sighting in my new 308


D

deboer

New member
i recently bought a savage edge .308 win. and am going to be using it for deer hunting and coyote hunting. i have a simmons 3-9x40 scope and had cabela's mount and bore sight it before i left the store. and if i remember right from what i was told.

if i zero it in at 25 yards i'll be zero at 100 yards.

so today i got time to sight it in shot three times at 25 and was an inch high and an inch to the left. so one click to the right says its 1/4 moa. and then shot three more and was just one inch high. shot three more and was the same. also i did all this on 5 power.

so my question is being how i don't have a range finder yet. should i be "right" on at 100 yards. or do i need to go out to 100 to start with
 

I had my Savage 10FP .308 boresighted at 25 yds too but if i remember correctly it was off at 100 yds. I would definitely go out to 100 yds to make sure. im pretty sure i had to adjust my sights going out to 100 from 25.

It doesnt hurt to try it. 3 shots is all you need.
 
Ouch. That gun is worthy of so much more. :cray: You need to dial that bad boy in to zero at 200 yards.

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What I've done is set up a Red dot at 30 feet.. Remove the bolt and align the rifle barrel (it may actually be easier to get someone to move the paper for you) on the red dot.. Now set your scope at 2" above the center of the red dot.. You will be right on left to right and very close at 100 yards with this set-up.. At least it worked on a .270 and a .30-.30
 
Sighting a high power rifle anywhere other than zero @ 200 - 300 yards makes no sense. 200 yards is pretty basic for hunting applications to maximize Point Blank Range

Here is a good article explaining, even though I don't agree with the author that the extra yardage from magnum loads is a waste.

Ultra-Long Range Rifles
 
For "average" .308 Winchester, 150 grain (for deer, right), just sight it in 1.25" low at 25 yards. You'll be deer-accurate all the way to 280 yards. That equates to sighting in dead on at 240 yards, or 2" high at 100 yards.

Like (the wise) OldOwl said, point-blank range is a good way to sight in a hunting firearm. Deer-accurate point-blank range means no more than 3" high or low for as far as you can shoot. In this case, that is 280 yards. If you sight in like I say, you can just aim "point-blank" from 0-280 yards and get a kill shot every time. Even at 400 yards you will only be 21" low with this sighting profile.

Remington.com has a nice (and free) ballistics program that includes a point-blank calculator and covers most of their common rifle rounds. You can find it here:

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Scroll down to the "Remington Shoot!" Ballistics Software download.
 
so today i went out to shoot and shot 3 at 100 putting the hairs right on the x walked to the paper and only 2 where in it at the very top. shot a few more times didn't even hit the paper. walked off 25 yrds quick hit 2'' above the x. so what the heck i go back and hold the hairs at the bottom of the paper shoot 4 times and hit 2'' inches above the x. so is my scope just off this far or am i just that bad.
also i do use a bipod mounted to my gun and shoot laying in the back of my truck just so i'm not in the snow
 
deboer said:
so today i went out to shoot and shot 3 at 100 putting the hairs right on the x walked to the paper and only 2 where in it at the very top. shot a few more times didn't even hit the paper. walked off 25 yrds quick hit 2'' above the x. so what the heck i go back and hold the hairs at the bottom of the paper shoot 4 times and hit 2'' inches above the x. so is my scope just off this far or am i just that bad.
also i do use a bipod mounted to my gun and shoot laying in the back of my truck just so i'm not in the snow
Click to expand...

Remember that with a scoped rifle, you have to sight in LOW at 25 yards to keep from being too HIGH at 100 yards. Doesn't make sense, right? But that's how the physics works. PM me if you want a full blown explanation.

2" high at 25 yards = 15" high at 100 yards. You are sighted in perfectly for 15 yards.
 
that does make sense cause the bullet wouldn't be at the top of its arch yet so i would want to be under by like 2 inches at 25 right??
 
deboer said:
that does make sense cause the bullet wouldn't be at the top of its arch yet so i would want to be under by like 2 inches at 25 right??
Click to expand...

