Longer range ar15 sight in distance
- Thread starter snowplow
- Start date
I do it the same way I have set up my long range rifles in the past.
Zero at 100 meters/yards dial for anything further than that.
Zero at 100 meters/yards dial for anything further than that.
Depends on the optic, as above unless LPVO and then 200yds. Yes a LPVO can do well to 600yds.
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I always zero at 100 yards and set my zero stop. I will dial up the required clicks for the target but when done or changing distances I go back to zero and come back up.
Zero where the reticle manual tells you to. If it doesn't say, zero at 100.
If you're going to dial, zero at 100.
If you're going to dial, zero at 100.
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Zero at 100 and dial, same as all of them except my 22’s which get a 50 yard zero.
50 yards, 100 yards .... those are pretty arbitrary numbers unless you're trying to accommodate a BDC or something. Get a ballistic calculator, figure out what your maximum point blank range is based on your needs and zero for what the app tells you is best.
The idea of doing all of that dialing seems fun in your head, but when you get out and start doing it, you're gonna realize that less dialing is better.
Don't have it in your head that a 50/200 zero is a real thing. It's a combat zero based on a specific rifle configuration shooting a specific ammo. Don't just zero at 50 and think you'll be good at 200. Zero for the farther distance (always zero at the far distance, no matter what zero you're using).
I shoot a 16" rig. The ammo I run is 77gr Barnes Matchburners at 2681 fps. I want all of my shoots to land in a group no larger than 3". This puts my maximum point blank range at just over 200 yards. So, for everything out to 200, I just hold dead center and fudge it a tad if I need to. I zero at 200 on that rig.
The idea of doing all of that dialing seems fun in your head, but when you get out and start doing it, you're gonna realize that less dialing is better.
Don't have it in your head that a 50/200 zero is a real thing. It's a combat zero based on a specific rifle configuration shooting a specific ammo. Don't just zero at 50 and think you'll be good at 200. Zero for the farther distance (always zero at the far distance, no matter what zero you're using).
I shoot a 16" rig. The ammo I run is 77gr Barnes Matchburners at 2681 fps. I want all of my shoots to land in a group no larger than 3". This puts my maximum point blank range at just over 200 yards. So, for everything out to 200, I just hold dead center and fudge it a tad if I need to. I zero at 200 on that rig.
They are actually totally arbitrary. The point is you should be using a ballistic calculator but it is best to pick a known distance. If all your shooting is a known distance like 50 or 100yrd rimfire then the sight in distance is easy. I like setting my zero stop a know distance from which I can dial up or hold over. But it is always a known entity. I dislike holding under and with a zero stop you can’t dial down. So if your closest shot will be 600yrds that is a good zero. But get a calculator and range finder so you can get quality dope.
I zero my AR’s with dialable turrets to 100 yards. If I have a situation where I need a max point blank zero, such as for a 50/200 zero, then I just dial my 200 yard dope and leave it there. I know it might not be exactly 50/200 but you aren’t trying to shoot match sticks with a 50/200 zero either. Doing this, if I have to dial for a further range then I just dial whatever my dope is for that distance and when I don’t need the 50/200 zero then I just dial back down to my 100 yard zero.
I like 100 for anything gonna get shot mid range and occasionally far out with a precision oriented optic... reason being I have easy access to an exact 100 yard spot set up. Makes it easy lol.
Lpvo acog etc generally gets max point blank zero, hunting guns as well with duplex and non ranging reticles get the same treatment.
Lpvo acog etc generally gets max point blank zero, hunting guns as well with duplex and non ranging reticles get the same treatment.
This.
I zero at 150 yards because that’s where the berm is and 100 yards is in a creek. It’s just math.
In a addition to that, even accommodating a BDC isn't as simple as just zeroing at 50 because the manual said to. As you said, 50/200 almost never works out and chances are you aren't shooting the exact bullet at the exact speed in the same environmentals that the reticle designer input into his program when he spaced his stadia hashes.
I'm a big BDC fan for what I use 5.56 guns for and to get the BDC's to line up out to at least 600 yards (about as far as I find them trustworthy and as far as I need a 5.56 gun to work) I have guns zeroed at all different distances. Note also that most BDC's are designed around 55-62gr bullets going pretty quick. The 69-77gr stuff that most of us are sending out yonder start out with a velocity disadvantage that is eventually cancelled out by the BC advantage. So again, the manual specified 50/200 never works out. I've got BDC equipped guns zeroed from 170-190 and 210-230 yards depending on velocity to get the BDC lined up perfectly, but not a one of them at exactly 200.
But now that I wrote all that out, my more precision oriented guns with mil reticles are all zeroed at 100 for simplicities sake, which is probably more what the OP was asking about.
For all of the reasons you mentioned, I'm not a big fan of BDCs, but I am big fan of ACOGs, so it is what it is on that front. I've had pretty good luck getting the BDC to line up with 55 to 62 grain projectiles out of my 11.5 with stuff other than m193 or m855 using reticles intended for .223. I usually just zero at 300 using the 300 yard hash mark. That pretty much puts me on steel out to distances that I would shoot with those rigs and the more I shoot them, the better I get to know the setup. You can't just throw on the optic, zero at a distance and figure you're good out to X number of yards.
I like the 200 yard zero on my 16" rig. It's pretty much on out to 200 and dialing is minimal out to about 400. At 100, its only a .4 mil hold under and my scope has hold under marks in the reticle.
