100 Yard Zero in Less Than 100 Yards

With the hottest and most humid part of summer upon us, getting to the outdoor range is a bit of a task. Whether you just got a new optic, or want to get a head start on hunting season, ensuring your rifle is zeroed is critical to its performance. Thankfully, you don’t have to brave the heat with our SMRRT (Short-Medium Range Rifle Target) target.

Grab a pad of our SMRRT and head to your local indoor range, or pick one up at the

range if they’re one of our dealers all over the country. Download the GeoBalistics app by Vortex and fill in the information for your firearm, ammo, and optic. This may take some time, and a little searching for some of the specifics but is well worth the effort. Once your information is in the app, it will show you the point of impact of the round at different distances.

If you are on a 25-yard range, and want your zero to be 100 yards, set the distance in the app to a 100 yard zero. Using a CZ 600 in 6.5 Creedmoor with Federal Premium 140 Grain Sierra Match King ammo, the impact will be 3.99 MOA above the center of the target at 25 yards. 1 MOA is (essentially) 1 inch at 100 yards; if we reduce that to 25 yards that will translate to 4 inches. These two numbers are so close to each other due to the nature of the round, you would see a much different number with .338 ARC for example. There are many ways to utilize our target from this point, so you can pick what works best for you, and your application. A good tip to getting your optic somewhat on target is to remove the bolt, and look down the

barrel. Center the bullseye in the barrel, and make sure what you see through the optic and barrel line up relatively close to each other.

One method would be to take the SMRRT, use a sharpie or something similar and mark a bullseye 4 inches above the center of our target (for our example). You can take the guessing out due to the clearly marked sections of 1, 1/4, and 1/8 inches. From there set up your firearm, take a shot, and see where it goes. If you are confident in that shot, adjust the turrets on your optic to the impact from the mark without moving the firearm. Take another shot, and you should be close to zero. If you need to make more adjustments, you can use the smaller confirmation bullseyes with the measuring lines. Don’t forget to convert the adjustments to the actual distance of the target. If your optic has .25 MOA adjustments one click will equal 1 inch at 25 yards not ¼ inch.

Another method would be to use the reticle in your scope to adjust for the distance if it has the right design to do so. This can be trickier, but faster if you are more comfortable with math on the fly. The type of scope matters for your adjustments as well. A first focal plane scope (one where the reticle changes size based on magnification) will have the right measurements on any magnification. A second focal plane scope (one where the reticle stays the same size regardless of magnification) will only have the right measurements on the highest magnification. For example, if you have a 4-16x second focal plane scope at 8x magnification, a

¼ MOA hash mark would actually be ½ MOA. Half the magnification double the size, bring it down to 4x, and it would be 4 times the size on the reticle. Just like in the previous method, the adjustment of the turrets must be kept in mind.

If you decide to brave the heat, these methods can be used on our Long-Range Rifle Targets (LRRT) as well. You will have to account for wind, so ideally pick a day with little breeze to get the truest zero. Temperature and humidity will also affect the performance of your ammo, so the rifle could be zeroed, but the trajectory would be different. Apps like GeoBalistics will help considerably with that by taking those factors into account in the data they give you.