Zero distance...

[anonymouscowherd]

If huntin' turkeys with a rifle where legal offends you, this thread ain't for you...

For the rest of you... 85gr 32cal pistol bullet (Hornady XTP) moving at 1000fps ... accurate enough for head shots to 40 yards, maybe 50 (gotta load more up and test) ... figure non-destructive enough for body shots to 100 yards (still goin' 875fps), which is certainly a possibility.

Stuck on where to zero. Sight is a 2moa red dot, so no other reference points for easy hold over in the sight window. Plugging my numbers into a online trajectory calculator:

A 25 yard zero gives me dead on or up to a half inch low out to 40 yards, but at 55 yards it is 2" low, 5" at 75 yards, and 12" at 100 yards.
A 50 yard zero has me .75" high at 30 yards and 9" low at 100.
A 60 yard zero doesn't get me much - 1.25" high at 35 yards and 7.5" low at 100.
A 75 yard zero though gives me 2" high at 40 yards and only 4.75" down at 100.


If this were my Ruger 44 rifle, or a 30-30 or something and I were chasing deer or pigs in the brush and scrub, I'd zero it at 75 and be done and ready for deer or pig out to 100 yards. But it ain't.

Given that most likely birds will be within 50 if not 20 yards, I'm waffling between the 50 yard zero and the 25 yard zero.

Thoughts?

 

[michiganmuzzy]

What would 35-40 yard zero look like? If youre considering shooting past 50 maybe bump that load a tiny bit? Your 50 zero looks like it might be about as good as it gets. Youll be good to about 60 i think.

 

[anonymouscowherd]

What would 35-40 yard zero look like? If youre considering shooting past 50 maybe bump that load a tiny bit? Your 50 zero looks like it might be about as good as it gets. Youll be good to about 60 i think.

I'm not planning on 50+ yards, but it is a strong possibility. If it were a guaranteed "they gather in the hay field after mowing and they are always 100 yards or more out" I'd be working on a 223 load instead

Played with 40 and 30 yard zeros, no real benefit over the 50 and all the disadvantages of 25. Think I'm gonna crank out more ammo, print up some turkey targets and hit the range. Will start with a 50 yard zero then try and see what exactly is happening at 75 and 25 yards

 

[Shorty]

if it were me, imho, I would zero at 75. Shoot only heart shots to 100 yds., breast out the beast and go crappie fishing with MrTom the rest of the day…

 

[Ninering62]

If huntin' turkeys with a rifle where legal offends you, this thread ain't for you...

For the rest of you... 85gr 32cal pistol bullet (Hornady XTP) moving at 1000fps ... accurate enough for head shots to 40 yards, maybe 50 (gotta load more up and test) ... figure non-destructive enough for body shots to 100 yards (still goin' 875fps), which is certainly a possibility.

Stuck on where to zero. Sight is a 2moa red dot, so no other reference points for easy hold over in the sight window. Plugging my numbers into a online trajectory calculator:

A 25 yard zero gives me dead on or up to a half inch low out to 40 yards, but at 55 yards it is 2" low, 5" at 75 yards, and 12" at 100 yards.
A 50 yard zero has me .75" high at 30 yards and 9" low at 100.
A 60 yard zero doesn't get me much - 1.25" high at 35 yards and 7.5" low at 100.
A 75 yard zero though gives me 2" high at 40 yards and only 4.75" down at 100.


If this were my Ruger 44 rifle, or a 30-30 or something and I were chasing deer or pigs in the brush and scrub, I'd zero it at 75 and be done and ready for deer or pig out to 100 yards. But it ain't.

Given that most likely birds will be within 50 if not 20 yards, I'm waffling between the 50 yard zero and the 25 yard zero.

Thoughts?

View attachment 31426

Great post bro,
I'm with you on the logic between 25yd & 50yd zero. Either of them would serve you well here. Me personally, 50yd zero would be my choice for a " Happy Medium ". Just verify drop data with trigger time & remember how much to holdover at what range. As you've seen, we could have them right in our face at 5yds or at over 100yds. My farthest turkey kill was 110yds with a TC Seneca .40 with 180gr 10mm XTP using peep sights - out the fam rm door.

 

[smokepolehall]

Just my humble opinion, the 50 yards would work very well for you with the lil hold under or over as needed

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Boy if we could use rifles for turkeys here, ive got a .17hmr all tuned up, that would be a riot.

 

[JeffB1961]

in Va we can use .25 and larger air rifles for turkeys .

 

[user 23626]

in Va we can use .25 and larger air rifles for turkeys .

Wyoming I think is still .22 Mag and up. I have a .17 WSM that I know would do the job but the warden might not think so

 

[anonymouscowherd]

Boy if we could use rifles for turkeys here, ive got a .17hmr all tuned up, that would be a riot.

Thought briefly about using my 10/22 target build - figure if I can hit a golf ball at 150 yards 9 times out of 10, I can head shot a turkey... But a 9lb target rifle with a 32x scope ain't exactly ideal for hunting...

 

[JeffB1961]

Wyoming I think is still .22 Mag and up. I have a .17 WSM that I know would do the job but the warden might not think so

i met a guy through someone that used that round to take headshots on deer on his property .
i asked if that was legal and he said it was his property and he could do what he wanted ............
my friend found out later that applied to people also . he didn't shoot 'em but really screwed them over