Would you bother to re-zero? (ammo change)

[Annapolis]

Also there's alot of anecdotal data(and possibly some empirical data) that says you need to clean the barrel to steel to get good groups when switching from lead core to monolithic copper.

That’s interesting. I think I’ll see how it does first…

 

[Castle Rock]

There is a lot of info here that is true but not really important here, the 350 is a 150 yard gun and if zero is off by two inches or it groups 3 inches that won’t make any real difference

 

[Annapolis]

I did wonder about that key detail. My takeaway from all this, though, is that I should re-zero---with the logic of I can't possibly regret doing so, but could definitely regret not.

A couple gallons of gas is a small price to pay, and it's always fun to get to the range.

At the moment, I have only one box of the monometal ammo; I'm hoping that's more than enough for both the sighting and the (one tag) hunt.

Really wish there were a closer place to sight in, but all the nearer ones are membership-based clubs with elaborate joining procedures that require you to know someone (I don't) or attend events to make contacts, but those are always at times that'll never mesh with my work schedule. They're clearly not looking for casual folks like me who'd just come four or five times a year--though I'd gladly pay the full dues to save the pain of driving out the eastern shore. Ah well. Worse problems one could have.

 

[bnewt3]

There is a lot of info here that is true but not really important here, the 350 is a 150 yard gun and if zero is off by two inches or it groups 3 inches that won’t make any real difference

There's a philosophical point in there though. And that is that we are responsible for knowing exactly where every bullet we shoot is going to go.

 

[Macintosh]

There is a lot of info here that is true but not really important here, the 350 is a 150 yard gun and if zero is off by two inches or it groups 3 inches that won’t make any real difference

I don’t think I agree with this. I understand where you’re coming from and in most cases it’s certainly true. But, if you’ve got a gun that shoots 3 inch groups—tons of guns for straightwall cartridges do—and you change ammunition and the point of impact changes by 3 inches, you’re going to have some percentage of those shots that are 4 1/2 inches away from your point of aim. That’s barely on a 9” plate by the skin of your teeth, before you even add in ANY shooter error. When you stack that on top of an insecure shooting position, that easily puts some of your shots off a vital size target even at 100 yards. Even with the example given (2” poi shift with 3” groups), it only takes a small amount of wobble to put some shots off a 10” target. Because of this I just don’t think it’s anything but a mistake to not re-zero when you change ammo. The zero is by far the easiest to control part of making a good hit, so we ought to make it a priority.

 

[EdP]

I'm hoping the OP lets us know what happens after he gets to the range.

 

[tntrker]

Why would you not? I mean any change can affect your shooting. Besides, go shoot anyhow...You should be shooting anyhow even when nothing changes..

 

[Hnthrdr]

At first I was like, absolutely check zero… but after reading the rest of your situation, you could get away with not doing it… but best to check zero if possible, 150 yard shot you will likely be minute of deer but it’s always best to know