50 yd. zero pros and cons?

[kickemall]

I listened to a Vortex 10 minute talk podcast and one of the guys was going over the advantages of a 50 yd. zero, even for dialing. All my bolt rifles are sighted at 100 and I dial for elevation. I was wondering if anyone uses a 50 yd. zero with rifles they dial and the advantages vs. disadvantages?

 

[FLATHEAD]

The Eastern Whitetails I shoot are rarely past 50 yards, usually more like 30-40.
50 is fine for my Eastern deer rifles.
Now, if I'm going out West I'm prolly sighting my win mag dead on @ 200.
Just depends.

 

[EdP]

I try to optimize my zero around 200 yds to give the longest range that I can hold dead on and be comfortable with making a clean killing shot. That usually gives me out to 250yds that I am never more than 2 1/2" high or low. Within that range I don't worry about drop and just center the crosshairs on the kill zone. For folks who dial, or for folks that use BDC reticles, it means no worries about dialing or what magnification the scope is set at for shots within 250 where things can happen fast. Beyond 250 you will generally have the time to do whatever it is you need to do to be on target.

 

[justin davis]

For AR I do a 50 yard zero. Everything else I do 100

 

[sawsington]

I do 200yd zero on my 7mmMag for Colorado hunting. That gives me roughly .5" high at 50yds and within 1.5" from 0-200.

 

[MattB]

100 yards just makes so much sense for a variety of reasons. What were the stated benefits of 50 yards? Maybe being able to check zero in a wider variety of places? Looking at my dope sheet, the POI impact at 50 yards is -0.12" with a 100 yard zero - ~1/8". That wouldn't take you out of the kill zone of a mouse.

 

[Bubblehide]

When the bullet leave the barrel it is traveling up to it's Apex; for most large rifle calibers about 150 yards, give or take. So for the example below, if you sighted for 50 yards you would also be on for about 235 yards (off the top of my head without running an App).

 

[PathFinder]

Bullets don't travel upwards. They're dropping relative to the bore the instant they exit the muzzle.
There's no functional advantage to a 50 yard zero. Visual boresight at 100, should be zeroed in three shots, plus three to confirm center if desired.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[EdP]

Bullets do travel up from their elevation at the point they leave the barrel when the barrel is pointed upwards. Because the bullet drops from the line of the bore upon exit, an upward pointing muzzle is the normal situation for shooting every target beyond the muzzle. If you look at the graph there is not much difference between the elevation at 50 yds and 200 yds, only 1/4" perhaps. What that means is that there is not much difference in the trajectory when using a 50 yd zero vs a 200 yd zero. However, there is a difference in sighting accuracy. The longer distance gives sighting errors an opportuntiy to show themselves and be corrected. I will sight in at 100 yds for the predicted height above the crosshairs and then check and correct at 200 yds. The same could be done using 50 yds and 200 yds but the 100 yd starting point works best for me. I do wait for low winds to do that sighting.

 

[kickemall]

The main thing he said on the podcast was that at 50 yds. most people can be more accurate resulting in a better zero, which I tend to agree with. He did point out, as stated above, that errors at distance are greater if slightly off at 50. Also said, as stated above, if your on at 50 no dialing required out to around 250. Its a Vortex Nation podcast on sighting in. Until listening to this I never gave a thought to sighting in at 50.

 

[Flyjunky]

The main thing he said on the podcast was that at 50 yds. most people can be more accurate resulting in a better zero, which I tend to agree with. He did point out, as stated above, that errors at distance are greater if slightly off at 50. Also said, as stated above, if your on at 50 no dialing required out to around 250. Its episode 33 on The Hornady Podcast about custom rifles. Until listening to this I never gave a thought to sighting in at 50.

If they need to sight in at 50 for accuracy reasons they have no business shooting 250.

 

[Bubblehide]

.

Bullets don't travel upwards. They're dropping relative to the bore the instant they exit the muzzle.
There's no functional advantage to a 50 yard zero. Visual boresight at 100, should be zeroed in three shots, plus three to confirm center if desired.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Correct, except that rifle barrels are slightly angled upwards. So the bullet leaves the barrel at an upward angle until it reaches its apex, just like the diagram I included in my previous post. If you were to compensate for the upward angle of the barrel (relative to the kevel action), then yes, the bullet would be dropping from the point of leaving the barrel.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

At 50 yards you play too much into height over bore and what happens after 50. 100 yard zero is the way to go with 95% of cartridges. It doesn’t matter much if you actually zero’d and 90 yards or 110 yards, and at 50 route a touch low.

22LR’s, 12ga slugs, and 300BLK Subs get zero’d at 50 and everything else 100.

 

[Formidilosus]

The main thing he said on the podcast was that at 50 yds. most people can be more accurate resulting in a better zero, which I tend to agree with. He did point out, as stated above, that errors at distance are greater if slightly off at 50. Also said, as stated above, if your on at 50 no dialing required out to around 250. Its episode 33 on The Hornady Podcast about custom rifles. Until listening to this I never gave a thought to sighting in at 50.

Someone’s accuracy (really precision) is identical at 50 as it is at 100. There is no advantage, and serval disadvantages to zeroing at 50.

 

[Wrench]

If you can't shoot a group at 100, the range that nearly every scope has its parallax fixed to, adjusments calibrated to and velocity chart referenced......perhaps it's not the time to hunt that far out.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Several cons. Everyone get so focused on the vertical axis and “drop”. They ignore the cons of “closer” range zeroing of rifles which is a single point to single point localization. This isn’t how true alignment works.

Do some studying up on projectile motion formulas. You can pull your data in based on some easily obtainable numbers. The formula for projectile motion, specifically for maximum horizontal range is Rm=U²/g.

 

[dieselchessy]

I sight my rifles in for the best maximum point blank range for their intended use.
This number varies from rifle to rifle. I’m not sure why a person would want to limit themselves to a set distance.
Also, I find it best to tune my scope zero at longer distances like 200 yards. This seems to provide better consistency than adjusting at 100 or less. Same goes for load development. I find 200 a better distance for tuning loads. At 50 everything looks good.

 

[motofrog]

If you dial and have something like the Leupold ZeroLock elevation turret maybe having a zero low at 100 would be beneficial so you could dial down for environmental POI changes without a tool. Can't see it really being an issue for big game hunting, maybe it would be if shooting prairie dogs or some other small critter.

 

[kickemall]

In my original post I said it was a Hornady podcast. My bad, I was traveling and listened to a bunch. It was a Vortex Nation 10 minute talk on sighting in. My apologies and I corrected it on my OP.

 

[ljalberta]

Sounds about right for vortex.