I was looking at different reticles and the mildot and the varmint reticles have got my attention for a new gun I need a scope for. My other G-hog gun + long range gun has a duplex recticle and I always have to dial all the elevation into the scope all the time. Is this what you guys do or do you think a mildot/varmint recticle would be better for G-hog hunting and some comp. shooting. It just seems like these scopes are not made to run the elevation up and down all the time for say a 375yd shot to a 475yd shot to a 200yd shot and back out to 450yd shot all the time. I have been looking at Nikon Monarchs and Leupold LR scopes because Nightforce scope are a little to pricey for me.
Scope questions
- Thread starter Dilbur
- Start date
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bailey1474
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The reticle will work fine for the ranges you mentioned, but if it were me I'd just keep on dialin' /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. Much more precise than any reticle.
For me the reticle works great to about 500 yards +or- depending on caliber and use!!! It realy helps if you have just one setup or all of your guns are setup with the same power and reticle! The biggest problem I run into is trying to determan if I'm looking at an adult or juvinal as I use size to determine distance,with a range finder its a simple matter of knowing what range matches what spot in the reticle.For me the MP-8 works great and it hard to beat the quality glass in the IOR scopes but they are getting a tad spendy.There are a lot of reticles out there these days that will work,its easier to use the same one to K.I.S.S.
After 500 yards it seams like its works better to dial.
After 500 yards it seams like its works better to dial.
Well maybe I should just stick with another Nikon thats what I have on my other varmint gun its 6.5x20 monarch. Do you think the turret adjustment is any better on the leupolds or about equal... as far I see the glass is a little better on the nikon but I'm not sure about the turret adjustments being light duty, which really worries me more that the quality of the glass because they seem pretty close.
CatShooter
Well-Known Member
Mil-dot reticles were designed to range fixed items, like windows, door frames, oil drums, truck tyres, etc.
For targets that you don't know the size, they are worthless. If the hight of the animal (chest on big game, or hight on a coyote) is 24" @ 500yds, and you guess 18", you get a range of 666 yds - clearly a BIG miss.
For hunters (non-snipers), the best use of the Mil-dots is to use them as hold over points, and windage hold off points... and use a pocket laser for ranging.
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For targets that you don't know the size, they are worthless. If the hight of the animal (chest on big game, or hight on a coyote) is 24" @ 500yds, and you guess 18", you get a range of 666 yds - clearly a BIG miss.
For hunters (non-snipers), the best use of the Mil-dots is to use them as hold over points, and windage hold off points... and use a pocket laser for ranging.
.
A duplex reticle can work for you too!Just get a grid target and see how far your top thick post is above the x hairs @ 100 yards.
On my 12x Leupolds it is 2 MOA from x hairs to where the fine duplex gets thick.I site the gun in at a hundred yards so the thick transition is my zero.With the 223 and 55 grain bullets the x hairs are now set for 225 yards and the bottom thick transition is now right at 300 yards.This works great with a fixed power scope or a scope that is shot at a cirtain power,with a vaiable power scope you can turn it down and increase your range but it getts trickier to keep track of??
On my 12x Leupolds it is 2 MOA from x hairs to where the fine duplex gets thick.I site the gun in at a hundred yards so the thick transition is my zero.With the 223 and 55 grain bullets the x hairs are now set for 225 yards and the bottom thick transition is now right at 300 yards.This works great with a fixed power scope or a scope that is shot at a cirtain power,with a vaiable power scope you can turn it down and increase your range but it getts trickier to keep track of??
I like the mildot as a backup for a laser with a dead battery or a laser that ends up with another hunter in the party. I also feel it works good to confirm a max range, example: if you don't feel comfortable on a deer shot over 500 you can look through the scope and know pretty quickly if the deer is in range or not so you can stalk closer before you start digging your laser out of your gear bag.
As for crankin knobs, I would reccomend you buy a scope with target turrets and crank in for every shot you can get a laser reading for. Set your knobs to start (zero) at 100 yards and know how much to crank for a "maximum point blank range" for your intended game in case you jump a deer or (whatever) at 78 or 183 or 227 yards. Put your scope on this setting any time you are moving while looking for game.
The system I use for cranking in drops is not to count each click but rather to think of it as MOA plus clicks. Again, example: Instead of of thinking of my 300 yard drop adjustment as 21 clicks it is 5 MOA and 1 click, or, 5+1. There is at least one ballistic calculator accessible for free on the internet that will give you windage and elevation in this format.
Makes for quick and accurate shooting.
As for crankin knobs, I would reccomend you buy a scope with target turrets and crank in for every shot you can get a laser reading for. Set your knobs to start (zero) at 100 yards and know how much to crank for a "maximum point blank range" for your intended game in case you jump a deer or (whatever) at 78 or 183 or 227 yards. Put your scope on this setting any time you are moving while looking for game.
The system I use for cranking in drops is not to count each click but rather to think of it as MOA plus clicks. Again, example: Instead of of thinking of my 300 yard drop adjustment as 21 clicks it is 5 MOA and 1 click, or, 5+1. There is at least one ballistic calculator accessible for free on the internet that will give you windage and elevation in this format.
Makes for quick and accurate shooting.
Inukshuk
Well-Known Member
Mildot is the way to go as a couple have already mentioned. No battery problem and you can memorize your holdovers which is very fast if needed. I'm using the MP8 which is close to the best so far as you can see clearer and have the 1/2 mil marks and now I know my holdovers up to 700 yrds. As for animal size I know the size of the ones I hunt so that makes it easier to range as well.
This is the standard MP8 with up to 10 mils of holdover.
Here's the new version with 15 mils of holdover WOW!
With either one you can holdover pretty darn far.
This is the standard MP8 with up to 10 mils of holdover.
Here's the new version with 15 mils of holdover WOW!
With either one you can holdover pretty darn far.
