Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics M1 versus CDS

+1.Same thing happened to me. I learned to keep a watchful eye on the dial. I let a buddy shoot my EW with the VX3 3.5-10x40 W/CDS and he was shooting way high. Checked the dial and sure as chit it had turned to about 3-4. That was a nuisance, as well as a common occurrence with that scope.

I guess I'm the odd man out. I have several CDS equipped rifles and find they work very well for me. The zero stop makes them foolproof IMO. Conditions would have to be perfect for me to shoot long range at big game, but it's sure fun to blast 'yotes, hogs, and misc hard targets.

400 is about where the LR reticle starts to not work for me. Once you get over 400 there starts to be a lot of air between the 400 dot and the 500 yd aim point on top of the post. The LR reticle really only covers about 99.99% of my hunting shot opportunities....

David

Nope...Im odd too, but as stated earlier, I truly don't plan on shooting past 400 yards. Mine is on a .243 and surely you can hit them farther away than that...but I want to kill them.

Same here...99.9%


Trying it out one day I lazered a gopher at 467 in a 25 mph wind. Held right above the 500 yd. mark, and hung it into the wind a matter of a few feet, figuring I could fire and adjust for the next shot.

That .1% and divine intervention landed that bullet on that poor gopher...

I hope you had a witness so you could play like you make those shots 1st time every time. I once shot a starling first shot with 17 hmr just a little under 200 with the whole camp watching. Poof of feathers and the little carcass falling off the purple martin house by the pond. Quietly put the rifle away and went back to bidness like it was an everyday thing with several astonished onlookers....

David

Only one witness and he was as surprised as me and the gopher was!

Best way I could describe the CDS stops would be "mushy". Shot a M1, SWFA, and CDS today. Sombody mentioned the low profile, which I do like.


Oh, and shot a buds VX1 with the finger adjustments. Oof.....

I'm going to throw a 3rd option out there.

Boone & Crocket reticle, if your a dedicated Leupold user. It has marks out to 500 yds with 10 mph windage holds to 400. With the right rangefinder, 500 yds should not be an issue.

Slidellkid, do you have a rangefinder? If not, I would suggest a Leica 1600 or 1600B. They both have a feature called EHR or Equivalent Horizontal Range. Each of the range finders has 12 internal ballistic curves. You pick the the curve closest to your rifles ballistic curve. One can get pretty close, especially if 500 yds is the max distance. The Leica's will take into account the temp, baro pressure and angle and give you an adjusted range to hold for. Example; your true distance is 450 yds but due to one or all the variables (temp, baro, angle), the range finder will first give 450 then, say, 411 yds. You then use the 400 yd crosshair with a skootch more holdover, say an inch, and you've got venison on the ground. No dialing. No worrying about the dial accidentally turning when you least expect it. No tall dials. Just point and shoot.

With that said, i'm a dialing fiend! I dial as well as hold over in moa for competition and LR hunting. I dialed a few weeks back to kill my spike elk at 950 yds. I own CDS, B&C and pure dialing scopes. I use them all and love them all.

Just another option.

Alan

Never had a CDS move, but really, how hard is it to glance at the dial before squeezing off a shot?

I also always check my CDS dial before the shot. I range the distance and then check or adjust the CDS dial to match the ranged distance.

Contrary to many others, I've had M1 turrets move unintentionally. But you check the drag before casting.

With long range reticle my hunting partner ranges while I'm getting on target and 3 seconds later......bang....flop!

With CDS Its range....3 second dial....3 second getting on target and the 8 point bull elk just ducked in the trees.

Shod

While it may seem that way, I guarantee that you aren't flopping down and shooting in 3 seconds.

It takes about 2 minutes of practice to learn to spin a dial in 2 seconds or less. From seeing and teaching hundreds of shooters there is zero doubt that it is faster for the majority to HIT vital sized targets in the field dialing versus holding.

I've never had a CDS spin on its own, but I don't use saddle scabbards and am careful with my rifles.

I guess it depends on how one handles his firearm and the type hunting one is engaged in.

To me, the CDS is a simple solution for a simple hunter. Did I say "simple minded"...

That may apply, too...

DF

I may very well resemble that remark......

Were you talking to me (if not you should have been) I've gotten myself into more discussions around here lately than ever before on this dial spinning stuff. Not sure why I've wasted my time on it when a gusting 15-25mph wind will render every turret, hash, dot, dial, useless anyway.

That's some funny schit.



Travis

I try not to get too deep into the subject because A) I don't have much experience spinning turrets and B)My CDS works great and doesn't feel 'mushy' to me!

I respect LR hunters and target shooter who can do the real long range stuff, read the wind, etc.

That's not me, never has been and probably never will be. It's like we're talking about two different worlds.

In my world, making a 500 yd. shot at a hog, 'yote, etc. across a bean field or down a power line is a LR shot. I generally don't shoot at deer that far, because I can't read a rack at those distances.

If I see a whopper of a rack and know it's a real shooter, I want to be able to crank in the yardage and take the shot. Hogs and other vermin are targets of opportunity. I don't really care if they're gut shot, etc., just shot...

I'm a lot more careful with deer.

DF