trajectory/scope adjustment and reticle questions

[chowder]

After reading about as much as I can handle about the significance of hold over,BDC, mil dot, moa, and other reticles I must confess I'm still somewhat confused and thought I better see if I'm on the right track towards developing a well tuned rifle/scope/cartridge and shooter (me) package.

I'm in the process of developing a trajectory table for my Savage model 12 22-250 heavy / Mueller 8.5-25x50 combo shooting the 50 grain factory Remington Accutip cartridge. Using the Remington ballistics info for this cartridge as a rough starting point, I'm shooting 3 shot groups from 150 yards (my zero) out to 400 yards( NY hill farm country practical max yardage) and I'm building myself a table for clicks to get to each new 50 yard increment. This is kind of tedious but I'm practicing as I go and I am getting a feel for the way the parts of the picture are starting to work. Now this is a mil dot scope but for now I don't care because I'm not now or ever really likely to use it to range my targets (I've got a laser rangefinder) and at this point I don't think I want to mess around with the hold over techniques that the mil dots would enable me to use if I were so inclined. Despite the fact the scope has a mil dot reticle the turrets are labled "1/8" which I've assumed means 1/8 inch or 1/8 MOA @ 100 (since at 100 1 moa is pretty close to 1". so each click is 2/8 @200,4/8@ 300,etc. Since this bullet drops 10" between 300 and 400yds I'm sure hoping I wont run out of adjustment!
I realize that coping w/ wind is yet to come but is what I'm doing sound or should I be doing something much different?

 

[loosesniper2000]

The first thing I'd do is borrow or buy a chronograph, don't spend a lot of money but buy a decent one. Without knowing the exact velocity you'll be screwed from the start. After that continue on with your plan using the click method but you may want to set your zero at 100yds and do 25 yard increments.
Remember with 1/8 moa you're dealing with .125" adjustments which means it will take 8 clicks to travel 1 inch at 100yds. A 200 yds the click value doubles and so on.
You'll want to look into using some kind of software like Nightforce or use a free one online. If you have an iphone you could get iStrelok for free as well.
I'm sure you'll get a lot of good advice which may seem overwhelming but it will come to ya

 

[ubettcha13]

Go to the range set zero at 100 or 200 yds not 150. It is easier to start here rather than at the 150 as the click value will be easier to use in MOA. If your just going to 400 or 500 yds use the tape method around the turret. Take a piece of tape put it around the turret if you have target turrets. Starting from zero look at your drops and move whatever the clicks it takes to get to the next distance. Mark it with a colored sharpie. Move to the next distance on your drop chart use a different color, till you have moved out to the max distance you plan to shoot. Now go shoot at those distances and fine tune. You just made yourself a calibrated turret for next to nothing.

 

[yobuck]

you dont need anything other than what you already have.

make up a frame for a large target. 4' wide x 8' high would be fine.
cover the frame with a soft material like a 4x8 sheet of foam insulation.
buy a roll of paper table cloth at a party supply store.
staple the paper onto the foam and place a target or an orange dot near the top.
prop up the frame so it wont fall or blow over.
i would zero the gun on that target @100yds.
then back off and shoot at each distance you want for your chart , (without changing the scope) leave the zero @100yds for all shooting.
i would shoot 3 shot groups at each distance.
then simply measure the distance down to each group from the 100yd. zero.
that will tell you exactly how many clicks you need at that distance from your 100yd zero.

even if you chronagraph the gun and use a programed chart, it will probably need tweeking in your gun.
i wouldnt advise doing this if you needed a 1000 yd chart, but for up to about 500 yds its as accurate as you can get.
you can also use the target to see where your milldots hit with
the various distances.
its nice to be able to stare at holes in a target, it sometimes registers better.

 

[chowder]

Thanks for the replies! I will change my zero to 100 and I like the home made custom turret idea! -Andy