Rookie Question - Turrets

[Slimwallet]

Gents,

If one has practiced and knows how his rifle shoots at long distances....400 - 800 yards let's say....

and the shooter knows how many clicks to move the reticle at known distances... ie the range card.....

Assuming no wind and a hunting situation......is it not a simple matter of knowing your zero stop, then putting in the clicks for the lasered range and shoot?

Is it good practive to use a rangefinder that corrects for elevation differnce between the shooter and the target?

Seems that if you have a rangefinder, this is much more precise ...at long distances... than using holdover or some sort of BDC reticle.

Thanks,

Slim

[sparkie01]

i would say yes, However bro if you are using some kind of slope dope tool. IE Protractor and string, or even a 40 or 50 dollar piece that will show you cosign or angle in degrees then you do it a few times and it becomes second nature. And a tool that is priceless is a good ballistic program. that way you can run through several differant senarios that might be very difficult to do without optimal conditions. Such as a Goat Staring down at you with a 30 Degree angle. how many ranges do you know where you can get the ezact dope for that for you gun. Or you know geraly 20 degrees adajst 1moa and so forth. I am not a big of relying on rangefinders cause it seems electronics go down right when you need them. But hey amigo take care

Originally Posted by Slimwallet

Gents,

If one has practiced and knows how his rifle shoots at long distances....400 - 800 yards let's say....

and the shooter knows how many clicks to move the reticle at known distances... ie the range card.....

Assuming no wind and a hunting situation......is it not a simple matter of knowing your zero stop, then putting in the clicks for the lasered range and shoot?

Is it good practive to use a rangefinder that corrects for elevation differnce between the shooter and the target?

Seems that if you have a rangefinder, this is much more precise ...at long distances... than using holdover or some sort of BDC reticle.

Thanks,

Slim

[ss7mm]

Originally Posted by Slimwallet

Gents,

If one has practiced and knows how his rifle shoots at long distances....400 - 800 yards let's say....

and the shooter knows how many clicks to move the reticle at known distances... ie the range card.....

Assuming no wind and a hunting situation......is it not a simple matter of knowing your zero stop, then putting in the clicks for the lasered range and shoot?

Is it good practive to use a rangefinder that corrects for elevation differnce between the shooter and the target?

Seems that if you have a rangefinder, this is much more precise ...at long distances... than using holdover or some sort of BDC reticle.

Thanks,

Slim

There are a lot of assumptions going on here but if you have spent time behind the rifle, if you have valid field data that produced your range card, if there is no wind and if you know the exact range via your rangefinder, then "theoretically" it is just dial and shoot. But, there are a lot more things involved.

One of the best things I could tell anyone that has even the slightest question about long range shooting would be to invest in Shawn's long range video. It will answer all of your questions and tell you things you may never have thought of. Link--> Long Range Hunting-Video (Shawn Carlock, Defensive Edge)

I personally don't use an angle/range indicating range finder. I use a Swarovski and love it. The problem with angle shooting is that the distance via the angle/cosine method or however you come up with the "real" flat land distance, is that you actually need to put the lazered distance and angle into a reliable ballistics program if the range is very long at all. The difference, especially at longer ranges, can be more than you would think.

Even though I use a rangefinder I also have a reticle that allows me to range an animal if needed. Having said that, I still laser everything and never "guess" at a range using the reticle. Animals body sizes vary to much and for me it would be just like guessing to range an animal at long range with a reticle.

I also know that a lot of people say if you have an electronic piece of equipment that it will eventually fail so the reticle may get used some day but not unless I have to and then I'd limit the range. I carry spare batteries for all of my electronic equipment when shooting/hunting so battery failure is only a temporary problem at most.

Highly recommended are the best range finder you can afford, a reliable angle/cosine indicator, a good weather meter and a good external ballistics program in a Pocket PC or Palm that you carry with you in the field as well as your proven data/range card.

[sparkie01]

I would second the Shawn Carlock video. He is a heck of a shot and knows the inside and out of Longrange Hunting. And well i would definatly use a rangfinder as i have one but like the above said have a backup. i run a NP-R1 reticle and i can range almost in any conditions but occasional my LRF wont reflect a true range due to cloud cover or heat you name it, So take it for whats its worth you drive a car with a seatbelt and you also have a airbag.........