dadioles Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 When choosing a distance to zero my hmr I decided that I wanted the flatest shooting that would put all my bullets into a 1" circle without any holdover or holdunder over the widest possible range of distances. Another way of putting that is to say that I wanted a 1" kill zone (just right for head shooting rabbits). That allows for a bit of error. For my rifle / ammo combination that requires zeroing at 110 yards. I know that I can point and shoot without any holdover or holdunder from about 32 yards to 125 yards which covers most of my shooting. At 150 yards it is a 2" drop which is easy to remember. I do not shoot further than that. I do find a laser very useful with the hmr but mainly to stop myself underestimating just how far away some rabbits really are. I use it on a tree or hedge, not the rabbit and then guess how far the rabbit is from that object. Wide open expanses like golf courses can be hard to estimate distance, especially in poor light. At 100 yards in a steady (10mph) crosswind, allow a good couple of inches for wind drift. If possible I will wait for the rabbit to 'turn into wind' so that if I have underestimated the wind, a headshot turns into a neck or body shot. All devastating with the hmr. There is a logic behind the suggestion that if most of your shooting is at 75 yards, you should zero at 75 yards (or whatever...), but I do not agree with that in the case of an hmr. It may be sensible for air rifles or the .22lr with their loopy trajectories, but the hmr has a completely different characteristic and is remarkably flat shooting over the distances that most of us would use it for rabbits (30 to 150 yards). It makes more sense to choose a zero that maximises the flat shooting potential over the greatest practical distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dekers Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 When choosing a distance to zero my hmr I decided that I wanted the flatest shooting that would put all my bullets into a 1" circle without any holdover or holdunder over the widest possible range of distances. Another way of putting that is to say that I wanted a 1" kill zone (just right for head shooting rabbits). That allows for a bit of error. For my rifle / ammo combination that requires zeroing at 110 yards. I know that I can point and shoot without any holdover or holdunder from about 32 yards to 125 yards which covers most of my shooting. At 150 yards it is a 2" drop which is easy to remember. I do not shoot further than that. I do find a laser very useful with the hmr but mainly to stop myself underestimating just how far away some rabbits really are. I use it on a tree or hedge, not the rabbit and then guess how far the rabbit is from that object. Wide open expanses like golf courses can be hard to estimate distance, especially in poor light. At 100 yards in a steady (10mph) crosswind, allow a good couple of inches for wind drift. If possible I will wait for the rabbit to 'turn into wind' so that if I have underestimated the wind, a headshot turns into a neck or body shot. All devastating with the hmr. There is a logic behind the suggestion that if most of your shooting is at 75 yards, you should zero at 75 yards (or whatever...), but I do not agree with that in the case of an hmr. It may be sensible for air rifles or the .22lr with their loopy trajectories, but the hmr has a completely different characteristic and is remarkably flat shooting over the distances that most of us would use it for rabbits (30 to 150 yards). It makes more sense to choose a zero that maximises the flat shooting potential over the greatest practical distance. For Clarification, I didn't say MOST of your shooting, I said ALL. ...........if you only want to use it at, (for example) 75yards. I have one site where the owner sits in the same place every time and knocks down rabbits himself, he likes to keep his eye in, so he says! I have to do the rest of the site for him! He shoots over around 55-70 yards at rabbits with his HMR, period. A 100/110/whatever zero is totally daft for him! Frankly a HMR is too probably, but its his land, he can do what he wants! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dadioles Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 Hi Dekers It sounds as though your owner would be wise to zero at about 50 yards even though that is technically the 'near' zero. I reckon he would be nearly bullet on bullet from about 40 to 90 yards. I have a client like yours as well. He sits in his sun lounge and the range to the centre of his tennis court is exactly 60 yards. Everything he shoots is between 45 and 75 yards. At least he uses .22lr as hmr scares the peacocks! I was with him a couple of days ago and the dry weather has baked the tennis court rock hard. At 70 yards it was like skimming pebbles off a pond. I am not sure he could actually focus his 80 year old eyes on much but he was happy trying! With a wall and 1000 acres as a back stop good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted July 11, 2014 Report Share Posted July 11, 2014 When choosing a distance to zero my hmr I decided that I wanted the flatest shooting that would put all my bullets into a 1" circle without any holdover or holdunder over the widest possible range of distances. Another way of putting that is to say that I wanted a 1" kill zone (just right for head shooting rabbits). That allows for a bit of error. For my rifle / ammo combination that requires zeroing at 110 yards. I know that I can point and shoot without any holdover or holdunder from about 32 yards to 125 yards which covers most of my shooting. At 150 yards it is a 2" drop which is easy to remember. I do not shoot further than that. I do find a laser very useful with the hmr but mainly to stop myself underestimating just how far away some rabbits really are. I use it on a tree or hedge, not the rabbit and then guess how far the rabbit is from that object. Wide open expanses like golf courses can be hard to estimate distance, especially in poor light. At 100 yards in a steady (10mph) crosswind, allow a good couple of inches for wind drift. If possible I will wait for the rabbit to 'turn into wind' so that if I have underestimated the wind, a headshot turns into a neck or body shot. All devastating with the hmr. There is a logic behind the suggestion that if most of your shooting is at 75 yards, you should zero at 75 yards (or whatever...), but I do not agree with that in the case of an hmr. It may be sensible for air rifles or the .22lr with their loopy trajectories, but the hmr has a completely different characteristic and is remarkably flat shooting over the distances that most of us would use it for rabbits (30 to 150 yards). It makes more sense to choose a zero that maximises the flat shooting potential over the greatest practical distance. Its surprising how many don't honestly get this, it makes the best of each gun you have to experiment and run the numbers as you rightly suggest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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