Turrets or no-turrets?

[mporter012]

At what shooting yardage do you think one should consider a turret style scope?

 

[backcountry_hunter]

anything beyond your zero.....

It took me a while to buy into it, but the proof for me is in the pudding and I'm far more accurate when holding cross hairs at any given distance than a holdover....

 

[WCB]

For me anything past 300 yds with my 7rem 160gr... I'm zeroed at 200. 6.5" drop at 300. For deer just hold on spine (not top of back)...elk upper 3rd line of body. Past that I'll dial. I do have a Mil Dot reticle so follow up shot after dialing I'll just use that.

 

[ChrisAU]

I zero at 100 and dialed for a 190 yard shot this year because I had the time. So much better than holdovers, given you have time.

 

[Dos Perros]

I zero at 200 and have killed every animal I’ve shot at up to 400 yards holding over. Haven’t shot at any beyond that though and if I did I’d want to dial or know my precise holdovers. Two animals were fairly hurried encounters (315 and 375 yards) and I’m glad I could quickly engage without dialing.

 

[ozyclint]

i was thinking about this the other day. 20 years ago when i did more rifle hunting it seemed that intimate knowledge of your trajectory and knowing where to hold at any range out to your maximum range was the done thing. you would never hear of a 100 yard zero for a flat shooting large centerfire either.

now it seems you simply click the range finder, turn the turret and squeeze.

like dos perros said, knowing your hold at any range has it's advantages in hurried encounters.

 

[IdahoHntr]

If you have the time to dial, dialing is always going to make for a more accurate shot. Realistically though, if you keep shots under 300 yards there isn't a big need for it as long you understand the holdover for your particular gun.

 

[travis.westra]

Personally over 300yds I’d prefer to have turrets on my .308


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[Formidilosus]

A lot of responses about time and holding being faster, so what times are y’all getting for holding versus dialing?

Since it’s a backpack hunting forum, say the time from spotting an animal/target, ranging it, dropping your pack, getting into position (prone), and hitting consistently- say 90% hit rate on a deer sized vitals (10-12”) at odd ranges (265, 374, 429, etc)?

 

[Iman]

Tried turrets. Going back to mil reticle for the following reasons:
- Scopes with reliably working turrets are more expensive and, what is more important to me, are heavier as a rule.
- I found that exposed turrets take too much of my attention when in the field. I just cant stop myself checking the turrets are still zeroed every time I take the rifle in hands. Unbuckle from the pack -check, un-shoulder - check, picked up from the ground- check, went through some bush - check, check, check, it just becomes too distracting and annoying for me instead of enjoying the nature and pursuit of the animal. Probably it is just me though
- from my experience I never failed to fill my tags because of using mil reticle instead. I don’t take 500y shots if I can cut the distance to 300 though.

My ideal rifle scope would be a reliable, lightweight, 1” tube, 3-12x40, fixed parallax at 200m, capped low profile turrets and most importantly a properly designed mil reticle in ffp position. No need for illumination. Glass quality would be sufficient as long as it lets me take a shot at a deer size animal from 30min before to 30 min after sunlight. I don’t need it to count feathers of a singing bird. Such scope is, unfortunately, not existent to my knowledge. I’m a stalker style, not a sniper style hunter though, needs of others sure will be different.

 

[Travis Hobbs]

500 plus yards imo.

I think your better off with a custom type reticle 500 and in.

 

[easilyamused]

I appreciate seeing guys post responses that make sense from an actual hunting point of view! I totally agree that you should know your hold over as far as you can feel comfortable if thats 300 or 500 yards. Thats isnt to say if the animal is calm and not going anywhere then take your time and set up for the shot and dial away.

The whole idea of a close range (100y) zero and dialing for every shot is a great idea at the range, but when that 180” buck is 287 yards away and on his way out and youre referencing dope charts and spinning turrets youll really wish you maybe had a better game plan for a quick shot.

So to answer your question as to what yardage one should consider a turret type scope... Id say once youre no longer confident with holding over (with practise!), whether thats 6” or 26”.

 

[ozyclint]

- I found that exposed turrets take too much of my attention when in the field. I just cant stop myself checking the turrets are still zeroed every time I take the rifle in hands. Unbuckle from the pack -check, un-shoulder - check, picked up from the ground- check, went through some bush - check, check, check, it just becomes too distracting and annoying for me instead of enjoying the nature and pursuit of the animal. Probably it is just me though

i've often thought the same thing. this single fact relegates turrets to not even being considered for me. total deal breaker.

 

[ozyclint]

The whole idea of a close range (100y) zero and dialing for every shot is a great idea at the range, but when that 180” buck is 287 yards away and on his way out and youre referencing dope charts and spinning turrets youll really wish you maybe had a better game plan for a quick shot.

you mean like an old school MPBR!

 

[ozyclint]

A lot of responses about time and holding being faster, so what times are y’all getting for holding versus dialing?

i think of it in terms of less to think about in a time pressured situation at a trophy you may not get another chance at.

is it inside my MPBR? yes- centerhold, BOOM. this can be done in very quick time.

so they way i see it is with MPBR you only need to think when exceeding MPBR. with turrets you need to think all the time.

 

[Runningwater]

Don't know, never tried a turrent scope! I hunt with pretty light sporting rifles (or open sight levers). If I had some rifle made for long range shooting I'm sure I would - but I also probably wouldn't hunt much with it.

 

[Formidilosus]

i think of it in terms of less to think about in a time pressured situation at a trophy you may not get another chance at.

is it inside my MPBR? yes- centerhold, BOOM. this can be done in very quick time.

so they way i see it is with MPBR you only need to think when exceeding MPBR. with turrets you need to think all the time.

“Feeling” that something is faster, is very different than it actually being faster. So what’s that ”very quick time”?

 

[Dos Perros]

A lot of responses about time and holding being faster, so what times are y’all getting for holding versus dialing?

Since it’s a backpack hunting forum, say the time from spotting an animal/target, ranging it, dropping your pack, getting into position (prone), and hitting consistently- say 90% hit rate on a deer sized vitals (10-12”) at odd ranges (265, 374, 429, etc)?

Incremental time difference between holding and dialing is probably not much, couple few seconds, but also it’s nice to keep your eyes on the animal as you’re getting setup (mostly on ass with bipod/tripod for me vs prone). It’s probably emotional. I think if I were forced to dial every time I’d probably shoot the wrong animal more often or lose one more often or get flustered and miss completely. But that is all probably less than 20% of all engagements.

 

[ozyclint]

“Feeling” that something is faster, is very different than it actually being faster. So what’s that ”very quick time”?

you tell us then. what's your average dialing time? to the nearest 100th second will do. since we are not going by 'feeling'.

 

[Formidilosus]

The whole idea of a close range (100y) zero and dialing for every shot is a great idea at the range, but when that 180” buck is 287 yards away and on his way out and youre referencing dope charts and spinning turrets youll really wish you maybe had a better game plan for a quick shot.

So what’s that quick shot time?

And why would you be referencing a dope chart for 287 yards? MV below 3k FPS= .8mil, above 3k FPS= .6 mil. when zeroed at 100 yards.