VMI-MO
09-11-10, 15:38
Mastering Your Weapon System: The Zero
A close friend of mine participated in a "sniper match" this summer down in NC. This comp was 8"-10" steel plates at ranges from 200m out to 430m. He shot this competition with a 16" Noveske, EOtech XPS, and PMC 55grn ammo. He ended up winning this competition with all targets hit, in a time of 15minutes. The next closest shooter had a time of 24+minutes and failed to hit all the targets. All the other shooters were using optics with magnification no less than 4x.
The day before the match, my friend went out and shot 10rd groups, from varying positions at ranges out to 400m. He kept track of where all his rounds went. He then committed it to memory so that he knew given a position and a range, where that bullet was going to end up. This is what gave him the edge of the other shooters at the match. He knew and understood his zero.
In the real world it is also a must to know and understand your zero. Think of the soldier in Afghanistan. How big are the targets he is engaging and how much time does he have to do it? Or think of the civilian in a home defense situation. Is that shot he is about to take going to smoke a bad guy in the tbox or go high? Knowing where your rounds will go can determine the difference between a first shot hit or miss.
First off this is not aimed at being the 25m vs. 33yd vs. 50m vs. 100m zero debate. This is aimed at getting shooters to realize zeroing your weapon is much more involved than simply proning out at a given range, and shooting a tight as group as possible as close to the bull as possible.
Most shooters I know zero their weapon by going prone at the 100m mark and firing a few groups of 5rds and making some minor adjustments. Ok, if that is good enough for you than that's cool. But think, how often do you ever end up prone shooting? If the answer is allot you might want to look at your training regime.
For me, I prefer to know exactly where my rounds are going to go not only at varying distances, but also varying positions.
Do you have the exact same cheek weld standing at 100m as you do when you are prone? What about sitting? Kneeling? Using a barricade? What about all these positions left handed?
As an example gathered from how I shoot, these are some major differences. Bear in mind all these numbers come from the same rifle with a "100m zero".
-When I shoot with gear on, with my rifle that was zeroed without gear on at 100m I can expect the rounds to impact up to 2" low.
-When I shoot left handed I can expect my rounds to impact 2"-3" to the right at 100m
-When I use a barricade my round impact will always be 1"-2" high relative to my point of aim (the barrel is not being rested on anything)
-When I use a sitting or kneeling position from 50m-100m my POA is POI.
Some shooters seem to rely on a ballistic calculator to tell them where their rounds are going to go. IMHO that is ok. It gives you the rough idea of where your round will be. But you must take into account things such as cheek weld, eye relief and your weapons general orientation.
So what must a shooter do in order to master his zero? He needs to shoot, and he needs to keep track of where he is aiming and where his rounds end up. For me I boiled it down into the following stages for getting a true feel for where my rounds are going to end up.
Like the traditional zero, I fire 5rd groups at 100m and work them on until the group is where I want it. This is done in whatever gear I use when I shoot. If the rifle is new, I start in close just to make sure I have it on paper.
Once I have it where I want it, I shoot the 100m VTAC aggregate. I shoot each stage of this however on a different target, and on each target, I will always hold center of the bull. I apply no holds. The aggregate consists of
10rds, prone, 100m
10rds, sitting, 75m
10rds, kneeling, 50m
10rds, standing 25m.
While your prone might be spot on, your sitting, kneeling and standing all group to the right (this is arbitrary and used only as an example). Now do you keep this 100m prone zero, or do you adjust on for the three positions where you consistently group right? The answer is up to you, which should be based off where you expect to do most of your shooting from.
After I have adjusted it, I then move to the 7m, 10m, 15m, 25m, 35m,50m mark and fire standing. This position is exactly like I use in the rest of my training, it is not modified to shoot bulls eyes. From this I am able to gather in the info to know where I need to hold, or where my POI is relative to my POA at all those ranges. I will say that from this I now have specific aiming points I can easily and effectively rely on for those ranges.
I then add barricades into the mix at varying ranges (usually 75m, 100m,125m,150m). Using barricades in a fashion that mirrors that of how I would do it in reality I shoot again for groups. Where a ballistic computer says and where my rounds actually impact are two different things.
For these last two stages I do not make changes to my optic, i take note, and commit to memory where my groups lean toward, so that I can apply that hold when needed.
For all these different positions my groups never stray more than 4" from my 100m Agg. zero. Some might say "4inches, thats no worries". Well in my book 4" is enough to miss by.
To reiterate, this all comes down to each individual shooter and how that shooter mounts the weapon. Some might find differences between varying positions, while others are the JBM ballistic calculator incarnate. So what works for me, might be completely different for you. This is not designed as a "must do it this way", but something to get shooters thinking and analyzing their systems to make them more effective.
