Where to zero?

Centerfires, rimfires, pistol cartridges and everything in between.
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H.Plummer
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Where to zero?

Post by H.Plummer »

Newbie question...
If I wanted to use a 45 colt rifle for both pistol caliber lever action and cowboy lever action, what range would be the best to zero at when working up a load?
cedestech
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by cedestech »

Not sure exactly what you are asking… If it’s what range to do load development, with that rifle I’d say start at 50 and if you have several loads that look similar go to 100. Iron sight you need to make sure you are using a target large enough to get a repeatable point of aim on so you can tell if it’s you or the load.

That choice for PC….

It’ll probably shoot too hard to be accurate for PC. You’ll tear up chickens….

I did a 44SPL in a ‘66 last year. Shot great. First match… I quit shooting chickens after breaking 5 in a row…. (Match directors get a bit annoyed with that).

If you can get it downloaded enough to not tear up animals, sounds like a hoot!
Emmett Dibble, Houston, Texas. Where's my buddy Jason? Keeper of electronic records and banisher of little pieces of paper?
H.Plummer
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by H.Plummer »

Thank you, Sir!
Ya, I was concerned that it might be too much for pistol caliber. My standard 45 colt load that I shoot in my revolvers gets a 250 gr. lead bullet going 1200 fps in the rifle.
Do you think it's an option for CLA?
375Short
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by 375Short »

If you can get accuracy that gives you confidence at 200m the 45 Colt will work just fine. I believe it will work just fine at a much more sedate velocity than 1200 fps. My 200gr loads, subsonic from a .357 take rams with reliability so a 250-300 grain bullet going 1080’ish should work even better.

For PC I think very slow will be needed to keep all that mass from over killing chickens. Maybe a 180gr collar button going 800’ish for chickens then whatever shoots best for you still going subsonic for the remainder of the coarse.

For sight settings you need a zero for each animal and I’m sure you being familiar with the 45C you know you will need a rear sight with a very generous amount of elevation.

There are a lot of ways to decide what distance you want to load test and different approaches by different competitors. I develop very mild and accurate loads for my wife’s PC rifle at PC Rams and it then serves as the CLA chicken load for both of us. Then I develop an accurate CLA Ram load and it is used on the other three CLA animals. Pigs are heavy and I like to hit them with the same thing a Ram deserves. Turkeys are not to hard to knock over but are the least forgiving of poor accuracy so again they get the Ram load developed for accuracy at 200m.

Use the criteria that gives you the most confidence. I’m confident with a fairly generous accuracy standard with lever guns, if the load consistently groups inside what my sight covers I’m happy. I find with this standard my shots go on call and more importantly what’s called a hit generally is and what looks like a shooter induced miss generally is as well. Others probably have higher standards.
H.Plummer
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by H.Plummer »

Thank you, 375Short!
Lots of good info to digest.
I'm thinking that a 45 colt CLA load is very doable but I should probably consider a different caliber for pistol caliber. Gives me an excuse to get another rifle!
375Short
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by 375Short »

It’s a great sport. Welcome! Be forewarned, it could be the beginning of excuses for a number of new guns. In the meantime shot what you got and have fun.
375Short
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by 375Short »

It’s a great sport. Welcome! Be forewarned, it could be the beginning of excuses for a number of new guns. In the meantime shoot what you got and have fun.
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PAndy
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by PAndy »

One of my sons shot .45 colt in pistol cartridge and 200m. Our 255 gr cast PC loads are around 1100 fps. No complaints or broken chickens so far. We might try less speed in the future to see if accuracy holds up. Same load used for chix and 100m pigs in CLA. He lobbed 300 gr bullets out to 200m rams at about 1200 fps. Fun to shoot and fun to spot.
His Marlin CB rifle likes bullets of 0.454" or maybe fatter; I don't know if others are the same in that regard. Chamber is fat so I only resize the top half of the case to hold the bullet.
Last edited by PAndy on Mon Dec 05, 2022 8:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
H.Plummer
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by H.Plummer »

Thanks PAndy, good to know.
I'll probably have a conversation with the guy that makes all our steel targets and let him make the call.
375Short
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by 375Short »

As you search for a PC rifle there are a number of cartridges that work well and assuming you reload just about any can be made to perform satisfactory. The PC targets are not hard to knock over so there is little need for you or the targets to endure stout loads. Keep in mind a .22 LR will take the PC targets down a lot of the time. It’s not a practical choice as you grow in the sport it will leave way to many animals but the point of reference is it doesn’t take much more bullet mass and they all come off the rail enthusiastically. .22 mag on up works great. As you ponder your choices look at component availability as well.

My choices are generally made by the rifle itself as much as the cartridge. I want the heaviest, Longest barreled thing I can find. The rifles can be expensive but unlike most hobbies you can get a large portion of that money back when your done or decide on a new best choice.

Another factor to consider is simply shoot the cartridge and rifle you like. It doesn’t need to be anyone else’s favorite pick. You just like it and want to shoot it is a solid reason for a choice. Same will go for sights and how you hold. Go with what works best for you. Every choice is some form of compromise geared to best suit you. If your like many of us it is a never ending quest to arrive at what best suits us. As you attend big matches you will find many of the old best choices for sale.

You choose your hobby wisely, you will be hard pressed to find a better bunch of folks to offer guidance if you want it or leave you alone if you don’t. But either way friendly nice people that can become a community of friends.
H.Plummer
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by H.Plummer »

375Short,
I appreciate your last post, especially your comment about shooting the cartridges and rifles that I like. That is a priority for me because, as I said in a previous post, I'm getting into this game for the fun of shooting the rifles that I like (John Moses Browning designs) and improving my marksmanship with those rifles. If I'm competitive, great. If not, that's ok too. I'm just competing with myself.
Hmmm. I've been lusting for a Winchester 1885 low wall 22LR....!
375Short
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by 375Short »

Be careful, competing with yourself and working on just improving your shooting skills is a good recipe for becoming an extremely competitive shooter. I read in an old book when I was High School, that’s an extremely old book, “if you only compete against yourself, soon everyone else is competing only against you”, or something along those lines. Reading retention was never a strong suit.
c4p6t7r188
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Re: Where to zero?

Post by c4p6t7r188 »

375Short wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 7:00 pm Be careful, competing with yourself and working on just improving your shooting skills is a good recipe for becoming an extremely competitive shooter. I read in an old book when I was High School, that’s an extremely old book, “if you only compete against yourself, soon everyone else is competing only against you”, or something along those lines. Reading retention was never a strong suit.
I really like this quote, I'm going to repeat it to myself all the time now.
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