Sighting In a Leupold

[dasslp]

Hello again Fella's,

I just bought a Leupold VX II 6-18X40mm AO and I have some questions about it. All I've ever owned were cheap tasco's that didn't have any adjustment to them at all. I've been reading where you guys discuss sighting in at 100 yards and then "dialing up" to another distance to shoot. I'm shooting at prarie dogs and sighted my gun in at 200 yards last Sunday. When I shoot at anything now around 100 yards I'm a little high and when I'm shooting at around 300 yards I'm a little low. Of course, a little high and a little low make a big difference with these little varmints. What can I do to get better accuracy from this scope? Can I set the scope at a certain range, say 100 yards, and then "dial up" when shooting at 200, 300, or even 400 yards? Any help would be welcome. I sure appreciate all of you hunters out there getting me started.

dasslp

 

[janneuf]

Well the first step is to examine your load and then see what the bullet is doing at the various yardages. Next you sight in at, say 100 yards and then, from your ballistic info, you make the elevation adjustments to your scope.

For example, if you determine based on your load, that when you sight in at 100 yards you are say 9" low at 300 yards you just dial up the appropriate clicks. Remember 1 MOA is 1" at 100 yards and 3" at 300.

But before that, you need to be certain of your EXACT range. If you don't have a rangefinder I would sight in for a max PBR for the game you're shooting.

If you're interested I can suggest a ballistic program.

 

[Fotis]

http://www.eskimo.com/~jbm/calculations/calculations.html

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I know exactly what you mean. It is a problem. I found that if you sight dead on at 200, it helps a little bit. If you are in a hurry like I am when you jump out and see a yote at say 300 and you dont have time to range, I usually shoot low. With a 100yd zero, its wayyyy low and you dont have time to make adjusted clicks or get the range. I solved this by going to a 200 yard zero. You still need to be pretty close to the range though. When you zero target knob scopes, its best to know the exact range, or you usually always shoot high or low. Just the way it is. When I see a running coyote, I always wished I had a regular set up.

 

[4ked Horn]

Daslp and Rem. Are you all familliar with zeroing your scope for a "point blank range"?

If you are I'll keep quiet. If not though it sounds like something you might be interested in.

Daslp, You are never going to escape gravity. No matter what distance you zero your scope for you will always be either high or low at another distance. Your VXII is not real easy to dial quickly. I would suggest using a Point blank range zero (PBR). This will get you out to around 250 yards with no dial cranking then for the longer shots where you have time you can dial in your drops for that range and shoot prairie dogs all day.

Rem
[ QUOTE ]
When I see a running coyote, I always wished I had a regular set up.

[/ QUOTE ]
Do you mean you wish you had a scope with or without knobs? Sounds like you could use a scope with a bullet drop compensator reticle.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I am familiar with it, but with target knob scopes, I dont think thats the proper way to zero them. I've always heard of people sighting them dead on at 100, 200, or 300. My factorys dont allow for a tight enough group at 300 to trust my "dead on" capability, thus I use a 200 zero with my target knob scopes. Yes, when I say a regular set up, I mean just your basic 3-9 scope w/out knobs sighted 2.5" or 3" high at 100. This makes a running yote out to 0-350 dead meat with a center hold most the time. With a 200 zero, w/out knowing the exact range and having the time, I get frustrated pretty quickly, when you shoot way low or something along those lines. I dont like BDC scopes, you still need to know pretty close to the exact range, or you'll miss. I just dont like to miss /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif My only complaint with target knob scopes is that there great for LR work where you have time to range the target exactly, but for coyotes where there running more then half the time, its hard to get readings, then click your scope, then they run again, you gotta range and click up again. Sometimes its just not possible. Coyotes dont stand there forever. And sometimes you just know you dont have time so you have to make an educated judgement distance and hope for the best with my 200 yard zero.

 

[4ked Horn]

Rem the problems you have with target knob scopes are the same ones you will have with regular scopes. They just give you the ability to adjust more quickly when you have the time.

