Sighting in on first outing

[Leo_B]

I hope soon to take my .22 Hornet Savage 25 for its first outing. It has a Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40 on it. It is presumably bore-sighted for whatever that exactly means. Given the probably limit of ever shooting at 100 yards and sometimes only 25 or 50 what is the best distance to sight it in to be closest to POA at all those? Any tips/tricks/secrets I should be aware of? This will be the first outing and sighting in for me as well as for the rifle.

Scenario 2 involves a "to be bought" AR upper currently anticipated to be a Rock River Arms .223 Wylde chamber 20" 1:8 twist and an as yet undetermined scope likely in a 2x/3x - 12x/14x range and probably /40 - /44 objective. The goal of this rifle will be to shoot Appleseed Known Distance clinics which are fired at 400 yards. My local ranges are all capped at 100 yards so I don't have the option to zero it at 200 or 250 or whatever. I'll want it to shoot well at 100 also for when I can only go locally to practice/enjoy it.

So knowing nothing about this I presume it needs to hit somewhere other than dead on at 100 yards to be closer at 400 yards and when I shoot 100 I hold X" up/down and same at 400 but likely the opposite side? IOW, clueless, how would I zero an AR to shoot both 100 and 400 yards with only a 100 yard range available. Thanks for any and all input.

 

[chester999]

Scenario 2, Having accurate chrono numbers and b.c. of the bullet will get you close. You still need to true the data.

 

[steve210]

I would zero dead on at 100, and dial for 400. I don't think splitting the difference is going to work very well at either distance.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Your hornet zero dead on at 50 yards, will be slightly low(.5) at 25, on/slightly high at 100. Amount varies with scope height and bullet velocity. You can tweak it after you develop a trajectory curve for your setup.

 

[lb-ft]

Scenario 2, might give consideration to base sight in at 200 yards. Makes better use of Maximum Point Blank Range

 

[GetReal]

Unless you Are always going to shoot at 50 or less, general wisdom is to zero at hundred yards and dial from there for any other distance.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

On #2 make sure you get exposed turrets or one with a reticle that has sub tension marks for known distances.

 

[ShaunBrady]

Bore sighting is intended to put the first shots on the paper at 100 yards. Sometimes, not so much, sometimes much much better. I had a shooting buddy apologize profusely about wasting everybody's time because he didn't have time to check the zero on one of his rifles after reassembling it. He tagged a 18"x 24" plate at 1200 yards with the first shot. No, it wasn't his first rodeo and none of the equipment was store bought.

The Hornet is moving fast enough to use a 100 yard zero as a first cut. If you want to shoot really small things inside 100 yards, you may rethink that.

There isn't anything that'll score well on a full distance Appleseed course with a single zero. How that is dealt with is part of what they'll teach you. As already suggested, you'll want a scope with exposed or exposable turrets. If you go to a reticle that's subtended in any way, it'll be a lot easier for what you're doing if it's FFP.

With the AR, especially for sling use, don't try to mount the scope low. There isn't any drop in the stock but there is between your eye and shoulder when your head is in a comfortable position. Use an "AR" height mount or rings. On the same note, adding a height adjustment to an AR buttstock will help with multi position sling use. With some effort, you should be able to find a scope fore and aft position that'll work standing, seated, and prone. It won't be ideal in any of them. An adjustable length buttstock helps with that. Stay with the lower magnifications, even 10X is a lot when you're starting out with a sling. The wobble in the POI will make you nuts at higher magnification. 100 yard zeros are generally used when the COF requires dialing or hold overs.

 

[Leo_B]

Thanks everyone for a LOT of good input. I feel like I actually know a little bit now.