Thanks, it is a 10/22 in .22 LR, they are so popular it is now possible to put one together without any Ruger parts. I usually put 5-10k rounds of .22 through various range toys every year. This one has a very sweet 2lb trigger.

"You'll put your eye out kid!"

 

 

I once visited the Springfield Armory Museum, and saw a beautiful "presentation grade" M-14, given to Dwight Eisenhower. Found this picture on the web.

http://www.sadlak.com/Images/c00011a.jpg

 

As it now resides in the stately jungle manor doublewide.

 

Jungle, or any of you other walking talking gun experts:

I just bought a Remington 700 SPS (not tactical) 24" non-bull barrel chambered in a .308. Today is range day to sight in my scope - a Leupold VX-1 3-9 x 40. This is on a Harris bipod. Shooting Federal 150 gr soft point.

This is the ballistics chart info from Federal, but I'm not sure I'm reading this correctly:

Range
ydsPath
inComeUp
clicksVelocity
fpsEnergy
ft/lbsMomentum
lb ft/sToF
secWindage
inWindage
clicksOptimal
Game Wgt Muzzle-1.5Infinity3000299764.290.0000.0NaN911 25-0.7112943288563.060.0250.01860 50-0.222887277561.860.0510.21812 750.002831267060.670.0770.42766 1000.002776256759.490.1040.73722 125-0.312722246858.330.1311.13681 150-0.922669237257.190.1591.64641 175-1.842616227956.050.1882.25604 200-3.062564218954.940.2172.96569 225-4.682512210253.830.2463.76535 250-6.5102461201852.740.2764.67503 275-8.7122411193651.670.3075.68473 300-11.3142362185850.610.3386.89445 325-14.4172313178249.560.3718.09418 350-17.8192265170848.530.4039.410392 375-21.6222217163747.500.43710.911368 400-25.9252170156846.490.47112.512345 425-30.7282123150145.490.50614.313323 450-35.9302076143644.500.54216.114302 475-41.6332031137343.520.57818.215283 500-47.9371986131342.550.61620.416264

Is this saying zeroed at 100y, there will be a 3" drop at 200y? An 11.3" drop at 300y? I'm new-ish to rifle shooting, and maybe I'm over-analyzing this, but at 2700FPS, this seems to be an excessive amount of compensation for a relatively short range shot.

Any help is most appreciated.

 

First, you have to decide what you are going to use the rifle for, if you are just paper punching a 100 yard zero is fine, and you can get the come ups from your ballistics calculator.

If you want to use the rifle in the field, you are going to need to zero for longer range to optimize your ability to hit in a dynamic situation where you may not have time to range the target.

Basic concept:exterior ballistics

For normal hunting use, a .308 works well sighted three inches high at 100 yards, try that and see what your program gives you.

 

The chart didn't format well, but you are likely reading the chart correctly.

The ballistics for most <200gr 30cal bullets suck, and the 308 simply doesn't have the horsepower (especially in factory ammo) to make it go faster which would reduce drop & drift.

Example: Federal Premium - Rifle Details
The 150gr Federal Power-Shok has 2820fps at the muzzle. With a 100yd zero you're looking at 3.9" drop @ 200yd and 14.7" @ 300yd.

Now look at the ballistics of a 150gr Nosler Ballistic tip; same weight bullet, same speed, but better ballistic coefficient:
Federal Premium - Rifle Details

All that said, drop & wind drift is highly dependent on your ASL elevation and density altitude. A bullet fired at 3000' ASL will drop & drift less over a given distance than a bullet fired at sea level.

Most hunters sight their rifle in 1" or maybe 2" high @ 100yd; that should give you a "max point blank range" (which basically means you hold on the vitals of a whitetail at any range and the bullet will impact the vital zone without holdover or adjusting scope elevation) in the 250-300yd ballpark.

175gr Federal Gold Metal Match is *similar* to the M118LR round that military snipers use...look at those ballistics:

Federal Premium - Rifle Details

 

Thank you both for the info...a litle disappointing. This is strictly used for hole punching. My son's rifle team season at school is over, so this will be something used to keep his skillz up for the next 8 months.
I'll report back with the results later - I'll try various rounds and grain weights to see which work best. Probably won't be shooting past 300y.

Thanks again.

 

That's nothing that a twist of the elevation knob on your scope can't correct for.

That said, a 243 Winchester has superior ballistics to the 308 and less recoil to boot.

 

Jughead, this is an excellent article on what you need to know without getting too complicated:Some Thoughts On Zeroing