Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Not Too Old To Learn

Decades ago, when I was active Army, I had the impression that the height of the sights above the bore of the M16A1 caused a really high trajectory at mid ranges to allow hits on the reactive targets at longer ranges. In four years of active duty I never had the opportunity to shoot my rack rifle at paper beyond the 25 meter "battlesight zero" target.

The military system got my grudging admiration only because the reactive targets really did fall most of the time. But I always wondered how things would work if I were shooting at a smaller or partially obscured target.

Fast forward forty years and things get a little clearer. I had used a few ARs at the range that other guys let me shoot. Pretty much all flat tops with scopes mounted at more or less normal height.
And I had a RR lower that I'd put in the back of the safe thinking that someday I'd build a rifle that reminded me of rack #226.

The rifle I ended up building though, wasn't like anything I'd ever used before. It has a 16" pencil barrel with a front sight tower and flat (pic rail) top over the receiver. A2 style fore end.
As a quick expedient I put a magpul folding BUS on the rail and started shooting it. I quickly figured out that all of my ancient perceptions about trajectory seemed a bit off.
I mounted a carry handle sight thinking that it would confirm my old ideas. Nope...

Then I put it away for most of a couple of years. Maybe a magazine through it once every 6 months. Had some time off with a leg injury and put a Sig red dot on it this spring. Spent a few days sitting at a bench with it and lobbing lead at steel.
In addition to becoming addicted to this rifle I got an education.
6" steel at 50 or 100 yards is dead easy, and no problem. 10"steel at 200 is a noise machine with a careful hold.

I haven't used it much past 200 yet, but every indication is that my old biases were wrong. This light handy carbine is now my go everywhere, hit anything, eff around and find out rifle.

Yesterday at the range I stapled up a pair of half dimension silhouettes. Center hold at 200 got 4 center hits in around a 5" group with one 2" flier high right. Couldn't even see the head, but held where I thought it was. 4 hits in the neck and upper chest, with one off silhouette to the left. It aint a bolt gun in .243 or 25-06, but it don't weigh 8 1/2 or 9 lbs either.

Admittedly late to the game...

You can investigate the effect of sight height on trajectory using one of the free online ballistic calculators.

They are fun for sure. I always bring one of my AR's with me to the range to shoot while the barrel is cooling on the bigger bolt guns. I generally just shoot the steel targets with the AR, unless I want to make a point about how accurate the AR can be at 400 yards. It can be an eye opener for sure.. I really don't think about the scope being so far off the centerline of the bore, because it's generally "close enough" at short distances and then I'm dialing anything past 200... Kind of a moot point really..

The high line of sight is more of an issue up close than at a distance.

I shot this target when I was trying to set up an AR with a light to shoot beavers at night.

The grids are 1 1/8"

This is probably the best visual for different zero’s with different bullet weights and barrel lengths.

Pick which best suits your typical distances and choose your zero.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthrea...gths-and-zero-ranges-M193-M855-and-Mk262

I gotta like a light handy rifle that I can hit a softball with at muzzle to 200 yard distances.
On demand and from about any position, as long as I can brace or lean against something.

And I can't say exactly why, but the Sig Romeo 5 was the game changer. I've always loved and shot well with aperture sights. And this little rifle did some pretty fair shooting with them.
But the RDS is simply faster and easier to shoot well.