What Is Point-Blank Range?

In the days before rangefinders with angle compensation and high-powered scopes with dial-in elevation turrets, hunters relied on a concept known as maximum point-blank range to hit their target hundreds of yards away and notch tags. What is point-blank range? In laymen’s terms, it is the maximum distance at which a rifle-ammunition combo can be held dead center on a target of a given size and have the bullet hit within that area without the shooter compensating by holding high or low.

Why is understanding and using this concept still important to today’s hunters? Simple. Despite recent advances in technology, we don’t always have time, especially when hunting elk in deep, dark timber and whitetails in the big woods, to get an accurate range or dial for elevation prior to making a shot. We need to be able to point and shoot quickly and accurately enough to hit the animal in the vitals.

Let’s explore the concept further and explain how to use point-blank range effectively on your next hunt.

Using Point-Blank Range

Many hunters passively play the point-blank range game when they sight-in their rifle 2 inches high at 100 yards. This at least ensures the shooter can hold on the center of the vitals and hit them from the muzzle to beyond 100 yards. But there’s much more you can do, and many hunters never fully realize the full implications and benefits.

Consider deer hunting with the 175-grain Fusion Tipped 7mm Rem. Magnum. On most deer, we can assume a vital zone of 6 inches in diameter. To maximize the distance at which you can place a bullet within that 6-inch circle, you must first determine the proper zero, where the midrange trajectory doesn’t rise any more than 2.5 inches (half the vital zone distance) above the line of sight. After that, we can look at the detailed trajectory curve to find out at what distance our bullet is no more than 2.5 inches below our line of sight. This indicates that a hold on the center of a deer’s vital zone will put a bullet in the proper spot.

With a 200-yard zero, the 7mm Rem. Magnum load rises a maximum of 1.8 inch above the line of sight. However, assuming that 6-inch vital zone, we can push the envelope a bit, and use a bit more midrange rise.

The Federal Ballistics Calculator reveals that a zero of 260 yards lets the bullet rise exactly 3.0 inches at 150 yards, and then drop to 2.9 inches below the line of sight at 280 yards. This means that any for deer between the muzzle and 280 yards, you would simply hold the crosshairs on the center of the vitals and squeeze the trigger to send the 7mm Rem. Magnum Fusion Tipped through the animal’s chest.

This is just one example, and the numbers would change significantly if you were hunting an animal with a larger vital zone, or a cartridge with a significantly flatter trajectory, such as 7mm Backcountry. Still, you can use the same tools to define your ideal zero and maximize point-blank range for your chosen rifle-ammunition combination.

Portable Precision

With a rifle’s point-blank range well defined, the shooter can spend time at the bench and do some experimentation to determine where the crosshairs need to settle to hit a target at slighty longer ranges. When that whitetail is cutting across an open field and the rangefinder reads 336, you need to be able to throw down quickly, stop him and settle your crosshairs—without twisting turrets.