Zero with which HD round?

[rocsteady]

So I have a question for the panel. It's about zeroing on my two rifles. With it in mind that one is 16" and other is 12.5". Also going on the fact that I use two different rounds that could come into play. HD, SHTF, anti-riot, shorter range engagements in a more residential/rural area is the mission parameter.

As a point of the assumptions I'm going on: First round is the 50g TSX loaded by Black Hills that's a better barrier round,, hotter velocity, but much shorter range, probably best inside of 185 yards or so.

Other is tbe 70g Asym loaded TSX or my, very similar to the Asym, handloaded 70g TSX. Longer range but not as barrier blind. Not terrible on barriers but not as good as the BH pills. I'm working on this round being effective, for me, as far out as I'm able to ID targets using my Aimpoint T2, without magnification.

Question is, (1) zero both with one round or the other and then just learn the different point of impact with the other round or (2) does it make more sense to zero the shorter rifle with the 50g round and the 16" with the 70 grain?

Also important, I've used a 50 yard zero from day one, 20 years ago, and am very confident making hits out to 300 yards with it, so I won't be changing that unless I move out to somewhere way more open and rural than where I live now.

Thanks for your input.

[Stickman]

Sounds to me like you are already on top of things. Verify you are sighted in, then verify at 25, 50, 75 and 100 that you are getting your hits where you expect them. At the distances you are talking, I don't think you are going to see massive changes in POA/ POI.

[BobinNC]

I've found that any Barnes TSX, TTSX, Tac-X are all barrier blind. Ain't no magic pixy dust on the 50 grain BHills offering.

As far as sighting in, if it was me, I load the 50 grainer in the short barrel, and zero for it anywhere from 25 to 36 yards, (for repelling boarders) and I'd zero the 16" for the 70 grain pill for a 50 yd zero (for longer range vermin). Inside of 150 yds, either bullet, from either barrel should result in a plop plop with any good COM hit.

[alx01]

If you use each type of ammo in a particular rifle exclusively - I would go with a specific round for a rifle to avoid mixing and matching.

If you use rounds interchangeably - I would probably just stick with a single type of round for both rifles.
Otherwise you would have to learn 2 holds for each rifle. Which rifle is zeroed for what round and what round do you currently have in the mag. Shorter distance (under 100m) probably won't make much of a difference, your precision requirements will dictate that however.

Rarely (if you're lucky) - your rifles might group the same with both rounds. For example: both are zeroed round A, and impact with Round B is low right for both. Then no problem, zero both for Round A and keep in mind that round B impacts low right.

As Stick suggested, extra verification to confirm your POI is always good.

[ST911]

Sounds like you need to load the gun with the ammo most suitable for its intended purpose, then just check those loads between guns. There will be less difference than you think, but it can matter depending on your needs.

Don't know anything about the 70 Asym, but the BHA 50 TSX is a great load for what you're describing.

[ggammell]

The TSX in 50 or 70 are going to be about equal on barrier performance. There’s a reason BH loads the 70 for cool guys…

There is going to be a sizable velocity difference between the two. Like 600 FPS out of the 16” (personal chrono of each round mentioned). Inside 100 it won’t make that much of a difference but understand that you can’t count on precision because of that. Think head instead of left eye.

[Steve-0-]

Shoot them all between both guns and note your POI shifts. This is a good reason why I use Mk262 as a zero load and just put up with the minimal shift of 55gr for training.

[rockapede]

Not sure it matters much, between those two. I’d likely just pick the load that shoots the best for both rifles (hopefully it’s the same one…) and run that.

[rocsteady]

I have a pretty good stockpile of both the 50 and the combo of the ASYM and my handloaded 70 grainers so want to be comfortable with both.

Thanks to all for the responses and opinions. I do appreciate it.

[SBRSarge]

For HD or SHTF distance purposes, I think the POI difference will be minimal.

We train with 55 or 62 grain, whatever we can get. We carry the LE223T3 62 gr for duty use and see virtually no discernibly difference in POI shooting out to 100 yards.

The 50gr Black Hills TSX is a BH specific bullet. It is not the regular 50 gr TSX that Barnes sells for loading. It is made of a harder copper composition and will hold together better through barriers… but needs more velocity to reliably expand than the regular TSXs do.

In the end, pick a suitable bullet/load (there are many), learn how it shoots, zero the rifle for a reasonable distance, and know that where you place the bullet is probably much more important than which bullet you place there.