Yep. For 100 yards, sight in 1.8" low at 25 yards. For optimized load, (point blank range, deer accurate from 0-280 yards), site in 1.25" low at 25 yards.

NOTE TO READERS: This applies to a specific load in .308 (Remington .308 Winchester, Pointed Soft Point Core-Lokt bullet in 150 grains). Remington 30.06 with the similar bullet would be 1.83" low at 25 yards, 1.32" low for point blank range of 285 yards.
 
deboer said:
so 1.8" low at 25 "should be" dead on at what range again??
Click to expand...

This ^^ (up two posts). But yes, 1.8" low at 25 yards is dead on at 100 yards. You'll have to verify and find tune with your gun, as different barrel lengths will affect bullet velocity. But that should get you right in there.
 
Islander said:
This ^^ (up two posts). But yes, 1.8" low at 25 yards is dead on at 100 yards. You'll have to verify and find tune with your gun, as different barrel lengths will affect bullet velocity. But that should get you right in there.
Click to expand...

i was going to fine tune it but i wanted to know for 25 yrds first
 
well i got it sighted in at 100 today. now i just need to start getting it into a 1 inch group then start moving out to longer ranges
 
deboer said:
that does make sense cause the bullet wouldn't be at the top of its arch yet so i would want to be under by like 2 inches at 25 right??
Click to expand...

Depending on bullet weight and barrel type, that should be pretty close.

Remember, with a new scope mounted make sure you check those mounts every time you leave the range. If they didn't use a thread locker of some type you'll be glad to exercise this rule since it will save you ammo (hopefully) in the long run and should keep you from having your scope fly off the mounts during firing.

Personally, if you're using this as a dedicated platform for hunting then you should estimate the distance at which you're likely to take most shots given where you will be hunting. Sight it in at that distance and practice with closer and farther distances without changing your zero so you know where your rounds will impact (so you can use Kentucky windage to adjust up or down). This can be where a mil-dot reticle can come in handy.

I have 2 areas I hunt in, so I'm zeroed at 100 yards and use a mil-dot for deeper range needs.
 
Islander said:
This ^^ (up two posts). But yes, 1.8" low at 25 yards is dead on at 100 yards. You'll have to verify and find tune with your gun, as different barrel lengths will affect bullet velocity. But that should get you right in there.
Click to expand...



here is the one from my book. It is for 168 gr match grade ammo. Zeroed at 300yds.

+ mean high
- means low

100 yds +5.3"
200 yds +6.1"
300 yds Zero
400 yds -14.3"
500 yds -38.1"
600 yds -73.2"
700 yds -121"
800 yds -185"
900 yds -267"
1000 yds -369


Another bit of info you might wish to know is bullet drift in a 10 mph cross wind use half values when the wind is coming in at an angle. I don't have ALL the DOPE on angles yet, but I do know that at a 45* angle logic would dictate you use HALF. That's incorrect. There is still a 75% affect on the bullet. So, I guestimate.

100yds 0.8"
200yds 3.1"
400yds 13.6"
600yds 33.3"
800yds 64.1"
1000 yds 107"
 
Remember the sight in for a 308 and a 30-06 are the same. Years ago I bought a New Browning BAR and a Baush and Lome Scope. The instruction in one of the boxes said to sight in a 30-06 at 27yards and you would be able to kill a Deer from 0 to 300+ yards. Unless you have money to throw away this is what you should do. lots of Hunters use 25yds I normally follow instructions, mine said to use 27yds. Set the Scope on 4 power during sight in. If you sight in this way it will take 3-5 shots. My Gun has killed a lot of Deer in SC and that's how it's set. If you are just wanting to Target shoot, buy a 22LR, this week I received my new CZ452 Ultra Lux and will be using it for target shooting only. I will be shooting 25, 50 100 and 200yd targets with it.
 
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