info. needed

[Guest]

Hello everyone, I ran across this site and I am new to LRH and shooting. I have a question on long range scopes, once you know the distance, do you need the baslistics on your bullet, and then adjust/dial it in on the scope and this will be zeroed in at that range? I am looking at the Leupold 8.5x25x50 and at this point am unsure how to operate it. Any help or suggestions are welcome, thanks, Laine

 

[winmagman]

Laine

Welcome aboard.
You've got the basic idea, find the range and adjust for the bullet drop with the scope turrets, this will zero you at the given range.

As a side note ballistic charts will get you in the ball park but the only way to know the exact bullet drop is to shoot at various ranges and chart what the bullet really does.

Leupold makes a very good scope but if you will be hunting with this rig you might want to reconsider the 8.5x25, having 8.5 as the lowest magnification could be a little restricting at closer ranges.

Chris

 

[Buffalobob]

Welcome


Gun will normally be zeroed at 100 yds with high BC long range bullet. Scope will be set up so that it has plenty of elevation left to dial in to the maximum range you will be needing. You will need to know a lot of deatils about bullet trajectory and wind drift with range.

First is to know the maximum effective range of your gun/bullet. This will be when it runs out of killing energy. For deer this is commonly believed to be about 1000#. Two factors are wind and range. Range estimation is handled by laser range finder. See the optics section for long long discussions on range finders.

There are several variations on how to deliver the bullet to the taret. There is the range it out and dial up and shoot crowd. There is the mil dot crowd and there is the Bullet drop compensator reticle crowd. Depending on the gun and animal I will switch methods to suit my needs.

There are many people on this forum and they all have a slightly different approach that suits their perosnality and style.

My advice on scopes is always the same. Do not over power on the low end. Six and above power is very, very difficult to work with on under 100 yd shots on moving animials in trees. You have to have a lot of field of view to select the open spot to squeeze the trigger as the deer runs through it.

All of the above said, what caliber are you shooting and what are you hunting. More specifics will get you better comments.

Leupold is a very good scope, just make sure you can handle the 8.5 low end power.

 

[Buffalobob]

Winmagman

U beat me to it. I was too slow typing.

 

[Kenster-Boy]

Well you certainly have come to the right place /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif. I am sure that you will find everything you need to know using the search feature. Read it all over once or twice and then ask questions on what you don't understand and you will always find someone to help out.

I would agree with what has been said so far! I use a 6.5-20 leupold and wouldn't want to deal with any more power on the low end. I have already missed gimme shots on game because of this. But I still would feel naked without the power to really see detail out at extended ranges.

I personally like the "dial it in" method. It just takes the guess work out of it. There isn't any fumbling around with how much to hold over and what mill dot you should use. I hate having too much garbage on the cross hairs. It just makes me sick.

But whatever suites your fancy. I would say to start off you need a good solid accurate rifle (a good scope on it of course), a rangefinder, and handload your own ammo. This is the bear essentials.

Once you have all that equipment then you will be ready to start practicing.(which trust me will take up the bulk of your time when starting long range hunting)

But stick with it and don't give up. It is a very fun, exciting, and EXTREAMLY frustating sport /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif but it just makes the pay offs of a nice shot all that much more appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. guys, It makes perfect sense about the low end power, I'll rethink that one. I do understand that I have alot to learn!! I'll use the search feature and do some reading. My intial thinking on my gear was : Tikka Lite 300 WSM, Leupold scope, and I will have to use factor ammo. Main hunting use is for Elk/Deer. I'm sure there will more questions later, Thanks Laine

 

[Kenster-Boy]

Not a problem. Like I said you came to the right place. THIS IS THE BEST FORUM ON THE INTERNET HANDS DOWN! Your set up sounds good to me. Depending on the range you may need to get a sloped base for your scope so that you have enough up ajustment to get to 1000 some day. But as far as the rifle it sounds good to me. Just remember when you get the scope make sure that you get the TARGET KNOBS/TURRETS. All of leupolds "target" models have these. They are just raised knobs to help you dial in the distance.

But other than that you will be fine for a while. Just remember that once you start playing WAY out there you are gonna need to take up handloading no questions about it. But until then shoot lots and good luck!

 

[travelin_guy7]

I have to agree with the wisdom given in this set of posts. 8.5 is an awful lot to have bottom end. Along those lines, you have to consider whether you really need 25 over 20 on the top end. I use a 4.5-14x myself and really like the option of the really low end. Of course for the serious longe range the 6.5-20x would be ideal. I got a good deal on me 4.5-14x leupold at huntersdiscount.com you might check if they have the bigger range as well