As far as the PBR goes this is what you do. First you zero the rifle at 100 yards then with the help of a ballistic program or your known actual drops you determine what your PBR is for a certain size target. Lets say that target is a 4" target which will actually work out to about a 6" target if you include your groups size at 300 with factory loads. When you go to the field you crank in your scope for this range when you leave the house of get out of the truck. Lets say it is 246 yards. Then, using the ballistics program info, you know that you are going to hit meat out to 282 yards by aiming dead center. When you are done for the day crank back to your 100 yard home zero and put her away. You will just have to learn what a coyote looks like at around 282 yards (or whatever you Maximum point blank range (MPBR)works out to be.) I guarantee it will get you hitting dogs at longer ranges than a 200 yard zero because you will know what your outer limit will be instead of guessing.

We can also build on this idea for a very quick adjustment for the shots past your MPBR.

What is your muzzle velocity and Ballistic coefficient for your yote gun? I will crunch numbers for you and show you what I mean. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[janneuf]

I want to see that "dead meat" 350 yard shot at a running coyote. If you can do that with regularity this is little you can learn from the rest of us mere mortals.

 

[dasslp]

I would certainly be welcome to your suggestions on a ballastic program. I'm shooting Winchester 80 grain ammo right off the Walmart store shelf because I have never had the opportunity to learn how to reload. I am very interested in learing how to reload, so if anyone has any good advice or resources, I would sure be welcome.

Thanks, dasslp

 

[4ked Horn]

80 grain what? What caliber and load. Are they a premium bullet or just standard factory loads?

Play with this ballistics program. You can find it here . It is the second link posted by Klinkers.

It will actually calculate your PBR for you. Let me know if you need help with any of it.

The reloading section of this forum is loaded (no pun here) with info on starting a reloading set up all the way through the most nit picky detail. We love details. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[4ked Horn]

Neuf, Shooting coyotes running at 350 yards would be a sight to see and if it happened with consistancy that would be amazing. If you see enough coyotes then it might happen more frequently due to the volume of opportunities and practice. Some guys learn enough about coyotes in their area to learn how far they will run before stopping for a look back. This is often around 400 yards. If you know this you can learn a hold over and whack them in a more educated fashion.

 

[Coyboy]

I am going to chime in on the running coyotes, only to give my advice on hitting them with some regularity. After many years of running coyotes what I found works best is to use the same gun year after year. Do this so you learn it's trajectory, You eventually will never think before the shot it will all become instinctive.

I set my gun with a 200 yard zero. This gets me to about 230 without holdover. Everything past that holdover becomes a natural practice that is instinctive. Running coyotes don't allow for range finders and drop charts. You need to practice rangeing distance by eye.

The key to all of this is a fixed power scope. Mine is a 4 power it's about perfect. You need a large field of view for leading dogs at long range. The fixed power means never having to turn down a scope on close shots. More importantly you will be able to judge distance as you look through the scope while shooting, because everything is consistant. You will instinctivly range as you lead and elevate your crosswires on the target.

It took years of trial, error and frustration before my natural abillity took hold and hitting running game became a regular event. I hunt in ND with 2 guys who can do it as well or better than me. I still miss, if they miss they don't tell!

Now I use an AR for most of my coyote hunting. So I keep a drop chart for when I'm calling. This is for percise shot placement on standing game that I lazer. This takes out any error. When the running shots come the ability to stay on target with out working a bolt is key to consistantly killing. Some guys figure the more bullets in the air the better, this is wrong. The key is calm controlled shots not firepower. The .223 with the right bullet is a very efective coyote round for this purpose out to about 400-500 yards. My friends in ND do it with bolt guns.

 

[Coyboy]

4-ked, If you ever make it to WI you can see it, I have video taken by a friend of a second shot hit at 375. he's a ways off videoing a running dog when it takes one in the bean and rolles. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[janneuf]

das

I would go to www.shortmags.org and look on the downlads page. There is a program called "point blank" and it's great to use.

You can go to the website of the maker of the ammo you're using and get BASIC ballistics. Most will give you the bullet weight and velocities at the muzzle and at 100 yds increments.

Point Blank will calculate ballistic coefficient, all you need ar muzzle and 100 yd velocities. Then you can plug the BC into the main program and get range info and PBR.

It's cool to play with, and great for determining your shooting "arc" with factory ammo.