Sight In distance 300 WinMag

U

UncleGrumpy

New member
Hi,

I have just got a new 300 Win Mag. I am planning on reloading with 180grn.

When sighting it in, what distance should I use as the zero point?

Cheers
 
Need a bit more information. What are you going to do with your rifle.

There are two ways I set up a rifle for hunting:

One:

Max. Point Blank Range. Determine the animal you are going to hunt. Lets take Elk for example. The vital are of an elk is aprox. 15 inches. Meaning that is the area containing the heart-lung area of the elk.

If you know the velocity and the BC of your bullet you could put it in a ballistic program and determine the range you could shoot, aiming at the center of the vital area and the bullet path would not be any higher then 7.5 inches or any lower then 7 inches.

That would give you the max. point blank range or a sighting in distance.


Second:

I use the G7 BR2 Ballistic range finder. I program the bullet, velocity, BC, etc into the range finder. I then sight my rifle in at 100 yards (you can pick any distance) and put the number in the BR2 also. When I range a target (up to 1400 yards) the BR2 tells me how much to come up or down to hit the target at that range. (I found this to be an accurate BC range finder)

You can combine the two and use your MPBZ into the BR2 and it will still tell you how much up or down you need.

Regardless you need more info besides a 300 WM w/180s.

You also need, if hunting, the type of bullet, for example, the Berger Hunt VLD bullets. They are designed to inter the animal a couple inches and completely come apart inside, totally destroying the nervous system. There is a limit on the range this will work. I use the Berger 210 Hunting VLD on my 300 WM. I contacted the Berger tec. staff and determined this works best =/> 1800 fps. With my rifle/load that would be 850 yards. Any thing past that the bullet may not work as intended.

You also need to know what animal you're hunting. The above works on deer/antelope/elk type animals. Bear/hogs have a different nervous system. With those you need a heavy bullet that will penetrate, expand, and hold together.

I know this doesn't answer your question but I hope it explains why we cant answer it.
 
Last edited:
I've used both methods Kraigwy outlined and prefer the first, max point blank range. I've found the less thinking I have to do the better because even at the age of 53 years old I still get caught up in the moment while hunting:D

If you don't have a chronograph (I do but I still do this to determine bullet drop) sight in at 100 yards and then shoot at least 5 rounds at 300 yards without holding over. Now measure how far each shot dropped from zero, add them all together and divide by the number of shots to come up with a statical average. Use a ballistic calculator (lots of free ones online) and play with bullet velocity with your zero range set at 100 yards to determine what your rifle is actually doing. Now you can change the zero in the calculator and look at the chart to get your best zero distance for max point blank range.
 
I use a modification of Kraig's point blank method. Mine is like Kraig but my circle is 1/2 the size of the vitals region. So, in his example of a 15" elk vitals, I cut that in half to 7.5" (let's round down to 7 for safety). That means my point-blank sighting for an animal that size would be 3.5". Therefore, I would zero my rifle so that the highest point of arc would be 3.5". I don't have a ballistics calculator in front of me right now but I'm guessing that would be somewhere around 250 yds for a .300WM with a good high-BC 180.
 
Let's keep it simple. You can sight almost any rifle from a 30-30 to your 300 mag at 2 1/2 inches high at a hundred yards and maximize your point blank range for deer size animals. You will not be over three inches high and in the case of your rifle three inches low will occur at about 300 yards. For elk you can push it up to 3 inches at a hundred yards. People worry about sighting dead on a some particular distance rather than maximizing the distance you can hold dead on without any adjustment in hold. The next trick is to learn what that maximum distance is for a particular rifle and cartridge. Without actually shooting, you can come pretty close using a program such as Spot-On on nikonhunting.com. Choose one of their Nikoplex scopes which will actually work for any scope. Then go out and see where you actually hit.

If you are going with one of the ballistic reticles, then you have chosen the more complicated route and you can forget the above, but few hunters can consistently hit a deer over 300 yards in the vitals under field conditions with adrenalin flowing.
 
