To mildot or not to mildot...?

[Archie]

Hi all,

Well this will be hopefuuly my first of many post on this site... so far I like what I see! Here is where I'm at so far...

I've just bought a new Remington 700 XCR Longrange in 308 and am yet to get myself a good scope for this rifle. I'll be mainly hunting with this weapon but at some stage I'm thinking of heading to the US for a course or two in long range shooting -that'll be a thread in itself at a later date- so I am in a query as to just what scope to put on this baby of mine?

A bit of background history I guess is needed here on me. I am mostly a bowhunter and do all my hunting (up till now) with a longbow & or recurve. My background is an Infantry/recon grunt and I spent some time working alongside our snipers as the two trades work hand in hand in the field. I've always had a spark in my eye for longrange shooting and this 700 will quell some of that hunger. I like the quote "Beware of the man with only one Rifle..." that being me...I hope.

At this stage I'm looking at the Nightforce range as well as Leupold. It's what reticle patten will suit me best is the problem.

Anyhow... enough of me as they say... a penny for your thoughts please.



Regards from aussie,


ak.

[CentreHit]

Hi Archie,

Welcome aboard mate, glad to have you!

You will learn a lot here - read some (sorry - ALL ) of the articles and have a good time.

One thing I learned fairly quickly is my expectations were high and this meant dollars when it comes to equipment. Now, here is the best advice I can give a new long range shooter: "Save, Save, Save and make only one good/well researched purchase for each bit of equipment for your kit."

As to what scope you should get is a very big topic and sometimes somewhat biased towards your own goals and desires, then later it can be turned into an 'upgrade' war as you will always see something new that comes out of R&D.

I personally have made the jump for the Nightforce NXS 5.5-22 X 50 rifle scope with turrets measured in MilRadians and from all the feedback and information I could research myself I've made a good choice. Something I can actually hand down to my son... (I actually wanted the Premier Reticle scope but was a tad out of the budget).

See quote below - the man who trains with his only firearm is one to be wary of, he knows it intimately. That will be you too - practice my friend.

With Nightforce ensure you match your turret adjustment measurements with your reticle. Read - If adjustments are in MOA ensure you have an MOA reticle to go with. Also - If the adjustments are in MilRadian ensure you have a reticle that measures in Mils. Being from the military you should be fine with mils

Enjoy the site.

Cheers, CentreHit.

Originally Posted by Archie

Hi all,

Well this will be hopefuuly my first of many post on this site... so far I like what I see! Here is where I'm at so far...

I've just bought a new Remington 700 XCR Longrange in 308 and am yet to get myself a good scope for this rifle. I'll be mainly hunting with this weapon but at some stage I'm thinking of heading to the US for a course or two in long range shooting -that'll be a thread in itself at a later date- so I am in a query as to just what scope to put on this baby of mine?

A bit of background history I guess is needed here on me. I am mostly a bowhunter and do all my hunting (up till now) with a longbow & or recurve. My background is an Infantry/recon grunt and I spent some time working alongside our snipers as the two trades work hand in hand in the field. I've always had a spark in my eye for longrange shooting and this 700 will quell some of that hunger. I like the quote "Beware of the man with only one Rifle..." that being me...I hope.

At this stage I'm looking at the Nightforce range as well as Leupold. It's what reticle patten will suit me best is the problem.

Anyhow... enough of me as they say... a penny for your thoughts please.



Regards from aussie,


ak.

[tackb]

Hi archie , welcome aboard.

I use my .308 for mostly everything , i have many other rifles but my 308 is my goto rifle, you know the one that you are drawn to when you go to your gun safe.

I use a leupold m3 3.5-10x40 and can't really think of a situation i couldn't solve with this scope when i'm out hunting bearing in mind the capabilitys of the 308 round ? i have also shot out to past 1200yds with it although in my rifle with 168 hornady tap ammo it gets a bit unreliable past 1000yds.

I am personally in the process of changing all my scopes to 1cm@100m because the metric system works so well with the mildot system (as funds permit)

you will be well served to learn one gun , just find one load that really works and learn it ? one good hit with a 308 is worth any number of misses with the latest 400 destructozap giga magnum!!

good luck and remember to check and double check the evil entity we refer to as wind........

Russ

[silvertip-co]

So far I like my mildot, have about 180 rounds shot using it. I am still in process of doping out the dots on the range. All good fun really.

[Archie]

Cheers for the warm welcome fellas, many thanks.

CentreHit, you are right when it comes to all the info on here... this is a huge site and I'm sure I'll gain all the know-how and have more questions down the track.

As with all items I buy, be it a TV, bow or camera gear, I always do my homework. Hence this thread I guess... I'm just am after a good quality scope, to match the money and effort of my new 700.
Also, something will suit my two wishers, that being some long range hunting/shooting and to be able to attend a shooting school or two in the states. On a side note, time spent on a good range in a school per say, will thicken up my CV up some as I work in the security industry in sandy parts of the world.

TackB; thanks for the post. The rifle came in only 3 cals so 308 was a sound option and my 12 year old son will be able to handle it I think soon enough with light loads on some Chital (Axis) deer I have close by.

With the Nightforce range I've read nothing but good comments about 'em. It's just mastering the mil dot is what I'm kinda worried about some.


Cheers again lads,



ak.

[tackb]

hi archie, do a search for the 'mildot master' on google or go straight to thankyou to find a distributor in the uk i used Sporting Services - Corporate Entertainment, Accuracy International Rifle Agents, Small Arms & Ammunition Suppliers and Ballistic Consultants which also has other useful longrange kit.

the mildot master goes everywhere with me just in case my pda/i phone fails or goes flat or the battery in my lrf 1200 run flat ?

It also comes with a book how to use mildots and how they reference to the mildot master slide rule , i found it a revelation .

Russ

[Archie]

Thanks TackB/Russ for he links mate... that'll keep my infront of the laptop screen for a while!


ak.