More than one zero point?

[Guest WILF]

To any of you shooting lads out there, dose a rifle have more than one zero point?...........say if I zero my air rifle a one distance will it also have a second zero point at another distance?

 

Or dose the law of gravity make this question a load of old bollox?

 

Please bare in mind I just zero my scope and go and shoot, dont really read up on all this type of thing.......so go easy on me.....LOL

 

Cheers lads,

[victor 10]

not a bad question, i guess if you had your rifle zeroed in at 100 yard and wanted to shoot a fox or something and it was 70 yard i would think that you would have to aim abit higher or lower.

i say i supose cus i dont shoot all that much.

[FJager 0]

Not a dumb question mate, differing ranges will change the rifles POI, depending on the calibre as to how much the POI will change, a lot of fast stepping centrefire calibres may only variate + or - 6-7 inches over 300 metres, with the air rifle, the power of the particular model you are using will dictate the trajectory and the change in POI.

[Gav 1,708]

Simply yes, the only way to find out by how much really depends on what your shooting. The best way to find out is to zero at a set range what your used to shooting at, then try shorter of further distances, you will soon find out how much you have to alter the angle of your shot for different distances. Most scope reticles have different markings so you can judge the elevation and windage without having to alter them manually on the scope itself.

[Guest WILF]

Cheers lad, many thanks

[DogPaddle 0]

To any of you shooting lads out there, dose a rifle have more than one zero point?...........say if I zero my air rifle a one distance will it also have a second zero point at another distance?

 

Or dose the law of gravity make this question a load of old bollox?

 

Please bare in mind I just zero my scope and go and shoot, dont really read up on all this type of thing.......so go easy on me.....LOL

 

Cheers lads,

 

From the list of replies, perhaps I misunderstood the question, but I will take a crack at it.

 

I would say that there are usually two zero points. If a rifle is zeroed in at 300 yards then there is another "zero" much closer to the rifle. This first (closer) zero is not the same on all rifles, but differs depending on rifle and ammunition, bullet and powder, whether shooting in elevation or on the level, etc.

 

If the rifle is zeroed in at a far distance, when the bullet leaves the rifle, it has to rise through the line of sight, then fall back down to the target. When it rises through the line of sight, it crosses the first zero. For high powered rifles, this can happen a fair distance away from the rifle. As a general rule, IMO, the faster the speed of the bullet, the further out the first zero is reached, the slower the bullet, the closer to the muzzle the bullet has to cross the line of sight. Some balistics charts will show this information.

 

Perhaps I misunderstood the question, but that is my 2 cents.

[Guest JohnGalway]

If the rifle is zeroed in at a far distance, when the bullet leaves the rifle, it has to rise through the line of sight, then fall back down to the target. When it rises through the line of sight, it crosses the first zero. For high powered rifles, this can happen a fair distance away from the rifle. As a general rule, IMO, the faster the speed of the bullet, the further out the first zero is reached, the slower the bullet, the closer to the muzzle the bullet has to cross the line of sight. Some balistics charts will show this information.

 

That would be my understanding also

 

Here's a quick graphic I robbed off the internet.

 

Forget the dropping blue line. Look at the red line and the horizontal line. The horizontal line is your line of sight, line of sight never drops since it's not affected by gravity. Bullets do drop, since they are affected by gravity. Your scope (line of sight marked 0) is mounted higher than the bore of your rifle (the -1.8 inches just as an example), so your bullet has to rise up and go over your line of sight then pretty much fall into your selected zero point, so yes you have a near and a far zero.