Scope adjustment strategy when switching loads

[wahoowad]

I have a bolt gun and an AR I use for shooting steel on a 300 yard range. My ammo stockpiles consists of various manufacturers and loads of 5.56/223 and I can run out of load X in the middle of a session and need to switch to a different manufacturer. Packing all my gear up and moving from the 300 yard steel range to the 100 yard sight-in range is a time-consuming hassle to get my scope re-zeroed to the new load.

I think I have the option of putting up some paper targets at either 200 or 300 before firing on the 300 yard steel range. Should I just use a 200 or 300 yard re-zero to re-zero my scope, then resume shooting steel? I'm probably switching between loads like Wolf, Wolf Gold, PMC, Fiocchi, American Eagle, etc. with either 55, 62 or 75 gr. projectiles.

I'm not shooting precision matches, just clanging steel. Thoughts?

 

[Simonsza1]

Pick the one your rifle likes the best and that you have the most of. Set your 100yd zero with that. Then you’ll be good for your 300yd steel or other distance. just using a simple ballistic app like 4dof or similar on your phone. Then do all your other paper training up close with your others and you don’t really need to change your zero every time. You might have an ever so slightly different poi. When you’re real close on paper it won’t matter just for training and at 200yds or so just make a mental note of where your other ammo impacts instead. Unless you’re trying to shoot bullseye’s all the time then disregard my last. Good luck.

 

[_Windrider_]

It’s really simple and very common. This is done on switch caliber rifles a lot. You have to shoot and find the flattest lamp you have and zero with that. Then you have to track the offset of the other ammo. If your just shooting the same caliber but different brands, the above can still apply but you won’t see a variation as large as say zeroing for 300 Norma and then adjusting for 308 with same scope.

 

[ubet]

I have an ar zeroed for one specific round, but keep the turret zeroed for another. I know the setting and just made a note of it and switch back and forth as needed.

 

[Sniperstud]

I use a scope with a tree reticle zeroed for my normal load. When I change loads, I dial the zero offset on the turrets and hold elevation and wind on the grid.

You could use a ballistic calculator that allows for zero offset as a variable and enter it for every load you use. Whenever you use the calculator, it will give you the correct dope as long as all your input data is accurate.

 

[vh20]

You could use a ballistic calculator that allows for zero offset as a variable and enter it for every load you use. Whenever you use the calculator, it will give you the correct dope as long as all your input data is accurate.

This is the easiest option. Zero the scope with the load you shoot the most, then find the offset from that zero with each of the other loads and create a profile for each one in your ballistic calculator. Record the zero offset for each load in its profile, and your calculator will give you the solution at any distance with the offset factored in.

 

[FredHammer]

Murphy sees you with your multiple plans to keep your dope straight between various and different POI loads…

 

[308pirate]

Murphy sees you with your multiple plans to keep your dope straight between various and different POI loads…

It's not that hard if you understand how your scope actually works and you can keep fairly organized records of what each load does.

I never change my 100 yard zero. I mark in my records which load the rifle is zeroed for and what the actual dope is for every load I have. Because my loads for a given rifle are all very similar, the 100 yd offset is so small that I practically ignore it. If that were to be an issue, I'd track it and record it as well.