Turret Control on Long Range

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

docsleepy

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2009
Messages
1,023
A question for those of you who shoot on very long ranges:

I'm going to an 800-yard range soon, never shot that far before. Using online ballistics computers, I've worked out the MOA adjustments for 400, 600 and 800 yards. -- Will end up be two or even three twists of the dials on two of my rifles.

What does one do to keep track of how many times 'round the turret has gone? Do people do anything special to track this?

I built a paper spiral marked like my turret, marking the distances at the right places, and allowing a paper slider to keep "track" of where I am inside of three turns of the turrets. Do others do something similar, or better?

I also printed out the entire ballistics table for my chosen temp/humidity/10mph wind and affixed it so I can refer to it if needed.

Your advice welcome.
 
docsleepy said:
A question for those of you who shoot on very long ranges:

I'm going to an 800-yard range soon, never shot that far before. Using online ballistics computers, I've worked out the MOA adjustments for 400, 600 and 800 yards. -- Will end up be two or even three twists of the dials on two of my rifles.

What does one do to keep track of how many times 'round the turret has gone? Do people do anything special to track this?

I built a paper spiral marked like my turret, marking the distances at the right places, and allowing a paper slider to keep "track" of where I am inside of three turns of the turrets. Do others do something similar, or better?

I also printed out the entire ballistics table for my chosen temp/humidity/10mph wind and affixed it so I can refer to it if needed.

Your advice welcome.
Click to expand...
Yes, a lot of people do things just like that. Anything that will allow you to keep track of the clicks.

Depending on your scope, you can also have custom turrets made. There are several companies that do this:

Kenton Industries
G7 Ballistic
Leupold

The only downside of these turrets is that they are for a given load and a given condition. Swarovski makes turrets that are adjustable. I use their BT turret on my main hunting rifle. I have also used Kenton on some Leupold scopes of mine. Works way better than holdover or Kentucky windage.

Another option is to get a scope that the turrets are indexed in MOA or MIL graduations (Nightforce) and use a ballistic program or rangefinder for a solution. Just like the snipers! Tons of info out there on the internet.

Check out GunWerks to get you started. Whatever system you use, practice. A lot.
 
Woolecox -- thanks! information much appreciated. I checked out several of the manufacturers you provided. Apparently my crude slider/pointer system is a reasonable way to keep track. The turrets are marked off in MOA. On turn around my typical one is 15 MOA. The 100-yard zero is marked with a silver sharpie line, but I did wonder if there was any other trick so you always knew if 100 yards was another complete rotation back around! So I made up my little spiral system.
 
Target scopes with target style knobs will usually have horizontal marks under the rings to tell you where you are. If you make note of the horizontal line the ring is sitting on (which can be tough sometimes) then you can tell how much you've come up. Otherwise, it's handy to have a scope with some type of zero stop setup, in which case if you get lost then you crank it back to zero and start over. :)
 
yep, so on the higher end, scopes often feature single or double turn knobs where the entire adjustment can be done in one or two revolutions so you can't really get lost. but on most scopes you still have that problem.

keep a data book and in it, draw a sketch of what your scope turret looks like on zero. you'll have the vertical line and like strongbad said, a series of horizontal ones. just sketch out where the bottom of the cap stops in relation to the lines and you can get back to your zero.

zero stop is extra handy at night when you can't see the lines.

another trick is to take a piece of lum tape (glow in the dark tape), use an xacto knife to cut a thin strip of it and place it on the turret where your cap stops when you're on zero. that way, you can do it in the dark. but tape falls off, so make sure you write it down too.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
  • Locked
Long Range Aiming
Replies
7
Views
697
DDawg
D
M
  • Locked
Scope specs and ballistic chart accuracy...
Replies
12
Views
2K
MinnMooney
M
D
  • Locked
bushnell elite 4200 review
Replies
10
Views
4K
shootr
S
T
  • Locked
Long Range Question...Pretty Basic
2
Replies
25
Views
2K
sscoyote
S
A
  • Locked
New rifle and Scope setup, dont know how to use optic, help appreciated
Replies
7
Views
1K
sansone
S
Back
Top