Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Leupold B&C reticle?

This is not a serious "long range" hunting question, as I'm really only going through the steps towards becoming lethal out to 400, 500 yards tops...

I had a Loopy 2.5x8 on my .338 win mag. It's a very accurate rifle. I put Stoney Point turret on it, for elevation, and had things worked out to where I could hit every time out to 400+ yards. Then two things happened. First, I shot the same scope on a buddies rifle with the B&C reticle and liked it, and 2nd, I had some monopoly money to spend at the gunshop AND a rifle that needed a scope! So I stole the scope off the .338, and bought a 2.5x8 with the BC reticle to put back on the .338.

Oh, this .338 is my elk rifle. The country I hunt elk in is wooded but certainly has vistas and large openings, too.

First off, I know that's not a serious "long range" scope. It would need to have true mil-dots for that. I didn't want a bigger scope on this rifle. Second, I know that this reticle is only going to help out 500 yards at best. That's fine with me, as my self-imposed limit has been 400 yards anyway since that's all the further I've been able to hit my steel plates EVERY SINGE TIME.

So my question amounts to this: have any of you used this reticle much? Any thoughts or advice? It appears I have a "group B" cartridge in my .338 with the 225 AB, although from looking at what they call Group A and Group B, and knowing the speed of my load (2900 fps) and the sleek Accubond bullet, I may be in Group A territory. Anyway, some range time will sort that out but any advice anyone has for the care and feeding of the Loopy Boone and Crockett reticle is appreciated!

-jeff

Jeff,
First, you don't need a mil-dot reticle for a scope to be fit for LR.
2nd, I see no reason to sound apologetic for your self-imposed limits. You are simply shooting within your confidence and current ability. No one I know would want you or anyone to do anything different than that.

3rd send me your typical elevation/temp for your home area and also for your elk area.
I will run it on exbal and give you more hard figures for that reticle and your load (chronoed right?).
once I do that then practice with the reticle and see if the field data (out to 400-500 yards) matches Exbal.
It will be different data for the elk hunt, but if your data matches your field shooting at home it should be more than good for your hunt area.
Ideally, you would want to shoot at 400-500 yards once you get to your area to confirm the data, if that is possible.
You want to make sure your gun is on anyway after traveling.

As far as the B & C reticle I have never had one, so I can't comment on that.

If you want to contact via email ernieemilyyahoo.com

What elevation? Depending on that exactly, a quick look shows that reticle should match your load very, very well. For sub 500 yds I would greatly prefer the reticle over Stoney Point knobs. I think it can serve you well if you put in a bit of time and get it zeroed the best way.

Hey guys!

Ernie, we hunt at 6000-8000 feet. Temperture is all over the map; usually well below freezing in the morning, and it could stay that way or it could be shirt-sleeves weather by mid-afternoon (in the sun at least).

I am using 74 grains of RL19 and a 225-gn Accubond. If I remember right, it chrono's at 2875 fps from my 26" barrel.

I always check my zero when I get there, but I have not done that at any range, just at 100 yards. It would indeed make sense to check it at longer ranges.

I typically zero this rifle 1.5" high at 100 yards. I'll have to do a true 200-yard zero for this reticle to work properly. Anyone know exactly what a 200-yard zero is for the above load? I should be able to get it out of the Nosler book, too.

I'll probably send in a couple other scopes to Leupold on the off-season for these reticles if I like how this performs.

-jeff

Doping the wind has been my big bugaboo as far as getting proficient out beyond 500 yards or so. My primary rig for LR shooting has been a DPMS AR-10 type rifle in .308:



It has a 6x18 VX-II on it, and has been a hoot. It's very accurate (10 shots into .85" at 100 yards is my best so far) rifle and is heavy enough that I can often see my misses... which I cannot, with my 30-06 or .338 sporters.

Anyway, it's windy over there and it has been a real challenge out at 600+ yards.

-jeff

Given the decent BC and the altitude, the 10 MPH wind marks will become roughly 15 MPH for you. That's good. Practice estimating the wind and if it's 5 MPH, go over 1/3 of the way, if it's 10 MPH go 2/3 of the way....

That altitude shows you outshooting the reticle slightly, but still workable for sub 500 yd on something the size of an elk. First, rechronograph your load--and chronograph some of the ammo cold. Stick it in the fridge overnight and take it to the range in a ziplock in icewater in a cooler. That'll give you some idea how fast the load will be on those cold mornings and might actually match the reticle better.

Hey Jon, wondering if you invested in a B+C or not or the 300 Ultra.

I just finished mine, with a Pac Nor 3 groove on a 700. In doing my math, the Varmint Hunter reticle at max power seems to be within +/- only 1 inch all the way to 500 yards with a 180 AB. Seems kinda a no brainer, but was wondering how close the reticles are vs. projected data.

In my limited experience, I am not very sure of the turrets getting the adjustment correct the 1st time, without a recoil set (2nd shot). Seems less moving parts and such to trust the reticle out to 500 with no dial ups.

I think I used a .505 BC and 5000 ft.

Yes, I used the VHR on the 300 for a while:



It did seem to fit the ballistics of the 300 when using 200 AB's or any 180 better than the B&C would have. I specifically chose it over the B&C for my rifle for that reason as well as slightly longer range capability.

