Point Blank

What is point-blank & why is it good?

Point blank is marked by no appreciable drop below initial horizontal line of flight. In the rifle hunting world, it allows hunters to get on target fast out to a certain distance with out worry of dialing the scope. If your scope is zeroed at 100 yards and a deer steps out between 250 - 275 yards you will have to "hold over" in order to have an ethical shot, but how much? That depends on the rifle/cartridge. 

How does it work?

Point-blank in a rifle set up means the bullet will not rise more that a determined distance above or below a set number. We can apply a point-blank range to your rifle with a dial turret scope. Some say the kill zone on a whitetail deer is 8" and some say it is 6", we will pick dead in the middle, 7". If the kill zone on any animal is 7" we can calculate a 7" point-blank so the shooter can aim at the kill zone and be confidant in an ethical shot out to a determined distance. This is accomplished by adjusting the scope so that the trajectory is 3.5" above and below line of sight.  Here is an example:

Caliber - 7 PRC - Muzzle Velocity - 2830 - Bullet Weight - 180 - Bullet Ballistic Coefficient G1 - .699

With this information we can calculate this rifles 7" point -blank max distance is 313 yards. If the rifle is set to zero at 100 yards we will dial up 2.75 MOA, this will accomplish the 7" max point-blank.

Rifle zero is 100 yards

Rifle is dialed up 2.75 MOA to 265 yards

Notice the rows in yellow - 150 yards is the max height of the trajectory at 3.4" above the line of sight, 265 yards is where the bullet intersects the line of sight and 314 yards is max distance before the bullet drops below the line of sight more than 3.5".