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AKM; effective range; zeroing in general

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Finished browsing the weapon comparison I'm now left with some questions. I hope you guys can help me out:

- Other rifles have an even shorter "effective range": M4A1 300 meters; AKS-74U 200 meters...

what happens to the bullet after 300/200 meters? Will it sink or just dissappear?

- The AKM has an "effective range" of 400 meters but can be zeroed to a max of 800 meters...

what happens to the bullet after 400 meters when zeroed at 800? What is "effective range" at all?

- If I shoot a target, standing 50 meters in front of me, with an AKM zeroed at 800 meters...

will I have to aim below his head to achieve a headshot? How much lower?

- If shooting the same target under the same circumstances but with an AR without zeroing (M4A1 e.g.)...

will I have to aim below his head to achieve a headshot? How much lower?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Can´t answer all your questions but oh well.

Effective range is where your gun is pretty accurate I guess. Above that range, your gun will lack accuracy.

If your AKM is zeroed at 800m to make a headshot at someone standing 50m in front of you(Why would anyone do that anyway?), you will need to aim below his head indeed.

I think that most guns are zeroed to about 100m, not sure (Just my experiences)

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Best thing for you to do, would be to download this mission, and install it in the editor. And while in the editor, you can practice and try out all the weapons you want in the game, ballistics and zeroing included, except maybe the DayZ Winchester and double barrelled shotgun.

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AKM effective range is way lower than 400m because of the fucking insane recoil + tiny iron sight

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If your AKM is zeroed at 800m to make a headshot at someone standing 50m in front of you(Why would anyone do that anyway?),

I can't answer any of the OP's stuff but I did think of a reason for this...

If you're shooting targets at range and then an enemy pops up right in front of you at close range and you don't have time to change the zero :P

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- Other rifles have an even shorter "effective range": M4A1 300 meters; AKS-74U 200 meters...

what happens to the bullet after 300/200 meters? Will it sink or just dissappear?

The effective range does what it does; it's most effective when shooting something at that range. This useally means that the (fixed) zeroing is set at this distance, and bullet drop (due lower speed, and thus less damage) occurs after that distance.

- The AKM has an "effective range" of 400 meters but can be zeroed to a max of 800 meters...

what happens to the bullet after 400 meters when zeroed at 800? What is "effective range" at all?

The optimal range to fire the AKM is under 400 meters, but by increasing the zeroing you can use the sight/scope at higher distances without doing it manually (aim higher/lower then target compaired to the center of the aimpoint). Zeroing only adjusts the sight/scope, but at larger distances then the effective range the bullet/round will still do less damage.

- If I shoot a target, standing 50 meters in front of me, with an AKM zeroed at 800 meters...

will I have to aim below his head to achieve a headshot? How much lower?

This depends on the sight or scope used. But aiming at the upper torso should do the trick in this case.

Please note that the bullets/rounds are fired from the barrel and therfor fired from shoulder height (is aiming down sight). So, since you aim higher (due the higher zeroing), you need to aim a little lower because of the short distance to the target.

Although this is excact science, it requires practice to now excactly where to aim for perfect results.

- If shooting the same target under the same circumstances but with an AR without zeroing (M4A1 e.g.)...

will I have to aim below his head to achieve a headshot? How much lower?

All weapons have zeroing, although most at fixed. Eg. the M4A1 has a (fixeD) zeroing of 300 meters, but at 50 meters the bullet travels a couple of inches above the point you aimed. So with the M4A1 you should aim for the chin to hit the target between the eyes ;)

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Best thing for you to do, would be to download this mission, and install it in the editor. And while in the editor, you can practice and try out all the weapons you want in the game, ballistics and zeroing included, except maybe the DayZ Winchester and double barrelled shotgun.

I know this mission, it's pretty awesome for snipers, never tested it tough.... thanks anyway!

The optimal range to fire the AKM is under 400 meters, but by increasing the zeroing you can use the sight/scope at higher distances without doing it manually (aim higher/lower then target compaired to the center of the aimpoint). Zeroing only adjusts the sight/scope, but at larger distances then the effective range the bullet/round will still do less damage.

So the effective range states to wich distance weapons do full damage!? Is already known how much damage the weapons lose after that?