You're right, it's very reliable (more so than some turrets), fast, easy and accurate out to 500 easily. As closely as I could measure, the MOA spacing was dead nuts on with Leupold's specs.

I did have my dislikes though. In thick timber the reticle is difficult to pick up quickly with good light, in low light I felt sort of handicapped with it. That's not the reticle's fault, of course, as the name implies it wasn't designed for that. Clearly, the B&C is a better choice in these places. So, that's something to keep in mind depending on the terrain you hunt. In New Mexico it might be just what you want.

My only other complaint sort of applies to most of these--being in the SFP so they only "work" at one power. That's less of a big deal for lower powered scopes, but it still bugs me.

I always crank my scope up as high as it'll go for longer shooting anyway... 'course we're talking about 2.5x8's here, in my case.

That varmint reticle would be too thin for general-purpose hunting, for me. I can see what you mean about it being hard to see in the timber!

I may get a chance to get up and give mine it's first try today. I'll report back if I do.

-jeff

I just bought VX-L with B&C and installed it on my 270 WSM
I shoot a 140g Barnes TSX at 3300 fps. I have a Desert Bighorn Sheep hunt this fall and while not looking to take extreme long shots, expect it may be longer than my typical Elk/Mule deer shot. And the sheep boiler room being smaller than an elk, I'd hate to misjudge. Hopefully the B&C will help. It appears my cartridge falls in the "C" class. My sheep hunt will be at 7000' and I sighted in at 4500'. Temps in the desert should be close to home temps, But will get colder if I don't shoot the ram before late October or early Nov.

Some of the country I'll be hunting

Leos awesome photos!

To heck with the gun gack where did you draw the desert borrego tag for?

Thx

Dober

Jeff,

I think you'll like Steve Timm's (B&C) reticle. I shot a 20-shot group, four at each of 100,200,300,400,and 450 yds with it on my '06. that was about an 8" by 6" group. Not the stuff the benchers would be happy with but this is adequate hunting accuracy. It was in the wind too with the 8" being the horizontal-with the wind-group.

But, don't rely on anything other than shooting all the way out to your max range with the scope when you have your chosen load. For instance, your load as you mention, may fall between the cartridge groupings and hit between the hashes (usually a small amount) at the appropriate ranges.

I think it's a helpful hunting reticle.

Gdv

Jeff you're doing exactly what you need to do to get the most from the B&C reticle. I use 3 of them and they work exactly as advertised. Zero your scope, chrono your load, run a ballistics chart, shoot the actual ranges to sort out any anamolies. The reticle will then serve you well, plus you've an excuse to shoot more!!

Shoot the ranges, and you'll know, anything else is mearly a SWAG.

Rezero when you arrive, anything else is foolish.

The rest will work.

Jeff

I messed with the zero some more yesterday. Here's what I did.

I was finding that I seem to be in between a Class A and a Class B cartridge with my 338 and 225 AB's at 2900 fps. So instead of fretting over getting my 200-yard zero perfect, I focused on seeing what would happen if I zeroed, using the lower crosshairs of course, for 300 and 400 yards. This required me to come down 3 clicks from my supposed 200-yard zero for the main crosshair. Oh, this is with it set for max magnification (Group A) also, which I also wanted since I don't want to be fiddle faddlin' around trying to find that other mark in the heat of the moment. Now I can just crank it all the way up.

Result is that I'm dead-nuts on at 300, 400, 450, and 500 yards, just as advertised, AND as an added bonus, instead of being 1.75" high at 100 yards, I'm more like 1" high.

I don't like being 2" off on my hundred yard zero anyway, so this is a good thing in my book.

I love the reticle. I'll head up and shoot some more at range today but at this point I'd be guessing that Loopy will be seeing at least one more of my scopes this winter to have that reticle installed.

-jeff

... of course all of this just about garuntees that I'll kill an elk at 50 yards this year!

Y'know, one other bonus, and this is significant, that I'm seeing with the B&C reticle. I have (5) 2.5x8 Loopy's, 3 Vari-X and 2 VX-III's. I had examples of each out at dusk the other evening and the VX's are slightly but noticeably brighter in very low light. Just as importantly, the crosshair of the regular duplex reticle gets hard to see AND it gets kind of pinkinsh-purple in low low light. The B&C reticle stayed BLACK and was much, much easier to see in low light.

-jeff

Der ya go!

Gdv

That is great-nothing like going out and confirming what it "should be."
When you get to your hunting location I would confirm again and use one of your longer distances. IT is harder to notice a small amount of distance @ 100 yards but the further you confirm the better off you are. It gives you a lot of confidence when you have confirmed hits in your hunting conditions at your max range.

Took it out again today. Perfection out to 500 yards (calm day). With wind, I'd be dropping back to 400 I'd guess. Wind really messes with me still.

My 30-06 is set up with turrets (stoney Point) and it's also deadly out to 500 on a calm day.

This represents a HUGE upgrade in my hunting skills that I've pulled off in the last year (and probably jeez... 800, 1000 rounds expended?).

Big fun!

-jeff

Glad it's working for you. Sounds like you're all set.

And ditto that. If there's anywhere to be off by an MOA or so, it's at 200, 300--not 400, 500.