Leupold's B&C and Varmint recticles

[fireroad]

Looking at picking up some Leupold VXIII 4.5x14x40 or 50 LR scopes for 2 of my rifles. I'm looking at the B&C now for my 300 WSM and the Varmint in the future for my 243 win. Are these recticles exceptable for long range hunting, or should I look at picking up a basic fine duplex and sending it off the the custom shop for a TMR. The 4.5x14x50mm in B&C I found is a pretty good deal.

 

[J E Custom]

Looking at picking up some Leupold VXIII 4.5x14x40 or 50 LR scopes for 2 of my rifles. I'm looking at the B&C now for my 300 WSM and the Varmint in the future for my 243 win. Are these recticles exceptable for long range hunting, or should I look at picking up a basic fine duplex and sending it off the the custom shop for a TMR. The 4.5x14x50mm in B&C I found is a pretty good deal.

The long range with side focus and 30mm tubes are fine scopes. I like the 50mm objectives
but on some rifles I use the 40mm objectives.

The B&C reticles are good and if you are going to dedicate a scope to 1 rifle and load the
custom reticle is nice and they are good to 500yrds.

For small targets/game in good light I would go with the fine duplex to get a much better
hold.( With the fine reticle you see more of the game with out covering it up ).

I don't know if this helps but maybe it will .

J E CUSTOM

 

[fireroad]

So if I am understanding you correctly, stay away from the VH and B&C as they are too busy and stick with the FD?

I decided to go with a 40mm tube as the 50mm sits too high...any advice on wheather to go for the AO or LR model?

 

[J E Custom]

So if I am understanding you correctly, stay away from the VH and B&C as they are too busy and stick with the FD?

Go with the LR with side focus.

If hunting in poor light or big game then the heavy duplex works well but for varmints in
good light the fine reticle works better .

J E CUSTOM

 

[devildoc]

Personally, I'd stay away from the B&C reticle for long range stuff. It's just too thick for long range work (Helen Keller reticle). The varmint reticle is excellent though, I've got a 4.5-14X40 and a 6.5-20X50 with the Varmint and I really like them.

 

[fireroad]

Got a chance to look through the Varmit recticle today, it appears to be exactly what I'm looking for as it's a fine recticle. I have found it in the AO version but can't find the LR version anywhere.

 

[BountyHunter]

Buy exbal ballistics program and once you have a load, you can use the reticle tool in the program to get specific reference points for each crosshair and at different powers. that is no different for a crosshair scope. Same steps.

All of them have to be rezeroed if you change loads, so no difference there.

In reality it is no different than a crosshair scope. You have to have good ballistic data and a dope chart. Only difference here is you have dope charts for several power settings.

It is really easy to do and in reality it is just as easy to use past 500 as a fixed crosshair, especially if you have the larger zooms up to 800 or so. You can have simple tape on side of stock with the power setting and zero ranges for each crosshair. After that it is simple click up like a regular crosshair scope.

Once you know the range to the target, look at the dope card or tape on side of stock and see what power and crosshair is closest to your given distance.

On a Kahles 3-9X, my max distances between are no more than 60 yards so you have just a minor hold over or under impact point. I zero at 200 and can go from there to 840 yards at no more than 60 yards between crosshairs I have used them on game at over 500 using that rifle and hit targets at over 700 regularily. I have set up a 6-18 TDS and and the 4-14 BC to do the same.

I have a 338 Lapua AI now with the 8-25 LR with varmint reticle and it will have no difficulty going way past 500 on the crosshair data and I can click up if I want to.

BH

 

[fireroad]

Does the Exbal program work for mil dot recticles as well?

 

[BountyHunter]

Does the Exbal program work for mil dot recticles as well?

Yes

BH

 

[mike33]

I was wondering the time you go thru with purchase of lupy and custom shop deal wouldnt you be be better off just to purchae a NF?
Mike

 

[Timberbeast7]

Figure about $600-$650 for a vx-III 4.5-14x40 LR with the VH reticle, add another $120 for the M1 knobs install and your still right at half of what the NF would cost.

And for what its worth I have two B&C's and two VH's...I would definately give the nod to the Varmint Hunter reticle.

 

[mike33]

Thanks for your information, cant seem to figure out what i want.
mike

 

[fireroad]

I had not planned on going through the custom shop...if I changed the turrets out it would be down the road aways. I needed to put a scope on a rifle now and upgrade one in the future and thought the VH recticle looked pretty handy. The NF are exceptional scopes, but way to heavy for a hunting rig (I hike alot).

Now I've got a new dilema...I was just about to pull the trigger on a VX-III 4.5-14X40mm AO with VH recticle and a friend of a friend is cash strapped and selling a brand new Mark 4 LR/T 4.5-14X40mm with mil dot for $575....but I guess that's a matter for another post.

 

[Moman]

Fireroad, that sounds like a good deal for a Mark-4. Don't shy away from the VX-3 LR with the BC reticle if you decide to go that route. I use one on a pack rifle chambered in 300 WM and it's dead nuts to 500 yds. Anything further than that and I use the turrets, they are accurate as well. I like this model scope for this setup as I wanted a decent scope with reasonable weight savings. The reticle is not too thick either. All in all I have been very happy with this one!