This is how an instructional video is done! No blaring rock music or guys playing dress-up while shooting for a 10 minute intro. Clear, concise and detailed info. Excellent!
Thank you for the simplicity and practicality in explaining distance for zeroing. Best and easiest to understand I've seen yet. and the trajectory chart included was a great visual aid. 👍
Nice presentation. I like the 50/200(approx) because, like you mentioned, at home defense range, you can just aim a couple of inches high. Even if you don’t, you’ll probably still hit a vital area. An interesting way to set that zero at an indoor range is to go out 10 yards, make your point of aim 2.1 inches high, and if you hit bullseye, you are very close to a 50 yard zero. I then go to an outdoor range to confirm it works. Then I will go out to 200, where i can get it to hit a 1x1’ plate. So I’m good for home AND relatively short-range hunting.
Best explanation I've seen and I've watched a lot of videos. Especially true with human targets that have a much larger Kill zone, not so much for us squirrel hunters.
Been using the 36 yard zero for a few years now and I am very satisfied with it. Thank you for the vid, I am always looking for more education on zeros.
I've used the 50/200 zero for 30+ years. Sure, they are all low at the muzzle and by the same amount. From 25 yds - 220 yds it is about +/-1.5", so just hold on the target and shoot. The 25/300 zero is 6" high in the middle.
Given that even when hunting it would be very rare to shoot past 100m the 50m zero makes the most sense. Now it you are out west making 300m+ shoots time to get into optics with BDC.
I’m new to the sporting rifle world, I bought my 16” and figured that I needed to zero the sights for the purpose of self defense. I imagine that it’ll be used for distances under 35 yards. This video was helpful for simple perspective and zeroing at 25 yards would probably be easier. Thank you.
Glad that you made the point of the 300 yd shot of someone on your property. Some people think that it's an instant death sentence for someone who steps onto their property. It's still murder unless that trespasser is a life threatening situation. That's hard to justify if said trespasser is a great distance away and was not calmly confronted first. Inside of your four walls is an entirely different issue.
Putting practical in the name. This video is great. Still going to get shots on target essentially no matter which zero you choose. Sure if you're a sniper, it all counts. But for home defense and range days, it's not really a big deal. This helped me not stress so much over which "zero" Im going to choose. Thanks.
I dial in for 25yds, which is longest range available to me, lol. Anyways, my property is 50yd by 50ft, with house centered. So, my only 50yd shot would be from the back alley to front walk, and highly unlikely.
Yup , my interior combat zero will be 7 yards with an approximate 2 inch offset. I would rather engage with my .45. Or .357 Mag. My longest exterior zombie shot due to obstructions would be 550 yards, but the average exterior zombie. combat area would be about 125 yards. Average wind direction and time of flight and likely moving target would mater at 550 yards and negate a shot. I would need a Mortar for that and probably 3 rounds to negate that threat.
good explanation. I think that, outside of a hostage situation or something crazy, at 7 yrds you dont even really need sights. look where you want to shoot, raise the gun and fire and it'll likely hit close enough. Id be willing to bet thats what happens in a real self defense situation at that range anyways.
The 25 meter sight in for a 300 meter zero is just awesome for ALL scenarios and since it syncs with a bullet drop compensation function with as issued detachable carry handle sight the battle sight zero can be quickly abandoned for on point aiming on targets out to 600 meters.
"awesome for ALL scenarios" "a bullet drop compensation function" You're contradicting yourself here. Keep in mind that zero was derived for us with a single barrel length, twist rate, gas system length, and bullet weight
@@cstgraphpads2091what I’ve kept in mind is that the A2 and A4 are synced to M855 and thus the BDC function from the Detachable Carry Handle Sight supports all shooting scenarios when the rifle is initially sighted in at 25 meters with rear sight wheel at Z. My perspective on this subject is as a CMP-USAMU Military Rifle Instructor assisting the USAMU deliver SDM Training.
