SmallCaliberCentral

What range do you guys zero ur rifles in at? Why and what are u shooting at?

I sight my 204s in at 200 yards. You can pretty well aim straight on to 300 yards because it is so flat shooting. It is 3.6 inches low at 400 yards, so aim for the head on sage rats and prairie dogs.

I sight in at 100 yards, but sight it in about 1.5" high. I only have a 100 yard sight in range that is why I do it that way. That pretty much makes it dead on at 200 and you are still pretty good out to 300 as Sidewinder said.

Mostly 100 yrds. usually set POI 1 1/2 inch high. Then I shoot and check POI at 200 and 300 yrds. Bill K

I sight in at 100yds and dial in my elevation for given ranges. Doesn't matter what distance you zero in for you are going to have to adjust for it one way or another. By sighting in high at 100 you have to aim low at a 100. You can't escape ballistics.

For;

Target rifles; 100 yards
22LR rifles; 50 yards
17 HMR; 100 yds
204, 223, 6mm, 30.06, 300 WBY; 200 yds

Before you fire your shots do make sure;
- Your scope is all set up, aligned, everything is tight and so on...
- You get a good rest or something so you have a foundation to start with,
- A good position where you can fire each shot the same way everytime. If your fightingto get the scope on target, even a little, reposition yourself.
- Fire some fouling shots befoe getting started. I never leave the range with a green barrel,
- Fire the gun in the same manner you would us it in the field. For my 300 WBY & 30.06, 3 quick shots from a cold barrel because thats all I would probably get in the field,
- Don't let the barrel get to warm. Mirage from a warm barrel distorts your sight picture long before you see it.

Take your time and have fun.

Bill K wrote:Mostly 100 yrds. usually set POI 1 1/2 inch high. Then I shoot and check POI at 200 and 300 yrds. Bill K

+1 ,only I set my poi at .6" high, then I'm on at 200, and -4.1 at 300 (aim at head!!) with 32 gr sbk at around 4200 fps

I zero at 300 yds. 1 mil dot hold under to 150 and 1 mil dot hold over at 500. works great 4 me.

All my rat rifles are zeroed at 100 yards, then dialed up for exact range. I use the VHR wind ticks for wind hold-off, but otherwise just hold dead on for whatever range Skippy is presenting himself. Keep in mind that our usual target is about the size of a soda can.

All my 'come-up' charts are made in MOA for the same values of the scopes .25 MOA adjustments.....perfect marriage. Below I was shooting squirrels on a mound at roughly 430 yards away using 39gr SBK's out of "The Silver Princess of Death", my M700 Pac-Nor 11 twist.



The system seems to work all the way to just past 800 yards so far on rats (using my 243AI that is.....). Returning sons of friends from the sandbox tell me it works on those "other varmints" too. Oh the joy of first shot hit probability.

Nice looking setup Rick.. I see you mention 11" twist. I see Pac-nor lists the 12 as most popular. Is the 11 better? I have talked/email Penny re. my Rem 700(223) rebarreled to 204. Bill K

Bill K wrote:Nice looking setup Rick.. I see you mention 11" twist. I see Pac-nor lists the 12 as most popular. Is the 11 better? I have talked/email Penny re. my Rem 700(223) rebarreled to 204. Bill K

Bill: Better? Yes, MUCH better, especially if 40gr bullets are in the plan. My Pac-Nor 11-twist will even shoot the 40gr V-Max into one hole, which is usually a problem for many 12 twist barrels, my other three included.

Certainly not the best 40gr group, but shows what the 11 twist will do every time with the 40's:



If I had to do it all over again, I'd not change a thing. For once, everything went according to plan.

Most of my misses have been from shooting too high.

I have a number of scopes that I use for varmint and target and since the adjustments are accurate, easily made and resetable on these scopes I zero in at 100 and then make additional adjustments as needed. I laser certain objects where my anticipated shots will be.

On scopes that are not so easily adjusted, like a Burris 3-9 on a do all .223 I zero in at 200.

On scopes used for hunting deer I zero in at 250 and with a mv of about 3000 fps with pointy bullets I can aim and hit close to my point of aim (close enough) to hit up to 300 ys(+-). At 100 yds I am 3 inches high, at 400 yds a liitle more than 12 inches low (how good can you hold?). 400 yds is my max confidence range.

On my .204 Ruger that will be in the works (1-11 twist, 40 HVmax @ 3600 - 3700) I anticipate a trajectory similar to my .22-250 (53 HVamx @ 3700 fps). If I use my old 6-20 X Weaver Grand Slam I will sight in at 200, If I use my Leupold 4.5-14 LR scope with target adjust I will sight in at 100.

RICK, what lenght is your pac-nor 1:11 barrel? Does the 1:11 twist still shoot 32s as well as the 39s &40s?

boomer84 wrote:RICK, what lenght is your pac-nor 1:11 barrel? Does the 1:11 twist still shoot 32s as well as the 39s &40s?

boomer: It's a 24", same contour as the factory Remmy varmint, 11* target crown, .230" "no-turn" neck.



And 'yes' it shoots the 32's just as good as the 39/40, but I reserve this rifle just for the heavier slugs for long range work, as I've got three other 204's for the 32 grainers. After shooting my 11 twist for three years now, I can't understand why the factories went with a 12 twist, but according to industry insiders, when the 204 was being conceived, the designers felt the shooting public wanted speed over all else (with 26-32gr bullets).......and they got it with 32 grain bullets, non-canister powders and one heck of a freebore.

Rick, at the risk of sounding ignorant (ignoramos), are you saying there is NO downside to the 1:11 twist regardless of bullet weight? Also, what twist is your' Var-Targ? Just curious.