Re zero after traveling

[f16jack]

Assuming an moa shooter, an 8” pie At 800yds I’d feel pretty good. A 12” pie at that distance I don’t feel as good.

How’d you verfiy it exactly? Absolutely sure it was purely a math problem?

I’m a LR newb btw, apologize if I come off condescending.

You verify it by shooting. Important long range that you sight in North or South due to Eotvos effect. The wind will affect left/right (3/9 error), so I ignore that. I'm interested in drop, or 6/12 error. 3, 6, 9 and 12 are the clock portions on the target .

 

[huntnful]

Any input from me on that front isn’t worth much.

I’ve realized I’m not as good as I used to think I was and have accepted I will not spend enough time shooting out west any time soon to maintain adequate proficiency to be taking ethical shots beyond 600 yards.

That's a great yardage for a self imposed limit. I definitely feel 100% at 600 yards under most weather conditions.

 

[f16jack]

That's a great yardage for a self imposed limit. I definitely feel 100% at 600 yards under most weather conditions.

I agree. Or at least I did before last season. It took me almost a box of shells to drop a broadside elk at 600 yards. Only 3 bullets hit, and not where I was aiming. I learned later that my suppressor had failed and every bullet was getting a baffle strike, sending it who knows where. Now that it is fixed I'm back confident to 600. But only on a good day, stationary elk. A walking elk is anybody's guess as to walking speed or required lead.

 

[huntnful]

I agree. Or at least I did before last season. It took my almost a box of shells to drop a broadside elk at 600 yards. Only 3 bullets hit, and not where I was aiming. I learned later that my suppressor had failed and every bullet was getting a baffle strike, sending it who knows where. Now that it is fixed I'm back confident to 600. But only on a good day, stationary elk. A walking elk is anybody's guess as to walking speed or required lead.

That’s a bummer for it to fail during a hunt!! Yeah I don’t shoot moving animals unless they’re very close.

 

[LaHunter]

You verify it by shooting. Important long range that you sight in North or South due to Eotvos effect. The wind will affect left/right (3/9 error), so I ignore that. I'm interested in drop, or 6/12 error. 3, 6, 9 and 12 are the clock portions on the target .

a 3:00 wind vs a 9:00 wind are not the same windage hold, based on right or left twist rifling. also, elevation dope is different. Some ballistic solvers factor this into the solution and some do not

 

[f16jack]

a 3:00 wind vs a 9:00 wind are not the same windage hold, based on right or left twist rifling. also, elevation dope is different. Some ballistic solvers factor this into the solution and some do not

all true. spin drift and wind drift will affect the flight.

 

[f16jack]

We've gone off the original discussion a bit. The question was if the zero of a rifle should be verified after travelling. I think now we are discussing more verifying your dope when you get to your hunting environment (altitude, temp, humidity, etc).

 

[left hunter]

I do check whether I’m flying or driving. It’s just part of my process. I do have a couple of scope/rifle set ups that have never shifted but I have messed with many more that have shifted over the years.

To the annoyance of a lot of people I hunt with I require they check there’s as well. I can’t think of a single one of them that didn’t have to adjust their scope! Granted they aren’t really gear people and might not have had it fully sighted in to begin with


I like to experiment and use different equipment so it’s just a necessary evil when I’m using something that hasn’t been put through the ringer.


As a side note, I watched an TSA employee absolutely chucking luggage coming off a plane one day, including what looks like some gun cases. I was watching out the window of another plane and I would do anything to have gotten that on video. It’s like the guy was going for record distance, made me cringe

 

[f16jack]

I do check whether I’m flying or driving. It’s just part of my process. I do have a couple of scope/rifle set ups that have never shifted but I have messed with many more that have shifted over the years.

To the annoyance of a lot of people I hunt with I require they check there’s as well. I can’t think of a single one of them that didn’t have to adjust their scope! Granted they aren’t really gear people and might not have had it fully sighted in to begin with


I like to experiment and use different equipment so it’s just a necessary evil when I’m using something that hasn’t been put through the ringer.


As a side note, I watched an TSA employee absolutely chucking luggage coming off a plane one day, including what looks like some gun cases. I was watching out the window of another plane and I would do anything to have gotten that on video. It’s like the guy was going for record distance, made me cringe

I normally have the members of my camp do a last minute verification also. We put in a lot of effort to find the elk. It's nice that you are confident in your setup.

 

[Lawnboi]

There is a big difference between verifying a zero and re zeroing, as the OP mentions.

If I’m having to re zero after traveling, I’m looking for problems with my rifle beyond the actual zero.

If you don’t zero at 100 you may be rezeroing or dealing with some built in error.

If you’re having to adjust calculations with well known bullets out to my personal 600 limit, I also start checking if stuff is wrong.

People talk like a 600 yard shot is cake. I see people who shoot a lot wiff 600 yard shots very often. Be as precise as you can, avoid introducing error, especially due to conditions. As has been mentioned above.