the PBR.
Matthias
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Just wanted to add that the reason a lot of us zero at 25 or 30 yards is that the peak of the trajectory is there with the scope height we use. That means that ALL of the other distances are holdovers or clicking up. No holdunders or clicking down. Of course you can do it any way you like and it will likely depend on your scope and intended use range.
Bob
Bob
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Interesting, I'm doing just the described this morning as I swap scopes on the Crown. Asked my son to confirm his 40 yard zero and shoot a 27 yard group to see where I will zero mine at a 27 yard, as this is my range. Both 40 and 27 were dead on the center of the target. Switching scopes to closely match my son as we hunt to get her we can match hold overs at longer distance.
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Wild cat 18 gr jbs 880 FPS.dead on 40 50 60 yards 70 one mill dot 80 2 mill dots 100yards 4 mill dots 30 yards 1 mill dot low .these are give or take a hair
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I do like Arzrover does. Zero at peak trajectory; Easier to remember when there are no hold-unders. Don't need to learn how to calculate; just shoot at various ranges from 20 to 60 yards and zero at the highest one.
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Most of my airguns are zeroed in at 50 yards being I’m mostly shooting 50 to 125 yards although my Texan 357 and Bully .30 are zeroed in at 65 yards being it’s less holdover at 100-125 yards, I’m thinking of trying 100 yard zero if I extend my range to 150.
If I was limited on my shooting like only out to 40-50 yards I’d make my zero at 25 yards just for the challenge.
If I was limited on my shooting like only out to 40-50 yards I’d make my zero at 25 yards just for the challenge.
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I tend to zero my rifles for hunting purposes. With a rifle shooting 850-900 fps and a zero of 35 yards, POI will be within 1/4" of POA from 15 to 40 yards. This is good enough for a head shot on squirrel or rabbit over those distances without any hold over/under. That said, I always check zero at 50 yards starting with the turret setting originally determined for that range, usually +2.5 to +3.5 MOA. If adjustment is needed, I dial the turret to get center hits at 50, then by lifting and rotating the turret knob return the turret reading to that originally determined 50 yard setting. It sounds more complicated than it is, but it keeps my rifle accurate at distances out to 50 yards while letting me leave the turret at zero for hunting.
Chuck
Chuck
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I zero my .177 cal HW95 and R9 break barrels at 30 yards using pellets weighing 8ish grains. The reason is that I only use holdover aiming and I like the zero to be near the apex of the pellet flight which removes the need to remember both holdover and holdunder. Actually, the apex of my pellet flight is at roughly 25 yards. With my break barrel setups and tune level a 30 yard zero puts the poi about 1/4" above the poa which is "useable"...........
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I've been messing around with this a good bit lately. I have 6 rifles of various calibers and power levels, .22 to .30 and have formed and reformed strategies a few times. I determine my acceptable killzone size for a given rifle and application and zero to that with my own criteria applied on top.
So, I may zero my Regal w/16 grain @ 915 fps for a 1.5" KZ @ 20 yrds where Chairgun tells me I have a point blank range of 9.8 to 47.7 yards. That's +/- .75" for those yards. Fine for a fox or body shot at distance on a nutter, etc. But if I shrink that same killzone down to .45" for the same speed at zero distance, my PBR yards become 16.2 to 41.9 yards with a new +/- of .225". Now we are talking head shots on nutters, crows, HOSPs,, etc. all with a .5" holdunder starting at 12 yards....which practically means, no holdunder.
So based on expected target, range of rifle & it's power, and acceptable +/- valve over PBR yards, I use Chairgun to work the killzone and zero ranges together to get my desired actual zeroing yardage value.
The hardest part, I've found, is coming to the firm decisions as to expected target per rifle, expected range rifle will most likely be utilized in the most (they are pellet rifles, so they all tend to over lap a bit, so I let power dictate a bit more than anything here), and how narrow I want my killzone to be. Like others here the posted, I try not to have any holdunder. But shooting at 100 yards and not having a 12" or more holdover isn't easy to do without nearer distance holdunder.
So, I may zero my Regal w/16 grain @ 915 fps for a 1.5" KZ @ 20 yrds where Chairgun tells me I have a point blank range of 9.8 to 47.7 yards. That's +/- .75" for those yards. Fine for a fox or body shot at distance on a nutter, etc. But if I shrink that same killzone down to .45" for the same speed at zero distance, my PBR yards become 16.2 to 41.9 yards with a new +/- of .225". Now we are talking head shots on nutters, crows, HOSPs,, etc. all with a .5" holdunder starting at 12 yards....which practically means, no holdunder.
So based on expected target, range of rifle & it's power, and acceptable +/- valve over PBR yards, I use Chairgun to work the killzone and zero ranges together to get my desired actual zeroing yardage value.
The hardest part, I've found, is coming to the firm decisions as to expected target per rifle, expected range rifle will most likely be utilized in the most (they are pellet rifles, so they all tend to over lap a bit, so I let power dictate a bit more than anything here), and how narrow I want my killzone to be. Like others here the posted, I try not to have any holdunder. But shooting at 100 yards and not having a 12" or more holdover isn't easy to do without nearer distance holdunder.
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I was using 12.5 yards for my sight in distance.
Reasoning behind that number was that it was the distance from the kitchen window to where the grackles raided my bird feeder and drove off the other birds.
Had to take very accurate shots to avoid collateral damage.
Trained the grackles to stay out of the neighborhood, though the starlings learned even faster.
As it worked was pretty well spot on at 55 yards to my other feeding location
Reasoning behind that number was that it was the distance from the kitchen window to where the grackles raided my bird feeder and drove off the other birds.
Had to take very accurate shots to avoid collateral damage.
Trained the grackles to stay out of the neighborhood, though the starlings learned even faster.
As it worked was pretty well spot on at 55 yards to my other feeding location
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