CF zeroing

[wildfowler.250]

How long do you guys leave between shots to get the barrel back to a cold shot? 5 minutes enough? Or should I wait longer?

[kyska]

I had a conversation with a very experienced guy, best to leave till cold, hard to say how long, I generally use the 'roll up and smoke' technique

 

 

Edited September 9, 2012 by kyska

[wildfowler.250]

How long do you smoke for then? maybe 10 is a better shout. Wouldn't be so bad if I was doing a few rifles and could go between them

[The Essex Hunter]

How long do you guys leave between shots to get the barrel back to a cold shot? 5 minutes enough? Or should I wait longer?

 

If you keep putting rounds down the barrel then it will get hot and drift off!

I fire 3 shots and go for a wander to the target; mind you I have set the gun for 150 yds and shoot off my sticks because that is what I use 90% of the time.

Nothing wrong with shooting from a bench type set up but they are a bit heavy to lug around the field!!

 

 

 

 

TEH

[wildfowler.250]

I'm resting off a bale just now. Starting at 50, then try 100 and work back. Normally give it a few minutes between each shot but if 10 is necessary for cold shots then I might as well do it properly

 

Cheers 4 replies

[aister]

if i am zeroing my 30-06, i wait till the barrel is cold before the next shot, because if shooting deer then the shot is coming from a cold barrel. if i am zeroing my .223 i dont wait between shots because when i am shooting rabbits (depending where i am at) the barrel tends to get quite warm. incidentally the POI doesnt change on my .223 but my mates rifle does, after a couple of shots the POI goes a tad high and left. hope this makes sense.

[wildfowler.250]

Got there in the end,(I think). about 10mph L->R crosswind at 100 yards with norma factory 50grn vmax. Squares are 1/2 inch and I pulled one of the shots

 

if i am zeroing my 30-06, i wait till the barrel is cold before the next shot, because if shooting deer then the shot is coming from a cold barrel. if i am zeroing my .223 i dont wait between shots because when i am shooting rabbits (depending where i am at) the barrel tends to get quite warm. incidentally the POI doesnt change on my .223 but my mates rifle does, after a couple of shots the POI goes a tad high and left. hope this makes sense.

 

Thanks for that!

 

 

Have to say a 1/2 inch circle with thick cross-hairs isn't easy to shoot once you get further out!

[The Essex Hunter]

I'm resting off a bale just now. Starting at 50, then try 100 and work back. Normally give it a few minutes between each shot but if 10 is necessary for cold shots then I might as well do it properly

 

Cheers 4 replies

 

What do you shot off most of the time?

 

 

TEH

[aister]

found it at last. coyotemaster started a post a while back about zeroing rifles, heres the link. http://forums.pigeon...cold-and-clean/

[wildfowler.250]

Thanks for that Aister.

 

 

I try and shoot off the bipod when I can. But thats obviously not always possible. However I don't stretch the range off the sticks far anyway. Found the best results was to dig the bipod into the ground a little,(as in press the rifle forward and down a little). Played about with how I held the gun as well,(how it should be held and how I like to hold it). Turned out that I was better off holding it in the way that I felt most comfy as I returned to this position for the following shot a lot easier

[kent]

i grab the barrel to check the temp, if its hot i remove the moddy to aid cooling. some ammo burns hotter than others and ambient temp changes

[wildfowler.250]

Cheers Kent! always thought about taking the mod off to cool quicker. I'll do that next time

[Amazed]

Hi all, just out of intrest what range would you recommend I zero a 22 hornet at ?

 

Thanks Karl.

[kyska]

Hi all, just out of intrest what range would you recommend I zero a 22 hornet at ?

 

Thanks Karl.

 

100 yards...same as all my rifles, then just play at range with holdover/under.

[Gimlet]

Whatever range I'm zeroing a particular rifle at, when I've got it spot on I fire a cold group at 75 yds and note the POI. (The .222 for example is zeroed at 200 yds which with my chosen ammo makes it 1 1/4" high at 75.) From then on I can check zero at 75 yds. There's less shooter error, less wind error and its a lot easier to find somewhere suitable to do it.

I do that with all my rifles including the rimfires (.22 is zeroed at 75 anyway) so I can zero them all on the same place.

 

With a hot barrel leave the bolt open to cool as well.

[wildfowler.250]

Whatever range I'm zeroing a particular rifle at, when I've got it spot on I fire a cold group at 75 yds and note the POI. (The .222 for example is zeroed at 200 yds which with my chosen ammo makes it 1 1/4" high at 75.) From then on I can check zero at 75 yds. There's less shooter error, less wind error and its a lot easier to find somewhere suitable to do it.

I do that with all my rifles including the rimfires (.22 is zeroed at 75 anyway) so I can zero them all on the same place.

 

With a hot barrel leave the bolt open to cool as well.

 

That makes a lot of sense to me! So I have it zerod at 200. I check and say ..I'm an inch high at 75. A week later to confirm a 200 yard zero I shoot inch high at 75 correct?

[Gimlet]

That makes a lot of sense to me! So I have it zerod at 200. I check and say ..I'm an inch high at 75. A week later to confirm a 200 yard zero I shoot inch high at 75 correct?