PJ
A close friend of mine participated in a "sniper match" this summer down in NC. This comp was 8"-10" steel plates at ranges from 200m out to 430m. He shot this competition with a 16" Noveske, EOtech XPS, and PMC 55grn ammo. He ended up winning this competition with all targets hit, in a time of 15minutes. The next closest shooter had a time of 24+minutes and failed to hit all the targets. All the other shooters were using optics with magnification no less than 4x.
The day before the match, my friend went out and shot 10rd groups, from varying positions at ranges out to 400m. He kept track of where all his rounds went. He then committed it to memory so that he knew given a position and a range, where that bullet was going to end up. This is what gave him the edge of the other shooters at the match. He knew and understood his zero.
In the real world it is also a must to know and understand your zero. Think of the soldier in Afghanistan. How big are the targets he is engaging and how much time does he have to do it? Or think of the civilian in a home defense situation. Is that shot he is about to take going to smoke a bad guy in the tbox or go high? Knowing where your rounds will go can determine the difference between a first shot hit or miss.
First off this is not aimed at being the 25m vs. 33yd vs. 50m vs. 100m zero debate. This is aimed at getting shooters to realize zeroing your weapon is much more involved than simply proning out at a given range, and shooting a tight as group as possible as close to the bull as possible.
Most shooters I know zero their weapon by going prone at the 100m mark and firing a few groups of 5rds and making some minor adjustments. Ok, if that is good enough for you than that's cool. But think, how often do you ever end up prone shooting? If the answer is allot you might want to look at your training regime.
For me, I prefer to know exactly where my rounds are going to go not only at varying distances, but also varying positions.
Do you have the exact same cheek weld standing at 100m as you do when you are prone? What about sitting? Kneeling? Using a barricade? What about all these positions left handed?
As an example gathered from how I shoot, these are some major differences. Bear in mind all these numbers come from the same rifle with a "100m zero".
-When I shoot with gear on, with my rifle that was zeroed without gear on at 100m I can expect the rounds to impact up to 2" low.
-When I shoot left handed I can expect my rounds to impact 2"-3" to the right at 100m
-When I use a barricade my round impact will always be 1"-2" high relative to my point of aim (the barrel is not being rested on anything)
-When I use a sitting or kneeling position from 50m-100m my POA is POI.
Some shooters seem to rely on a ballistic calculator to tell them where their rounds are going to go. IMHO that is ok. It gives you the rough idea of where your round will be. But you must take into account things such as cheek weld, eye relief and your weapons general orientation.
So what must a shooter do in order to master his zero? He needs to shoot, and he needs to keep track of where he is aiming and where his rounds end up. For me I boiled it down into the following stages for getting a true feel for where my rounds are going to end up.
Like the traditional zero, I fire 5rd groups at 100m and work them on until the group is where I want it. This is done in whatever gear I use when I shoot. If the rifle is new, I start in close just to make sure I have it on paper.
Once I have it where I want it, I shoot the 100m VTAC aggregate. I shoot each stage of this however on a different target, and on each target, I will always hold center of the bull. I apply no holds. The aggregate consists of
10rds, prone, 100m
10rds, sitting, 75m
10rds, kneeling, 50m
10rds, standing 25m.
While your prone might be spot on, your sitting, kneeling and standing all group to the right (this is arbitrary and used only as an example). Now do you keep this 100m prone zero, or do you adjust on for the three positions where you consistently group right? The answer is up to you, which should be based off where you expect to do most of your shooting from.
After I have adjusted it, I then move to the 7m, 10m, 15m, 25m, 35m,50m mark and fire standing. This position is exactly like I use in the rest of my training, it is not modified to shoot bulls eyes. From this I am able to gather in the info to know where I need to hold, or where my POI is relative to my POA at all those ranges. I will say that from this I now have specific aiming points I can easily and effectively rely on for those ranges.
I then add barricades into the mix at varying ranges (usually 75m, 100m,125m,150m). Using barricades in a fashion that mirrors that of how I would do it in reality I shoot again for groups. Where a ballistic computer says and where my rounds actually impact are two different things.
For these last two stages I do not make changes to my optic, i take note, and commit to memory where my groups lean toward, so that I can apply that hold when needed.
For all these different positions my groups never stray more than 4" from my 100m Agg. zero. Some might say "4inches, thats no worries". Well in my book 4" is enough to miss by.
To reiterate, this all comes down to each individual shooter and how that shooter mounts the weapon. Some might find differences between varying positions, while others are the JBM ballistic calculator incarnate. So what works for me, might be completely different for you. This is not designed as a "must do it this way", but something to get shooters thinking and analyzing their systems to make them more effective.
PJ