17hmr zero sighted at ???

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Bennyfatsack

New member
Hi looking for advice on sighting my 17 hmr, got a savage bull barrel thumbhole stock, found screws had loosened, have since retensioned, had it zeroed at 80 m but never really worked out P.O.I. At any other ranges, currently running federal 17gr ballistic tipped vita shock, was hoping to get advice on optimum zeroing to suit calibres abilities, mostly varmint busting out to 150m max and back up to 10m. Any info be helpful thanks. Also add,off topic, this rifle is my favourite little rifle above all my others looks great and shoots through the same hole all day long at 60m.image.jpg oh and also does anyone know if there are bigger capacity mags available for savage 17hmr only running single five shot and was going to buy another but if a ten shot was available?
 
I shoot CCI 17 grain VMax out of mine, I have it zeroed at 100, it is 1/4 " high at 50, but haven't shot it past 100.
 
Between 25 and 100 there's minimal difference in the drop. Not sure about 100-150. I have a Sweet 17 on mine - I don't bother adjusting inside of 100, and use the turret markings for 100+.

Personally, I'd zero at 100 and double check the drop at 150.
 
My ballistics program says that load is ±5 centimeters to 164.7 meters when 4.93 cm high at 80 meters. It peaks at 87 meters, has descended to 4.76 cm at 100 meters. I would sight that way for varminting and at the specific range for matches. Remember that program outputs are, for the most part, jumping off points for testing your rifle and ammo combination.
 
We always zeroed at 200 yards (183 meters). The HMR is reaaaaaallllly pushing it's limits past that anyway. You can go a little farther in calm conditions but not much, no sense in zeroing any farther.
 
Quite a few years ago I spent the money on the Oehler Ballistic Explorer, have never regretted either the initial expense or the upgrade fee I paid. I also greatly enjoy the Norma ballistics program online. The Norma program is very much faster than the Oehler for exploring possibilities provided you have a good idea of the ballistic coefficient and bullet weight to plug into the "Define your own bullet" option. The Oehler ammo library is what allowed me to easily run your load for maximum point blank range. The forum search function will provide links to many other free programs, both online and downloadable. A web search engine will bring even more.
 
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For iPad I'm using Ballistics by Jonathan Zdziarski. It's the iPad version of Ballistics: Advanced Edition that I'm using on my iPhone.
 
JBM Ballistics is one of the best (no app unfortunately). The vast majority of bullets are in his database and he'll add them if they're not if you send him the info.
 
100-150 yards seems like a good zero to me. IMO, any shorter and you're just giving yourself unnecessary hold over at longer ranges, much longer, and your closer shots are going to be shooting fairly high.
A 150 yard zero should give you about 2'' high at 90 yards. 5.2'' low at 200 yards. Just over a foot of drop at 240 yards, and past that you're getting into ranges where the bullet is going trans/subsonic.
 
The best zero is *probably* around 135 yards, so that then you know you have an MPBR of 150 for small game vital zones. In my view. Or less (100 or 125 are good too).
 
I had mine sighted in at 125 yards, it would be it's highest (1") above zero at 82 yards, and then drop to 1" below at 140 yards.

I then decided I really couldn't be bothered with this as I had a dialable scope so have just sighted it at 100 yards.

JBM ballistics seems to work really well. Have a play around and work out what sort of trajectory you want. Use a BC of .125 (according to Hornadys website) and velocity is usually what is printed on the packet, mine was pretty much bang on. This data was perfectly matched for my 17hmr and Hornady 17 Vmax out to 200yards.
 
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