 

Correct. Obviously you have to be shooting the same load. Check the 75 zero at the same time in the same conditions as the 200 and note the difference accuately. The grid cards you're using are ideal. This is useful for factory ammo shooters as its best to check zero between batches, which can be a pain if you've got to keep finding a windless 200 yd range every time you start a new lot.

You can do the same thing with different ammo so if you change loads say from a deer load zeroed at 150 yds to a fast fox round zeroed at 200 its quick and easy to swap between the two loads in the same rifle.

[wildfowler.250]

Thank you! Out of interest, is there any particular reason why you pick 75 yards and not 50? I would have thought 50 would have been more convenient and easier to shoot accurately or do you want the group to open up a little by shooting slightly further away?

 

 

 

[Gimlet]

Thank you! Out of interest, is there any particular reason why you pick 75 yards and not 50? I would have thought 50 would have been more convenient and easier to shoot accurately or do you want the group to open up a little by shooting slightly further away?

 

 

 

 

In the field at the back of my garden there is a single fence post next to a telegraph pole which just happens to be precisely 75 yds from my patio table. I've got no near neighbours, its all part of my permission and very handy for the kettle.

There's no reason not to do it at 50 yds. Many target shooters do it at 25 but you have to know that your scope is reliable and the mounts perfectly aligned with the bore. Their kit will be, but some hunting rifles that are not so good. 75 or 50 yds are a good half way house.

[kent]

Hi all, just out of intrest what range would you recommend I zero a 22 hornet at ?

 

Thanks Karl.

 

135 yds works best for mine, but it depends on which bullet,how fast and bore to scope centre. I use a 45grn seirra hornet bullet @ 2900 fps with CZ medium mounts as suplied with the 527 American as std

[kent]

I cant see why anyone would wish to shoot up fence posts etc. However i never choose a zero range based on convienient markers or round numbers. The issue with using a fixed 200 say is you might not expect to make the most of your trajectory. Too distant means you are pushing up your peak trajectory over the line of sight. With larger quarry and broadside boiler room shots this might not matter always but if you plan on shooting smaller vermin / neck and brain shooting larger stuff etc it certainly will. 75 yds with std velocity and subs in .22 lr is far longer than i should like personally and will lead to a lot of misses over the top on what should be easy head shots and is a prime example of my point.

[wymberley]

135 yds works best for mine, but it depends on which bullet,how fast and bore to scope centre. I use a 45grn seirra hornet bullet @ 2900 fps with CZ medium mounts as suplied with the 527 American as std

 

Give or take a whisper. One rifle at 127 (may sound silly but see Gimlet's post #15) for a gentle 45gn long range rabbit/opportune fox load and 150 for the full on 50gn fox rifle.

[al4x]

How long do you guys leave between shots to get the barrel back to a cold shot? 5 minutes enough? Or should I wait longer?

 

simply there is no guide but it is generally I find fine to shoot a group of 3, wander to check the target touch the barrel and wait till cool before making any adjustment and checking. My .243 doesn't wander when hot at all and shoots straight from a clean barrel but my .223 tends to be slightly out when clean.

Distance wise for zero both are zeroed at 200 because that gives me the smallest deviation from path between 25 and 200 and out to 225 it is pretty much point and shoot, most of my foxing is within that any further is usually daytime opportunist shots and will need minor accounting for to 300 yards

[Gimlet]

I cant see why anyone would wish to shoot up fence posts etc. However i never choose a zero range based on convienient markers or round numbers. The issue with using a fixed 200 say is you might not expect to make the most of your trajectory. Too distant means you are pushing up your peak trajectory over the line of sight. With larger quarry and broadside boiler room shots this might not matter always but if you plan on shooting smaller vermin / neck and brain shooting larger stuff etc it certainly will. 75 yds with std velocity and subs in .22 lr is far longer than i should like personally and will lead to a lot of misses over the top on what should be easy head shots and is a prime example of my point.

 

I don't shoot the post, I hang an MDF target board on it and no cards are placed over the centre where the post is to avoid shooting it to bits. One advantage of this post as opposed to a box on the ground is that its height means that when shooting off the table from a rest the rifle is as near as damn it dead level. Another potential discrepancy ironed out. And my distances aren't arbitary. I've arrived at my chosen zero ranges by trial and error by shooting constantly over the same ground. My .222 is 200 yds, the HMR 115 and the .22lr 75. Well 70 actually, 1/4" under the line. This works for me on my ground. The .22 is a dedicated night shooter with an N550 NV scope on it. I tried a 50 and a 60 yd zero to start with but I've found from experience that the vast majority of my kills take place between 70 and 90 yds. So 70 is ideal. I head shoot off sticks with that. I find the eye glare with IR NV makes holdover difficult to judge. It is much better to use the eye as an aiming point and I've got very good at bracketing to establish range. (The N550 reticle is quite good for that).

The 200 yd zero for .222 is further out than many people might choose, but that rifle is primarily a long range rabbit sniper which tends to get used in the same placees. And again, that range just suits me perfectly. Its pretty much point and shoot from 150 to 250 yds which is exactly what I need. Interestingly, my rifle shoots my chosen ammo flatter than quoted in the trajectory guide given by the manufacturer. It took trial and error to discover that.

Trust me, there is method in the madness.

It is true that most shooters find it easier to apply holdover than holdunder. For some reason I don't.