SHOOTING
14- to 16-inch vital zone). I’m
shooting this bullet with a BC
of .588 with a muzzle veloci-
ty of 2,950. This allows me to
stretch my zero distance clear
out to 320 yards, with the
maximum height of 5 ½ inch-
es (the upper half of our vital
zone pipe if you will) reached
at 175 yards, back to zero at
320 yards, and 5 ½ inches low
at 380 yards which is then my
MPBR.
This situation will cover a
vast majority of shot oppor-
tunities elk hunters through-
out the West will encounter
as most elk are killed under
300 yards and this will allow
a dead center hold on an elk
out to nearly 400 yards.
While it is easy to simply
50
WESTERN HUNTING JOURNAL
punch in the numbers at your
computer and assume you’re
ready to hunt, I would advise
you to validate all your cal-
culations at the range. The
saying ‘trust but verify’ has
lots of merit here. Reset your
zero from what is likely either
currently 100 yards or 2 inch-
es high at 100 yards (the lat-
ter being a somewhat limited
form of this MPBR theory that
doesn’t take full advantage of
your rounds potential) to the
downrange zero the calculator
has shown you. Once that new
zero is verified, move your tar-
get out to the max point blank
range and make sure you’re
hitting where you should be.
If you’re using a muzzle veloc-
ity printed off a box of factory
ammunition, you may need to
tinker with this max range if
you find a discrepancy as the
true velocity may in fact be
slower or faster than adver-
tised. Also, once you get this
set up for a particular round,
you need to stick with that
exact round if you want to
maintain consistency. If you
can’t find the same type of
ammunition at the store the
next time around, you’ll have
to start the process over again
with new data.
You don’t have to look
around too hard these days
to find gear reviews for new
‘long range’ shooting tools,
from laser rangefinders, range
finding binoculars, 1,000 yard
rifle ‘systems’, etc. And make
no mistake, I swear by many
of these very products. I use
them in most all of my hunt-
ing trips for the simple fact
that it’s easy to become pro-
ficient with them if you have
the time. But for those who
want something less com-
plicated, understanding the
max point blank range idea
and how you can apply it
specifically to your rifle, the
round you’re shooting, and
the animal you’re chasing,
can provide you a very effec-
tive method for being deadly
effective with simply the gear
you already own. That way
when the moment of truth
presents itself, all you have to
do is concentrate on squeez-
ing the trigger. WHJ