#10MinuteTalk - Rifle Zero Distances. 50, 100, 200 yds. What’s Best?

We zeroed our M16s in the Marine Corps at 36 yards. It would give us, irrc, a 300 yard "battle zero".

So back before range finders like mid 80's I was subscribed to Petersen's Hunting magazine. While onboard ship ( I'm retired Navy) I would read the section "Cartridge of the Month" it would list the near zero, far zero with the bullet rising no more than 4in above line of sight (straight line from the barrel) and 4in below the line of sight which they called Maximum Point Blank Range. For most calibers like 308, 30-06, 270, 7mm it was very similar with most rising above the line of sight at like 25 to 30yds then back to the line of sight never rising above 4in usually around 275 to 300yds then falling to below 4in below the line of sight somewhere in there 300 to 340yd range. This worked great for many many years maximizing your rifles effective range. So think about this, the size of a deer heart say 4in and the size of a elk heart say 8in. Why there are so many hunters that can't wrap there heads around this concept is mind blowing. It's literally point and shoot out to distances of 300yds and a high shoulder shot at 400 yds while staying in the area of the heart. Was a pretty good concept back then. Of course the game has changed with technology but still a very acceptable way to go for those that can grasp this concept.

Depends on scope hight. My scope is very close to my .308 ar10. I zero at 100 but make hits at both 50 and 200 within 1" of the bullseye, without adjustment.

I truly enjoy the 10 minute talks

You guys really need to number the 10 minute talks like you do the regular episodes.

Height over bore definitely plays a factor here.

Great timing. I was just contemplating this very subject yesterday. I was always raised on basically a 300 yard Zero. Montana commonly presents 300+ yd shots and being able to hold center chest at 300 is advantages to making consistent kills at long range. It's also rather windy here more often then not. A flat shooting round and packs a punch goes along ways. I still love my .270 as an all around deer/antelope/elk/black bear cartridge.

Got to kick it old school. 2” high at 100 is the secret sauce for every rifle LOL. I personally prefer a 200 yard zero. For a long time I went with a 300 yard zero. The mistake I was making was I would shoot 100 and 300 and not 200. The problem was, my gun was still rising at 200 by a lot. I didn’t realize I was shooting 5-6” high at 200. I shot over the backs of several deer till I figured out what was going on. Now I sight at 200 and good to go. Now I am curious and will try shooting my 200 yard zeroed rifle at 50 just to see where it hits. Good episode.

Thanks for the video. My .300 blackout rifles have been challenging. With bullet weights, and sighting options, my DOPE card is a small book. 110g-220g, Supersonic and Subsonic, Red Dots and scopes with BDC reticle, and numerous applications, have led me to put together additional systems that are for specific tasks. But I haven't given up on a solution for "Only 1 rifle", yet.

A very good discussion about the 50/100 zeros. Living in Alabama, I’ve taken only a few shots past 200yds but those were on clear cuts when I didn’t recon the area for deer trails. My 7x57 is zeroed at 50yds but it’ll hit an 8” circle at well over 200yds. I guess it’s just pride but I always feel like if I’m hunting, I should be able to get within 100yds on foot, hopefully much closer. Sometimes, it’s just not in the cards and you’ve got to take the 200yd shots… Great video, thanks for posting!

I appreciate Jimmy mentioning his concern over things being exponential at distance, but like anything else you have to try those distances and not just assume. You can zero at 50 and then shoot at 100, 150 and/or 200 and see how things look, unless you don’t have access to a range with those distances.

I've zeroed my rifles at 35yrds since 1996. I've never had an issue shooting whitetails. I'm going on my first Elk hunt this year. From now on I will be zeroing at 50yrds. Thanks!

I was one of those old 100 yard zero guys. I had been considering what you guys were talking about for the last couple months. This was extremely helpful.

I’ve been using a 50 yard zero exclusively on my .223/556 guns for predator hunting. It works perfect for me because of MY geographic region and hunting terrain. I’m in wooded Pennsylvania and my average shots in my area are about at the 90 yard range. With a 50 yard zero I am confident when shooting critters that pop up 40 yards or ones that hang out to 200-250 yards. Huge fan of the 50 yard zero. If I hunted coyotes in Wyoming I’d probably want a 100 yard or higher zero.

Maximum point blank range is that distance where the bullet never rises above 3 to 4 inches above line of sight or falls below by the same. For most of the 30-06 and 308 family of cartridges this is accomplished with a 25 yard zero. This was the standard for the M16 for many years and may still be.

Great talk guys ! Thanks .

In Germany and many parts of Europe, we zero our Rifle‘s at 100m (109yards) with a hold over of about 4cm (1.6") to have the slightest deviation from trajectory to line of Sight at a distance from 0m to about 190m (207yard). We call it GEE. Yes the hold over depends on the Caliber and yes you can’t shoot 190m with all Caliber‘s but it is really very common here and You can even find the Dropdata with GEE for your Bullet on the Packs of most German Manufacturers. Grüße an die Jungs von Vortex aus Good old Germany

Very informative. I appreciate all of you sharing your knowledge based on experience. For me the precision of your discussion enabled clear vision of the subject matter.Thank you very much.

I've kind of got out of shooting for a few years, well quite a few years, but years ago when my dad and other hunting buds would site their rifles in it was always a 25 yd. zero. Now understand we don't get to use rifles for deer in Iowa, just fox and coyote. But I understand all this information. Thanks for all the great info.

I really enjoy your talks. I am 68 years old and enjoy learning from you young men. An old dog can learn new tricks!