Wondering what distance you guys like to zero your AR-15s for?
My wife and I hit the range today to zero her new-ish rifle. She's new to rifles in general (she likes pistols). I am not new to rifles, however I am new to ARs (been more of a bolt or lever gun guy until recently). I know that the military zeros at 25 meters (they like metric, not yards) and that is supposed to be about dead on again at 300 meters, with the point of impact being a little higher than the point of aim between 25M and 300M.
I used a free online ballistics calculator (see attached photo) using the data for my reloads and the 16 inch barrel. We're shooting 55gr (Hornady flat base soft point) at about 2,800 FPS (25.0gr of H335 powder). This told me that we should be almost dead on at 200 yards if we zeroed at 25 yards. This wasn't the case...
The range we shot at had positions for 25, 50, 100, and 175 yards. We zeroed at 25, with both sites. I guess I should mention what sights we're using. She's got a fixed front sight and a flip up MagPul rear sight. She also has a 3-9X scope on a quick detach mount. Here is the mount:
http://www.amazon.com/Weaver-Thumbnut-SPR-1-Inch-Mount/dp/B00AU6DDTY
So we started with no scope, zeroed the irons at 25 (she was shooting one ragged hole at 25 yards), then attached the scope and zeroed it at 25 yards as well. When we started shooting at the more distant targets, the point of impact was very high. We decided to leave the irons set for 25 and just mess around with the scope. We re-zeroed it for 50 yards, then shot it again at 100, and it was still hitting very high (like the very top edge of the paper, probably 4 or 5 inches high if not more). I have always been told that .223 is a flat shooter but it seems more like a rainbow to me.
Am I just doing something wrong? Did I put the wrong data into the calculator? Are these calculators even that accurate? Should we just zero it at 175 yards and aim a little low if we shoot a closer target? I'd like to zero it for whatever distance is going to let her shoot it over the widest area without having to adjust for bullet drop one way or another. Like hopefully plus or minus maybe 2 inches?
I will need to re-zero my own AR after this I think too. It's got a red-dot and back up irons both of which I have set for 25 yards (same ammo and barrel length on this rifle). I haven't' shot it much at distance yet...
My wife and I hit the range today to zero her new-ish rifle. She's new to rifles in general (she likes pistols). I am not new to rifles, however I am new to ARs (been more of a bolt or lever gun guy until recently). I know that the military zeros at 25 meters (they like metric, not yards) and that is supposed to be about dead on again at 300 meters, with the point of impact being a little higher than the point of aim between 25M and 300M.
I used a free online ballistics calculator (see attached photo) using the data for my reloads and the 16 inch barrel. We're shooting 55gr (Hornady flat base soft point) at about 2,800 FPS (25.0gr of H335 powder). This told me that we should be almost dead on at 200 yards if we zeroed at 25 yards. This wasn't the case...
The range we shot at had positions for 25, 50, 100, and 175 yards. We zeroed at 25, with both sites. I guess I should mention what sights we're using. She's got a fixed front sight and a flip up MagPul rear sight. She also has a 3-9X scope on a quick detach mount. Here is the mount:
http://www.amazon.com/Weaver-Thumbnut-SPR-1-Inch-Mount/dp/B00AU6DDTY
So we started with no scope, zeroed the irons at 25 (she was shooting one ragged hole at 25 yards), then attached the scope and zeroed it at 25 yards as well. When we started shooting at the more distant targets, the point of impact was very high. We decided to leave the irons set for 25 and just mess around with the scope. We re-zeroed it for 50 yards, then shot it again at 100, and it was still hitting very high (like the very top edge of the paper, probably 4 or 5 inches high if not more). I have always been told that .223 is a flat shooter but it seems more like a rainbow to me.
Am I just doing something wrong? Did I put the wrong data into the calculator? Are these calculators even that accurate? Should we just zero it at 175 yards and aim a little low if we shoot a closer target? I'd like to zero it for whatever distance is going to let her shoot it over the widest area without having to adjust for bullet drop one way or another. Like hopefully plus or minus maybe 2 inches?
I will need to re-zero my own AR after this I think too. It's got a red-dot and back up irons both of which I have set for 25 yards (same ammo and barrel length on this rifle). I haven't' shot it much at distance yet...