Night Vision What yardage do you zero your thermal

[LC 6.5 Shooter]

What yardage do you zero your thermal at. Ive got a 6arc with trijicon reap ir 35-2-irms.

Right now got it zerod at 50. Shouldn’t have any shots past 200 where we hunt. Is that ok

 

[pyplynr]

I didn't choose a zero. I let my ammo choose for me. JBM ballistics has the Point Blank Zero feature. I looked for a round that had the necessary energy I needed out to the farthest distance I would feel comfortable shooting that also kept the flight of the bullet in the kill zone window that I felt worked with what I'm shooting at. The ammo I chose will carry the energy I require out to 320 yards with my rifle all within a 3" kill zone window. My point blank zero for all that through JBM was 277 yards. So anything out to 320 yards is point in shoot. no worrying about holdovers or bullet drop.

 

[scott5456]

I shoot a fast 6mm as well. Zeroed at 100 yards. It happens to work out with that zero that the reticle on the Nvison lines up as a BDC of sorts. So if I zero at 100 the hash marks line up for 200, 300, 400, 500 yards, close enough for a kill shot.

 

[SCGunner84]

50 but only because I was in a rush when I zeroed it and it has worked out well for me for going on 3 years. i have a Bering optics Hogster R35. Kills have been as close as 10/20 yards and out to 375 yards

 

[LC 6.5 Shooter]

50 but only because I was in a rush when I zeroed it and it has worked out well for me for going on 3 years. i have a Bering optics Hogster R35. Kills have been as close as 10/20 yards and out to 375 yards

I did 50 same reason. What caliber is yours?

 

[SCGunner84]

I did 50 same reason. What caliber is yours?

20 inch 308 suppressed on a terminus Zeus action. Takes care of anything we have here in South Carolina. Also just upgraded my tripod and couldn’t be happier. I got a lightly used Fatboy two section used here on the PX and pair it with their inver ball head. Rock solid combination for sure.

 

[LC 6.5 Shooter]

Hold straight up anything 300 in?

 

[SCGunner84]

Hold straight up anything 300 in?

Yes sirrr that’s pretty much it and for projectiles I’ve been using 151 grain Lehigh control chaos loaded from Grind Hard Ammunition.

 

[kirsch]

This depends on gun, caliber, and especially scope. One thing to keep in mind is most dedicated thermal weapon sights, sit higher off bore than a glass scope. The average on most thermals is 2.5" off bore. Mine is a little over 3". Due to this, I zero my thermals .25" high at 100. Many people like to zero it 1-2" high at 100, but due to the extra height, they end up missing a lot of animals high in the sweet spot of their range. Know your ballistics and know your height off bore.

 

[1911guy]

now I’m curious….what is the height over bore of a reap-ir?

 

[TRG65]

100 also with 6 ARC, but did the same when it was mounted on a 6.5 Creedmoor.

 

[softcock]

What yardage do you zero your thermal at. Ive got a 6arc with trijicon reap ir 35-2-irms.

Right now got it zerod at 50. Shouldn’t have any shots past 200 where we hunt. Is that ok

( 50 yard zero ) , on the 30-221 Rem. boltaction . aka.. 300 blackout
2400 vel on 110 v-max's . easy GTG out to 150 yrd. , Is a rarity I call-in and shoot dogs around here a night farther than that .
.

 

[kirsch]

I was almost sure someone had posted they had talked to a thermal manufacturer, and they were told the scope heights above the rail. I don't see that post anymore. This measurement is fine, but keep in mind you need to add the distance from the top of the rail to the midline or center of your bore as well. This will most likely add at least another 1" to the total if not more.

 

[shields shtr]

Many people like to zero it 1-2" high at 100, but due to the extra height, they end up missing a lot of animals high in the sweet spot of their range. Know your ballistics and know your height off bore.

This is great advice. I tossed a few airballs on yotes last night and punched a 2.5" height above bore, vs a 1.5. Made a huge difference at 300 yards. I only had time to do the ol "quick zero" dead on at 25 yards and head out.

Like anything, I should have confirmed zero at 250-300, but got in a rush.

 

[kirsch]

This is great advice. I tossed a few airballs on yotes last night and punched a 2.5" height above bore, vs a 1.5. Made a huge difference at 300 yards. I only had time to do the ol "quick zero" dead on at 25 yards and head out.

Like anything, I should have confirmed zero at 250-300, but got in a rush.

Glad to hear my advice helped.

 

[shields shtr]

Glad to hear my advice helped.

Sure did. I kind of piggybacked into another thread. Maybe some people will be able to post up what they have been using for the Ballistic Calculators they use with regards to height above bore. I plan to do some more "longer" range shooting this week and see if my calcs for height above bore on my XRF coincide with what I see in the field. Right now I am calculating 2.67" above bore for my setup. See how it works on target. Most of my shots out here on yotes are between 250-300, unless it is pitch black out they get pretty wary under that yardage.

