25/200 yard sighting...myth?

7mmlefty said:
On a more serious note; 25 yard bullseyes will only pu now that business about shooting a 303 at 200 yards, well now youre joking right?t you on paper at 100 yards with any rifle. you will still need to fine tune......:D
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Why would you say that. The cartridge is ballistically capable of reaching much farther, and the Rangers who go to Connaught shoot their Lee Enfields out to 600, IIRC. That happens this week I believe.

Sight height and bullet velocity and shape are the factors which determine the range at which a bullet crosses the line of sight. Bruce's explanation as usual was on the money. That said it would be interesting to take a variety of hunting rifles to the range and fire one round at 25 and one at 200 to see how they print respectively as normally sighted. In my case I would choose a .243, a .30/06, and a .458 as these three represent the velocities and the bullet styles, if not the cartridges, that are commonly used in the field, and the scopes on these rifles are mostly low to the bores.
 
I think that there are a few people here who are "in violent agreement". If the point is that for many rifles, if you sight it in at 25 yds, it will probably at least be on paper at 200 yds, then I agree. However, you still need to shoot it at 200 yds to really know what it will do. A dead-centre 1/2" group at 25 yds is just that and nothing more, it doesn't translate to a dead-centre 1/2" (or 4") group at 200 yds.

The unfortunate thing is that we have people who would sight at 25 yds and then go hunting and shoot at animals 100 yds, 200 yds and further.

Different, but related: guys on here have claimed ridiculous MV's, e.g. 3400 fps with a 140 gr bullet from a 7mm Rem Mag with their "pet load", and when called out, were forced to admit they didn't have a chrony, but based on their ballistics calculations it must have been 3400 fps.

You can only know what your gun can do by testing, not by extrapolation, which is intended for estimation, but is imperfect.
 
The unfortunate thing is that we have people who would sight at 25 yds and then go hunting and shoot at animals 100 yds, 200 yds and further.
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One individual at our local range ,was bragging to his partner that he was ready to shoot out to 500 yards on game after shooting 30 to 40 rounds at 25 yards with his new rifle. He then packed up and left without shooting any farther.
 
stubblejumper said:
One individual at our local range ,was bragging to his partner that he was ready to shoot out to 500 yards on game after shooting 30 to 40 rounds at 25 yards with his new rifle. He then packed up and left without shooting any farther.
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See it all the time...There are more that do this, than others who know better...
 
stubblejumper said:
One individual at our local range ,was bragging to his partner that he was ready to shoot out to 500 yards on game after shooting 30 to 40 rounds at 25 yards with his new rifle. He then packed up and left without shooting any farther.
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And I bet he can't judge what 500 yards is even remotely close to accurate.
 
One key point that I have not seen addressed, is that the OP is using old SMLE, probably with the original military sights. He is concerned that sometimes he is missing the target at 100 yards (or so, as paced out).
The battle sights on the SMLEs would often put the round about 18 inches high at 100 yards, so that they would be on at 300 yards. Certainly, shooting them first at 25 yards will give him a good idea whether or not it is centred for windage, and if he is on or slightly (as suggested, about 1 inch or so), then he should be good for 100 yards.
I often start with my scoped rifles at 25 yards to get the initial zero, and then confirm at 100 and 200 yards. It is only a guide, as pointed out, and a preliminary step for checking at longer ranges.
 
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