Sighting in 30-30 Marlin 336y, question.....

[rpaulpen]

A 30 30 cant do that

Yes it can. Do the calculations. Whether your average shooter can hit a 6" at 217 yards is another question, but the math doesn't lie. It is very common in the armed forces to teach shooters to zero in at say 25 or 50 yards instead of having to walk out 250 yards. The bullet passes the line of sight twice... in this case, at 20 yards and 187 yards. Mathematically, if you zero at 20, you should hit dead on at 187. Granted, one has to take into consideration all other variables such as wind, elevation, etc.

Here are the calculations from ShootersCalculator.com

Near Zero: 20 yards
Far Zero: 187 yards
Minimum PBR: 0 yards
Maximum PBR: 217 yards
Sight-in at 100yds: 2.96" high
Sight Height: 1.5"


Here is the trajectory table:
Range
(yd) (in)
0 -1.5
25 0.28
50 1.64
75 2.55
100 2.97
125 2.87
150 2.19
175 0.88
200 -1.11
225 -3.85
250 -7.42
275 -11.88
300 -17.32

 

[stubblejumper]

Exactly. You have to do it if you want to know.

Unfortunately, many shooters never go to the effort. I watched one person shoot two boxes of shells while sighting in his new Huskemaw scope in at 25 yards, then turn to his partner, and tell him that he was ready to take any deer out to 800 yards. Our range is 500 meters, but he never shot past 25 yards.

 

[porpoise]

Yes it can. Do the calculations. Whether your average shooter can hit a 6" at 217 yards is another question, but the math doesn't lie. It is very common in the armed forces to teach shooters to zero in at say 25 or 50 yards instead of having to walk out 250

The military uses them same guns ammo and sights. Its a bad idea to zero a rifle at 25 yards so you dont have to walk to 250. I dont think military practice is applicable and is it even good practice in this case i dont think so.

 

[rpaulpen]

Yes it can. Do the calculations. Whether your average shooter can hit a 6" at 217 yards is another question, but the math doesn't lie. It is very common in the armed forces to teach shooters to zero in at say 25 or 50 yards instead of having to walk out 250

The military uses them same guns ammo and sights. Its a bad idea to zero a rifle at 25 yards so you dont have to walk to 250. I dont think military practice is applicable and is it even good practice in this case i dont think so.

We're getting off the original OP topic. My point was to illustrate MPBR and why he should be sighting in high at 50 yards and not at zero. Should he verify this at 100 or 200? Of course and I'm not suggesting he doesn't.

As far as your military point, call it what you will, but they do it for a reason. If you're so confident that the military has cookie cutter guns and sights, then one would have to only adjust the sights to a predetermined position without having to actually sight it in.

You can use the 187 zero for this cartridge and sight it in at 50 yards (1.6 high) or at 200 yards (1.1 high) and I would bet that all else being equal (wind, elevation, etc), it would hit the same place at 100 yards. They publish the trajectories for a reason... they are very repeatable.

 

[porpoise]

We're getting off the original OP topic. My point was to illustrate MPBR and why he should be sighting in high at 50 yards and not at zero. Should he verify this at 100 or 200? Of course and I'm not suggesting he doesn't.

As far as your military point, call it what you will, but they do it for a reason. If you're so confident that the military has cookie cutter guns and sights, then one would have to only adjust the sights to a predetermined position without having to actually sight it in.

You can use the 187 zero for this cartridge and sight it in at 50 yards (1.6 high) or at 200 yards (1.1 high) and I would bet that all else being equal (wind, elevation, etc), it would hit the same place at 100 yards. They publish the trajectories for a reason... they are very repeatable.

Point taken your numbers are probably correct. Can i use them to zero my 30 30 at 50 and predict a six inch zone at 200 where my bullet will strike? No i would probably miss it. Does the military really care how most of its members shoot? I have no idea

 

[capercanuck]

Wow, that escalated quickly!
I really appreciate all the info. I just really wanted to know, if i sight in for zero at 50yds, will i still be in the "kill zone" out to 150yds, or more.
As a hunter without a 200yd range, i can only test the rifle out to 100yds, and rely on the knowledge of others as to where the bullet will be at any distance past that.
The bullet was hitting approx 1.5-2" high at 100yds, when i sighted it in at 50yds.
So to fine tune my question, at 150-175yds will this projectile still drop into a 6" killzone? BTW, I dont have plans on shooting at a deer at 200yds with this rifle.

 

[GMC403]

If you are shooting around 2" high at 100y, then you will be about zero at 175y.
Yes, well within the 6" kill zone

 

[Boomer]

The best way to see what your rifle and load will do at longer ranges is to get out and shoot it at longer ranges. I think sighted 2" high at 100 should come very close to giving you a 150 yard zero, but unless you confirm it by shooting, you won't know. The velocity range of a factory 170 gr ammunition fired in a .30/30 carbine can range from 1850 to 2200 fps. That's enough variation to really screw with what you think your zero might be. Another variable is the height of your sights above the bore, there's a big difference between shooting a scoped rifle and a rifle equipped with iron sights. Find a longer rifle range or take a day to find a gravel pit or some other safe place where you can really establish what your rifle will do as it stretches it's legs, and what you can do with it, based on the specific ammunition you have. Write down your observations and keep those records to compare against different ammunition in the future.

 

[Joe549]

I sighted in my dads 30-30 a few weeks ago at 50 yards. 100 yards and the target is over half covered by the front sight. We don't really have shooting lanes beyond 60 yards where we hunt anyways.

 

[Canuck Bob]

OP, three recommendations, never trust factory tables to be accurate. Report after report reveals that chrono'ed factory ammo under performs by a substantial amount, often approaching 200 fps.

You have a 100 yard range so it is best to use it. Get close at 25 or 50 as it pleases you but fine tune at 100. You will surprise yourself. I prefer a tighter limit to the famous 6" circle idea. It has no factor for the reality of rifle/shooter inherent accuracy under field conditions. To be useable at 200 yards I suggest it assumes a 1 MOA rifle/shooter combo with a rest almost as steady as a bench. I would sight in a 30-30 lever at center of group 1 1/2 inches high at 100 yards and hold a little high after 100 yards, just a touch. Make sure your magazine is loaded a bit as the spring compression can affect POI in a lever. In my experience it is most common to miss a bit low for a sighted rifle and decent shooter based on the rifles inherent accuracy. Trusting a 3" drop from a table in a 2 MOA rifle/shooter combo under field conditions is a 50/50 low miss for a heart shot at 200 yards. That is why longer range grouping is good as it allows a guy to see what kinda effect natural fliers will have.

If time allows consider a second visit to the range to shoot the sighted in rifle at 100 yards with a cold barrel. My rifles do vary a bit cold from a warmed up barrel but not enough to worry about. However once in awhile a rifle can be quite off cold and will walk the first 2 or 3 shots noticeably before settling down warm. It is not likely a problem but a great excuse to go to the range. Range time is the best guarantee of a good shot on a deer. If ammo is available try an offhand group and maybe a sitting group as well.

 

[rgh470]

Wow a lot of great advice in this thread. As you posted you are shooting Winchester ammo, I also shoot Winchester in one of my guns as it likes it best, I find all the data I need by going to Winchesters Ballistic Calculator, Google it and I'm sure the info your wanting is there, and you get to play a bit with ammo comparisons too.

 

[TacticalTeacher]

All great information. I'm rocking a 336Y also. I've bought a couple of boxes of 150 gr Winnie ammo (RN) and time to get zeroe'd and practicing.

Cheers and best of luck all of you for the fall season!

Barney