what range do you sight for?

It depends on the type of ammo you use really. Ballistic charts (available on most ammo manufact web sites) tell you a short and long "zero". After sighting into the ammo's specs it is easy to tell the drop of the bullet on level surfaces.
 
If you sight most .30 calibers in for about 2 inches high at 100 yards you'll be right on the money 2 to 3 inches above or below the point of aim out to 300 yards.
 
I sight my 9.3X62 three inches high at 100 meters. This gives me a zero at 200 meters and -10 inches at 300 meters.

These have been confirmed at the range.

286 gr Nosler Partition
2350 fps mv.
 
I shoot the Leupold LRD reticle so sight the bottom dot dead on at 400yds first. I then cross check that with a ballistic program and check crosshair zero at where that zero is supposed to be. That intersection usually ends up somewhere between 220 and 245yds, all verified by pulling the trigger.

With turrets, I usually zero between 225 and 250.
 
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I sight my 300 WM in for 3" high at 100. That puts me 4" high at 200, and 0 at 300, and 9.6" low at 400. Even hunting the big cut overs, that is plenty.

My 30-06, I also sight in at 3" high at 100. That puts me spot on at 250 yards, which for all practical purposes is the difference between the 30-06 and 300 Mag. Longest shot I have made with either is just over 300 with the 300 and right on 250 with the '06. Effective -- both!
 
Oddly enough I have sighted in according to most, if not all, of the plans mentioned here and they all make some sense to me. But the thing that is in the back of my mind when I look for a rule for sighting in a hunting rifle is to sight in for maximum distance that gives me a zero point of aim for the critter I am hunting and for the load I am using, e.g. 8 inch kill zone for deer etc. I think everything else follows from there, though I haven't necessarily followed the rule from year to year. I realized when reading this post that I haven't discussed this view with anyone else, though I may have read it somewhere. It will be interesting to see if anyone has a better one or if there is a flaw in the reasoning.
 
I sight just about everything in for 3 inches high at 100 yards, then I shoot confirmation at 200 and 300 to ensure I know where my hold will be for them. Rimfires are done at 50. Les
 
i usually find out what the point blank range is for the rifle/calibre/load combo i am using and then zero it based on that. for example if the target area you are shooting for is 8 in. in diameter then i would make sure that my bullet(based on ballistic tables) was never more than 4 in. above or 4 in. below my line of sight. that is your point blank range. my .300WSM is zeroed at 300yds and my .243 is zeroed at 250yds. hope that helps.

good luck and good shooting,

i.
 
I have used the +3" @ 100 sighting for 40+ years on hunting rifles, and I'm not about to alter that now. This has always served me well, whether shooting a lowly 300 Savage or the 264 Win Mag or 7mm STW, just the maximum range at which you can hold dead on and kill an animal varys. If it is a varmint chambering, the 3" high setting can make for misses at midrange on smaller targets, so these get sighted 1½" high at 100. The Swift, so sighted, is deadly well out past 350. Regards, Eagleye.
 
I only shoot old Winchesters with iron sights, so I sight in for 100 yards, but practice out to 200 yards. The only exception is my varmint Winchesters (25-20 and 32-20), which I sight in for 50 yards.
 
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