Help!!! Reticle covers the aim point at 300+ yards

[excaliber]

Guys I'm needing some help here. I have a Leupold VX-3 4.5x14x40 CDS scope on my 300 Win Mag.
At 300 yards and on the reticle completely covers the 1" center triangle bull on the target. At 500 yards I'm just aiming at an area on the center part of the target not a small spot.

I'm able to shoot really nice groups but I'm not sure how I'm doing it. I'm just trying to hold on the same spot.
Would a scope with allot more magnification like 24X fix this issue? Will the reticle still cover the entire center bull?

I'm not looking to shoot out to a mile or even 1000 yards at game but I'd like to find something that allows me to get a better sighting picture at distance out to 600 yards at least.

any ideas?

 

[catamountsierra]

Put a 2" or 3" dot on the target, just big enough so you can see the crosshair quartering it. That should do the trick, and still give you a sub-minute of angle aiming point.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

If you are looking for a different scope, have a look at the reticles in the Vortex lineup. I use the HSLR with FFP. The lines are 0.15 moa thick, and at the center is an open area 0.45 moa wide with a dot that is 0.15 moa. I paint steel targets with a red or orange center using a paper towel core (approx. 1.75" in diameter) to mask a dash of red while I paint the rest of the target white or light gray etc. At 700 yards I can see and aim at that color dot with no problem, it being about 0.25 moa.

 

[Mikecr]

The Leupold custom shop will replace your reticle for anything better pretty cheap/fast.
Email them & send it. https://customshop.leupold.com/

 

[Bravo 4]

Like catamount said, shoot a bigger dot. Or aim at the very bottom of the dot instead of right on it. I find that when punching paper a square aimpoint helps, and then aim at a corner. That makes a fine aimpoint no matter how big the square is.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Like catamount said, shoot a bigger dot. Or aim at the very bottom of the dot instead of right on it. I find that when punching paper a square aimpoint helps, and then aim at a corner. That makes a fine aimpoint no matter how big the square is.

Yep. Put the target in the corner of the one of the crosshair quadrants or a bigger dot. If it is one of those things that you don't like then send it in for a new reticle.

Steve

 

[rcoody]

sounds like you are hitting what you are shooting at

there is 1000 yrd competition with Iron sights. How do you think that sight picture looks?

 

[Mikecr]

You may have heard the adage "Aim Small, Miss Small".
That's not Aim LARGE, Miss Small...

 

[rcoody]

You may have heard the adage "Aim Small, Miss Small".
That's not Aim LARGE, Miss Small...

Many long.range shooters are very successful with 10x fixed power.scopes

On my long.range.target guns I have scopes from 42 to 60 power. I am old and.my eyes need all the help they can get.

But for.a hunting rig I don't think I would go over 18x. I have a 2-12 I use the most. A 3-18 for.my long.range.hunter. a 4 to 24 I use for.sighting in that I really like but don't have.a.rifle for.right.now

Hunting.weight and field.of.view are.factors. I would hate to try to find a bedded deer on a hillside with that.42 power.scope

 

[Mikecr]

And if I were duck hunting, a bead on the end of a shotgun barrel would do it. Well, unless I'm a LR duck hunter.

My perspectives stem from varmint hunting (GHs).
And with this, accuracy is significant to my power.

A head shot on a groundhog at 500yds (often presented in higher grass) takes 1/4moa of cold bore accuracy, from both my gun and my shooting of it. Low power, low resolution scopes, with gadget reticles, flat out won't get it. I typically use at least 25x, with a fine or med-fine std crosshair. For me a GH in one of my scopes looks like a brown bear, which I'm about to drop with a brain shot.
I did so with a PA whitetail once, 590yds, 50gr BR bullet, and it never processed a notion of it's end. Not a twitch.

Now common vitals on bigger game are bigger, but it's all relative. At enough distance they get small too. I can't help but assume this is significant to some here at LRH.

 

[excaliber]

Thanks for all the replies!!! I was basically wondering how people shoot such tight groups at longer distances. I never thought of a much larger dot. I've got some really good ideas out of this thread.

I'll give it a shot next time out. I'll report back on how it all work out.