Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Leupold Scope Reticles...

Are the Boone & Crockett Reticles worth the extra $100 they add to the price of a scope?
I am putting a VX3 3.5-10x40 on top of a 7 mag and kicking around the idea of trying that reticle. Never used one before so thought I would check popular opinion before springing for one...

I've never used one, but given the choice between that and an elevation turret for the same price, I'd take a turret.

YES. For a 7mm mag though you might like the Varmint Hunter reticle. The "drops" will work closer to even 100yd increments for it. The B&C appears to have been designed around a 140gr 7/08 or a high BC 150gr 308. Buy a copy of EXBAL and you can check it all out for yourself.

Depending on where you hunt, the VH reticle might be hard to see early and late, deep in the forest, if that is the case.

I like the B&C and can hit well with it, but like TAK says, it is really designed around a moderate-to-good BC at 2,800-2,900fps. If using something faster/flatter/sleeker and asking the POI to jive with the 300/400/450/500 yard markers, you will have some variances and will have to use a zero range of 200yds or less for the duplex section. The energy delivered to the target and wind drift advantages are still there with the faster/sleeker chambering, but you can't utilize the ultra-flat, high-yardage Max Point Blank Range characteristics and the B&C reticle at the same time. This is nullified if you don't mind playing with JBM or ExBal and having your various aiming points representing different yardages. I have a fast .25cal rifle that runs a 275yd zero and the next two aiming points are more like 350yds and 450yds, with a chart taped to the rifle. A guy can still hit fairly quickly with that setup, but the nice round numbers of 300/400yds seem a bit simpler.

One thing I do like about the B&C, LRD, and Accu-Range reticles is that they allow easy hits with moderate rounds if using fairly sleek hunting bullets. If BC is .450-.550 and you can make 2,800 to 2,900fps, it is no big feat to set up a zero for 210-230yds (according to your situation) and have the 300/400yd aiming points line up really close with those ranges. You don't need a lazer-flat magnum to make reasonably quick hits to 450yds, as now your .260Rem, 7mm-08, .270WCF, or 280Rem will do it just fine, all without having to hold "on air". I think those reticles are great.

if I am not mistaken, I believe that was designed by Steve Timm and Leupold bought the idea...

For the OP, I'd also put one on a 7RM, especially if planning to shoot 160gr+ bullets. I have one on a 7mmSAUM shooting 160gr Accubonds and it is easy to ring the 300/400yd targets in fairly rapid fashion. My father shoots the same combo with the LRD reticle in a VX-2.

I was thinking Leupold just said "thanks" on the VHR, but maybe my memory is off.

maybe I should have just said "bought into" the idea...

I could see Leupold just saying 'thanks'... but then Steve is a gentleman.. and living up there in Potland, I am sure he knows most of the head MuckyMucks over at Leupold ( and Nosler) real well...

I plan on working up 139, 150 and 165 grain loads for it since I have an abundance of those bullets already. The 139 are BTSP Interlocks and the others are Accubonds.

I am just guessing but I would be real surprised if I were to ever shoot past 300 with it. I plan on doing a 200 yard zero but the longest fields I would have to shoot across would involve a 300 yard shot.

I'm just wondering if I shouldn't just stick with the standard or fine duplex...

If that's your limit, you're only talking about 6" drop between 200 and 300 with a 200 yard zero. (139's)

Yeah - Missouri isn't exactly known for its long range opportunities!
I have had the occasional opportunity for mule deer and antelope, and there is rumor of elk in the future so I am playing...

Yep, the folks at Leupold simply said "thanks" and that was it.

I haven't been in the factory since.

Kinda sad because I've donated every single penny I ever made in the firearms industry. The money has gone into an endowment that creates scholarships for worthy children in our parish's grade school. Karen and I figure that if we get great kids a good start, a true classic education, they have a leg up on life. Makes us feel good, too.

The point is that had I been smart enough to have hired a snarky lawyer, perhaps I could have negotiated a royalty of some kind ... and that would have added to the Steve & Karen Timm Education Endowment Fund at Christ the King Catholic School, here in Milwaukie, Oregon.

Hey, the folks at Leupold are nice and they DID say "THANKS."

I guess the point is that the shooting public has what I consider to be the finest reticle in existence ... and, in the end, that is enough. Essentially,the B&C and the VH reticles are my gift to my brothers in the hunting field.

God Bless,

Steve

I have the BC reticle on 3 of my newer rifles....works great. Tell you the truth tey are all on 270WSM's.......lol. I sold my 2 in the Tikka T3 LS rifles to my inlaws and bought a mint Sako m75ss and placed a new 4.5-14x40 with the BC reticle.

I do not mind the Ballistic Plex reticle on my VX II 4-12x40 on my 243.

I've come to prefer an elevation turret but have a few BC reticles and like them fine. If a guy has a set load that he has chronographed in his rifle then I believe most ballistic programs will convert the BC drops for your load.

I know my Strelok app does.

I prefer an elevation turret as well. But, I just ran the ballistics for Hornady Superformance 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST factory load at 3,000 feet elevation. If you zero at 275 yards, you POI won't be more than +/- 3.5" from line of sight from 0 to 325 yards. If 300-325 yards is your limit, use a regular duplex and just zero at 275 yards and hold dead on.

Bob

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