as far as having the ability to accurately shoot at distance, i get what you’re saying and agree 100% but i’d rather have the ability and not need it than need it and not have it. 🤷♂️
If a person has a perpetrator 300 yards away, that person's house better be getting peppered first to even attempt to argue self defense for a distance like that
@Practical Accuracy, thank you so much for the breakdown. You did an amazing job explaining and it was very helpful.. After watching this, I think a 50yd zero is the "goldilocks" zone, because you'd still have ~2in holdover within home defense distances and it works well for far greater distances (50-200yds) as well.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you set your 25 yard zero to hit 1.5 inches below the bullseye, you’ve effectively zeroing at 200 yards and need to hold over around 2” inside of 25 yards. Thanks…this was a great video and eliminated a lot of confusion as some people zero at 25 yards to hit bull and some people zero at 25 yards to hit 1.5 inches low.
Yes, you are correct. You can figure approximately 2 inches of hold over inside 25 yards. Zero at 200 would be approximate as well, depending on ammo. Glad the video helped.
I’ve always used a 300 yard battle sight zero. I know my hold off’s from point-blank to 600 yards, at home defense distances, all you’ll need to remember is to aim a little high.
YES, Center of BARRREL 'bore' might be 2 inches 'or more' below top of sight post or center of optical sight. THIS DISTANCE CAN BE MEASURED and for shooting trapped or charging animals 'up close' we might do well to memorize it. Especially when shooting snakes "up close" & in the head, this matters. I USE THE SAME 300 YARD or 300 meter battle sight zero on my hunting carbine.... works for me. 5.56 are brutally loud. Shooting 5.56 in an enclosed space, without hearing protection, will result in permanent hearing damage and or deafness. Shooting 5.56 "or any centerfire" without hearing protection indoors, in an enclosure, or in a vehicle without hearing protection might cost you...your hearing.*
Thanks for illustrating something so obvious. Most people will point out the sight offset but don't discuss the zero. Those that discuss zero usually do with a distance target in mind. The common target size at close range is not normally though about. Great point. I do suggest to shooters that at close range with an AR, aim just above where you wish to hit.
36 was the best for me. But whatever you pick just get it zeroed and make adjustments at different yardages. I have my scope zeroed at 36 and my optic at 10 for close quarters
Good information, thanks for keeping it kiss. I'm new to the subject, but a good teacher said right your zero on your rifle. Different tools have different zeros. An know your hold offset at a 100yrds. An in.75,50,25. Thank you,hope you and the family have a good Thanksgiving.
I disagree, combat zeros still have home defense applications. For example a 36 yard zero (which I personally use)using an eotech will give you point of aim/point of impact @7 yards using the low verticals hash on the outside ring. using that 36 yard zero I have 5” spread from zero to 300 yards, and an 18” put to 400. meaning I can put a dot in the middle of a chest out to 400 yards and have a combat effective hit. understanding every aspect of your zero is far more important than the distance chosen.
This is explained in Vigilant Elites video on the 36yrd zero. Which I use as well. I am terrible at math and calculations on the fly. Less math less margin for error. Just a better zero. But knowing your holds no matter what your zero is, is the most important.
I have always zeroed my rifles at 25 yards. Wether it is my hunting rifle or my property defense rifle, the 25 yd zero works well. If I have time to aim in a home defense situation I will just aim high, because at 20 feet or less it's basically a point and shoot deal anyway.
If shooting unknown distances between 0-300m having a 50m zero means you are always +/- roughly 2 inches the entire distance. This makes it very easy to score hits without doing any ranging.
FInally someone that knows what hes talking about and I can understand it. Your channel should have way way way more subs. thank you for the info I use my AR 15 for home defense so and im just joking im gonna zero my rifle to 8 yards.
Great practicle advice for a home defense weapon. Again, how many shoot regularly or ever at 300 yds. I would have to leave my neighborhood for a 200 yd shot. I chose a 100 yd . Any adjustment is a high hold. No impact is above the 100 yd zero. Without any adjustmenf umpact is 2.5 low at 25 yds, 1.7 low at 50 yds. On at 100. 2.5 low at 200. If you hold high chest below or above 200 yds you are Dead On.
