Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Curious about Boone&Crockett reticle

For those that have used the B&C reticle...can one shoot small w/the bow tie looking cross hairs at distance? I have been looking at it and any help will be greatly appreciated. powdr

I like them a bit better than dots for shooting at 300-400yds. No problems shooting 3-4" paint spots on steel at those ranges with my 3.5-10.

Thanks JPro. powdr

Friend Powdr,

I designed both the B&C and the VH reticles for Leupold.

The regular crosshair is sighted for 200 yards. The first reference "bow tie" below that is for 300 yards and the next one for 400. The little "tick" is for 450 and the top of the bottom duplex post is for 500 yards.

The reasoning I used in designing the reticle is simple. As the power is increased in Leupold variable scopes, the crosshair subtention decreases. With a bit of trigger time, it is possible to find the magnification where your little crosshairs hit at 300 and 400. I can always do that in a single two-hour range session, so it's not that hard.

Also, the width of the "bow ties" is equal to one "wind value." By definition, a wind value is a 10mph wind at 90º. Obviously, the wind values increase as the range increases.

It was my goal in the designing to make a totally useful reticle. I am an experienced hunter and I fully realize that 95% of our field shooting is at 200 yards or less ... in which case, we simply settle the crosshair on the critter and kill him.

BUT, there is that occasional shot, that really great mule deer that is beyond your comfort zone for "Hold high and shoot." That is where your laser rangefinder and the B&C shines. The B&C gives you a fabulous reference point and it can greatly increase your odds of a kill.

It was also my goal to make the little "holdover points" as unobtrusive as possible. And I believe I achieved that goal.

Here is one letter from a user:

Steve,

I have seen your posts in the past and wanted you to know about the first hunt where I used the B&C reticle. I drew a Montana Bighorn sheep tag for the fall of 06.

I mounted a VXIII 4.5x14 LR, 40mm, B&C reticle using dual dovetail mounts on a Remington 700, 30-06, ADL, manufactured in 1983. I own about 10 rifles and I had purchased this one a year ago from a friends retired father. The rifle had been shot 8 times to sight in the scope so it was baicly new. I used factory federal 180 grain TSX bullets sigheted in 2" high at 100 yards. The gun was dead on at 200 yards and using the 300 yard point was also hiting well.

On the second day of the hunt we had the ram we were after at 340 yards. I put the 300 yard mark high on his sholder and hit him perfect. That is the longest shot I have ever attempted and I would not have considered it without the B&C reticle and some practice time at the range.

Thanks

Will


Anyway, you might give the B&C a try. I designed it for 6-ogive bullets with a muzzle velocity between 2,500 and 3,200 fps. Basically, it's up to you to find the scope power that works with the ballistics of your individual rifle/cartridge.

We also designed a mini-dvd that's included with the B&C scope. I'm not sure if Leupold still gives the dvd with the product or not.

I'm not involved with Leupold any more, so I don't know what comes with the box.

God Bless you,

Steve

Steve: I just put a B&C reticle equipped 2.5X8X36 on my 300 Weatherby and will try out at our place in PA next month where I can shoot farther than our 200 yard range here allows. Using 180gr TTSXs @ 3200 fps, I have it hitting 1.25"high at 100, dead on at 200. j

They no longer do this.

I purchased one about a month ago.

B&C Steve,

How would a B&C reticle do on a varmint rig?

Say a .40gr BT @ 3,500fps?




Travis

I know Steve is in favor of adjusting magnifications to get the bowties to specific ranges, but I usually just figure the ranges at max magnifcation and rock on. That was on my old burris'.

Can't see that it would hurt to figure out the ranges of each mark at specific magnifications, and add them to a drop chart.

I might be able to make a spreadsheet for that.

Cool, something new to obsess over.

Huzzah!

That works really well, too.

I have a .257 Weatherby I haven't shot and I have a 4.5-14 B&C to put on it. I'm pretty sure the Roy is way too fast for the 300, 400, etc ... I'm prepared to figger out where the bowties cross. Prolly 340, 430 and whatever.

