at what distance do you zero?

I just zeroed my .22 in at 150. Not getting great groups, as this gun has never been cleaned and its got one hell of a short stock barrel on it, and a crappy Bushnell 2x-7x scope on it and a 15-20km/h crosswind. But every 2-3rd shot I hit my target of the 2" diameter clay pigeons we had set up.
 
27 yards is about optimal zero for a .22 rifle with a scope.. I have no idea how anyone could reliably zero a .22 at a hundred yards even in a 2 mile cross wind and the frigging bullet would be like 4 inches high at 50 yards even if you did so not really great for most of your cracker shooting.
 
I got a 10/22 with a Bushnell Trophy XLT 6-18x 50mm. Currently zeroed at 60 yards. Last time I tried to zero it at 100 yards but ran out of elevation. Has anyone else had this problem and perhaps have a solution?
 
27 yard zero ?

cdn7mm08 said:
27 yards is about optimal zero for a .22 rifle with a scope.. I have no idea how anyone could reliably zero a .22 at a hundred yards even in a 2 mile cross wind and the frigging bullet would be like 4 inches high at 50 yards even if you did so not really great for most of your cracker shooting.
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Come on out to the Prairies and spend a day or two in a Manitoba or Saskatchewan Prairie Dog town. You learn to dope wind real fast, and shots out to 125-150 yards are quite common. Prairie Dogs are about a 2 inch wide by 10 inch tall target, so many of us old farts who fire 10,000 rounds or so every year at them use heavier barreled rifles, and scopes that have ELEVATION adjustments. Mil-dot scopes are common.

With a target or varmint type scope, THE ELEVATION KNOB IS MARKED AND ADJUSTABLE. Therefore, you can zero at various ranges and make up a small chart to be taped to the buttstock of the rifle. A laser rangefinder gives a very close reading, the elevation knob is then set for that distance, and a shot is fired.

One of my rifles has a Traditions black powder scope designed to give the approximate impact on target of a 50 calibre bullet at various ranges. This scope has a cross hair, and four short cross hairs on the vertical part underneath the intersection of the cross hairs. By zeroing the cross hairs at 50 yards, shooting trials have shown that the other impact areas for the lower cross hairs are close to 70, 95, and 125 yards. This gives a fast reference aiming points for Gophers at practical hunting distances.

Out here with the wind and the terrain, a 27 yard zero would be almost useless.
.
 
buffdog said:
I generally recommend a 60 yard zero IF you are using a fixed power scope. Your criteria of 50 yards to 100 yards is quite obtainable.

However, with a scope that has target knobs and where the elevation is easily adjusted, you can zero it where ever you like. The only problem is that past 125 yards, an ordinary .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge has the trajectory of a cast iron piano.

In your case, I would start off at 50 yards and zero it for that. When you get it zeroed for the 50 yard range, loosen the elevation knob and set it to "0".

Record the sight setting and then move to 75 yards. Again fire your rifle with the most accurate ammunition it likes and adjust the elevation to get a center of target zero. Then record this setting. Keep doing this at every 25 yards, out to whatever distance you think you might want to fire at.

You will now have a trajectory table FOR THAT PARTICULAR LOT OF AMMUNITION. If you change ammo, you will have to make up a new table.

You can make up a small chart showing your elevation settings, and tape it onto the butt stock of your rifle.

This works well for known distances. A good laser rangefinder in invaluable for finding out accurate distance, and for an unknown distance between your two known distances, you can make a fairly close guess on where to set your elevation.

Works well for Gophers here in the west. However, due to a target rich environment, there is a shortness of time, and lots of shots are fired with a 100 yard sight setting, then holding over or under slightly. Mildot scopes are very useful.
.
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Exactly what I do with my 22 that has target turrets. The 22 that has standard turrets, I just estimate holdover.
 
Magnum PE said:
I got a 10/22 with a Bushnell Trophy XLT 6-18x 50mm. Currently zeroed at 60 yards. Last time I tried to zero it at 100 yards but ran out of elevation. Has anyone else had this problem and perhaps have a solution?
Click to expand...

This is a common problem with many 22's. It can be made worse by using scopes with more limeted movement range of the reticle. One of the best and most adaptable solutions is to pick up a Burris Signature Zee set of rings and also get some offset adapter inserts. You would center your scope reticle first by counting the overall cliks available and dividing by two. You use the zero offset inserts first and see where your shots are printing relative to your reticle sighting. With a little math or simply trial and error, you switch out the inserts for either a +/- 5,10,or 15 moa insert and zero the rifle with this method to shoot at the range you require. The inserts have 3 added benifits over other rings. 1 is that you can cant the inserts to also center the reticle for windage or slight misalignment of your receiver grooves/ring fit. The second benefit is that the inserts are free to line up perfectly with each other so that you get near 100% contact area on the scope and no twisting or torque on it. There is no need to lapp the rings. The third benefit is that the inserts do not marr the surface of the scope and have are less prone slippage because the friction coefficient is higher than steel on steel.
 
cdn7mm08 said:
27 yards is about optimal zero for a .22 rifle with a scope.. I have no idea how anyone could reliably zero a .22 at a hundred yards even in a 2 mile cross wind and the frigging bullet would be like 4 inches high at 50 yards even if you did so not really great for most of your cracker shooting.
Click to expand...
We regualarly shoot matches at 10 and two hundred yards, and the gun MUST be zeroed at those ranges.
And scores are respectable, yes.
Cat
 
