I know a .223 is good to sight at 50 yards because it has predictable drop and over shot. So I assume that the .308 does as well, and just wanted opinions on what the best sight in distance is. Hunting white tail if that helps.
I zero my .308 at 100 yds. I have a bsa sweet .30-06 scope on it which has adjustable turrets for a .30-06 shooting a 165 gr bullet. My .308 with 150's is dead on with a .06 with 165's so yardage adjustments is easy as pie. I will usually not shoot at anything farther than 250 yds though.
Around here it is common to shoot in .308, or most big game hunting rifles, at 150 meters. That's 165 yards. In the military we shoot in the 7.62x51 at 200 metres. You'll hit anything up to those ranges by shooting right at it. For longer distances you'd better have your drop both calculated and tested before shooting at anything with four legs...
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Actually, the realistic distace you think you will
encouter whitetail in your hunting area is the proper sight in distance.
I know this may not be easily done if you have a combination of woods and open fields. If you cannot determine that distance I, personally, would sight in for the old standard of 100 yards. If you go to Remington.com they have a wonderful ballistic page that will allow you to plug in the .308 to get some good trajectory estimates.
FYI, with most loads, a sighting in of 1.5" high at 100 yards will sit you just above zero at 200 yards, and only a few inches low at 300 yards. Odds are you won't be shooting at a deer beyond that.
Connor;
Forty years ago Uncle Sam handed me a M14, 7.62 NATO (.308 Win) and me to sight it in at 50 yards and I should be able to hit a man size target at 250 yards. Later he handed me a M16 (.223) and me to sight it in at 25 meters and I should be able to hit a man size target at 250 meters. This works, kind of.
But what I really do now to sight in my .308 and .30-06 is sight them in 2 inches high at 100 yards. Then I shot at 200 and 300 yards to see where they impact.
The Ol’ man said, “Son, don’t brag to me about the long shot you made! Brag to me about how close you got!”
FYI, with most loads, a sighting in of 1.5" high at 100 yards will sit you just above zero at 200 yards, and only a few inches low at 300 yards. Odds are you won't be shooting at a deer beyond that.
Yeah thats pretty much what I did with my .308.
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I have my 30-06 set for 2 inches high at 100 yards which is dead on at 200 yards and still in kill zone at 300yards. Look at a ballistics chart for what load you use and that can be a starting point. I like the zero setup I'm using b/c I hunt in the woods and open terrain. Btw with this zero with the load I run (winchester 168gr silver tips) I'm also zeroed at 35 yards.
BUT here is the best truth anyone could ever utter. The Ol’ man said, “Son, don’t brag to me about the long shot you made! Brag to me about how close you got!” Quoted from Cole K above.
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Like these other guys said, sight in a 100, a couple inches high, depending on what loads your using, i like mine to be 1in hight at 200, so that when im shooting 300 im in the kill zone, it all depends on how far your planning to shoot, and with what loads.
Connor;
Forty years ago Uncle Sam handed me a M14, 7.62 NATO (.308 Win) and me to sight it in at 50 yards and I should be able to hit a man size target at 250 yards. Later he handed me a M16 (.223) and me to sight it in at 25 meters and I should be able to hit a man size target at 250 meters. This works, kind of.
But what I really do now to sight in my .308 and .30-06 is sight them in 2 inches high at 100 yards. Then I shot at 200 and 300 yards to see where they impact.
The Ol’ man said, “Son, don’t brag to me about the long shot you made! Brag to me about how close you got!”
It works. With our military issue HK AG3 we may zero it at 30 meters as well as 200 meters. It's the same. With our rifle zeroed at 30/200 it slightly below (not noticable) out to 30 meters. Then a bit high (4 cm at 100 m I think it is) before it drops down to zero at 200. We can then adjust the rear sights to zero at 300 or 400. Then came lead free bullets and ballistics didn't count anymore...
__________________ My shop: TURUT AS - Hamar (Norway)
You heard the man, fellers - from now on, all shots must be taken from within bow range!
Well, Boys, the Ol’ Man was my grandfather and if he were alive today he would be 118 years old. He died when I was thirty. I didn’t say I always did what the Ol’ Man told me to do. Like the day he said, “Son, don’t shot ‘til you can see the buck’s eyes!”, that was the day I went and bought my first scope. When I was growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s there were very, very few hunting rifles that would group less and 2” a scope with or 4” without at 100 yards. But we still managed to kill deer a lot farther than bow range. I wonder how many of you smart boys can hit a 12” gong at 600 yards with iron sights. Thirty years ago I could do it quite regularly but then I work at it by burning 8 to 10 K rounds a year. I always thought it was amazing how much smarter he got as I grew older. I must have taught him a lot.
The Ol’ Man said, “Son, don’t brag to me about the long shot you made! Brag to me about how close you got!”
When I was in the Army, we zeroed our M-16's at 2" low at 25 meters and that was good for a man size target at 300 meters. As for the .308, 1" high at 100yds will put you on zero at 200 yds and 1 1/2 low at 300 yds.
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When I was in the Army, we zeroed our M-16's at 2" low at 25 meters and that was good for a man size target at 300 meters. As for the .308, 1" high at 100yds will put you on zero at 200 yds and 1 1/2 low at 300 yds.
What bullet weight and speed are you figuring with the .308 in this statement?
I only question it for accurate information to the newcomer.
I ran a couple different loads on 2 different ballistic programs, and don't come any where close to that. Well, I'll take that back, 150 gr with a BC around .460-.470 at 2900 fps, and a scope mounted 4.5" above the bore will do it. But not with a standard/avg. mount of 1.5 -2" high.
Or to put it another way, in a standard scope mount you'd have to send that same bullet out at 3700 fps. Of course this is all subject to some minor inputs of the parameters in the program. That 1" high will be 7.4" low at 300, according to my programs.
FWIW, I sight-in all my biggame rigs with a PBR (point blank range) system. Where as the bullet path is only so far above or below a given size target. Example,,,5" PBR target for deer, roughly 1/2 the animals kill zone. The bullet is neither more than 2.5" high or low within the range of that 5" target. In the case of the bullet above ( 150 gr E-Tip) at 2900 fps , and a scope height of 1.75". (I tend to go with slightly higher mounts) The bullet crosses line of sight at roughly 32.6 yds and again at 240.6 yds. and a PBR of 282.1, with 3.8 " low at 300. All pending elevation and atmospheric conditions at the time.