I love it! So essentialy as long as it zeroed youre good. If your aim is to hit the target the drop is neglagable. If youre trying to shoot a cigarette outta someones hand it may be a problem.
Rifle zeroing is new to me so please bare with me. the application for my rifle is home defense and deer up to 150 yrds. where I live, a deer shot will be 50- 150 yrds, never going over that 150 mark. Im trying to figure out what the best zero point would be for this. I was thinking 25 then you mentioned 36 and I realized This is above my pay grade lol Thank you for any suggestions ✌❤🙏
50 is good, but 100 is the best. If you can't get a good zero at 100, don't sweat it. 50 will do well. I would not recommend 25 as your shots at 100 will be 6.5 inches high and shots at 150 will be 10 -11 inches high. 36 is not good either as shots at 100 will be 4.5 inches high and 5.5 inches high at 150. I was thinking of doing a video on this exact topic. Good luck
As you rightly point out, it just ain't that big a deal, so don't suffer analysis paralysis trying to figure out which to use. But pick something and practice with it. Honestly, I use a 50/200 zero so the rifle is still capable of taking those longer range shots when I want to use the same rifle for recreation. So I use a consistent zero that *I* have practiced using across its range band. As for the offset, I've been allowing for the offset of an M16/AR15 at close range since 1987, so I don't have to think about it (it's really only going to be critical for a head shot anyway, as a 2" POA/POI drop isn't going to mean much on a "center rib cage" hold when you're freaked and probably not taking *one* shot anyway. 🙂 ) And, heck, I did fine on the pro mask quals, using the rifle like a shotgun and just looking across the sights (I never did like the 45° tilt technique the Army taught for close range shots - it took longer than just applying the same "Quick Kill" technique they taught us for CQB, i.e., treat it like a shotgun, and fire a controlled pair COM just looking across the carrying handle and front sight wings). Now, if *not using a proper sight picture at all* worked at 25m against F-type silhouettes (just the head and shoulders) through scratched up gas mask lenses without my glasses on, I'm reasonably comfortable saying the tiny delta between the general purpose zero i use on all my AR rifles (even the ones not devoted to home defense) and an "indoor specific" zero is not going make a lick of difference in the length of my hallway... and since *all* of my AR rifles then use exactly the same offset for a given range, if I need to make that 1 in 10,000 chance more precise shot (like, all I have for a target is half his face), so I don't have to remember, "Is this the rifle zeroed for "hairline = nose", or "eyebrow = nose" under stress. I just use exactly the same offset I've used to, say, clear a row of saltine crackers at close range for fun.
nice video... i tried to explain this to a guy he wanted to zero his rifle to 100 meter, i asked him if he was planning on going to the military and said no this is for home defense and i told him dude, for home defense you dont need a 100 meter zero, if you shoot someone at 100 meter you are 94 meter out of what the local laws considare self defense range. 😂
Living in the suburbs, home defense zero is half the distance of the longest distance you'd have to shoot, but highly irrelevant. In a suburban home defense situation, you usually won't have time to aim. Set up your weapon so that it shoots where you *point* it, if this isn't possible, get one that does.
The 25 yard zero only equates to a 300 yard zero if you have an elevation adjustable rear sight with the "Z" setting. You set it to Z, adjust your groups and then set the rear sight elevation drum to 3. If you do not have the ability to adjust for elevation on your rear sight and still use a 25 yard zero you will not have point of aim/point of impact again until 375 yards. In other words, it shouldn't be used for backup iron sights or optics without a thorough understanding of the trajectory of the round and the distance that you are likely to encounter.
