Meopta BDC Reticle Question on New Bolt Gun Build

jlarose85

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What's up guys. Been lurking around here for a while and can't seem to find the answer to my question via searching (probably because it's really newb) and would also like some opinions on this new setup I'm trying to put together. I'm working on putting together a bolt gun for white tails and am stuck a little on optics. This rifle is going to live 99% of it's life in the white tail woods of the south east shooting from 50 to 300 yards max (likely more like 200 yards). The caveat to that is I would like to build a rifle that's capable if I ever decide to do an out of state hunt out west for muleys or elk or something. I'm admittedly pretty ignorant when it comes to longer range shooting but I'm learning about all the stuff that goes into that. With that being said, I'm pretty set on the Bergara HMR or Terrain for a rifle. Both would be .308 with 20" barrels. Now for optics, I don't have a lot of specific criteria here other than that I obviously want good glass, a lit reticle, larger bell for good light gathering, a pretty low lower end magnification level for closer up shots in the woods, and some decent upper end magnification for longer shots. The three scopes that I think I've got it narrowed down to are below:

Meopta R2 2.5-15 x 56
Meopta R1r 3-12 x 56
Zeiss Conquest V4 3-12 x 56

The main thing I'm struggling with is the reticle options on the Meopta's. I don't really like the idea of trying to dial for elevation on longer shots while I've got an animal out in front of me. We hunt a lot of long skinny food plots in planted pines and you don't always have a ton of time to get a shot out before the deer is back in the woods. My solution for that would seem to be to use something like the BDC2 or 3 reticle on the Meopta's and just use the hold over marks to compensate for longer distances. Range the deer and shoot using the appropriate hold over for it's distance. My question is, are these marks accurate as far as the distances they are supposed to be used at? How do I go about figuring out what range each hash mark is supposed to correspond with. I know that on a SFP scope they aren't the same at all magnifications so this might only apply to max magnification but how do I go about figuring that out?

For comparisons sake and to get an idea of what I'm used to, my current rig is an AR chambered in 6.8SPC with a Trijicon Accupoint 2.5-10 x 56. Every other deer rifle I've ever used were old wood stock guns with little Leupold's and Nikon's and such on them.

Let me know what you guys think and thank you in advance for the help.
 
Thanks! Is it strange that they set up the sub tensions at 7x?

I'm starting to wonder if I'm over thinking this and should just go with a standard duplex reticle or something. You've got about an 8-10" vital zone on a whitetail. If I know it's out to 200 or 250 yards I could probably just hold a little high up on the shoulder and be fine.
 
Best way is to shoot and see. For your immediate future, out to 300yds that reticle is not going to do much for you. But if you extend your range, you'll be able to utilize the reticle more.
 
Personally and this is just my 2¢ and I am no expert but when it comes to hunting I have never used anything above 7 power even though I have taken game out to twice the distance that you mentioned. Many times it is due to the West Texas heat that really does not allow for high magnification. In hunting more than 50 years for deer and elk I've only used one caliber and that has allowed me to get to know the rifle well enough that I know what it will perform.

Personally I would buy a smaller objective lens and a 2-7 X 40 or 3-9X 40 scope and the difference of the money spent on a larger objective better optics. By doing this you will have just as much light gathering capabilities with a 40mm objective that has premium glass and coatings than having to move to a bigger 56mm objective where given the same price the glass and coatings are not as fine in order to keep at the same price point as the smaller objective. On top of that by having the smaller objective your scope will be more in line to the center of your bore and will make for a much better balance with the rifle.

Of the 3 that you have selected I would only choose the Meopta R2 simply because it has parallax adjustment whereas the R1 does not, and the Zeiss has a 100 yard fixed parallax. So if your cheek weld is not perfect every time you won't really know if the reticle center is where you are aiming or it is because you moved it with your head to that position. All 3 scopes have good glass but you can get great glass by downzing to a smaller variable power and objective lens and focusing all the money on that scope.

The only time I use higher magnification is when I target shoot my 22lr at 200 yards, but for hunting especially at the distance mentioned above 9X is more than adequate. As for the reticle may I recommend that you zero your rifle at 200 yards at this would cover every distance in the area that you hunt. By zeroing at 200 yards depending if you use a 150 grain bullet or a 168 grainer, at 100 yards you may be off by 1.8 to 2 inches high and at 300 yards between 7 to 8 inches low which is not a lot of dialing up or Kentucky windage to use. Hope you don't take offense.
 
No offense taken at all. I appreciate the feedback. I'm going to take a look at some smaller objectives and see what I can get in the same price range. One I've spotted already is the Swaro Z5i 2.4-12 x 50. That thing looks really nice and about the same price as the R2.

I didn't mention it before but my upper price range is about $1500. I have a hard time spending more than that on a hunting scope.

Thanks for the input guys.
 
At that price range you are already buying premium glass. In that case I would recommend a IOR Valada Hunting scope or the NXS nightforce, great scopes.
 
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Well after finding all of these scopes locally to be able to check out, I think I'm going to go with the Swaro. The Meopta's are nice and they have some clear glass but I didn't care for the reticles. Also, and I have no idea what the technical term is for this, but on the Meopta I feel like you get the feeling that you're looking through a tube much more and the image appears smaller, even though it maybe isn't. On the Zeiss and the Swaro, once you get lined up you get a really full sight picture and you don't see the tube of the scope or the eye piece in your periphery.

Appreciate you guys help on this.
 
At the beginning it can be a little overwhelming to some, but once you get it done it is one of the better ones I have used. Easy to dial up to various distances you specifically have selected using the color code system. Here is a good video.
 
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