Kenten or Leupold CDS Turrents

[Greg Duerr]

I was just about to spend a lot of money on a new scope upwards of $1300 Then I saw that I could add after market dials to my Leupold Var III 4.5-14. At first I read everything I could and asked some questions about Kenton then I saw that I could send in my Leupold and they would add their CDS Dials for my Ballistics on my rifle.

They seem to be very similar both have 50yds increments and clicks in between the 50 yards.

Any one out there use either of these systems? For less than $200 that's a saings of $1100 a nice start towards a new Cooper Excaliber .280 AI

I looked at the ballistics and bullet drop for my load ........Leupold told me that all you need is the 50yd adjustment range. For those who have either can you dial in lets say a range out to 633 yds.................or do you have a choice of either the 600 yds mark or the 650? Can you dial in a little bit closer to the 633?

I would appreciate your comments and feedback.

 

[Browninglover1]

If your scope has tall enough turrets I recommend turret labels. They are only $25 and worth every single penny

Custom Turret Systems Review

 

[jmden]

This'll save you more: stony point target knobs | eBay

These are marked in MOA. 15 MOA per revolution. I've used 'em for years on the same scope you have. Only made for Leups of that era--more or less. Can't find 'em anywhere but ebay anymore. For their cost, there's almost not excuse not to have them on the older Leups.

For the record, I think MOA knobs will be much more adaptable to a given situation that any knobs based on a certain load in certain environmental conditions. As soon as that new superpowder or bullet comes out or you find yourself in vastly different environmental conditions, unless the knobs are also graduated in MOA or mills, the knobs become much less useful. Get 'Shooter' on your phone for $10 and learn how to use it and have a much more adaptable, precise system.

 

[Clucknmoan]

Can't speak to the labels, but I have Kenton turrets on 2 Zeiss Conquests. They are as advertised, work very well. Just remember they are only as good as the data you put into them. I personally wouldn't go by a ballistics calculator for your drops, I would give them the drops based on your actual field testing.

Great product. I much prefer dialing a yardage and holding dead on.

 

[fasttrx88]

I like the kentons as well and you can get two or three revolutions of come up I believe you only get one revolution with leupolds

 

[7magcreedmoor]

I have four Vortex Vipers with Kenton Turrets. They offer four different formats to choose from, I like the "military" setup so that I have my custom yardage and still have moa markings around the bottom if I get out of my "custom" environmental conditions and have to go to a separate drop chart, or want to try out a new load for some reason. Eventually I will save up the dough for a G7 BR2 rangefinder to handle enviro variations, but it is still good to have the yardage markings for quick shots. Before ordering either system, be sure to do trajectory validation on your load.

 

[Greg Duerr]

Yes , That makes perfect sence.....................I really appreciate the feedback, Militar turrents sound like the best way to go.

 

[newmexkid]

I have the Kenton turrets on 2 of my rifles. They work as advertised if you send them the correct info. However, now that I have gone from 5K+ feet to almost sea level I have no idea where they'll hit. I pretty sure this next time I will go with the labels instead.

 

[jmden]

I have the Kenton turrets on 2 of my rifles. They work as advertised if you send them the correct info. However, now that I have gone from 5K+ feet to almost sea level I have no idea where they'll hit. I pretty sure this next time I will go with the labels instead.

This is one of several reasons why you just go with simple MOA/MIL knobs to begin with, learn a ballistic program (very easy--just spend some time here doing some research and asking a few questions) that costs $10 to put on your phone and you'll be better off and more knowledgeable in the long run, while spending less $. There is not a down side here. And yes, those 'cheap' Stoney Point knobs will work as well as any other knob on the OP's scope at a much lower price. Then put the money you saved towards a weather station and rangefinder or shooting classes or whatever else you need to learn to shoot better.

Someone mentioned this earlier, so I'll comment on it. Unless Kenton replaces the internals in the scope, which I don't know that they do, a Kenton knob/turret by itself will not change the number of revolutions a turret will make. That is based up on the internal mechanism of the scope, not the external knob.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

I have the Kenton turrets on 2 of my rifles. They work as advertised if you send them the correct info. However, now that I have gone from 5K+ feet to almost sea level I have no idea where they'll hit. I pretty sure this next time I will go with the labels instead.

You can use your 5000ft altitude turret at lower altitude to a point. Drop data for a particular load will not change significantly in the first several hundred yards, say out to 500ish for a flat shooting round appropriate to long range shooting popular on this site. If you zero your turret at say, 650 yards, you will be usably close on out to probably 800 yards, and only an moa or two off at close range. Play around with the ballistic program to see how large/small the variation actually is. I run a 1000ft turret at home, and a 7000ft turret for the Rockies, with a tip chart for temperature and altitude changes at the longer distances taped on the shell of my rangefinder. My turrets are in Kenton's "military" format- they have my yardage custom drops and the moa scale along the base if needed.

