Trajectory of the .223/5.56 round in a Carbine

With the popularity of the AR platform and the .223/5.56 round I thought it would be a good idea to review the trajectory of the round and common sighting ranges. Being a high velocity round the trajectory is relatively flat within a few hundred yards – past 400 the drop-off is significant.

eotech

There are several philosophies on sighting in the AR and what range in best. Here are a few examples:

50 Yard Zero – Sighting in the AR to be on the money at 50 yards is extremely popular and typically what I do. Why? Because at 100 yards I will be hitting about 1.5″ inches high and at 200-225 I will be back on the money. This provides excellent accuracy from 0 out to past 250 yards with little if any compensation especially if we are talking about shooting man sized targets.

This is by far the most popular method used for sighting in an AR.

 

100 Yard Zero – Not a bad option at all. With a zero of 100 yards the .223/5.56 round will impact approx 3/4″ low at 50 yards and around 2.25″ low at 200 yards.

 

25 Yard Zero – I don’t care at all for sighting in at 25 yards. When zeroed at 25 yards the round will also be zeroed at 300 yards. This strategy does not provide much of an advantage unless longer range shooting is planned. The problem is between 25 and 300 yards where either the rear sight has to be adjusted for elevation while shooting or english used.

All these numbers are relative and depend on specific barrel lengths, loads, and barrel rifling.

I recommend the 50 yard zero.

JR

 

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4 Comments

  1. Panhandle Rancher says:

    Looks like an EOTECH sight picture. Everyone should be aware that there is suit against that firm for knowingly providing defective holographic sights to our troops (see: http://loadoutroom.com/18582/eotech-recall-replacement-options/) and also the EOTECH web page. I have several of these sights (the IR versions) and none have given a problem, yet. I also have a number of Trijicon ACOGS and of the two prefer the latter. I find the large sighting image of the EOTECH and similar not conducive to accuracy at ranges of more that 150-200 yards. By turning down the intensity, the optical subtense decreases a little permitting more accurate work.

    The 5.56×45 is a great short range cartrige and with good bullet selection should be more than adequate out to 300 yards when shot from normal rifle length barrels. Often terrain or vegetation sets limits on the effective range and thus zero. Living in the woods, I still sight my 5.56x45s for 300 yd. zero (when using an ACOG). To each his own.

    Thanks Rourke for the neat ballistic review.

    PR

    1. JR says:

      Fotus

      I’m a little confused. The ballistic charts on the page you cited confirm very close to my numbers. The author also suggests that when talking about an absolute zero distance the difference between “296 yards and 333 yards isn’t all the much.”

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