OK, we are now delving into the differences between types of scopes. In reality very few hunters have tactical type scopes on their rifles. There are more 3 x 9 x 40 and 4 x 12 x 40 scopes sold at the $100 to $250 price range than any of the more pricey types. Since this is a hunting forum let's address this and make it simple for the average hunter. Scopes of this type do not have the fancy bells and whistles of the more expensive optics. The parallax is set at the factory for 100 yards, there is no adjustment. When these scopes are sighted in it is a a given range with whatever ammo the hunter has decided to use, there is no adjustment. For the purposes of this missive I have chosen the tried and very proven 30-06 rifle and for the ammunition the much used 180 grain in this case Federal Premium Nosler Partition, which by the way is considered to be used on big game, not medium game like deer and antelope where 165 grain is more appropriate. The other reason I selected Federal is due to the absolute wonderful ballistic information on all of their rifle cartridges.
https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/ There are charts for every cartridge/bullet combination made by them. It gives velocity, energy wind drift and bullet drop out to 500 yards for all of their ammunition. With the P3006F Nosler Partition 180 grain bullet leaving the barrel at approximately 2700 FPS (Dependent upon barrel length) the following bullet drop is charted. 100 yards +2.0 inches, 200 yards = Zero, 300 yards -8.5 inches. What does this mean for the average hunter without an adjustable scope. First of all, the rifle can be sighted in for a 200 yard zero simply by sighting it in at 100 yards 2 inches high you have it sighted in at 200 yards and at 300 yards the bullet drop is only 8.5 inches low. Again I am going to reiterate this again, "It is my feeling that for the
average hunter they should not be shooting over 200 yards. This is my experienced position and not up for discussion. All of you have your own ideas on this and if you are reading this you probably are not the average hunter. So let's not even go there as far as how far one should be shooting at. With this in mind if the rifle is sighted in at 200 yards if one holds dead on the bullet will never be more than 2 inches off between the muzzle and 200 yards. At 300 yards it will be 8.5 inches low so if the shot is fired held on the shoulder it should remain in the kill zone of the average (Midwest) White Tail deer out to 300 yards. Now with that said there are a lot of variables; shooter skill, rifle shooting 1 MOA or less, wind drift and of course the much argued about lighting and the list goes on. Again, all discussion is welcome with the exception of my 200 yard rule. Looking forward to hearing from you.