Sighting in your rifles for hunting

[Standard Velocity]

MPBR +\-3” for centerfire. MPBR +\-1” for rimfire. Second everything Bruce Moulds said.

I also practice shooting a standard size water bottle at distance. It’s about the size of a deer heart and if I can’t hit it at 300 yards I probably shouldn’t take 300 yard shots. With no point of reference like on paper targets it’s not possible to walk it in or explain away a miss. Either it explodes or it doesn’t.

 

[Shootist43]

Lots of good advice so far, but what if the quarry is a crocodile? Maybe as was mentioned the correct answer is somewhat "game" and distance dependent.

 

[Red Leg]

Lots of good advice so far, but what if the quarry is a crocodile? Maybe as was mentioned the correct answer is somewhat "game" and distance dependent.

When I said leopard, I considered croc, but with the cat I know the exact range between blind and bait. But you are correct, with a croc a hundred yard zero is likely better than MPBR. As you suggest, game and terrain can make a difference. It is also, I suppose, equipment dependent. Ballistic turrets and range finders can further muddy the decision (note I didn’t say make it simpler.) My experience has been that MPBR is probably the correct and simplest answer 90% of the time on the typical PG hunt?

 

[dchamp]

It kind of depends on what, where & what you're using. Generally I use 2" high at a 100. Any caliber larger than .375 I go 1" high at 50. But for long range work I zero at 100 and use a scope with a Horus reticle, something I've done for a long time and absolutely love it. And then there is my Weatherby 6.5-300, that I zero at 300 which gives me only 7"s of drop at 400.

 

[Shootist43]

Spot-on RedLeg. I couldn't agree more.

 

[rnovi]

For my blind gun in Texas where I know the exact distance to the feeder I use a 100 yard zero on my .308.

Hunting in the West or Alaska is somewhat game dependent but generally speaking I prefer the 200 yard zero. I’m familiar with it, how it works and know my holdovers.

For hunting PG in Africa I use a 200 yard zero on my 7mm RM and know the ballistics.

My .375 is sighted at 100 yards and sports a VX6 with a CDS to 400 yards. For PG hunting with that rifle I spin to 200 yards and hunt that way...at some point I’ll hunt Buff and that’s where the 100 yard zero comes in.

What I do find interesting is that I find myself gravitating more and more towards turrets and simple reticles. On my Alaskan rifle (Rem AWR in 7mm SAUM) I just replaced a very fine VX3 with an even finer Swaro Z5 BT for one reason only: I suspect my next hunt (hopefully sheep) will require being ready to shoot at very long distances and I’ve come to the conclusion that the Turret is just easier to use.

 

[IvW]

Just curious as to how you sight in your rifles for hunting.

Do you sight in specifically for the game animal and what distance you expect to shoot from? Do you sight in to zero at 100yds? Do you sight in for MPBR?

I hope this doesn't open a can of worms.

CT

On this side of the pond.

If hunting leopard you sight the rifle exactly at the distance from the blind to the bait.

For bushveldt/brush areas with a 1-6x scope zero at 100 and then test fire at ranges up to about 200-250 to see where the shots impact. Alternatively sight 2 inches high at 100 and you should be good to go out to 250 yards with about 8-10 inches drop at 300, all the way up to 375 H&H with 300gr bullets, if the terrain is a bit more open.

Croc and hippo(in the water) sight to expected distance usually well within 100 yards, you do not want to be wondering here you need to hit a small target exactly.....

For open areas I use a 2.5-15 scope with illuminating reticle, which has a reticle which you just use out to 300 meters with a 100 meter 0, makes it a lot simpler.....

+=100 meters
2nd + =200 meters
3rd + = 300 meters

After that I stalk closer......

 

[Goose Cracker]

I do it a little differently. I don't like anything over 1.5" high at 100 - the vast majority of my shots are going to be inside 200 yards. Most of those will be inside 125 yards. I don't want to have to remember to hold low at my typical ranges. If I'm deer hunting and I spot a bobcat (in season, obviously) and I'm 2.5-3" high for MPBR that can be a problem. This is not a hypothetical - I've missed a bobcat because I used to zero everything for MPBR.

