Jon A
Well-Known Member
You've gotten some great advice above. My thoughts are:
Get a scope with good turrets. Messing around with adjustments on regular scopes that can't really be "zeroed" and with numbers that can't be seen unless you're looking down at them gets old.
Zero for 100 yds but feel free to carry with some clicks "a 300 yd zero, etc" dialed in. This allows you to check your zero under different conditions, different altitudes, etc that would change trajectory at a longer range even if your rifle has held its zero perfectly.
Print out a dropchart and tape it to your stock. There are plenty of programs you can use listed in the thread mentioned above. As an Engineer not afraid of numbers ( /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ), I prefer MOA as in 10.25, 10.50, 10.75, 11.00, etc. With an MOA turret with 1/4 clicks, there's no counting envolved and you know exactly where to go--just crank to the right mark. I do it like this:
Of course it goes without saying, that all this will just be a rough starting point until you actually shoot at the ranges and verify the accuracy--depending upon the accuracy of your inputs to the programs (velocity, BC, environmental conditions, scope height, click value--just because it says 1/4 MOA doesn't mean it is exactly--etc). But this is a basic skill you need to learn that is sort of the foundation of everything. Practice makes perfect.
As for BDC's, I was always turned off by the fact you'd be locked into a single load under a single set of conditions. A new $50 knob every time you switch loads, go hunting at a different altitude, etc would get real old I thought. But recently I've been experimenting with making my own to tape onto the turret. If you do a search, you'll find discussion about this sort of thing here from the past. It's certainly more of a PITA than making a dropchart, but I'm starting to believe it will be worth the effort. Basically all you're doing is transfering the ranges from the dropchart directly to the turret which I think will be much nicer to use in the field. And when you change loads, go to a different set of conditions, etc, just rip the old one off and put on the new one.
Anyway, learn to walk first. Print out a drop chart and start living at the range.... Much of this stuff just comes with practice. And in practice everybody developes their own personal preferences about how they like to do things. Eventually you'll find yours.
Get a scope with good turrets. Messing around with adjustments on regular scopes that can't really be "zeroed" and with numbers that can't be seen unless you're looking down at them gets old.
Zero for 100 yds but feel free to carry with some clicks "a 300 yd zero, etc" dialed in. This allows you to check your zero under different conditions, different altitudes, etc that would change trajectory at a longer range even if your rifle has held its zero perfectly.
Print out a dropchart and tape it to your stock. There are plenty of programs you can use listed in the thread mentioned above. As an Engineer not afraid of numbers ( /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ), I prefer MOA as in 10.25, 10.50, 10.75, 11.00, etc. With an MOA turret with 1/4 clicks, there's no counting envolved and you know exactly where to go--just crank to the right mark. I do it like this:
Of course it goes without saying, that all this will just be a rough starting point until you actually shoot at the ranges and verify the accuracy--depending upon the accuracy of your inputs to the programs (velocity, BC, environmental conditions, scope height, click value--just because it says 1/4 MOA doesn't mean it is exactly--etc). But this is a basic skill you need to learn that is sort of the foundation of everything. Practice makes perfect.
As for BDC's, I was always turned off by the fact you'd be locked into a single load under a single set of conditions. A new $50 knob every time you switch loads, go hunting at a different altitude, etc would get real old I thought. But recently I've been experimenting with making my own to tape onto the turret. If you do a search, you'll find discussion about this sort of thing here from the past. It's certainly more of a PITA than making a dropchart, but I'm starting to believe it will be worth the effort. Basically all you're doing is transfering the ranges from the dropchart directly to the turret which I think will be much nicer to use in the field. And when you change loads, go to a different set of conditions, etc, just rip the old one off and put on the new one.
Anyway, learn to walk first. Print out a drop chart and start living at the range.... Much of this stuff just comes with practice. And in practice everybody developes their own personal preferences about how they like to do things. Eventually you'll find yours.