All weapons have zeroing, although most at fixed. Eg. the M4A1 has a (fixeD) zeroing of 300 meters, but at 50 meters the bullet travels a couple of inches above the point you aimed. So with the M4A1 you should aim for the chin to hit the target between the eyes ;)

Well, I tested this quite a few times. I chose a high value barn (because it has nice bright yellow walls),

used my rangefinder to place myself <50, =50 and >50 meters away from this wall and took a few shots...

Every single shot, if placed lonely with long time pauses in between, hit exactly the aimpoint. Tested with

M14 AIM; MK48 Mod-0 and M4A3 CCO... but occasionally in firefights single shots miss my targets and hit the ground

many many meters above the actual target (into the hill or a wall e.g.). What's happening?

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Is already known how much damage the weapons lose after that?

Basically no. Its not any guaranteed value it decreases over distance and time. In real life it is generally regarded as the distance a shooter can make a killing shot efficiently. In arma you can make shot much longer then the effective range of a weapon if you know how a gun handles and have a good feel for the bullet drop.

Well, I tested this quite a few times. I chose a high value barn (because it has nice bright yellow walls),

used my rangefinder to place myself <50, =50 and >50 meters away from this wall and took a few shots...

Every single shot, if placed lonely with long time pauses in between, hit exactly the aimpoint. Tested with

M14 AIM; MK48 Mod-0 and M4A3 CCO... but occasionally in firefights single shots miss my targets and hit the ground

many many meters above the actual target (into the hill or a wall e.g.). What's happening?

This may be to the bullet hitting your respective target but the person has moved or it simply missed and bounced on the ground to the point that you saw the impact. Also 50m is not a hard target to hit and simply >50m shots are not a test. Try hitting targets at 300-1000m to see bullet drop.

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So the effective range states to wich distance weapons do full damage!? Is already known how much damage the weapons lose after that?

This depends on the weapon, the ammo and (although not in DayZ) the weather like wind, temperature, humidity, etc.

I know there are some spreadsheets which have all the numbers and charts, but these most of them changed with the latest ArmA2 patch.

Well, I tested this quite a few times. I chose a high value barn (because it has nice bright yellow walls),

used my rangefinder to place myself <50, =50 and >50 meters away from this wall and took a few shots...

Every single shot, if placed lonely with long time pauses in between, hit exactly the aimpoint. Tested with

M14 AIM; MK48 Mod-0 and M4A3 CCO... but occasionally in firefights single shots miss my targets and hit the ground

many many meters above the actual target (into the hill or a wall e.g.). What's happening?

Please note that stance (stand, crouch and prone) and your current state of mind (have you walked or ran, or is someone shooting you) effects your aim. And after each shot you need to "rest" to get perfect aim again, so taking time for each shot will increase you accuracy.

Also lag may cause some weird hits (or misses).

I've played a lot of ArmA2 online before DayZ even existed and I've learned where to shoot (aim high or low), when to shoot (resting before firing) and how to shoot (single, burst or auto fire). It may take some time to learn, but playing ArmA2 (even singleplayer missions) will teach you how the weapons work and will improve your game in DayZ.

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Ive killed at around 600 with an akm but i fired like 17 single shots to do it. Whenever i pick up a new gun i go on the arma 2 shooting range 1.1 to learn about the weapon, for example sniper scopes, i spent a while learning to use the SVD scope so that when i used it first time i got a <50m headshot and my second ever shot was a 550m headshot on someone running along a hospital roof

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This may be to the bullet hitting your respective target but the person has moved or it simply missed and bounced on the ground to the point that you saw the impact. Also 50m is not a hard target to hit and simply >50m shots are not a test. Try hitting targets at 300-1000m to see bullet drop.

It wasn't a test for bullet dropping rate at all, rather a test if bullets rise shortly after leaving the barrel...

it looked as if for non zeroed weapons, bullets fly straight out to the point of aim without rising in the first place.

... bullets can bounce of the ground???

Please note that stance (stand, crouch and prone) and your current state of mind (have you walked or ran, or is someone shooting you) effects your aim. And after each shot you need to "rest" to get perfect aim again, so taking time for each shot will increase you accuracy.

I knew, that your aiming is terrible after long sprints. Not only weapon sway is added, but your shots won't even land where the

reddot actually is pointing at. So your psychic state affects your aiming too? Thats amazing! Temperature, hunger or thirst also?

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