I've ended up gravitating to two scopes over time - Vortex with the BDC reticle which I really like and VX5/VX6 with the CDS. With rifles that sport the Vortex BDC they are sighted in at 100 yards for typical calibers and 200 yards for magnum calibers as designed. The first hash is generally close to 200 yards for regular calibers. Third hash is 300, etc. I have shot each to verify the distances given by ballistics software out to 300 yards. I have a field card with each rifle that I study and keep with me - generally under the buttstock ammo carrier, which I also really like using.

For the CDS, I select the zero based on the caliber and the desire to be no more than 1-1.5" high at 100. So, that can be 175 yards or 200 yards. Based on my conversations with the CDS guys at Leupold, a 200 yd zero is pretty typical, but my 175 yd zeros (my 6.5x55 load with 140 grain pills for example) are not. Both times I've ordered a turret with a 175 yd zero the folks at Leupold have called me to verify that's what I wanted.

 

[Alistair]

For my .270 I zero for 1.5" high at 100, which is on at roughly 200yds.

This allows me to aim on from 0 - 225 and then hold over slightly for the longer shots. Works well for a hill stalking rifle that I use for shots from 0-300yds.

My lever gun and my 375 are zeroed on at 100, which means I can aim on at any range I'd pull the trigger using those rifles. (I don't really care about MPBR on guns where 100 is about as long as I'd every shoot).

Al.

 

[Velo Dog]

CharlesT,

Good question, thanks for posting it.
Many good answers have already been posted by members with much more big game experience than I could ever hope to have.
The only thing that I can possibly add is the following rant about; “keep it simple”.

I have tried the external adjustment type scope turrets, on an organized rifle range but have no plans to ever try such contraptions for hunting.
I found them to be too tedious to remember how many clicks/marks each respective distance required.
Nevermind factoring in how many clicks up or down for distance plus, how many clicks left or right for cross wind speed .... and my tiny brain now hurts just typing about it.

Even if I was to memorize the clicks for all possible scenarios, I predict that stopping to jack with my scope knobs, while my critter is nervously casting about for an escape route, would be just begging for a lost opportunity.
Ballistic graphs / charts and other numbers-rich calculations, are entirely too distracting (and time consuming) for a dim bulb such as myself.
I’m so simple minded that, such things confuse me enough that, when I see such printed graphs and such, it usually takes me awhile to even know what the dern thing is that I’m looking at, much less how to use it.
(Never mind me using it in a hurry).

I don’t even like variable power scopes for this same reason of : “time wasted twisting on my scope knobs when I should have been shooting”.

None of the above is meant to ruffle the feathers of those of you who can use the modern gadgetry and associated ballistic graphs of today.
Messing around with gadgets and graphs works well for some people but definitely not for me.

Certainly, military Snipers use such complicated things, with truly amazing results.
To watch videos of their training as well as their “field work” is awe inspiring, to put it mildly.
I am not bad from the sticks out to around 400 meters but those guys are superb out to around 1,000 or more, from field positions.

I’m better off just knowing where my rifle hits at what distance, also for uphill and downhill shots.
Then quickly get on those sticks and hold over/hold under or hold straight on accordingly.
Then, exhale bang.
Also helps to practice in a cross wind to get used to holding a bit right or left.
Whatever method you use, lots of modern optical gadgets or a cave man with a 4 power scope, get very comfortable with same over shooting sticks.
After that, practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[James Adamson]

On my 223 I have the scope zeroed at 100 and use the target turrets because usually that gun is used for laying still shooting rabbits or targets/gongs at long range where there is time to use a range finder and do the adjustments.
On my 6.5x55 that I use for roe deer where the range is usually 100 yards or less and the target is fairly small I have the gun zeroed at 100 yards and I know my hold overs/unders for any other distance.
On my 30-06 I have the scope zeroed at 200 yards. The gun is used for bigger animals that are on open land so I guess I use all the different ways to zero a scope.

 

[One Day...]

Hunting ... or sniping at game?

I totally agree with Velo Dog's and James Adamson's posts above, and I additionally reckon that:
1) there are very different styles of hunting;
2) technology has really changed in the last 10 to 20 years with both affordable laser range finders and reliable adjustable turrets.

Pre- laser range finders & exposed turrets
When it was difficult to know the exact distance and when it was difficult to convert this exact distance in reliable scope adjustments, there were two potential answers:

• Dynamic hunting: hunter in movement with the possibility to encounter game at any distance and with the possibility to have to shoot fairly quickly. This is why the MPBR concept was invented...

