Thread: 243 sighting in Phillip Holden styles

Team, I'm off to sight in my M70 243 this weekend ( freshly pillar bedded and suppressed )
I seem to recall old Phillip Holden used to sight in his beloved Sako 243 at 40 yards? Have I got this right?
Was it bang on or an inch high at 40Y and good to 250Y? I guess he validated it at longer range but I recall reading it a few times and he said it was how he went about it.

Is this is a viable option? any one else doing this? Usually I sight my 7mm08 in 2 inch @ 100 but this might be a quicker set up...

Thanks in advance.

Bang on at 50 should be 1 or 2 inches high at 100. I Sight in at 50 and do a couple at 100 to check. I'm a bush hunter so rarely shoot over 100 metres

Originally Posted by GSP HUNTER

Team, I'm off to sight in my M70 243 this weekend ( freshly pillar bedded and suppressed )
I seem to recall old Phillip Holden used to sight in his beloved Sako 243 at 40 yards? Have I got this right?
Was it bang on or an inch high at 40Y and good to 250Y? I guess he validated it at longer range but I recall reading it a few times and he said it was how he went about it.

Is this is a viable option? any one else doing this? Usually I sight my 7mm08 in 2 inch @ 100 but this might be a quicker set up...

Thanks in advance.

If you plan on shooting past 100yds, no, no ,and no! not unless you have previously tested that method and found it to work for your rifle. 250yds? just no! (you did ask!)

If you know your trajectory, 40m will get you usefully zeroed.
For example, my .260 should be 20mm high at 40m for a 220m zero. Of course you need to be spot on in your measurements, but short ranges have big advantages in that they are easier to find, and less affected by any wind that may be about.
The big issue is parallax - you need to be aware of it and shoot accordingly, by either using a scope with adjustable objective or being super careful about a consistent head position behind the scope.

While i know older fellas that have always simply sighted in bang on at 30 yards, which put them about 2.5" high at 100, and 2 inches high at 200 and bang on about 250.

This is all dependent on scope height above the bore, and it also requires a perfectly bang on zero at 30 yards, if it is off ever so slight it messes it all up pretty quick. Sure zero at 30 yards, but then its always best to double check it at 100 to confirm the 2.5 inches high etc. If you dont you can find by the time you get out to 200 ish the zero that was a tiny bit off at 30 will really start to show up at 200+

Just zero at a hundy,dial up 2 inchs then check at 200yds.

@GSP HUNTER… If you let me know which bullet you use and MV I’ll have a look in the magic toolbook and work out the best zero range for you to be bang on at 250. You work in yards, yes?

It’s weird you should raise this now because I’m putting my 243 back together now with a different scope and I was going to do this exact same exercise for my rifle shortly. So no bother to do it with yours as well.

I can send you the resulting table and trajectory curves as well if you like.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

@GSP HUNTER… If you let me know which bullet you use and MV I’ll have a look in the magic toolbook and work out the best zero range for you to be bang on at 250. You work in yards, yes?

It’s weird you should raise this now because I’m putting my 243 back together now with a different scope and I was going to do this exact same exercise for my rifle shortly. So no bother to do it with yours as well.

I can send you the resulting table and trajectory curves as well if you like.

My numbers above were for a 85gr hpbt SGK at 3100 fps with a scope height of 1.65 inches above bore.

the above is Philip Holden era if not before.........its rough GUIDE..... many variables will change things A LITTLE.... personally I find 2" high at hundy better as I seldom shoot past 300...ok ok normally shoot my deer at less than 50 yards....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

the above is Philip Holden era if not before.........its rough GUIDE..... many variables will change things A LITTLE.... personally I find 2" high at hundy better as I seldom shoot past 300...ok ok normally shoot my deer at less than 50 yards....

50 yards or 50 years? LOL.

As he said it's rough
Some of todays bullets are much more streamlined
Still
Out of an accurate old Remmy BDL 30 06 zeroed at 2.8ish" high at 100m I'm on at 225 and 7 0dd low at 300 with Cheap Winchester 150gr .
It'll do [and has done]

Originally Posted by jakewire

As he said it's rough
Some of todays bullets are much more streamlined
Still
Out of an accurate old Remmy BDL 30 06 zeroed at 2.8ish" high at 100m I'm on at 225 and 7 0dd low at 300 with Cheap Winchester 150gr .
It'll do [and has done]

Just about all normal centrefire cartridges have a very similar PBR trajectory regardless of bullet to be honest, if you're not dialling etc and shooting to 300 yds, 2.5"-3" high at 100 will serve you well no matter if you have a 223 or 7mm RM

Originally Posted by TeRei

50 yards or 50 years? LOL.

Up until now he's shot all his deer at less than 50 (years)

Many dead deer bush hunting with the 243 using 100gr i just sight at around inch and a half high at 100. Rarely shoot anything past 200, most 40-80 yards etc no problem.