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My plan is to stick with my Model 70 in 270 WSM but bump up from my 130grn. deer rounds to 140 grn. Accubounds. They all hunt with various 30 caliber magnum rounds with ballistic compensating scopes as they prefer to shoot from a bit further than I'd be comfortable. I'd rather stalk them or call them in if it's an option. FYI, my scope is a VX3 3.5x10 and if I load those rounds up hot then zero'd at 200, I'll be about an inch and a half high at 100 and 6 low at 300 at which range I feel confident with my ability.
Thanks for any input that you're willing to share. I feel I've got a lot to learn and I want to make the upcoming season a lot more successful than my past few.
A 200 yard zero is fine but you should calculate and verify drops out to longer ranges. I suggest every 100 yards out to 500 if possible. Doing so will do a couple things, both good. First, you will get more comfortable at longer ranges. Second, you will know from experience what your drops are rather than relying on unconfirmed calculations.
My preference is to zero for MPBR (Maximum Point Blank Range) for a given target size. Using a 6" diameter target, which is what I use, your .270WSM with 140g AccuBonds leaving at 3165fps is capable of a 315 yard MPBR when sighted 2.5" high at 100 yards. Zero would be 268 yards. What this would mean is that the bullet would never be more than 3" above or below line of sight from the muzzle out to the MPBR range of 315 yards. At 300yards it would be down just under 2" and the 6" drop you mention as being at 300 yards gets moved out to 350 yards. This would allow you to hold 2/3 up on the front leg and get a good hit well past 400 yards and hold high on fur closer to 500.
Just a thought and you may never need the extra range. In 31 years of hunting elk my longest was 350 yards for the first 30. Last year I took one at 399. Although I had left my laser range-finder at home (dumb), I guesstimated the range and didn't think twice about hold-over - just placed the crosshairs 2/3 up and squeezed. Maybe 10 steps, and that's probably very generous, and it was over.
Good luck whatever you choose.