• Static hunting: hunter in a deer stand in Eastern US dense woods or in a Leopard blind, etc. It makes sense to be sighted for the actual shooting distance. Say maybe 100 or 150 yards in deer woods, and generally the exact distance for a leopard blind.

With laser range finders & exposed MIL or MOA turrets
Some (but not all) things have changed...

• Sniping at game: this recent form of "hunting" has apparently taken the younger generation by storm and based on the number of videos posted on the internet, from Alberta to Africa, it is all the rage. The hunter is far enough from the game to have all the time in the world to establish a static shooting position, measure distance, wind, barometric pressure, etc., plug everything into a hand-held ballistic computer, and click elevation and windage corrections on the exposed turrets. When everything goes right, a 600, 700, 800 yards hit results. These are the ones shown on video. A friend of mine who films hunts in South Africa for an outfitter who specializes in long range hunting tells me that it is rather the exception than the norm when "everything goes right"... Enough said... These shooters likely zero at 100 yards.

• Static hunting: No change from before. Hunter in a deer stand in Eastern dense woods likely want to be sighted for maybe 100 or 150 yards. Hunters in a Leopard blind still want to be sighted for the exact distance to the bait fork.

• Dynamic hunting: hunter in movement with the possibility to encounter game at any distance and with the possibility to have to shoot fairly quickly. I agree with Red Leg, this is when the MPBR remains most valuable, and I agree also with Velo Dog: forget about pulling out the iPhone ballistic app, the Kestrel weather station, and clicking the scope on the run.

With custom BDC turret
I see one more emerging option, which I find appealing: the custom turret that is engraved for your specific load, chronographed in your specific rifle, to show actual BDC (bullet drop compensation) distances.

I recently got one of those (Kenton Industries http://kentonindustries.com/custom-turrets/leica), calibrated for the factory .300 Wby 165 gr TTSX load, for the Leica ER i 2,5-10x42 with ballistic turret on my .300 Wby. I zeroed it for 100 yards, but I carry the rifle with the turret set on the "300" setting by default, which means that I carry the rifle set for its MPBR. This works for snap shots. If I have a couples minutes to measure the distance, I can quasi-instantly and without any calculation, chart, etc. click the turret to 175, 250, 450, etc. This seems to be the best of both worlds.

Interestingly, it is a return of sorts to the sniper optics of the 1950's, 60's, 70's, 80's etc. which arguably were not sophisticated enough to engage a specific square inch at 1,000 meters, but plenty accurate enough to hit a helmet out to 600 or 800 meters when shooting the issue load for which the BDC scope was calibrated. This is what I learned with at the French officers' Special Military Academy. It worked well.

I have not hunted with the Kenton turret in my Leica scope yet, but as I practice walking back and forth and stopping a random any distance from 0 to 600 yards from a 10" steel plate, getting a quick read of the Leica range finder and quickly setting the custom engraved turret to the distance, I am consistently hitting the plate. If I do not have the time to range the distance, keeping the turret set on the MPBR zero stands me in good shape for a snap shot from 0 to 300 yards.

I expect that such set up is not really needed for medium and large size plains game, but I have the Tiny Ten in mind for it.

Limitations...
This of course ONLY works if the turret is custom engraved to the load being shot, as obviously a 130 TTSX @ 3,600 fps, a 165 gr TTSX @ 3,300 fps and a 200 gr TTSX @ 3,000 fps have different ballistic coefficients, different velocities, and, therefore, different ballistic curves. Actually even relying on factory specifications is not good enough, the load needs to be clocked in your own rifle, because, for example, the Weatherby 165 gr TTSX load advertised at 3,330 fps only clocks 3,255 fps in my rifle.

This, by the way is the reason why I have NEVER seen a "standard" reticle engraved with 2 or 3 (or more) stadia lines, prove true in the field. To begin with, because these scopes typically have the reticle in the second focal plan, the point of impacts of the various stadia lines change with magnification, so in the best case scenario the scope only works at a given magnification. More importantly, these scopes are not calibrated to the load being shot, and not even to the caliber being shot. This essentially means that the typical hunter does not have any idea what actual MIL or MOA correction is applied when moving to the second or third stadia line, and whether that correction is accurate for the caliber he shoots, never mind the load he shoots, never further mind, in his own rifle. In so may words, they look cool, and I reckon that many have been lured in buying them, but the assumption that the second line is dead on at 200 yards and the third line is dead on at 300 yards with a given load in a given caliber in a given individual rifle, is at best ... a wild guess. Taking a few friends shooting with their Vortex, Zeiss, Leupold, or whatever brand, multi-lined reticle scopes at set 100, 200, 300, 400, etc distances on 10" steel plates has proved time and again that multi-lines reticles are of zero value whatsoever if they are not calibrated to one specific load in one specific rifle.

