Rgr that Boss, those are good videos and I actually had them saved. I know how to do it and why to do it, but was wandering if my thinking on this was off. If I wasn't gonna be dialing turrets I would want this(and use it). But for dialing, if my reticle is centered at my original zero ( 100yards, 200yards, or whatever) and I mostly shoot at 600+ then why should I care if it's near center when at the original zero? My normal operating range is gonna be at least a full turret revolution and more over zero. Plus I have heard that the closer to center the more exact the adjustments can be and you can have a better sight picture through the scope, so why wouldn't I want this to happen at distance rather then up close?
I'm not recommending everybody that dials their turrets to sight their scope in with the reticle bottomed out. What I'm asking is why center it if you are gonna be mostly shooting for any distance and dialing away from center, maybe a long ways from center.
How many of you guys set up your scope/rings/mount to maximize or get the most of your scopes adjustment range?
My .338 is set up for this and I have a lot of adjustments left, however my .308 AR is pretty much centered at zero and I use the mil reticle for holdover/holdoff.
I think I understand what you are saying. The reasons that I am aware of to center your reticle are as follows:
1. An Optically centered scope should allow best optical qualities because the lenses are lined up as perfectly as possible. So clarity, resolution, brightness should be the best there.
2. Click value should be the most consistent in the center. It may still not be the exact advertised value and needs to be verified but should be most consistent per click. For example, a .25 moa scope may actually adjust .28 or .23 per click but those values should be most consistent in the middle. As you move to the extremes, maxing out your turrent high or low, the click values may start to change. As an example, they may be .28 in the center and maybe they start to move toward .26 as one gets close to maxing out adjustment. I have acutally seen scope click value change at the extremes by becoming larger and smaller so again this needs to be verified through the entire expected range of turret rotation.
3. Bore to reticle alignment. From a elevation standpoint centering cross hairs theoretically makes it easier to determine scope height for ballistic programs as the center of your scope tube is where the cross wires are so it makes determining this number easier. From a windage perspective getting the scope aligned to the bore is critical to eliminating errors down range. Of course this assumes the receiver and bases are all drilled correctly, a whole different topic!
Having said all of that I have mounted a number of scopes with a revolution or 2 (depending on the scope) off of center so I will have more adjustment range on the top end. I use the Burris signature rings and and am able to get my scope nearly perfectly centered with the rings then make slight adjustments with my dials. I would assume most real long range guys zero below center too but I guess I have never asked. A lot may have to due with max shooting distance and ones specific scope adjustment range.
If I was looking to wring the most accuracy I could out of a scope I would personally verify click value to determine where the most consistent range is. This may get me 1,2, or 3 turns of the turret depending on my scope turret behavior, quality and specs. I would then sight in at a distance that would allow me to get to my max range without going outside of the range where my turret has the most consistent click value. I would agree with your premise that having the scope performing most consistently (not necessarily optically centered but in the range of most consistent click value) at longer ranges would be more advantageous than at ones 100 or 200 yard zero.
Many guys don't even check there click values at all and just assume that a .25 MOA scope will move .25 per click. Guys that do check this often think that their value won't change over the range of thier turret ajdustment but this isn't always true either. IMO, this is ONE of the big reasons that guys can't get thier true drops to match their ballistic programs. I would really like ballistic software manfs. to add an option where scope click value can be changed as one dials to the max range. For instance, a .25 moa scope may actually adjust .28 when it is inside it's optimum working range. Lets say for this example our scope will turn 4 rotations total and the inside 2 roations gives us consistent .28 clicks. So most software programs will allow for us to adjust our click value to .28. So we are good to go for the 2 revolutions where this is the correct number. But our first and last revolution, the revolution most critical in long range shooting, actually adjusts closer to .3 as it nears maxing out at the top. It would really be nice to be able to have a screen that would allow for adjustment of this click value change at a specified number of clicks or moa etc. In this LR game the more small error issues we can account for the better to get us to be able to actually determine mechanical variances vs environmental (atmospheric) ones, which for me is the real tough part of this game!
