Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
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  1. #1
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    Default Zeroing a 30/30?

    I recently purchased a 30/30 and have an aimpoint red dot that I want to put on top. I keep hearing that these are "100yd guns", for spot and stalk, close shots and stuff like that. So I was looking for some advice on what range I would set my zero at? How much of a drop am I compensating for?

    I was thinking that if I set my zero at 75yds, I should be good for 0-125yds with minimal drop at the upper limits of that range.


    Any suggestions would help.
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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Zeroing a 30/30?

    I'd zero at 100. That will give you a little more "near zero" on out to 200yds without being too high at 50-75yrds.
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  3. #3
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    Default Re: Zeroing a 30/30?

    Looking at Remingtons website, for short range, they show 0.3 inches high @100 and then 2.7 low at 150. That's with 170 gr Corelokts.

    For long range, they show 1.8 high @100 and -4.6 low at 200

    I think the first scenario is closest to what you want but I wouldn't have any problems going with the long range option either.

    FWIW,

    Dale

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Zeroing a 30/30?

    I would also zero at 100 yds. Assuming 150gr bullet, 1" HOB, 2390 fps MV, and .268 BC, the POI would be +/- 1.5" from the POA from 0 to 150yds. It really starts dropping really fast after that.

    If you zero at 75yds using comparable ammo (to this ^^^) you will be @ 1/2" low at 125 yds. To answer your question, yes your method will work just fine. Your rounds will drop @ 2" by the time you get to 150 yds.
    Last edited by ReconLdr; July 18th, 2010 at 10:51 PM.
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  5. #5
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    Default Re: Zeroing a 30/30?

    Yes, zero at one hundred yards. You will be fine out to one hundred yard shots and if you ever have to or want to shoot out past that, you will be able to do it more easily. There are many resources available telling you ballistics when you are zeroed at one hundred.

    Just as an fyi.....I hunt religiously with my Marlin lever action .30-.30 and have shot it accurately numerous times at an 8.5 x 11" sized target at 200 hundred yards.

    Probably the best all around rifle round for deer in the Pennsylvania woods and my favorite to use as well. I have also taken my Marlin on many PA bear hunts without a worry.
    Adapt, Adjust and Overcome.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Zeroing a 30/30?

    I took my first deer this year w/ a win 30/30. It's zeroed at 100 yards and did just fine for me. I just happened to be rounding a corner and there he was crossing an old logging road 50 yards away, which for where I hunt is long range.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Zeroing a 30/30?

    My 2 cents:

    IMO, primarily you should sight it in for the conditions where you usually hunt. If you hunt from a treestand in the woods and visibility is 50 yds or less, I'd sight it for 50 or 75 yds. As the others have indirectly mentioned, if you sight for 50 or 75 yds, it will hit low at 100 yds, but not by much.

    If you hunt clearings or pipeline/powerline rights of way, then sight for 100 yds as the others have mentioned.

    Further, why not try the rifle without the red dot? Just use the open sights. I have more than a dozen lever actions in a variety of chamberings and none of them wear a scope. I can hit anything at which I aim at 100 yds, and hit it repeatedly. But that's the way I was raised in the early 1960s -- scopes were still considered a luxury item for hunting. As a product of my environment, I still tend to think that way. I certainly don't need them out to 100 yds, and if I still hunted, I can think of precious few locations in this part of PA that I could hunt that aren't covered by trees and brush beyond 35-50 yds.

    So many people are under the misdirected impression that "no rifle is accurate without a scope." The gun shops in Elk, Forest, and Clearfield Counties make a good living selling high-markup scopes for every low-markup new rifle they sell. When I'm smacking the gongs at 100, 150, and 200 yds at the club with an unscoped levergun in 30-30, 38-55, or even 357 Magnum, OFFHAND, other shooters are flat amazed that it's possible to do so, and vocalize their disbelief. Several times I've allowed these shooters to try it from the bench, using the bags. Usually by the third or fourth shot they are getting a solid "THUNK" for their efforts. It might cost me some ammo, but the shooter goes away better educated in the abilities of firearms, and in him or herself as well.

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  8. #8
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Zeroing a 30/30?

    Sight in for 100 yards and test the rifle where it hits at a variety of other ranges you'll be shooting. Good luck.

    -Joe

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