 

[davkrat]

Someone mentioned this earlier, so I'll comment on it. Unless Kenton replaces the internals in the scope, which I don't know that they do, a Kenton knob/turret by itself will not change the number of revolutions a turret will make. That is based up on the internal mechanism of the scope, not the external knob.

With the taller Kenton knobs you can have up to 3 revolutions worth of yardage stacked on top of eachother. Typical 12moa revolution will get to the 500-700 yard range then above it there will be a ring of yardage numbers for 700-1000 etc. I think having windage info on top is more useful than another row of yardage corrections. They will do that too.

 

[jmden]

With the taller Kenton knobs you can have up to 3 revolutions worth of yardage stacked on top of eachother. Typical 12moa revolution will get to the 500-700 yard range then above it there will be a ring of yardage numbers for 700-1000 etc. I think having windage info on top is more useful than another row of yardage corrections. They will do that too.

That's not what I'm talking about. You yardage knob guys... My point is, you don't get any more revolutions with a knob/turret (elevation measured in some angular measurment such as MOA, MILS, IPHY, etc.) from Kenton than from anyone else. The aftermarket knobs all work the same--they just dial up or down based on the mechanism that already exists in the scope. Amount of potential elevation adjustment/more or less dictated by the diameter of the scope tube. Getting a knob or a different knob, in itself, will not change the amount of elevation adjustment of a scope. Which goes back to my earlier discussion that a knob is a knob and there's little reason to spend a bunch of money for one over another.

Don't you guys that are buying the Kenton yardage knobs for your newer, nicer, expensive Vortex scopes--don't those scopes already come with MOA knobs? I recently purchased a $200 lower end Vortex scope that has AO and nice little MOA knobs under the turret caps. Are you replacing perfectly good MOA knobs with custom Kenton yardage knobs?

 

[davkrat]

You're correct but you are misquoting the previous post which said the Kenton can be built with 3 revolutions worth of data while Leupold will only etch one revolution. It has nothing to do with the internal workings of the scope or even how many MOA a single revolution will cover. It is simply how many yards worth of data the company will etch in to a knob.

The more important discussion is whether or not a BDC knob set for one set of conditions will be useful at ranges beyond the 700 yards or so a typical 10-12 MOA knob will get you. I would argue that it's not useful at those ranges but for most hunting situations where game is typically shot inside 600 yards, usually in cooler fall morning/evening temperatures at a range of elevations that the corrections are probably less than one click of the scope. I don't think anyone is suggesting a knob for 1000-2500 yards is a wise choice. For a hunting rifle with a quick, always accessible, no batteries needed correction at typically encountered ranges they are a reasonable tool.

Where I live in California I am literally less than an hour drive from below sea level 100+ degree summer temps and likewise 10,000 foot elevation with morning temps in the low 40's at any time of year. Most people who hunt long range in the Rockies would be perfectly suited with a mid slope 5,000'-6,000' and 50 degree knob. Those who are against them will probably always be and that's why we all get to make our own choices based on our own opinions.

To the OP yes you can easily dial close enough to the between 50 yard hash marks. Typically you will get 3-6 clicks between the hash marks. Just split the difference and you will be close. I doubt an animal is going to know you dialed an +/- an 1.5" at 600 yards because you were off one 1/4 minute click.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

That's not what I'm talking about. You yardage knob guys... My point is, you don't get any more revolutions with a knob/turret (elevation measured in some angular measurment such as MOA, MILS, IPHY, etc.) from Kenton than from anyone else. The aftermarket knobs all work the same--they just dial up or down based on the mechanism that already exists in the scope. Amount of potential elevation adjustment/more or less dictated by the diameter of the scope tube. Getting a knob or a different knob, in itself, will not change the amount of elevation adjustment of a scope. Which goes back to my earlier discussion that a knob is a knob and there's little reason to spend a bunch of money for one over another.

Don't you guys that are buying the Kenton yardage knobs for your newer, nicer, expensive Vortex scopes--don't those scopes already come with MOA knobs? I recently purchased a $200 lower end Vortex scope that has AO and nice little MOA knobs under the turret caps. Are you replacing perfectly good MOA knobs with custom Kenton yardage knobs?

That's why they make red cars and white cars- some like red ones, others like white ones. But I digress. Yes my Vortex Viper came with a nice MOA turret knob. On a 24 MOA per revolution turret. Works great. But I also like having my drop data right there on the turret for those occasions when time is pressing, or the range is moderate, by which I mean somewhere between MPBR and half a mile, where a calculator and weather station really become critical. The custom format I like gives me both the moa AND yardage option instantly available. Literally the best of both worlds. On your other point, the OP may have misunderstood the custom knob option, and you are correct that what you put on the outside of the optic changes nothing on the inside. If your scope has a 12 moa per rev mechanism, you get 12moa worth of data per rev, no more (tall turret styles may accommodate multiple rows of data). To get more usable elevation, you can change to a 20moa base or even 30moa from some base manufacturers, or use Burris rings with offset inserts, or both. But it will still have 12moa per rev. Whichever system you wanna use is ok with me. Have fun.