Nupes said:
This is a common problem with many 22's. It can be made worse by using scopes with more limeted movement range of the reticle. One of the best and most adaptable solutions is to pick up a Burris Signature Zee set of rings and also get some offset adapter inserts. You would center your scope reticle first by counting the overall cliks available and dividing by two. You use the zero offset inserts first and see where your shots are printing relative to your reticle sighting. With a little math or simply trial and error, you switch out the inserts for either a +/- 5,10,or 15 moa insert and zero the rifle with this method to shoot at the range you require. The inserts have 3 added benifits over other rings. 1 is that you can cant the inserts to also center the reticle for windage or slight misalignment of your receiver grooves/ring fit. The second benefit is that the inserts are free to line up perfectly with each other so that you get near 100% contact area on the scope and no twisting or torque on it. There is no need to lapp the rings. The third benefit is that the inserts do not marr the surface of the scope and have are less prone slippage because the friction coefficient is higher than steel on steel.
Click to expand...

Amazing, thanks for the info, just looked it up on Burris' website. Hopefully that'll do the trick. Do you happen to know of any retailers in Canada (preferably a CGN sponsor :)) whom carries these?
 
If you have a scope with target turrets, zero for 25-30 yards. Why? Because it's the lowest trajectory point. For distances further out, you dial UP due to bullet drop. For closer distances, you also dial UP because of the height of the scope above the bore.

You can use JBM to calculate your trajectories at 5 yard increments:
http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi

It has accurate rimfire bullet models. RA4 is the correct drag model for .22LR bullets if you want to input your own BC. Be sure to input an accurate velocity and scope height and it will be accurate.
 
Ron AKA said:
I think 100 is too far. About 70 yards works well for shooting gophers.
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Agreed. 75 yards is where I have my Anschutz 1450 zeroed, only using subsonics. (Federal Gold Medal Target) You get a sense of the trajectory of that ammo. making shots +/- 20-25 yards of that range. Wow. :) I think I'd be looking to high/full-power ammo. to achieve consistency in the 100-150 yard range.

In stark comparison, I zero my CZ452 (.17 HMR) to 1" over zero at 100 yards for hunting groundhogs. Any shot between 100-150 yards is still in the "kill" zone, and darn easy to "guesstimate" POI almost perfectly in shots within that range.
 
buffdog said:
Come on out to the Prairies and spend a day or two in a Manitoba or Saskatchewan Prairie Dog town. You learn to dope wind real fast, and shots out to 125-150 yards are quite common. Prairie Dogs are about a 2 inch wide by 10 inch tall target, so many of us old farts who fire 10,000 rounds or so every year at them use heavier barreled rifles, and scopes that have ELEVATION adjustments. Mil-dot scopes are common.

With a target or varmint type scope, THE ELEVATION KNOB IS MARKED AND ADJUSTABLE. Therefore, you can zero at various ranges and make up a small chart to be taped to the buttstock of the rifle. A laser rangefinder gives a very close reading, the elevation knob is then set for that distance, and a shot is fired.

One of my rifles has a Traditions black powder scope designed to give the approximate impact on target of a 50 calibre bullet at various ranges. This scope has a cross hair, and four short cross hairs on the vertical part underneath the intersection of the cross hairs. By zeroing the cross hairs at 50 yards, shooting trials have shown that the other impact areas for the lower cross hairs are close to 70, 95, and 125 yards. This gives a fast reference aiming points for Gophers at practical hunting distances.

Out here with the wind and the terrain, a 27 yard zero would be almost useless.
.
Click to expand...

What distance does your .22 bullet first cross the line of sight if you don't mind me asking? I've been out east of edmonton and if i remember right 25 yard shots were pretty common too so i'd imagine you know where it hit's up close as well
 
A 100 yds zero is very good. I you don't have enough vertical adjustment remember
the cross isn't the only aiming point in your scope, the point where the reticle tapers
to fine crosshair can be used for close or far distances, i.e.: the top taper point of
the reticle may be used for 50 yds or 75 yds, the lower one for 150 yds maybe...
Trial will tell you!

Jocelyn.
 
redbonefish said:
350meters?
Really? :bsFlag:
Click to expand...

Yes really.
With witnesses I might add. I do have a set of high mount Recknagel rings (over 200.00!!!!) that were specifically ordered in for the rifle (11mm dovetail)and Millet TRS-1 Scope (side focus Ill mildot reticle 4x16x50 30mm maintube etcetc)

300+ yards is achievable with practice and a bipod (and yes some luck)

It took more than one shot to get the wind doped out at that range though:D

Call BS all you want. It is what it is. Perhaps instead of raising the flag, you should spend more time at the range, and purchase a better gun/scope/mounts that can do this. I have a feeling that if you did those things you would be pleasantly surprised. F Class 308 training anyone?

If you zero for longer distances, you can extend your trajectory a great deal, provided your bases and scope can do their part. The rest is up to the shooter (and the wind gods)
 
Got Juice? said:
If you zero for longer distances, you can extend your trajectory a great deal, provided your bases and scope can do their part.
Click to expand...

Unless your scope's turrets are limited to a certain number of turns, your zero will not extend your range in any way. On scopes that allow you to run the turrets over the entire adjustment range, the zero is merely a reference point or is limited at the lower end by a mechanical stop.
 
I zero at 50yds and have found that with most Hi velocity ammo the top of the bottom post where it meets the finer crosshair will be very close at 100yds.I use it set this way for smallbore silohuettes and have no problem tipping them over at there set distances of 44yds,66yds,84yds and a 109yds.
 
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