Battle Zeros for various calibers

[DMK]

The recent thread on 7.62x39 drop got me thinking about battle zeros for my various rifles.

The following are a few battle zeros I've picked up here and there. Do any of you guys know any more? How about 7.62x54R?

7.62x39:
According to the above thread, a 20 yard zero will cross over again at 200 yards and will give you +/- 3.5" out to 220 yards or so.

5.56x45:
According to this web page, the "IBZ" 50 yard zero will cross over again at 200 meters and will give you +/- 2" out to 250 yards or so.

7.62x51:
According to this thread, a 25 yard zero will cross over again at 200 yards and will give you +/- 2.5" out to 225 yards or so.

 

[Trebor]

The WWII battle zero for the M-1 Garand with AP (standard combat round) was at 300 yards. I don't know where the first cross over range was.

 

[mustanger98]

The WWII battle zero for the M-1 Garand with AP (standard combat round) was at 300 yards. I don't know where the first cross over range was.

7.62x51:
According to this thread, a 25 yard zero will cross over again at 200 yards and will give you +/- 2.5" out to 225 yards or so.

It's my understanding from hanging around on boards where most shoot Garands that the BSZ was supposed to be 200yds. This is aproximately the same as for 7.62x51. This was acheived by sighting in at 27yds (aka "the thousand inch range").

7.62x51 and .30-06 are balistic equivelants out to 800yds from what I understand from those who shoot both.

Oh, and the difference between 7.62x51 and '06? '06 is 7.62x63.

 

[cracked butt]

I think a better question would be what are the point blank ranges of various battle cartridges for their intended targets?

 

[Zak Smith]

If somebody can get me the sight-over-bore distances of the rifles in question, I can run the ballistics for a typical bullet.

 

[NMshooter]

Wouldn't that be half an inch, roughly, for most iron sights?

 

[Zak Smith]

Well, it's definitely more than that for an AR15 or AK.

 

[DMK]

If somebody can get me the sight-over-bore distances of the rifles in question, I can run the ballistics for a typical bullet.

Here's what I measured on my rifles:

I measured from tip sight post to center of bore if this is wrong, let me know and I'll correct it.

AK: 2"

SKS: 1 1/4"

AR: 2 5/8"

Garand: 1 1/8"

FAL: 1 3/4"

Mosin Nagant: 1"

 

[Trebor]

I think I got my info on the 300 yard M-1 zero from one of the articles on Jouster.com. I'll see if I can find it. The 300 yard zero could be also be obtained by shooting at 200 yards and then sighting in the rifle two inches high. The reasoning behind the 300 yard zero was that a shoot aimed at the midpoint of the body would hit within the body from anywhere between point blank range out to 400 yards without requiring hold-over.

 

[EricO]

Zak wrote, "If somebody can get me the sight-over-bore distances of the rifles in question, I can run the ballistics for a typical bullet."
---------------

That's great Zak, thanks for the offer. I ran across this thread just as I was about to post the question of what zero should I have for my .308 Savage Scout rifle (both iron sights and scout scope). I need to measure the offset between the barrel and the sights first. Because of range limitations, I'll most likely be limited to 200 yards and below. Taking this into consideration, and that the range probably only has rifle targets pre-set at the 25/50/perhaps 75?/100 and 200 yard (not meters) distances, what would a good zero consist of?

EricO

 

[Zak Smith]

Are you sure the FAL is 2.75" sight over bore? That seems awful high.

 

[Zak Smith]

Ok.. For the cartridges I didn't know the standard military loading, I chose one that seemed reasonable. I set the zero so the bullet never rose more than about 2" above the line of aim, and you can read the max PBR off the chart when it drops 2" below POA:

>> AR15 55gr
_Bullet_           _BC_ _MV_         0      50     100     150     200     250     300 | YARDS
5.56 XM183        0.243 3254 >   -2.60   -0.09    1.48    2.00    1.30   -0.78   -4.45 | drop (inches)
                                  elevation maxima 2.00" at 147.32
                                  near zero 52.28  far zero 235.00

>> AK47 (Federal data)
7.62x39           0.289 2300 >   -2.00    0.96    2.06    1.05   -2.34   -8.47  -17.71 | drop (inches)
                                  elevation maxima 2.07" at 102.18
                                  near zero 30.26  far zero 170.00

>> SKS (Federal data)
7.62x39           0.289 2300 >   -1.25    1.29    1.98    0.56   -3.25   -9.79  -19.45 | drop (inches)
                                  elevation maxima 2.01" at 92.25
                                  near zero 20.44  far zero 160.00

>> M1 Garand (150gr)
.30-06            0.350 2900 >   -1.25    0.93    1.98    1.79    0.24   -2.82   -7.53 | drop (inches)
                                  elevation maxima 2.06" at 117.77
                                  near zero 25.54  far zero 205.00

>> FAL (150gr)
.308              0.350 2700 >   -1.75    0.76    1.96    1.72   -0.11   -3.69   -9.21 | drop (inches)
                                  elevation maxima 2.05" at 117.20
                                  near zero 32.00  far zero 197.96

>> Mosin Nagant (150gr)
7.62x54R          0.350 2700 >   -1.00    1.18    2.05    1.49   -0.67   -4.58  -10.43 | drop (inches)
                                  elevation maxima 2.07" at 106.03
                                  near zero 19.53  far zero 187.96

 

[DMK]

Are you sure the FAL is 2.75" sight over bore? That seems awful high.

Oops, that was a typo. That should be 1.75". I'm sorry.

Very interesting data Zak. Thanks for compiling that!

 

[Zak Smith]

Fixed.