in waht distance do you zero a mc. bros. .50 rifle?   .....unfortunately i only have access to 100m range...    thanks

Here's mine: [  link to LARGER image ]

My take on zero distance is that it doesn't matter as long as it's far enough to exhibit the group size from your rifle.

Unless you have so much taper in your scope base such that you physically CANNOT get a 100 yard zero with the down elevation in your scope, then you might as well go with 100 or 200 yards/meters, depending on what ranges are more convenient for you.  

If you are going to dial elevation for distance, it makes no difference at what distance you zero.  It'll still be X clicks from 100 to 400, Y from 400 to 800, Z from 800 to 1200, etc.

I use 100 yards so any wind on the sight-in range has less effect on my zero, so I can walk less far, and because 100 yard ranges are more common for zero confirmation than 200 or 300 yard ranges.

-z

thank you for the reply...what kind of scope base are you using?...   im a newbie on this...thats why im having a hard time explaining to my friends who are asking why my scope base is "canted"...   i will purchase a nightforce scope maybe next month...

tnx

George @ GA Precision actually built my rifle, out of McMillan action and stock.

The scope base has 30 MOA built in.

With a Nightforce 5.5-22 and a 30 MOA base, you should get about 80 MOA total usable elevation from zero.

A friend of mine runs a 50 MOA base with the same scope, and he only has like 3 "down" clicks left when zeroed-- that's cutting it close.

It's "only" about 65 MOA to 1 mile for common loads.

The way to figure it is this..   if the scope has 100 total minute elevation, then if everything is aligned right and you have a straight taper (ie, 0 MOA) base, you'll have a 100 yard zero right around the middle, or 50 MOA up from the bottom.

If you add in a 30 MOA base, then your 100 yard zero will be closer to 50 - 30 = 20 MOA up from the bottom, and you'll have 100 - 20 = 80 (or 50 + 30 = 80) total "up" MOA available.

Make sure you look at the total elevation available in the scope before you buy it.

Hope this helps

-z

Wow Zak, I'm surprised you don't have more elevation than that with a 30MOA base and the NXS 5.5-22x.

I've got a 30MOA base on my ALS upper and with my 4.5-14x 40mm PR Leupold I've got right at 60-65 useable MOA left from a 100 yard zero.    Haven't made any match loads yet with the 750grn Amax, just the 700grn AP bullet.


I really gotta stretch the legs out on that damn thing, got a huge paycheck coming soon and I'm gonna use some of it to churn out around 60-80 Amax handloads using H50.

100/2 + 30 = 80 MOA, which is a lot of "up" elevation.  80 is enough for 2300-2400 yards.  Considering the type of difficulty shooting to a mile (1760 yards), I don't worry too much about having enough elevation for 2000+.

With the SN3 I've got on there now, I "only" get 20 mils (69 MOA) because the EREK knob is limited to 9mils/turn and has two turns.

-z

i think im suppose to get only a straight taper 0 moa....considering im limited only to shooting less than 300m targets...  

Then be aware that your longest engagement distance possible will be limited by the scope elevation "up" from center.

Zak, I thought the 5.5-22x has 120MOA of adjustment through it's range?

I know that with some windage dialed in for a zero you'd probably loose a little bit of the total possible adjustment between extremes when the crosshair is pushed away from the center axis of the scope tube.    I know 80MOA is nothing to sneeze at but I was just figuring after zeroing that it would be something on the higher end of 90 with maybe 100MOA of elevation.


I've got two 5.5-22x NXS planned, one for my 300WinMag and one for my 50BMG.   Both will be mildots to work in unison with my Leupolds that are all going to get converted out to the new Premier Gen 2 XR with 10 mils on the bottom vertical crosshair.

According to the specs, the 5.5-22x has 100 minutes, and the 3.5-15x has 110 minutes elevation total.

You're right, any windage dialed will bring the erector over to one side and reduce the overall elevation available.

I rarely use over 15x, so if I were going to buy another NF, it would be the 3.5-15x50mm.   In fact, that's what Iordered for my AI before buying the SN3.

If you have the cash and want a noticable step up in optical quality (and features IMO) look at the SN3's or the new two-turn S&B.  They are about 2x the cost of the NF, but we're already talking about expensive rifles to both build up and feed.    These "one/two turn" scopes zero in a different manner than the NF/Leupold elevation knobs which just run free the entire range.   You generally set the base point for the first turn (ie, a zero stop) and then the total "up" elevation is limited by the number of turns in the knob instead of the erector hitting the tube, as long as you have the right base installed.  It's nice because dialing back down to your primary zero is less error prone, and you also have more clicks per revolution.  Also note that the NF has a second focal plane reticle, so ranging/holdoff can only be done at one power.

Just my impressions after trying a bunch of them...

-z

I thought I saw you get in the group buy for the USO optics on Snipershide when they did the group buy.

I'm not gonna stray from NXS or Nightforce, have heard how good the USO and S&B scopes are but I'm not about to drop much more than 1300 on a scope.     When I do the Gen 2 XD reticles on my Leupolds they will all be FFP for ranging at any power and for movers, I'll keep one in reserve to put on the 300WinMag if need be should I shoot a tactical match some day and it offers advantages over the NXS.   If that's the case then I may wind up throwing an M3 type scope into the collection to have a ballistic cam affair rather than a MOA dial to have to cope with.

I hear there is a way to do a zero stop on the NXS scopes but they won't talk about it too much in the public forum over on the hide.