This 500 yd crap is just that, crap. Should you get a shot exactly at 500 yds, just imagine your out hunting and get a 500yd shot. No problem, just use the appropriate gizmo in your scope, hold right on and in theory drop the animal. Good for you. How many shots do you think you'll get at exactly 500yds? What if it's 533 yds and you don't know it? Let's say its 533yds and you know it because of your range finder. So how much hold over with the right 500 yds hash mark in your scope to cover the drop from 500 yds to 533yds? Anybody go that right off the top of their head? Between 500 aand 533 yds, how far will your bullet drop? How about between 458yds and 500yds or maybe 400 and 458 yds? All the gizmos in the world won't help you much at the in between ranges! Practiced sniper's are simply that, well practiced sniper's, damn few hunter's are in that class!
You might notice that bad word holder has showed up with your ultra modern expensive scope. Will your $2000 Night Force tell you what you need at 533 yds?
Don –
It doesn’t make any difference to me if people use BDC reticles or turrets or both. I have one rifle with a vertical turret but it also has a BDC scope. With that rifle I’ve used both, depending on the situation.
While I can’t speak for jwall, your questions are good. I verify the drops in 100 yard increments out to 600 yards, both for the BDC reticles and the turret. Once confirmed I print out the drop tables in 25-yard increments and make a diagram of where the 100-yard increments are in the reticle (they rarely match up exactly with the reticle marks). I also load the data into my ballistic app on my phone so I can adjust the data in the field for altitude. I use a laser in the field, so I know the ranges fairly accurately.
We spend a lot of time sitting, waiting and glassing. When we sit we use the lasers, noting the range to various landmarks. I carry a tripod and set it up whenever we sit. When animals come into view we already have a pretty good idea of their range and often have no need for an additional range check. When stalking game we normally have no need of the lasers or anything but the center crosshairs because the ranges tend to be 300 or under - and usually far less.
So what happens when we have a tweener shot at longer ranges? Not really a problem. You ask about 533 yards as an example. At that range you more than likely have plenty of time to laser, check your range card, set up a bipod/tripod, turn turrets if you have them and/or use your BDC reticle. Worst case with the BDC on my .300WM or .338WM, the difference in drop between 533 and 525 or 550 is about 2.0” to 2.5”, up or down depending on which range card entry is used. At 588 yards the difference is about 3” to 4” from 575 or 600 yards. You can easily use the BDC and adjust a couple inches up or down for the tweener shots. Do that and you shouldn’t be off more than a couple inches at most.
I used exactly that procedure taking my longest shot ever a few years back. I was sitting in an impromptu blind made of sage in open country. I had about 45 minutes to laser the ground around me and paid special attention to 400 to 600 yards. When elk did come in they were bunched up, no shot, and when a cow finally separated I didn’t have any time to laser it or check my range card – but I knew the range was pretty close to 500 yards from the previous lasering. One shot using the BDC dropped it. I later measured the range as 487 yards. Elapsed time from when the elk appeared to when I took the shot was measured in minutes. I was following the elk with the scope as they passed by and the range increased. From the time the cow separated to the time I fired was maybe 5 seconds, probably less. The BDC let me make the shot. Not sure I could have if I had to fiddle with a turret.
Last edited by Coyote_Hunter; 02/22/20. Reason: spelnig
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
