learning reticle adjustments?

[westernrover]

I have an older Leupold VX3. I've always shot "flat-shooting" cartridges or small bore magnums, and I've always used MPBR or a calculated hold-over.

I'm thinking of getting a bolt-action rifle with a medium or big bore and a relatively small case capacity. It could be a .450 Bushmaster or a .44 Magnum, a .35 Remington or even a .357 Magnum, but it will drop pretty far in a short range. Then I can work on ballistic calculations and reticle adjustments well within the range of my spotting scope. I just want to develop this skill so I can quickly put the reticle dead-on according to the range-finder. Someone will say I could do this with a .22 rimfire, and quite right, but I want a scope and reticle system that will be applicable to other centerfires also. My question is not so much about the gun, but about the scope.

The Leupold I have now has the reticle adjustments where you unscrew the caps and I use the rim of a spent brass case to turn the adjustments. I do the calculations and the 1/4 MOA per click adjustments, but they're hard to read and I usually just count clicks. I know Leupold offers the CDS ZL2 adjusters but is that the way to go?

I see some of the long range scopes have very tall adjusters, but they look less practical for an all-purpose rifle.

Does anyone have a recommendation for equipment or techniques to doing quick and accurate reticle adjustments?

Of course, I have a chronograph and I can calculate trajectories and get the come up in moa or mils, but I'd like a better way to dial that on the scope.

 

[jmorris]

Figure out what load you are going to use and have a custom turret made.

http://kentonindustries.com/custom-turrets/leupold

They also make them for a bunch of other brands but you asked about Leupold .

 

[LoonWulf]

I have Kenton turrets for my GPO scope, and like them.
I'd honestly suggest switching scopes if you want to dial tho, the vx-3s have good glass, but are usually better left as set it and forget it scopes.

I'll leave actual recommendations to the folks that know more than I, but I will say that my GPO has dialed up and down from 100-400ish on my .375 Ruger very consistently so far. Only did that a couple times in steps, and once straight tho.

 

[z7]

a scope with "tactical turrets" would be best, or a reticle with either mil or moa increments would be ideal. if you are planning on dialing you will want to test the tracking to see if it tracks straight up and straight down back to zero

how much are you willing/interested in spending? what you want typically isn't cheap to do it well. https://www.acmemachine.com/4-16x44mm-first-focal-plane-hunting-rifle-scope-tr-moa-reticle/ something like this might be a good place on the lower budget spectrum. the first focal plane means that any moa references on the reticle remain constant throughout the magnification range so you can hold or dial the required elevation. if you are hunting, i'd think that holding would serve you better since you are talking close ranges, don't want to be cranking on a turret with a deer at 75yds

i have no experience with custom turrets but they should work in theory.

 

[jmorris]

One method I really like is the Shepherd scopes.

They give you a BDC reticle like others do.



But they have 4 turrets so the two reticles are independent of one another.



Makes it easy to see if they are tracking correctly, perform one shot zeros without a good rest, change zero for conditions or sub/super loads and switch between the two with no adjustment.

Doesn’t teach you much though, just really user friendly.

 

[westernrover]

Yes, on my VX3 I have just zeroed it and used a little hold over when I needed to. If I zeroed it at 36 yards, the rifle would shoot flat, that is with POI not rising or falling more than 2 inches out to 275 yards.
So if the bullet is coming up and intersects the axis of the scope at 36 yards, is it zeroed at 36 yards? or is it zeroed at 250 yards when it falls and intersects the axis of the scope again?

The Kenton turrets look good, but their options are for 100 yard zeroes and above. I"m not sure I want to be limited to a single load either, but it does look convenient.

I see how a multi-reticle can be faster than turret-spinning, but the moa/mil dot reticles can result in eye shadow and a loss of field of view when I'm not looking in the center of the glass.

It's not hard for me to learn the trajectory of the cartridge I'm using in MOA. I know if I'm shooting 400 yards, I need to come up 3 MOA. What I would do is just hold over 12 inches. What I want to do is touch my turret and instantly put 12 clicks in without counting them.