If it's a bolt action rifle, I remove the bolt and prop the rifle up on a stable support where it won't move without being touched and you can look through the bore at a distant object. Then I adjust the scope so that the crosshairs line up to what's in the center of the bore. Then I will fire one or two shots at 25 yards and adjust if needed. Then 3 shots at 100 yards and adjust windage, but if it's shooting at least 2 to not more than 5 inches high, I will leave it be until the next course at 300 yards and switch to 5 shot groups, zeroed at 300 and checked for trajectory at 100, 200, 300, 350, 400, etc. until I'm satisfied.
 
I sight in my magnums dead on at 300 yards. Everything else at 200. For routine hunting that has worked for me since far back into the previous century. My personal limit is 500 yards so I shoot at 400 and 500 and check bullet drop. I know from experience that at 400 and beyond if I aim at the backbone right above the point of the shoulder I will have a good hit, all things being equal. Mind you that those shots are far and few in between because I do not shoot to hit but to kill. My opinion is that you need to set up known distances with your favorite load and see just where you are hitting and make yourself a range card and practice, practice, practice. Also, get yourself a decent range finder and learn to estimate distance. Pick out an object, range it, and see how close you came to your guess. After awhile you will get fairly good at ranging distance. That in itelf is a very valuable skill.

If you hunt the same area or piece of property long term then use Google Earth and measure distances from prominent landmarks such as trees, rocks, cliffs, barns, buildings, whatever. Then print out a map with these known distances and keep it with you. It will come in very handy.
 
I hunt more deer and antelope than elk, but the method works on bothsimple as this:

Assuming a .30 cal 180gr flat base pointed soft point@3100 fps:
(If it is only doing 3000, or hits 3200, you'll never see the difference)

Get sighted in so that 3 or 5...whatver group size you prefer...from a cold barrel is centered approx 1.5" high at 100yards. You're done.

Hold just under the backbone at 300, 8" of daylight at 400 (approx half a female deer's body height).
Hold a 2.5 feet of daylight at 500 (a hair over a body height for a buck, a body and a third on a doe). If you wish to shoot farther then break out the BCs and the slide rule and really get down to the gnats whisker, because beyond 500 you will need it.

I have killed and/or seen killed several hundred deer by thus method.
 
That isn't to trash anyone else's methods, as they are fine too, I just find mine simple and have used it since the 1980s, and my father and brothers since the 1960s.
 
Thanks everyone. The MPBR is what I use with my other rifle a 220 swift but I use 1.25" with that.

I have switched all my projectiles over to Berger. I do have a chronograph and Berger have a ballistic calculator that I use. I think I will use a 4" or 5" MPBR.

That G7 BR2 Ballistic range finder looks a worthy addition to the kit, its a shame how long it will take to save up for it.

Cheers
 
You did not state the purpose of this rifle so I'm going to assume it's a hunter. That being said, in my situation where I shoot 5 different caliber rifles at 100 yds , 200 meters and then out to 600 yds , I prefer a 200 meter zero. The reason I chose 200 meters is the fact I shoot at a gun club and our 200 meter range is a "pre qualified" type range and it's small so virtually no one uses it which makes it very convenient for me to shoot at especially when I want to set up my chronograph and do some testing. My 200 range is where I do probably 75% of my shooting. I would not suggest a specific distance for you, but all's I would suggest is choose a zero distance and keep in the same for all your rifles. This keeps things simple and easy to remember when calculating a dope for an alternate distance. If the 300WM is your only rifle, than simply choose a zero distance based upon whatever distance you shoot/test the most frequently.
 
Interesting.....

Since I just got my first 300 WM myself. You guys are WAY more advanced on ballistics than I will ever hope to be! Since I have a Leopold scope with built-in yardage postings, I am going to simply go by what they recommend for it in 300 WM - dead on at 200 yards for 180 grains, dead on at 300 yards for 150 grains. Simply. LOL.

J
 
200 yards seems to work really well for the 300 WM. I too am just getting a new 300 WM sighted in. I'm shooting 180 gr Accubonds and am trying to sight in in for a 200 yard zero.

