Thoughts

how long have you been shooting?

Was just going through some of the different bullets and I will adjust my numbers a bit.. It seems on average most cartridges will shoot about 8 - 10" higher at 500 if sighted in at 25yrds.. Still very intersting concept.

I'm with you on that Tuc,, I am by no means a big ballistic guy or even a long range hunter,, its not my thing.. Actually there is no such thing as a long range hunter,,, just long range shooters lol.. And I am no big paper shooter either,, paper taste like crap never seen the point in hunting it a lot.. Still it is interesting to have the knowledge just in case the time comes when a guy may feel the need to pull the trigger on that 60" bull at 500 yards it's good to know where you stand.

It's just the concept I find interesting,, kind of goes against what a guy has always thought.. It's something I am going to try when I get home.. The boys and I have a day of shooting and sighting in coming up at the home range and I am going to see if this theory is correct or not..

You touch on the issues I have with it as well jimmy.. One may not even notice being off a bit to the left at 25yrds but at 300 it could be significant. I am thinking on it in a pure trajectory view.. Like I said one would still want to shot at 100/200 yards to practice if nothing else but let's leave the trajectory out of it and just dial in the drift..

Like I said I am definitely going to play with it a bit. Going to site in my '06 to 25 and see what happens.. Just roughed in the new 300wsm at 100 and don't want to bother going through another half box to re do it until I know it's something I want to pursue,, and the '06 is a little easier on the pocket book and the shoulder lol.

Thx for your thoughts Jim and yah any info is good info send some stuff my way..

I would call this method getting on paper.

I don't know what to think of the Original post and the thought of "sighting in" by shooting at 25 yards.  I don't think it is a good idea, the way I understand it.

I will fire a few shots at 25 yards to get the group right on the centre of the bull.  Then move out to 100 yards and sight in so the group is about 3 inches high.

The "sighting in" process has nothing to do with "testing" the shooter.  It is all about the gun.  Anything and everything to do with shooter error should be removed.

Once the gun is sighted in (and shooting the best that IT can) then there is time for the shooter to practice their skills to see what is the best they can.

Yes walleyes you are right your original post was kind of "lost on me".
However I was not implying you were talking about practice at 25 yards.

I don't understand what you are trying to say about "long range bullet drop" and how sighting in at 25 yards relates.

I was referring to another post "sighting in is not just for the rifle it's for the shooter too. You need to know how you shoot not just that the rifle is on at 25" - See more at: http://albertasportsman.com/alberta-guns-and-shooting/sighting-in/msg28293/?topicseen#new

Yes, the first cross at 25 yds is generally correct.  Quite easy to, "boresight" the rifle by supporting it, removing the bolt and looking down the barrel from 25 yds, too.   

I have a hornady reloading book from the 50's or 60's;  in the back of the book are compete ballistics charts, a true treasure trove of information which I have spent many hours poring over.
Knowing what your bullet is doing at range is a great confidence booster.  Also very interesting to compare energy at range with different calibres/weight of bullets. I really don't know why the newer books don't have that.  A failing, IMO.  I commonly tape a simple chart of range/drop to the stock of my coyote killer .243.  Difference between a hit and a miss is inches, and knowing where those inches are.   

I'm not a 1 rifle guy, I pore over the ballistic charts for what I feel is the best choice for my quarry at the distance I expect to shoot from, then tailor a load that is most accurate for the weight of bullet I've chosen and sight it accordingly.  (I also test any new bullet by firing them into a row of  milkjugs filled with water from 75yds ending in a newspaper backstop to see how they perform.  You'd be surprised how many, "popular" bullets consistantly fail to perform properly.

Also lot's of interesting things, for eg:  a .243 shooting an 85gr lead is like a .270 shooting a 130gr lead is like a 30-06 shooting a 165gr lead is like a 300winmag shooting a 180gr lead.  Trajectory of the above are almost identical.  (to a point, of course)  Energy changes.  You could actually if you desired, say, have a .270 for deer and a 300 for elk;  if you sight them the same they'd shoot the same.  Just grab the rifle you want to use.

I'm certainly no expert, just enjoy the research, reloading, testing and shooting;  not to mention the hunt!

My two extremes:  .243 shooting 58gr Vmax lead @ approx. 3800fps is 4" high at 100yds;  My 450 is 0 @ 100yds shooting a 400gr.Hawk at about 2000fps.  One's a moosekiller to 150yds, the other'll kill almost any coyote you can see. 
Pretty interesting stuff.

Another thing that amazes me is how a rifle shooting two different powders showing the same MV will prefer one over the other, sometimes by a huge margin(different burn rate?)...........but that's another topic I don't know nearly as much as I'd like to about.   

Yup, so much one can learn, so little time to soak it all in, eh?

All that being said, there's a reason a 30-06 is pretty much the most popular calibre, and if I couldn't afford an '06, a .303 is a looooottt closer to an '06 ballistically  than most may think.   

The problem with this method is that any error at 25 yds may be so small that you won't see it but at 100 or 200 yds it will be greatly magnified.