Stadia lines calibrated to MILs or MOAs are of course useful, especially in first focal plan reticles, to the few who actually know how to use them (and it is not so simple), but uncalibrated stadia lines in the second focal plan (or any hilarious variation such as reticles supposedly calibrated in MILs in scopes with turrets supposedly calibrated in MOAs LOL) are just slick marketing cluttering the sight picture. Better be sighted for the MPBR with a clean "plex" reticle.

 

[colorado]

I sight in all of my rifles 2 1/2 inches high at 100 yards. For my 270 Weatherby that puts it dead on at 25 yards and 275 yards, never more than 3" high or low out to 300 yards. My 500 Jeffery is dead on at 25 yards and 175 yards never more than 2" high or low out to 200 yards.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I dial in all my rifles at 100 meters, use a ballistic app and then verify the drops on the range in varying conditions. Dope chart gets taped to the buttstock. My newer scopes have zero stops and moa reticles. Can go either way when shooting, twist turrets or use the reticle. With a little mental gymnastics and practice, range to target can easily be determined albeit it's easier with FFP scopes. Whatever one does , as usual, practice, practice, practice.

 

[BC.Pat]

9.3 & 375 .... 200 m
7 mm rem .... 200 m( dope card & BT scope out to 500m) this is my sheep and mt goat gun. Swaro Z5 BT

Curious what zero for leopards ( generally) what distance is the bait normally set at?

Thanks
Pat

 

[Ridgewalker]

MPBR is my favorite, with 6” as the zone. Elk I can go 8” comfortably.
In Africa on my 375 H&H I use 6” (Impala to eland) except with Cape buffalo and lion where I switched to a 1-6x zeroed at 100 yards. Also the 1-6x zeroed for 100 yards worked well on night critters.
I’ve only shot 1 croc, but a 100 yard zero using a 2-12x scope worked perfect on a 90 yard shot.
JME, but yours may differ.

So my answer (in case all my rhetoric confuses you!) is yes to all three. Situational dependent.

 

[Tra3]

Hunting ... or sniping at game?

I totally agree with Velo Dog's and James Adamson's posts above, and I additionally reckon that:
1) there are very different styles of hunting;
2) technology has really changed in the last 10 to 20 years with both affordable laser range finders and reliable adjustable turrets.

Pre- laser range finders & exposed turrets
When it was difficult to know the exact distance and when it was difficult to convert this exact distance in reliable scope adjustments, there were two potential answers:

• Dynamic hunting: hunter in movement with the possibility to encounter game at any distance and with the possibility to have to shoot fairly quickly. This is why the MPBR concept was invented...

• Static hunting: hunter in a deer stand in Eastern US dense woods or in a Leopard blind, etc. It makes sense to be sighted for the actual shooting distance. Say maybe 100 or 150 yards in deer woods, and generally the exact distance for a leopard blind.

With laser range finders & exposed MIL or MOA turrets
Some (but not all) things have changed...

• Sniping at game: this recent form of "hunting" has apparently taken the younger generation by storm and based on the number of videos posted on the internet, from Alberta to Africa, it is all the rage. The hunter is far enough from the game to have all the time in the world to establish a static shooting position, measure distance, wind, barometric pressure, etc., plug everything into a hand-held ballistic computer, and click elevation and windage corrections on the exposed turrets. When everything goes right, a 600, 700, 800 yards hit results. These are the ones shown on video. A friend of mine who films hunts in South Africa for an outfitter who specializes in long range hunting tells me that it is rather the exception than the norm when "everything goes right"... Enough said... These shooters likely zero at 100 yards.

• Static hunting: No change from before. Hunter in a deer stand in Eastern dense woods likely want to be sighted for maybe 100 or 150 yards. Hunters in a Leopard blind still want to be sighted for the exact distance to the bait fork.

• Dynamic hunting: hunter in movement with the possibility to encounter game at any distance and with the possibility to have to shoot fairly quickly. I agree with Red Leg, this is when the MPBR remains most valuable, and I agree also with Velo Dog: forget about pulling out the iPhone ballistic app, the Kestrel weather station, and clicking the scope on the run.

