Where should I sight my scope to at 50m?

[Veseli2000]

I've recently bought my first gun and it's a 30-06. I have been to a 50m range twice now and I am curious to see where should I be sighting my scope at 50m? Directly on the bullseye, little lower, little higher ? I'm not to sure myself so if anyone could explain a bit better to me it would be much appreciated. I am using 180 grain bullets. I would want to sight my scope at 50m, but also be effective at 100m and potentially 150m+, so if anyone could give me some info or tips and tricks I would appreciate it so much

[in2anity]

No doubt you want to get out there and punch fur. But I feel like you are looking at the your zeroing situation wrongly. Figure out at which distance you want to zero at, then actually zero it at that distance. From there you will be able to extrapolate the trajectory at distances either side of your zero.

Btw, when shooting centerfire, St Mary's indoor shooting center is just a novelty. Have you tried Silverdale? Or better still ANZAC rifle range; the SSAA have a spot there on the right hand side of the service range each saturday; they broadcast which distance they will be at, which simply follows the MRCA calendar. It's roughly on a 100m/200m/300m weekly rotation - practical hunting distances to practice at.

[bladeracer]

I've recently bought my first gun and it's a 30-06. I have been to a 50m range twice now and I am curious to see where should I be sighting my scope at 50m? Directly on the bullseye, little lower, little higher ? I'm not to sure myself so if anyone could explain a bit better to me it would be much appreciated. I am using 180 grain bullets. I would want to sight my scope at 50m, but also be effective at 100m and potentially 150m+, so if anyone could give me some info or tips and tricks I would appreciate it so much

It will depend on the BC of the bullet you're using, its muzzle velocity, and your scope offset above the bore of the rifle.
A very quick look at Hornady's 180gn Interlock factory load with a 38mm scope offset would put a 50m zero also zeroed at 100m and about 50mm low at 150m - but you really do need to take at least one shot at 150m to confirm before firing at a live target.
https://shooterscalculator.com/ballistic-trajectory-chart.php?pl=%5BPreset+Name%5D&presets=&df=G1&bc=0.452&bw=180&vi=2700&zr=55&sh=1.5&sa=0&ws=10&wa=90&ssb=on&cr=550&ss=1&chartColumns=Range%7Em%60Elevation%7Ecm%60Elevation%7EMOA%7EFBFFF5%60Windage%7Ecm%60Windage%7EMOA%7EFBFFF5%60Time%7Es%60Energy%7Eft.lbf%60Vel%5Bx%2By%5D%7Eft%2Fs&lbl=&submitst=+Create+Graph+

[Blr243]

I was just about to recommend an online tool. It’s incredibly simple to use and the graphs. And the bullet impact at various intervals shows the point of impact. But blade has posted it already. It’s highly recommended. I just go straight to it because it’s so easy. You may be able to get the O6 spot on at 50 m. 40 mm high at 100 m Spot on at 200 m. Something like that. That was just a guess . If you want to get the 06 shooting flatter even more you could consider 125 weight aerodynamic pills But if u are already using 180 you are probably shooting big monster things that need big tough pills

[Oldbloke]

I've recently bought my first gun and it's a 30-06. I have been to a 50m range twice now and I am curious to see where should I be sighting my scope at 50m? Directly on the bullseye, little lower, little higher ? I'm not to sure myself so if anyone could explain a bit better to me it would be much appreciated. I am using 180 grain bullets. I would want to sight my scope at 50m, but also be effective at 100m and potentially 150m+, so if anyone could give me some info or tips and tricks I would appreciate it so much

Hi Vaseli200,
As you can see it can get techical. But being new to shooting i suspect you dont need all that info. You need a simple easy to understand answer.
You want to hunt, bigger stuff i suspect having a 30.06 so the target, lung, heart area is fairy large and 1 or 2 inches wont matter.

See one of my cheat sheets attached. The distances are yards and inches. Look ar the orange line. 30.06, 180gr Half inch high at 50 yards. Its close enough to get you stsrted.
When you can check at 100yds and tweek if required to 1" high at 100yds
And welcome to the forum.

P.S. If your shooting factory your trajectory should be slightly flatter, so say abt 2.5" low at 200yrds.

Screenshot_20231006-165211_Gallery.jpg (252.09 KiB) Viewed 1016 times

[jpsauer88]

Whats your bullet Bc?

[straightshooter]

Veseli2000
In many respects in2anity has given you very sound advice.
I however would suggest that going to St Marys would enable you to lock in a true wind zero on your scope.
I would also suggest that as a beginning shooter you keep things as simple as possible.
Your next step should be to obtain an 'elevation only' zero at 200 yards or 200 meters (depending on what you have access to) by shooting a group of at least 5 shots but preferably 10 shots based on the elevation center of your group whilst ignoring any dispersion due to wind.
As you most likely will shoot your rifle offhand when hunting you should try to simulate a similar hold when sighting using a rest.
By zeroing at 200 yards or 200 meters your 'point blank' trajectory will be quite flat and you can expect reliable performance out to 250 yards without having to think about trajectory at all and very little about wind.
Once you have properly set up your scope don't fiddle with anything. However if you change loads then you might have to go through the same process again.