 

[waspocrew]

I've only used my Rico MK1 on my 6 Creed so far... I've zeroed at 100 yards and it's worked out pretty well. Smacked a coyote at 260 a couple nights ago, as well as several jack rabbits out to 220.

 

[SupressYourself]

This depends on gun, caliber, and especially scope. One thing to keep in mind is most dedicated thermal weapon sights, sit higher off bore than a glass scope. The average on most thermals is 2.5" off bore. Mine is a little over 3". Due to this, I zero my thermals .25" high at 100. Many people like to zero it 1-2" high at 100, but due to the extra height, they end up missing a lot of animals high in the sweet spot of their range. Know your ballistics and know your height off bore.

I wondered if "sight height" worked the same for thermals, re: ballistics calculators, considering they don't exactly operate like a normal optic. Have you been able to confirm that your zero works for longer ranges?

 

[kirsch]

I wondered if "sight height" worked the same for thermals, re: ballistics calculators, considering they don't exactly operate like a normal optic. Have you been able to confirm that your zero works for longer ranges?

The bullet still follows the same path based on the ballistics of the bullet whether a person uses a thermal or glass scope. To answer your question, yes, when testing out the custom reticle feature of the Super Yoter LRF, I verified my ranges and drop out to 500 yards, and they matched the traditional ballistic chart.

I recently published a video with a 576-yard coyote kill. At the time, my furthest dot was 500 yards, so I had to guess a bit, but it worked out.

 

[Killswitch Engage]

if youre running a optic with a true subtension based reticle zero at 100yd. if youre running an optic like the reap i would zero at 50yd or your mpb close zero distance.

 

[SupressYourself]

So if I say a coyotes vitals are (a very conservative) 4 inches tall, and I use point-blank range calculator https://shooterscalculator.com/point-blank-range.php and get the following (22 Creed), I should just zero at 50 yards, and would be good to hold center-coyote out to roughly 300 yards, correct?

 

[FuhQ]

I zero everything I can at 100... and with the Rattler TS50-640 on my 16" 6mm ARC, zero'd at 100 is nearly dead-on at 200. Maybe about 1.5" drop max with my 115 RDF load. So pretty much same exact zero, just aim slightly higher.

 

[kirsch]

So if I say a coyotes vitals are (a very conservative) 4 inches tall, and I use point-blank range calculator https://shooterscalculator.com/point-blank-range.php and get the following (22 Creed), I should just zero at 50 yards, and would be good to hold center-coyote out to roughly 300 yards, correct?
View attachment 8324799

What's your max height of your bullet flight and at what distance? Let's say it is close to 2" high and this happens from 130-200 yards. If you have a 4" inch kill zone that is 2" on each side. You may be approaching the top edge of your kill zone where most of your coyotes will be shot just so you can stretch your PBR out to 294? I see this a lot and lots of guys missing high and blaming their thermal.

 

[SupressYourself]

What's your max height of your bullet flight and at what distance? Let's say it is close to 2" high and this happens from 130-200 yards. If you have a 4" inch kill zone that is 2" on each side. You may be approaching the top edge of your kill zone where most of your coyotes will be shot just so you can stretch your PBR out to 294? I see this a lot and lots of guys missing high and blaming their thermal.

That's why I chose 4 inches instead of a more realistic 6-8. I've shot enough coyotes to know that if I hit them 2" from my point of aim, they are still very much dead.
Some day I'll likely upgrade to the Super Yoter LRF and do the custom reticle like you. For now I have the original SY and the stadiametric range finder. I've been doing well with it on the lowly 223 with a 16" barrel. I'm moving it over to the 22 Creed to get a bit more range.
Bracket the coyote, if he doesn't fit between the lines, he's within 300 yards. Hold center mass and send it.

 

[pucker]

I zero all rifles at their Single-Zero Point (SZP). (the range where only 1 zero would exist...i.e., no hold-UNDERS.)

This equates to ~100y for nearly every centerfire. (this is why (I believe) 100y is the common zero...has nothing to do with being a 'nice round number')

Of note, I do the same with rimfire too. E.g., 22LR w/ match (subs) and 2.5" scope/bore height ~38y.

Using any ballistic engine, enter 100y zero and check for hold-unders (x.x Down, etc.).

Fast cartridges (as well as high scope mounts) might push the SZP out to 120y or so. In that case (as mentioned in above example Kirsch gave), moving your zero out to THAT range would again eliminate your POI ever being ABOVE your POA.

It's not intuitive (for me at least) to have any distance where I'm required to hold under my intended POI.

With a SZP, I know... inside AND outside 100y = some amount of hold-over. Memorize a few points...maybe most likely engagement ranges...or even better, learn what RANGES coincide w/ easy-to-remember mils... e.g., 0.2mil = 170y, 0.4mil = 230y, 0.6mil = 260y...

When I'm headed out with that rifle... "170, 230, 260...170, 230, 260..." and I know that everything inside of 170y (and all the way to 65y...which is approx where most centerfire will also be 0.2mil) is less than 0.2mil...and anything near my SZP (inside or outside) is ~0.0.

Anyways, that's what is simple and intuitive for me.