Budget is $500 to $1000. I'm not so much looking for scope recommendations, but the reticle/turret type. So for example, the VX6HD-2-12X42 looks it has the optics I want, but does it have the reticle and turret combination that will do everything I want? I don't even know what reticle and turret I want. I'd hate to spend the top end of my budget without knowing that.

 

[otisrush]

Have you looked at Vortex? Take the following with a huge grain of salt - because 1/ I'm not a hunter and 2/ I don't have a ton of different scope experience.

I'm a semi-serious precision target shooter - shooting steel out to 1,000 yds, using varying loads. When I first outfit a rig for this work I bought a Leupold VX-3i with a Varmint Hunter's reticle - figuring I'd just use the reticle to handle different distances being shot. That was sub-optimal on a variety of levels. So I ditched that and bought a Vortex HS-T.

When I'm shooting I'm *frequently* changing elevation - based on the distance and round I'm shooting. What I love about the HS-T are 1/ zero stop - so I can always get it back to zero......I can move that turret all over the place and then get it back to a known setting and 2/ I can read the number of MOA come-ups directly from the turret....even when the come-up I'm on is more than one revolution. I would say the capability is in between "counting clicks" and "pushing a button". As I recall I get 12 MOA with one turret revolution. I need 6 MOA? I dial it to 6. I need 14 MOA? After the first rotation (12) a line becomes visible so I know I'm on the next turn. My description of it is horrific. Actual use I've found to be quite intuitive.

The reticle on the HS-T has MOA markings. But be aware they're only valid on a particular magnification - 18x I believe for the model I have.

What I like about going the MOA route is that it makes the whole "inches per MOA at a given distance" go away - or at least simplifies it.

 

[Jim Watson]

How will you determine the range? A 25 yard error at 400 might generate a miss with the low velocity rounds you mention.

 

[westernrover]

Rangefinder as mentioned in my OP.

I'm not stuck on Leupold, that's just what I have now. Vortex is reputable within my price range. I'll check out more about how their turrets work if it's any different.

 

[Jim Watson]

Rangefinder, OK, I missed that.

I don't know a specific scope make and model to recommend, just that you need a clearly graduated target or "tactical" elevation turret at minimum.
The procedure is simple, SHOOT THE GUN. Shoot at various ranges, adjust the scope to zero at each, and WRITE DOWN the elevation setting. There are a lot of rifles out there with elevation charts taped to the stock.

The increment depends on the size of your target. You are purposely going for a high trajectory, so unless you are shooting anti-materiel at a truck or barn, you will need pretty close steps.

There are scopes with reticle features for the purpose, but the graduations are pretty far apart and you would find yourself splitting the difference, moreso with your low velocity.

 

[jmorris]

The Kenton turrets look good, but their options are for 100 yard zeroes and above. I"m not sure I want to be limited to a single load either, but it does look convenient.

I see how a multi-reticle can be faster than turret-spinning, but the moa/mil dot reticles can result in eye shadow and a loss of field of view when I'm not looking in the center of the glass.

They are built to your specifications so they are limited by you, of you don’t know what you might want, they would be a bad choice though.

Everything is a compromise, I too thing that reticle is quite “busy” when I don’t need it.

I see some of the long range scopes have very tall adjusters, but they look less practical for an all-purpose rifle.

Does anyone have a recommendation for equipment or techniques to doing quick and accurate reticle adjustments?

Again you put less than practical against quick and accurate. You just have to decide what you want, there isn’t a lot of magic, at least not cheap.

 

[mavracer]

If you want a system that works with a variety of loads get a reticle with mil or moa subtentions I Vortex HST, you want to make sure adjustment increments match reticle.
It's a bit of PITA to have MOA adjustment and Mil reticle.
I'd also suggest downloading Streloc pro to your phone it makes it real easy to input all your info and have instant access to come ups and windage.
Here is screenshot of app's reticle for 300 yard target with my 6 Creed