With custom BDC turret
I see one more emerging option, which I find appealing: the custom turret that is engraved for your specific load, chronographed in your specific rifle, to show actual BDC (bullet drop compensation) distances.

I recently got one of those (Kenton Industries http://kentonindustries.com/custom-turrets/leica), calibrated for the factory .300 Wby 165 gr TTSX load, for the Leica ER i 2,5-10x42 with ballistic turret on my .300 Wby. I zeroed it for 100 yards, but I carry the rifle with the turret set on the "300" setting by default, which means that I carry the rifle set for its MPBR. This works for snap shots. If I have a couples minutes to measure the distance, I can quasi-instantly and without any calculation, chart, etc. click the turret to 175, 250, 450, etc. This seems to be the best of both worlds.

Interestingly, it is a return of sorts to the sniper optics of the 1950's, 60's, 70's, 80's etc. which arguably were not sophisticated enough to engage a specific square inch at 1,000 meters, but plenty accurate enough to hit a helmet out to 600 or 800 meters when shooting the issue load for which the BDC scope was calibrated. This is what I learned with at the French officers' Special Military Academy. It worked well.

I have not hunted with the Kenton turret in my Leica scope yet, but as I practice walking back and forth and stopping a random any distance from 0 to 600 yards from a 10" steel plate, getting a quick read of the Leica range finder and quickly setting the custom engraved turret to the distance, I am consistently hitting the plate. If I do not have the time to range the distance, keeping the turret set on the MPBR zero stands me in good shape for a snap shot from 0 to 300 yards.

I expect that such set up is not really needed for medium and large size plains game, but I have the Tiny Ten in mind for it.

Limitations...
This of course ONLY works if the turret is custom engraved to the load being shot, as obviously a 130 TTSX @ 3,600 fps, a 165 gr TTSX @ 3,300 fps and a 200 gr TTSX @ 3,000 fps have different ballistic coefficients, different velocities, and, therefore, different ballistic curves. Actually even relying on factory specifications is not good enough, the load needs to be clocked in your own rifle, because, for example, the Weatherby 165 gr TTSX load advertised at 3,330 fps only clocks 3,255 fps in my rifle.

This, by the way is the reason why I have NEVER seen a "standard" reticle engraved with 2 or 3 (or more) stadia lines, prove true in the field. To begin with, because these scopes typically have the reticle in the second focal plan, the point of impacts of the various stadia lines change with magnification, so in the best case scenario the scope only works at a given magnification. More importantly, these scopes are not calibrated to the load being shot, and not even to the caliber being shot. This essentially means that the typical hunter does not have any idea what actual MIL or MOA correction is applied when moving to the second or third stadia line, and whether that correction is accurate for the caliber he shoots, never mind the load he shoots, never further mind, in his own rifle. In so may words, they look cool, and I reckon that many have been lured in buying them, but the assumption that the second line is dead on at 200 yards and the third line is dead on at 300 yards with a given load in a given caliber in a given individual rifle, is at best ... a wild guess. Taking a few friends shooting with their Vortex, Zeiss, Leupold, or whatever brand, multi-lined reticle scopes at set 100, 200, 300, 400, etc distances on 10" steel plates has proved time and again that multi-lines reticles are of zero value whatsoever if they are not calibrated to one specific load in one specific rifle.

Stadia lines calibrated to MILs or MOAs are of course useful, especially in first focal plan reticles, to the few who actually know how to use them (and it is not so simple), but uncalibrated stadia lines in the second focal plan (or any hilarious variation such as reticles supposedly calibrated in MILs in scopes with turrets supposedly calibrated in MOAs LOL) are just slick marketing cluttering the sight picture. Better be sighted for the MPBR with a clean "plex" reticle.

@One Day... i think you are right on in this analysis. The only way to know is to shoot and see where each line hits on paper. It is surprising how incorrect it can be. Some scopes have a dot on the variable power dial where the suggested BDC is supposed to line up. So if it is correct, then you must always use the scope at that exact power to have the lines be correct.

Even worse, sight your rifle in in a lowland state, then take it to 6500 feet in Montana. Big differences. For 0-200 yards, not much matters. Out past 200, practice is crucial.

Anyone planning a first-time higher altitude hunt really should add time for a range session at various yardage to calibrate. I personally do a range session the day before each hunt starts in Montana and Idaho.

