I had a mystery solved for me recently, you are all probably smarter than me and have this figured out but I thought I'd share it.
I had hit several coyotes high and missed a few shots at smaller critters with my AR rifles, kinda had me turned off on them for a while. I just seemed to shoot the bolt guns better. For predator hunting the AR's have some advantages so I kept shooting them some, giving them a try. I talked to a guy who hunts with AR's almost exclusively and he said my issue was sight height. Most AR rifles a scope is mounted about 3" above the bore and most ballistic programs show data for 1.5" as a default. It isn't a huge difference but it is a difference. With my AR 223 zeroed 2.5" high at 100yds it actually shows a 260yd zero and is 3.6" high in the middle of that. That's to much arch for where this rifle gets used. I might have to shoot between limbs, fence wires, etc. I adjusted it before my predator practice shoot a while back, but wanted to shoot paper at various ranges to make sure I was perfect as I could get.
I went and shot paper at 200, 250, and 300yds with it tonight to perfect my zero for the coyote tournament I'm participating in next weekend. The DPMS Prairie Panther shot pretty good. This rifle had never shot great until my gunsmith recommended lapping the barrel. After that it's still picky, but shoots an affordable remanufactured 55gr V max load very well. It's running 2962fps from my 20" barrel. I was shooting off a sandbag on the hood of my truck with a variable wind of 5-15mph, and have a 2.5-10x scope on the rifle. The wind and magnification played into my groups at longer range a bit, but I was happy. The three groups at 200yds were all under 1.5", the 250yd groups opened to 2.25" average, and the 300yd group was 4". Subtract one flier and it was 1.75" though. All the groups were significantly smaller vertically than that, most of the distance between shots was horizontal with the wind.
After adjusting my scope on the 200yd target, I was 1.5" high at 200yds, 1.5" low at 250yds, and 6" low at 300yds. I figured that was about as perfect as I could get. The wind died down to nothing as it got later, and I went back and used my final 3 bullets at 100yds and 165yds to confirm that I wasn't to high there. I shot one at 100yds that hit 1.7" high, and two more at 165 that hit 1.2" and 1.6" high. Those two really should have been a bit higher from what the ballistics program says, but I was happy with where they fell. My windage was perfect too, so the horizontal drift was due to wind earlier. Coyotes beware!
Incidentally for some reason, maybe my shooting, my 204 AR didn't fare as well in the wind. I was getting nearly double the drift consistently with the 45gr SP loads at 3325fps as I was with the slower 55gr V max. The BC's aren't that much different. I think maybe the forend on the DPMS worked with the sand bags better, but decided to figure it out later. The 204 can sit out the tournament as well as the DPMS is shooting.
I had limited ammo left but shot my 243 a bit more while I was doing this. I want to take a bigger bolt gun to the contest also for more open country where bobcats are unlikely, and as back-up. I expect I'll use both depending on the wind and terrain. We are hunting ground my partner lined up near his hometown, new territory for me. The 243 shooting an 85gr Speer SPBT with a BC of .404 at 3333fps did well in the wind. I started out with a 200yd zero, but ended up adjusting it to be 1.5" low at 300yds. This should give me a max mid-range rise of 2.8" and let me shoot to 300yds without adjustment. I've always held a bit low with the bolt guns if I feel the shot is inside 225yds anyway so that's what I'm used to. I know the AR bullets are slower so I never did it with them. I need to get the 243 back out one more time and shoot 100 and 150yds to confirm I'm not getting to much rise there.
Now I just need some coyotes to cooperate next weekend. Temps are supposed to be near 70 so it might be tough hunting.
I had hit several coyotes high and missed a few shots at smaller critters with my AR rifles, kinda had me turned off on them for a while. I just seemed to shoot the bolt guns better. For predator hunting the AR's have some advantages so I kept shooting them some, giving them a try. I talked to a guy who hunts with AR's almost exclusively and he said my issue was sight height. Most AR rifles a scope is mounted about 3" above the bore and most ballistic programs show data for 1.5" as a default. It isn't a huge difference but it is a difference. With my AR 223 zeroed 2.5" high at 100yds it actually shows a 260yd zero and is 3.6" high in the middle of that. That's to much arch for where this rifle gets used. I might have to shoot between limbs, fence wires, etc. I adjusted it before my predator practice shoot a while back, but wanted to shoot paper at various ranges to make sure I was perfect as I could get.
I went and shot paper at 200, 250, and 300yds with it tonight to perfect my zero for the coyote tournament I'm participating in next weekend. The DPMS Prairie Panther shot pretty good. This rifle had never shot great until my gunsmith recommended lapping the barrel. After that it's still picky, but shoots an affordable remanufactured 55gr V max load very well. It's running 2962fps from my 20" barrel. I was shooting off a sandbag on the hood of my truck with a variable wind of 5-15mph, and have a 2.5-10x scope on the rifle. The wind and magnification played into my groups at longer range a bit, but I was happy. The three groups at 200yds were all under 1.5", the 250yd groups opened to 2.25" average, and the 300yd group was 4". Subtract one flier and it was 1.75" though. All the groups were significantly smaller vertically than that, most of the distance between shots was horizontal with the wind.
After adjusting my scope on the 200yd target, I was 1.5" high at 200yds, 1.5" low at 250yds, and 6" low at 300yds. I figured that was about as perfect as I could get. The wind died down to nothing as it got later, and I went back and used my final 3 bullets at 100yds and 165yds to confirm that I wasn't to high there. I shot one at 100yds that hit 1.7" high, and two more at 165 that hit 1.2" and 1.6" high. Those two really should have been a bit higher from what the ballistics program says, but I was happy with where they fell. My windage was perfect too, so the horizontal drift was due to wind earlier. Coyotes beware!
Incidentally for some reason, maybe my shooting, my 204 AR didn't fare as well in the wind. I was getting nearly double the drift consistently with the 45gr SP loads at 3325fps as I was with the slower 55gr V max. The BC's aren't that much different. I think maybe the forend on the DPMS worked with the sand bags better, but decided to figure it out later. The 204 can sit out the tournament as well as the DPMS is shooting.
I had limited ammo left but shot my 243 a bit more while I was doing this. I want to take a bigger bolt gun to the contest also for more open country where bobcats are unlikely, and as back-up. I expect I'll use both depending on the wind and terrain. We are hunting ground my partner lined up near his hometown, new territory for me. The 243 shooting an 85gr Speer SPBT with a BC of .404 at 3333fps did well in the wind. I started out with a 200yd zero, but ended up adjusting it to be 1.5" low at 300yds. This should give me a max mid-range rise of 2.8" and let me shoot to 300yds without adjustment. I've always held a bit low with the bolt guns if I feel the shot is inside 225yds anyway so that's what I'm used to. I know the AR bullets are slower so I never did it with them. I need to get the 243 back out one more time and shoot 100 and 150yds to confirm I'm not getting to much rise there.
Now I just need some coyotes to cooperate next weekend. Temps are supposed to be near 70 so it might be tough hunting.