Yeah, that works great.

Hey, my friend,

You will probably have to figure out where the bullet crosses. At that speed, you might have to just spend some trigger time and make up a custom chart.

The VH reticle is finer and I designed it for an average MV of 3,300fps. It would easily catch your 3,500fps.

By the way, I killed the first critter ever shot with the 40Ballistic. It was an ancient badger. He was laying flat on top of a prairie dog mound and I shot him between the eyes. The hydraulics (or whatever) were so extreme that it blew his teeth up and both eyes were on his cheeks.

Chub got no end of amusement and photos.

I'm of the opinion that the 40Ballistic has a higher BC than is stated by Nosler. Gale started out with a figger of .176, then it went to .221. It shoots flatter than that.

Your buddy Steve

Friend Jorge,

I believe you'll love the B&C. It's kinda like a little extra insurance policy that will help you if that longer shot shows up.

I truly worked hard to keep the B&C as uncluttered as humanly possible.

Oh, Jorge, I found some photos a few days ago. They are of Allen Day and I took them while we were on a blacktail day hunt up the Clackamas River, here in Oregon. My buddy Allen had killed a mulie the previous weekend, so he was just along for the fun and companionship.

I launched a bullet precisely at shooting time and killed one heck of a heavy blacktail. The problem was that I'd fired from a landing and there was a deep clearcut in front of us. The buck was on top of a little high island in the middle of the clearcut.

The shot was almost exactly 350 yards, but it took us well over one-hour to descend the clearcut and climb the island.

When we got there, we took some photos, gutted the buck and halved him. We left the hide on because of all the mud slides in the clearcut (it was hideous).

We finally made it back to my truck a couple of hours later; bloody, muddy and laughing like hell.

Dang, I miss our buddy, Allen.

Your friend Steve

Below is a photo Allen took of me and the buck. The buck was kinda deformed; the backstraps joined above the shoulders, believe it or not.

Thanks B&C Steve!

No offense but umm... Doesn't "first Ballistic Tip" and "ancient" kinda go hand-in-hand?







Travis

Travis, my friend .... GFY

Oh hell no, I'm "ancienter" than that even. I killed a bunch of bull elk and mulies with the FIRST BALLISTICS. They were .308" 150grain bombs (literally) with black tips.

I remember the first mulie I shot with one. Shot it in the middle of the neck (from the side) and the head flew off. No sh1t.

Here's a photo of a doe blacktail I shot in the nose with one of the BlackTips. She was facing me at about fifty yards ... her face opened up like a red banana. Damndest thing I've ever seen.

Thanks for the Allen story, Steve! I'll let you know how it works out, and I think I like the RWE method as well. See what she'll give me at max magnification. Hell, it's a 300 Weatherby so it's pretty flat=shooting.

Any day that includes a GFY from Steve Timm, is a good day.





Travis

Your buddy Steve

(I thought that I sent this, but it never appeared. Must have screwed something up.)

Steve, do you have any pictures that include Allen? I only knew him from an exchange of personal messages where he was very helpful and kind and always wondered what he looked like.

Best, John

Travis,

Just for the record, Steve is even older than I am, believe it or not.

Friend John,

I have better ones around here, but I don't know exactly where. Anyway, when I find them, I'll get them to you.

In the meantime ..... "Ask and you shall receive"

I did some digital magic of a kinda crappy photo Allen and I took on self-timer when we were wrestling with the blacktail. I did a closeup digitally, so you could see Allen's face.

The country is killer-steep. Horrible place.

Where we were, on that island, we were looking DOWN at the tops of 120-foot trees. Crap, Oh Crap.

Enough of that sh1t

Steve


PS. Johnny ... Karen fell yesterday. A real faceplant. Praying she doesn't have a rebleed. Surely don't want any more brain surgery.

She's resting now. S