This has only been learned through soul crushing missed shots due to inadequate preparation!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

if you have a rifle you need to hit dead on with you need a more powerful rifle.
primarily this is because shot placement cannot be guaranteed under field conditions.
winding the elevation knob of a scope in the field is fraught with danger.
sooner or later the sight will be on a wrong setting when a shot is fired.
ranging animals is often impossible due to time constraints.
with these facts in the formula, taking advantage of point blank range seems to be the best option for zeroing a hunting rifle.
generally speaking, taking the above into account, +/- 3" max point blank range is in most cases a very useful zero.
a ballistic programme will give a height at 100 yds to zero.
for many cartridges this is somewhere between +2 and + 3" at 100, with the likes of 270 win 130 gn being + 2.5"
this will put the 270 dead on at about 250 yds and 3" low at 300, so aim dead on out to 300.
the 30/06 will be a bit less.
the 375 will be about dead on at 200 yds., and aim dead on out to 250.
for further than the point blank range of the cartridge, you can still aim high, but aim on fur, out to any sensible range that is ethical for hunting.
if you have to aim off fur, don't shoot.
allowing for wind deflection is the same.
never aim off fur to allow for the wind.
you can make a long gun soot short this way, but you can't make a short gun shoot long.
solution? use a sensible cartridge for the situation.
varmint rifles are more suited to a +/- 1.5" point blank, as the targets are smaller.
be aware that at ranges closer than about 20 yds using a scope you will go low.
bruce.

Bruce moulds
I sight my K Hornet in an inch high at 100 for a,150 zero and a bit of drop at 200. Hold on a standing rabbits head and has dead out to 250.
My 25 is 2 inches high at 100. Zero at 260 to 275 depending on projectile. 10 t0 12 inch drop at 400 yards.. 0to 350 dead on hold 350 t0 450 backline hold.

35 Whelen 2.5 inches high at 100 220 to 250 zero depending on projectile.
Woodleigh and accubonds centre hold out to 340 yards.
I try and limit my shots to a max of 250 but it's nice to know it will work further if I do my part..
Hold on hair no on air and the games over.
Cheers mate Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I sight in for the caliber and the likely game I will be hunting with the gun. Then I will work up a "true ballistic table for that gun" i.e. I will fire groups at 50, 100,150,200,250,300,350 400 etc so I know exactly where the bullet is going to hit at those ranges. 0-400yds I will have them memorized cold and hold accordingly and will have shot plenty so that hold will just be automatic. Many times in real life hunting there is no time to play with range finders or turn scope turrets you have to lock on and put em down now or never. So my advice practice well with one or a few guns and become very good with them!

Buckdog
My sentiments exactly. If you have time to dial in your scope you can usually stalk closer. Know you rifle and practice. Simple Plex reticle no dialing , know your rifle .
The more you have to play with the more chance of a mistake. I don't want my nice eating spike.t to be a big stag by the time in ready to shoot it.
K.I.S.S
Cheers mate Bob

 

[Tanks]

...

This, by the way is the reason why I have NEVER seen a "standard" reticle engraved with 2 or 3 (or more) stadia lines, prove true in the field. To begin with, because these scopes typically have the reticle in the second focal plan, the point of impacts of the various stadia lines change with magnification, so in the best case scenario the scope only works at a given magnification. More importantly, these scopes are not calibrated to the load being shot, and not even to the caliber being shot. This essentially means that the typical hunter does not have any idea what actual MIL or MOA correction is applied when moving to the second or third stadia line, and whether that correction is accurate for the caliber he shoots, never mind the load he shoots, never further mind, in his own rifle. In so may words, they look cool, and I reckon that many have been lured in buying them, but the assumption that the second line is dead on at 200 yards and the third line is dead on at 300 yards with a given load in a given caliber in a given individual rifle, is at best ... a wild guess. ,,,.

Look at the dope label I printed, it was developed for my Leica 1-10X scope with dots and dashes in the reticle. You will also notice the difference between lines and dots get smaller as distance was greater. It was for .416 B&M wildcat, 225 grain CEB tipped raptor bullet going at 2,950 fps. It was sighted in for 205 yard zero (about 1.5" high at a 100). I tested it out to 500 yards. First used a ballistic program to map out distances and then actual range testing.

Didn't need it in Africa as every PG I shot was below 80 yards, but later in the year it came in handy for elk and I did have plenty of time to use a range finder and figure out which mark to use.