Long Range Hunting: Hold Over Reticle, Dial or Both?

[TradLife406]

I always dial. I don't mess with point blank range or anything. If it's at 200 I come up the one MOA. But all my hunting is done from an ambush style. I'm not having to take fast shots. I did hold overs way too much as a kid. Now that I can dial I love being precise. It's especially useful for my wife and kids. I can range a dope a deer, dial it and let them make the shot. Makes it almost idiot proof. My lady shot her buck at 450. I think her furthest shot before that was about 200. She did decide to be sporting though and she air balled the first shot. Which freaked me out because I thought I did the math wrong. Second shot was money.


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[Laelkhunter]

On my SFP scope, if I’m going to use the reticle I use 8x so the values are doubled. Adjusting the magnification to 8x is easy. The throw lever is centered on top at halfway point. Sounds complicated but it’s actually easy.

You use 8x? In reply #114 your photo shows that 8x is only partway through the power range. On my Swarovski Z5 (SFP), I use the reticle hash marks for holdover, but the scope has to be on max power (18x) for the hash marks to be accurate. I use a card taped to my stock with the yardage for each corresponding hash mark for the ammo I am shooting. Are all SFP scopes similar that they have to be on max power in order for the hash marks to be accurate??

 

[eric1115]

Subtension values (hash marks) scale linearly (inversely) with power. So a 2 moa line on his 16x scope actually measures 4 moa when the scope is at 8x. It would be 3 moa at 12x.

Realize though, that a BDC reticle does not work that way. A 400 yard hash mark does not become an 800 yard hash mark, because bullet drop is not linear. It drops much more from 400-800 than it does from 0-400.

 

[eric1115]

You use 8x? In reply #114 your photo shows that 8x is only partway through the power range. On my Swarovski Z5 (SFP), I use the reticle hash marks for holdover, but the scope has to be on max power (18x) for the hash marks to be accurate. I use a card taped to my stock with the yardage for each corresponding hash mark for the ammo I am shooting. Are all SFP scopes similar that they have to be on max power in order for the hash marks to be accurate??

Subtension values (hash marks) scale linearly (inversely) with power. So a 2 moa line on his 16x scope actually measures 4 moa when the scope is at 8x. It would be 3 moa at 12x.

Realize though, that a BDC reticle does not work that way. A 400 yard hash mark does not become an 800 yard hash mark, because bullet drop is not linear. It drops much more from 400-800 than it does from 0-400.

 

[eric1115]

@General RE LEE , this scenario is a perfect snapshot of one of the reasons why MIL beats MOA. If you're around 2700 fps with your 6mm ARC, your holds are as follows:
200 - 0.5
300 - 1.0
400 - 2.0
500 - 3.0
600 - 4.0

Each 10 yards when you're in the 300+ range adds 0.1 mil.

380 - 1.8
430 - 2.3
330 - 1.3

No dope card needed for anything inside 500 yards. It gets a little clunkier for a super fast or slow cartridge, but for something middle speed and a good but not crazy bullet like the 108 it's money.

Whether you dial or hold elevation you'll be faster and more confident with the round numbers MRAD offers.

Also, dial elevation and hold wind, with a FFP scope. In the last 10 years I've gone from SFP BDC, to SFP MOA, to FFP MOA, to FFP MIL. Save yourself the time and expense, go straight to FFP MIL. You won't regret it!

 

[JiminAZ]

Yep I gave up on ballistic reticles a couple decades ago for the same reasons. Seemed like a great idea until I got to shooting with it. The lines never matched my ballistics. I had to remember well, the 400 yd line is actually 435 for my load, etc. Total PITA/fail.

A scaled reticle is at least workable with a dope card.

 

[Mike D Texas]

You use 8x? In reply #114 your photo shows that 8x is only partway through the power range. On my Swarovski Z5 (SFP), I use the reticle hash marks for holdover, but the scope has to be on max power (18x) for the hash marks to be accurate. I use a card taped to my stock with the yardage for each corresponding hash mark for the ammo I am shooting. Are all SFP scopes similar that they have to be on max power in order for the hash marks to be accurate??

To answer the last part of your question, 2nd focal pane scope are only accurate at a single fixed value, typically max magnification but there are some that are scaled at less than max. Seems like some of the Zeiss Conquest HD scopes are this way.

Also, some BDC style reticles do not correlate to a fixed value like 1MOA which makes them even more worthless IMO.


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