See my below comment, too. BUT I zero in to 36 yards for maximum flexibility BUT, let's face it: for home self defense, I have a dedicated laser / light combo zeroed in to the length (longest) of my property because, let's face it, if somebody is kicking your door in, etc., you are NOT going to be taking a few seconds to look through your red dot, etc.; it will pull the weapon to your arms and shoot where you point it! This way, I have a bright green-dot indicating where my shot WILL go within 1/2 an inch within my home or property line to property line. IF you were gonna take time to get a red-dot or magnifier going, it's allot easier to simply brush the on button to, say, a heat-shield mounted laser, too. Basically, I won't be using an AR if the incursion / intruder(s) accost me face to face in my garage or answering the door, etc. I would use the AR if a nasty group is making incursions into my neighborhood and terrorizing residents! I'll know they're coming. I'd likely be using my Springfield Armory XDm 45 ACP and or 9 mm, or my FN FNX 9 mm; they have lasers, too but it's unlikely, given the speed with which you are likely to be attacked will give you only time to draw, flip the safety if you have one, and fire. Good luck all of you; blessings, brother & sister patriots! "Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain."
Couple things to keep in mind. If you're using carry handle/FSB irons, the large aperture is 2.5 (I think) MOA lower than the small aperture. Also, the elevation wheel is designed for use with either rifle length or carbine length FSB's. If you have a mid length, you'll need to do some math to figure out how many clicks equal how much height at a given distance. Probably won't matter inside your house lol.
For home defense, I just zero on the large aperture and leave it. For everything else, I zero on the small aperture. I use the elevation drum a little different than most. I don't use the bdc on the side of the drum. I count clicks. Thanks for watching.
Good to see these differences put in perspective. Maximum point blank range zero is what I use because it allows me to keep the point of impact within a pre determined size. I use 5 inches.
All these zeros being talked about in this video are maximum point blank range zeros! The intended target area and resulting maximum point blank range differs!
I have a large multiple bird feeder that is a target for all types of vermin as well as the occasional bear. I zeroed my .22 with a target attached to the feeder.
Thank you. I'll be getting comfortable with the 25 yd zero, 'cause I currently only have access to an indoor range, with the lanes going out to 25 yds. This is fine #FirearmRightsAreHumanRights
One thing that was brushed off was the person that uses the rifle for pest/varmint control and hunting as well as home defense. These people need a point blank range sighting for maybe a 6 to 8 inch diameter target. People shooting hogs or coyotes as an example. These people will likely be shooting out to 200-250 yards or maybe a little bit more.
Yes, you are exactly correct. I will be discussing this in some upcoming videos about rifle zeroing when an individual is concerned about not only their near zero, but their far zero as well. Thanks for watching.
Vigilance Elite has 36yd zeros targets free for download and offset/ math'd for a 25yd range(indoors)... That zero has the least variance from all distances
For home defense, the only thing you need to be "accurate" is just a basic laser zeroed in at whatever the longest distance inside your house is. Aiming down your sights in close quarters just makes it more difficult to quickly move your rifle on target, so using a laser helps give you that rough estimation of where you're aiming while still letting you hold your rifle at the hip.
There's part of this video which misses the point a bit. I'm a gun-guy---love to shoot. When, however, one says an AR-15 a "Home Defense" tool and teaches how to zero for 100 or even 25 yards, taking a shot at those distances for "home defense," they are teaching about murder, not home defense. Home defense if up close and personal. 100 Yards is sniping.
At seven yards someone is hiding behind your car .At 36yards they are hiding behind your neighbors car or in your neighbors house. You must be COMBAT ZEROED 250 TO 300 YARDS to return fire if you are returning fire its selfdefence.
50/200 is best for a simple red dot in cqb/urban and where ever else you can expect to not be fighting long range. impact will be within 2 inches of aiming point out to about 250 so no need to to hold over or under unless they're really far off. 100 is best for magnified optics in areas where long ranges are likely. scopes also often have ranging, wind, and other marks that are calibrated for a 100 yd zero so anything else would throw those off. i think 25 and 36 are completely useless for an AR. all they do is add an area in between near and far zero where your shots will rise so much that you need to aim low, which is just tedious.