I'm going to be installing the CDS dial Leupold made once I get it dialed in.
 
Get sighted in so that 3 or 5...whatver group size you prefer...from a cold barrel is centered approx 1.5" high at 100yards. You're done.
Click to expand...

This wastes WAY too much ballistic potential of a flat shooting round. That is the whole reason for the point-blank method -to maximize ballistic potential for that particular round.
 
Amen Doyle. As I stated earlier, approximately 2 1/2 inches high at a hundred yards will keep the path of the bullet from rising more than three inches above the line of sight for deer size animals. If hunting for elk size animals only, one can sight in three inches high at a hundred yards and not shoot over five inches hign, though that is a bit too high for deer. The goal is to maximize the distance one can hold dead on without compensating. Outdoor Life used to publish "The Nonthinking Man's Trajectory Table" in their annual issue of Hunting Guns. As stated there it was based on the point blank aiming concept. When looking over the table it is evident that nearly all the cartridges listed were within one or two tenths of an inch from 2 1/2 inches high at a hundred yards.

I get a kick out of the videos where they are ranging an animal at around 150 yards while shooting high velocity cartridges. If such rifles are sighted between two and three inches high at a hundred yards, it shouldn't be a concern until the distance approaches 275 yards. Just center the kill zone and shoot.
 
This wastes WAY too much ballistic potential of a flat shooting round.
Click to expand...

I get that, and you're right mostly, but my method produces a 200 yard zero AND has some cushion built in for poor estimation of range.

For example: Let's say you hold just under the back bone for a 300is yard shot, but its really closer to 200 and the evening sun is screwing witb perception. You get a high double lunger and its meat in the pot. A hold just high of center for 200 yards will produce a hit low in the heart if the range is nearer 300.

With MPBR and a scope 1.5" over the line of bore, a bullet climbs 4.5" to hit 3" high at 100yards. At 200 yards thats 9" high because the bullet is still climbing. Holding halfway up a female (northern) deer at 200 yards will produce a hit somewhere above the spine, or a clean miss. Supposing a deer is in deep brush, or bedded. Under the strain of excitement hunters will aim at what they can see of him. A deer bedded in 8" of grass suddenly becomes nearly impossible to hit! (It isn't, but it'll seem that way). Taller scope mounts only make the problem worse.

I don't suffer buck fever anymore, but I can get in a hurry, so I apply the K.I.S.S. principal to my sight in method.

UncleGrumpy I quoted (approximate!!) drop tables for a 180gr flat base at 3100, but the higher BC of Berger bullets will change things a bit.

(Edited a lot due to fat fingers on a tiny phone)
 
Last edited:
At 200 yards thats 9" high because the bullet is still climbing.
Click to expand...

NOOO.

A MPBR with a 7" confidence circle means that the bullet NEVER gets more than 3.5" higher or 3.5" lower than line of sight from the point of the muzzle all the way out to the MPBR (somewhere north of 300 yds with a .300WM). There is no 9" and still climbing. That means that you don't guess ANY holdover until you are past that MPBR range. You simply aim dead center and have confidence that your bullet will hit the vitals.
 
I've sighted in all my hunting rifles three inches high at one hundred yards ever since 1954. Hasn't failed me yet. The .300 Win. Mag. at a cow elk 530 yards laser measured, held level with the top of the elk. Bang flop DRT. Cow elk 350 yards with .35 Whelen, 225 gr. Branes TSX. Mule Deer back in the 1970's, 426 paces with 20" .308/150 gr. Sierra Pro-hunter. Most of my shots have ranged fro six feet to that 530 yard elk. System hasn't failed me yet. Most of my shots have been two hundred yards or less.
I started doing it that way after reading an article by Warren Page in an early Lyman loading manual. I'm thinking it was either #41 or possibly #3.
Like Murhpy's second law, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." :D
Paul B.
 
50, 100, 150, 200 yds

Starting at 50 yds to get on the paper, I have the rifle zeroed on target. From this close range calibration, what would a rough estimate of the 50, 100, 150, 200 yd shots be on paper with the rifle zeroed at 50yds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top