Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles load testing using a high power scope

who here uses a 24x or even higher magnification scope when testing loads then switch back to their intended scope after a desired load is found?

Everyone with a Cough Silencer around their neck and a Butt Buddy in their back pocket..............

oh well...

You're learnin'............

LMAO! TFF!

This place is Comedy Central......

Not making fun of those who do use a big scope to test....but I don't bother myself,little groups generally come nicely with standard hunting scopes of 4X,6X,etc.if the rifle is worth beans.....all you have to do is hold.....and squeeze...

I'll fess up. I did that on a Win 70 in 22-250 that was MOA at 100 yds and lucky to hit the target at 200. Didn't help much, and the rifle went down the road to someone wanting to rebarrel it.

Big Stick, are you making fun of my Cough Silencer and Butt Buddy? I believe the combined effect of having both of them on my person while hunting breaks up my silhouette and adds to the camouflage effect of my ghillie suit that I use while hunting in my ground blind.

I like less power with better eye relief....just use a lil' bigger target

I do. I've got a steel tube Weaver T12 that I use. I've had it on everything from a .222 to a .338. I tend to prefer scopes with more modest power on my hunting rifles, 1.5x5, 2x7 and so having the higher power helps me better grade the groups. In addition to the rather obvious advantages, it allows me to see the bullet holes w/o the hassle of a spotting scope.

yeap i have been known to do that espicially with a new rifle

I think if you have the scope to use, then go for it. If you are ladder testing then 300 yards is better than 100, and a high power scope works better for that. No harm in eliminating all the variables you can to save your barrel from wasted shots. That assumes you want the best possible accuracy at the end of the day. If your objective is just minute of moose, then probably a waste of time.

And yes, I have used higher power scopes on my rifles for load development, mostly so that I can see bullet impacts without a spotting scope at 200 yds.

Many folks are under the illusion that much higher scope power has a corresponding effect on group size - it's just not so.

Try groups w/ variable scopes set at low, then high powers. Not much change. High power is a seduction that seldom bears value in the hunting fields, in my experience. Big game is big.

GF1,

What's the minute of angle for a deer at 100 yards and one at say 500 yards?

Yep, those benchrest guys, where "close" isn't close enough, use a straight 4X all the time.

There is no way that seeing better (bigger) is not going to help.



True, you might not need to measure accuracy in fractions of MOA when shooting big game, but the original question (see below) was regarding load development, and trying to make sure that you're shooting the best you can to measure results against other loads. Develop with high magnification, then swap to a "hunting" scope before going afield.

HBR agg's aren't larger in their sizing,in a lineal X extrapolation to say LV.

Though admittedly,you don't shoot much,so a guess is as good as you can do.

Keep 'em coming,you're on FIRE!...............

Huh?

I am not saying the groups are the same at 3x as at 9x, but that we've overblown the small difference the extra magnification gets us. May be worth it to some, not to others.

Ringman, don't get your question? A pretty big whitetail has a topline to bottomline across chest area of about 20" = 20 MOA at 100; at 500, 4 MOA. But you knew that...

Big Stick: I use a 36 power scope for Rifle accuracy testing (I buy and sell a LOT of Rifles!) and I also use the 36 power scope for load testing/development for my Rifles that I intend on keeping long term.
And yet I own neither of the "products" you allude that are prerequisites for my using my 36 power scope as I do.
There is a SIMPLE reason for using the high powered scope for "load testing" - I am guessing that simple reason escapes you?
Your posting is uninformed, ill mannered and not funny.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy