SCOPE ZERO

[THEPLUMBER]

What yardage do you guys zero your scopes at??

[Jim White]

200 yards for me, except rim fire. For those; 100 yds. for the 17 HMR and 50 for the 22LR.

HTH,

[jdohio]

I zero at the 200 yd distance while shooting at a target 100yds away. I just aim for center and hope to hit .7" high.

[THEPLUMBER]

That's what I was doing, but I missed too many groundhogs when they were crawling thru the grass.(over shot them) I'm new to the .204 and still trying to learn it's ballistics. I regulary shoot at hogs from 100 to 500 -600 yds. but lately at a lot at 150 .

[Bill K]

100 yards, dead center. Then shoot at 200 and 300, at least, and record where they hit. Then you can adjust as you shoot by holding slightly under or over. You will find that you are pretty much on at the longer ranges. Or you can shoot dead on at 100 and then dial/clic for other ranges, by shooting and recording the number of clicks you need to use. Bill K

[jdohio]

That's what I was doing, but I missed too many groundhogs when they were crawling thru the grass.(over shot them) I'm new to the .204 and still trying to learn it's ballistics. I regulary shoot at hogs from 100 to 500 -600 yds. but lately at a lot at 150 .

Do a google search for Nikon SpotOn. It's a ballistics calculator and after you input your ammo specs it will show you the trajectory in 10 or 25 yard increments. It's not the easiest thing to use but let me know if you get stuck.
I use it for all my guns then print out a cheat sheet and tape it to my scope.

[futuretrades]

I zero all my rifles at 100 yards. If I need to take a longer shot, I just take a SWAG, and am usually right on for the kill shot. My 20VT wears a Leupold VXIII with a VH reticle. and my 204 wears a Lupy VXII LR reticle, witch is basically a mil dot reticle. This scope I had customized at Leupold, for my 204. If you take the time to learn about the ballistics for ea. rifle you shoot and the cartridge, it is a lot easier to make longer shots with very good consistancy, but you need to be able to guess the yardage of your target. When I look at my target, before I mount my rifle, I think about the yardages on a football field. For me anyway, I can usually guess the yardage within 50 ft. or so, so I can determine my holdover, or if my target is well under 100 yards, my hold under.Just my system, and seems to work well for me.

[THEPLUMBER]

Thanks for your input guys. I think I'm going to go the route that futuretrades is going . The 204 shoots pretty flat for 300 yds. after that I guess I'll just take a "SWAG".

[53eldorado]

I followed this advice and it seems to be working.

copied from another site...

The latest Reloading Guide by Australia's premier reloading guru has just been released; Nick Harvey. He has been reloading for 50 years and been writing about it for almost as many. Many of your (U.S.) top hunters and hunting writers have hunted and spent some time with Nick Harvey. In his latest reloading guide, as usual he lists the Maximum Point Blank range for all popular varminting cartridges. What is Max. Point Blank Range? It is a distance from the muzzle where your bullet doesn't rise nor fall more than 2 inches, meaning an animal with a "vital area" of 4 inches, say a fox, can be hit by putting the crosshairs right on him and shoot, anywhere within the M.P.B.Range. For example: a .22 hornet (45 grain bullet) sighted in at 165 yards has a point blank range of 190 yards. It will be 2 inches high at 102 yards and 2 inches low at 190 yards. He lists all popular cartridges from.17 Rem. through to .270 Win. shooting a 100 grain bullet for varminting work. As a comparison:
.204 Ruger 32 grain = M.P.B.Range 312 yards (sight in at 270 yards)
.204 Ruger 40 grain = M.P.B.Range 311 yards (ditto)
.223 Rem. 40 grain = M.P.B.Range 266 yards
.22/250 40/60 grain = M.P.B.Range 287 yards
.220 Swift 60 grain = M.P.B.Range 289 yards
.223 WSSM 55 grain = M.P.B.Range 305 yards
.243 WSSM 55 grain = M.P.B.Range 301 yards
.257 Wby. Mag. 87 grain = M.P.B.Range 312 yards
These are the most pop. cartridges with the .257 Wby. the only one with a similar P.B.Range, but hardly fun for a days varminting!!

[THEPLUMBER]

So, if I understand this, if I sight to dead on at 270yds (204ruger), I should be able to hit a hog ,(under most conditions 100-450yds) by shooting straight on?

[53eldorado]

No, that might be too much to ask for.

If you look at the example given, the max range would be the high end so with 32gr the max is 312 if sighted at 270. It doesn't say what the min is for that round. I would guess around 200 yard min but could be less.

I use a 22 out to 100 yards and the 204 for anything beyond that. 300 yard prairie dogs I hold dead on.

If your vital area on a hog is more than 4 inches it would extend the ranges. I've never hunted hogs but I'm guessing the vital area is larger than a fox.

[JaxTeller]

50 yards. Then shoot at a 100 and 200 to see how it prints.