What bullet to use for your zero?

[IronmanDaremo]

Hello all. Total newb to the precision shooting world. My rifle experience is limited to my father's .22 I shot as a teenager, and M16 qualifying through Basic and as an enlistedman in the Army from '89 - '92 (hey .... at least I qualified Expert initially then ......). So I've never had to zero a scope.

I'm picking up my RPR in 6.5 creedmoor (shocker, I know) this week. I've got a brand new Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50 - thanks Vortex for the great vet discount!!!! - with mil/mil that I will be mounting to take to the range to zero. I bought a variety of factory match ammo to try as well, varying from Hornady 120gr to 147gr. I also plan to try out the Geoballistics calculator app for my range usage. I know from ghosting here and other sites that using the 100yd range will be the best choice, and the range I'll be going to doesn't let you zero on their 200yd range anyway.

My question is this: Is it best to zero using the lightest/fastest bullet you have as the starting point and set your zero-stop from there? In my inexperienced mind, everything else will then have some sort of drop, and you can dial using the mil ticks for elevation changes as needed when you change ammo and log that in your log and/or app. Does that sound right? Or am I totally off my rocker??

 

[stello1001]

Zero with whatever gives you the best performance/accuracy out of your rifle. Then, that would be the only ammo you use.

I suppose if you have multiple types of ammo that shoot really well, you can zero with the one that will suit your needs the most as that is what you will be using mostly moving forward.

 

[Snuby642]

Use ammo from the middle of the box to zero. Lol

For real just zero first batch of ammo you try. The others will be a different impact but on paper at 100yd to see the groups. No use chasing zero to evaluate ammo.

 

[IronmanDaremo]

Sounds good. Thanks for the quick replies!

I tend to overthink things, if that isn't obvious.

 

[XLR308]

I personally wouldn't even bother with the zero stop until you have settled on what ammo is performing best and you are done dicking around with all of the adjustments on the stock.
Once you have a couple hundred rounds through it and are comfortable with not only the length of pull and cheek height settings but also your abilities with the rifle then worry about the zero stop and other small details.
Others may disagree but my first priorities with a new rifle are the ergonomics side of things and becoming comfortable with it to the point that you can close your eyes settle in behind it and when your eyes open you are lined up perfectly without any fiddling around.

 

[Steel head]

Find a load that shoots well and you plan on primarily using and zero that then set your zero stop

 

[Snuby642]

Mostly agree with xlr308 but like to set up a zero so I know it had not moved accidentally while fitting, throwing false movements in the mix.

 

[AIAW]

I zero with the lowest impacting bullet (particularly useful with multi-caliber rifles or scopes that have no "tenths" travel below the mechanical zero-stop).

 

[Dthomas3523]

Are you asking as far as ammo testing, or are you planning on using different ammo in the rifle......such as matches, practice, hunting, etc?

For ammo resting, just get the rifle on paper and shoot it to see what it likes better.

If using different ammo, zero rifle for the ammo you’ll be using mostly and write down the zero offsets for the other ammo. You can either spin the turrets for new zero or use the ballistic calculator’s zero offset.

I check zero every range trip and if either hunting or a match where you don’t get to it have time to zero, I zero the day before with the ammo I’ll be using.

 

[jcam]

At first I zeroed with the factory match ammo I used a lot & gave good results. I had a lot of FGMM at that time.
After reloading I zeroed with my preferred load.

 

[IronmanDaremo]

I figured I would try different rounds and see which ones the rifle performed best with initially. Obviously, as I'm learning, a lot can depend on the cleanliness of the barrel, hot vs. cold firing, etc.

Thanks for the idea to work on the overall ergonomic set-up first before zeroing. That approach makes a lot of sense to me!

I will mainly be doing range practice for now with the long term goal of doing some regional PRS stuff. We've got an 11-month old kid, so priorities right now are getting the little dude safely through the first few years and less on spending a ton of time (and money) at the range. I've also got three teenage boys (19, 16, and 13), and the 16 year old has expressed a little interest in shooting, so we'll see how that goes.