Maximum Point Blank range

[27hand]

I took most of my deer hunting rifles to the range last week.
Mostly just to shoot but also wanted to know what velocity some of my reloads were pushing.

A reloading buddy asked if I ever figured the maximum point blank range of my guns.

I read about it but never really applied the application to my guns.

https://shooterscalculator.com/point-blank-range.php

Since I had the velocities and found the ballistic coefficients of my bullets, I made a chart for my rifles.

The velocities were an average of anywhere from 3 shots to a dozen or more.

MPBR let's you know how far the limit of your rifle / scope/ bullet combination allows you to shoot dead on without holding over at distance.

I chose 8 inches as a target diameter which is close to the area of the vital zone of a deer.
This is like shooting through a pipe. The end at your rifle is the low part where the bullet starts its path. It raises to the top of the inside of that pipe and then drops to the bottom of the pipe at your mpbr yardage.

The chart I made has listed a near zero ( zero 1), a far zero ( zero 2), the maximum distance I can hold the reticle dead on and the sight in elevation I need to have at 100 yards to achieve my MPBR.

2022-06-27_10-56-07 by poofy27, on Flickr

I shot 2 .300 win mags, a 7mm mag, a pump .06, a bolt .06, my 30-30 and my Henry .44.

For years, I sighted dead on at 100.
The magnums I zeroed at 200 ( Tikka has a leupold vx5hd which can be adjusted out to a grand if I ever get a load worked up ).


In all honesty, a sight in at 100 is pretty much all I've ever needed.
The furthest shot I ever made on a deer was 125 and that was with my slug gun.

The last 5 years, I've been successful with my crossbow at up to 30 yards on backyard buck.

Google maximum point blank range.
There are fields to fill in including velocity, ballistic coefficient, size of target which will give you the info on my chart.

Having bought the Henry in .44 for special regs area I live in caused me to check what my max range might be.

The rest of it was just for something to do.

[27hand]

As I reviewed the info on my chart, I noticed that the 30-30 velocity was lower than I thought it should be.

At the time I started reloading for that 30 30, I only had a couple powders and knowing that IMR 4350 was not the optimal.powder, I used what I had.
I didn't have a chrony at that time and when I did a water jug expansion test wirh my round, it opened up very nicely.

The deer I shot with it didn't mind that it was 350 fps slower than the same bullet with Varget.

Anyway, over time I got quite a few different piwders and found 3 pounds of Varget recently.

I loaded 10 rounds, shot them today and saw that th.
e velocity increased by 352 fps ( avg)

I'll tweak the load a bit and do another expansion water jug test.

Using the new velocity of 2200fps, my MPBR jumped a bit with the far zero now at 200 yds and the max point blank range is at 235 yards which is considerably further than any shot I ever made on a deer.

[Delkal]

Gun writers love to get scientific and talk about Maximum Point Blank range but i don't think you need that for hunting in the east or without a range finder. How often do you get a shot over 200 yards? I sight in all of my hunting rifles 1 1/2 inches high at 100 yards and if you happen to see something further than 300 yards just hold a couple of inches high. At that distance two inches higher is not much and is much smaller than your ability to hit something during hunting situations.

[27hand]

Gun writers love to get scientific and talk about Maximum Point Blank range but i don't think you need that for hunting in the east or without a range finder. How often do you get a shot over 200 yards? I sight in all of my hunting rifles 1 1/2 inches high at 100 yards and if you happen to see something further than 300 yards just hold a couple of inches high. At that distance two inches higher is not much and is much smaller than your ability to hit something during hunting situations.

Yes. I agree.
I suppose I did it only to find out what the Henry in .44 might be capable of in the special regs areas.
Then , because I shoot my rifles a fair amount, I did it with most of them just to see what those limits might be.

The longest shot I've made on 50 plus deer was 95 paces with a slug gun.

I longest bow shot I've ever made was last year at a tad over 30 yds.
Even my cow elk was only 180.

You might get more distance shooting on clear cut gas and power line right of ways.

[Delkal]

The problem with PBR is you are shooting way high at the closer ranges you are more likely going to get a shot. Shooting at an 8 inch circle ypour 30-30 and .44 loads will be 4 inches high at 100 so they would be barely touching the top of the plate (even higher at 50). Add in a little error while in the field and you could miss a lot of deer from shooting over them.

A 30-30 is a 100-150 yard rifle max and a .44 is a 75-100 yard max. They are great woods rifles but you can't make them into long range no matter how you sight them in.

[27hand]

The problem with PBR is you are shooting way high at the closer ranges you are more likely going to get a shot. Shooting at an 8 inch circle ypour 30-30 and .44 loads will be 4 inches high at 100 so they would be barely touching the top of the plate (even higher at 50). Add in a little error while in the field and you could miss a lot of deer from shooting over them.

A 30-30 is a 100-150 yard rifle max and a .44 is a 75-100 yard max. They are great woods rifles but you can't make them into long range no matter how you sight them in.

The PBR calculator can be adjusted for target size.
Given a 6 inch or even 4 inch target will shorten the PBR with less likelihood of an errant shot placement.

It's never higher at 50 than the diameter of the tube you are shooting through. Even 4 inches high at 100 doesn't mean you are higher at 50.


You sight your rifles at 1,5 inches high at 100.
Quite a few guys I know sight theirs to 3 inches high at 100 which is nearing the MPBR calculator.

I generally sight dead on at 100 except the magnums which I sight at 200.

The point of the excercise was to check the outer limit capability of the rifles, not to try making them into something they aren't designed to do.
I would add that a person who is very familiar with a specific gun, practices to be quite proficient, can estimate distance or has a rangefinder and time, can lengthen the field of possible kill shots on deer.

I believe the most misses come from minimal shooting off season and shooting further than the shooter is capable of.