Sam1911
Moderator Emeritus
Hi!
I recently installed a new Leupold Mark AR Mod 1 1.5-4x20mm scope with their "SPR" reticle.
I've read the two manuals that came with it, parts of which were applicable to this scope and parts of which were not. However, the parts that were applicable had some interesting discrepancies between what they wrote or drew and what they built. And they left some questions unanswered.
First the discrepancies, mostly because I think they're amusing:
1) The drawing and text of the reticle is incorrect. The text reads: "The SPR Reticle is comprised of three heavy posts connected by fine stadia lines, much like the German #4 reticle. On the fine stadia, 24 large tic marks are located at 5 mil intervals, with small tics bisecting the large tics which indicate 2.5 mil intervals."
And here's a picture:
Now, this is the actual reticle in my scope:
Not such a big deal, but noticeably different.
2) Ok, now go look at that bullet drop chart again, on the SS109 side. It would appear I have my choice of which hold over to use in order to hit at 550 meters? That's not terribly confidence inspiring. I assume the second or third line there is a typo but what was it supposed to say and are to other marks labeled correctly?
3) The drawing there, and the accompanying text all say the scope is set up primarily to work with SS109 ammo making 2,800 fps from a carbine barrel. Great, ok.
My elevation turret is marked in big bold etched letters that it is calibrated for ".223 Rem. 55 gr. 3,100 fps. 1 click = .1 mil" Hmmm. Ok, so about .36" at 100 yards with 3,100 fps ammo. And I'll have to chrono the ammo I want to use to see if it is close to either the velocity the hold overs are given for or the turret adjustments.
I looked on Leupold's site and they do have custom turrets available, but they aren't listed for the Mark AR series. So whatever Ifind I imagine there will have to be some "Kentucky windage" used to adapt.
Now for some questions:
1) There's a discussion in the manual about ranging using the mil-hashes and the hold-over points, but the manual actually misses stating at what range to set the cross-hairs dead on for those hold-overs to work. I've set scopes at all sorts of "maximum point blank ranges" for different cartridges and loads. And there's the raging debate about where to zero an AR. But, would I want to assume that this should be zeroed at 100 yds to work correctly?
2) The page on using the hashes to estimate ranges to known-size targets is very clear and helpful. But the pages of charts that are probably supposed to help learn to really use the mil system are less helpful. Is there a guide out there that makes BASIC use of the system clear? (This is only a 4x scope and I'm not sniping anything at 800+ yards. Just want to know how to make it go.)
So far the idea seems to be that I'll either knows what ranges my hold over hashes correspond to with my ammo and leave the turret at it's zero position, or figure the range and then dial in the correct number of mils up I need to hold dead on.
I need some practical examples to helm me learn to do this though.
Thanks!
I recently installed a new Leupold Mark AR Mod 1 1.5-4x20mm scope with their "SPR" reticle.
I've read the two manuals that came with it, parts of which were applicable to this scope and parts of which were not. However, the parts that were applicable had some interesting discrepancies between what they wrote or drew and what they built. And they left some questions unanswered.
First the discrepancies, mostly because I think they're amusing:
1) The drawing and text of the reticle is incorrect. The text reads: "The SPR Reticle is comprised of three heavy posts connected by fine stadia lines, much like the German #4 reticle. On the fine stadia, 24 large tic marks are located at 5 mil intervals, with small tics bisecting the large tics which indicate 2.5 mil intervals."
And here's a picture:
Now, this is the actual reticle in my scope:
Not such a big deal, but noticeably different.
2) Ok, now go look at that bullet drop chart again, on the SS109 side. It would appear I have my choice of which hold over to use in order to hit at 550 meters? That's not terribly confidence inspiring. I assume the second or third line there is a typo but what was it supposed to say and are to other marks labeled correctly?
3) The drawing there, and the accompanying text all say the scope is set up primarily to work with SS109 ammo making 2,800 fps from a carbine barrel. Great, ok.
My elevation turret is marked in big bold etched letters that it is calibrated for ".223 Rem. 55 gr. 3,100 fps. 1 click = .1 mil" Hmmm. Ok, so about .36" at 100 yards with 3,100 fps ammo. And I'll have to chrono the ammo I want to use to see if it is close to either the velocity the hold overs are given for or the turret adjustments.
I looked on Leupold's site and they do have custom turrets available, but they aren't listed for the Mark AR series. So whatever Ifind I imagine there will have to be some "Kentucky windage" used to adapt.
Now for some questions:
1) There's a discussion in the manual about ranging using the mil-hashes and the hold-over points, but the manual actually misses stating at what range to set the cross-hairs dead on for those hold-overs to work. I've set scopes at all sorts of "maximum point blank ranges" for different cartridges and loads. And there's the raging debate about where to zero an AR. But, would I want to assume that this should be zeroed at 100 yds to work correctly?
2) The page on using the hashes to estimate ranges to known-size targets is very clear and helpful. But the pages of charts that are probably supposed to help learn to really use the mil system are less helpful. Is there a guide out there that makes BASIC use of the system clear? (This is only a 4x scope and I'm not sniping anything at 800+ yards. Just want to know how to make it go.)
So far the idea seems to be that I'll either knows what ranges my hold over hashes correspond to with my ammo and leave the turret at it's zero position, or figure the range and then dial in the correct number of mils up I need to hold dead on.
I need some practical examples to helm me learn to do this though.
Thanks!
Last edited:
