Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Sighting in a BCD scope for a 257 weatherby?

Is dead on at 100 the best option? This is for a Meopta 4.5-14 that only has I believe 4 hash marks. With the Weatherby I won't need to hold over until about 400 yards with a +2.5" sighting which is my usual. My thought is with the 100 sight in the 200 and 300 yrd. marks are superfluous. With the +2.5 then these marks could be used for + 400 yards to get me to 600 or 700 at the top of the post. Thoughts? Have not run the match to see if +2.5 will work out or not.

You need to find the MOA spacing and match your desired load to the bars in the optic. Once you know the spacing you can tweak your zero distance in order to make the bars become useful.

The problem with the 257 Wby and similar fast movers in that range is they are so fast the bars don’t work real well with the Leupold with dots or the Burris Ballistic Plex.

I believe for my little brothers 257 Wby with a 100 TTSX at 3550 we had to zero at 100 and it gives us aiming points at every 100 from there but as you already know, it sorta defeats the purpose of a screamer like the Weatherby.

You'll really need the MOA values for the hash mark subtensions, as well as the velocity and BC for your load to see what is going to jive best regarding a zero that offers usable aiming points. Once you have that info, JBM will allow some tinkering to arrive at a starting point.

My own .257 wears a plain duplex. With a 250yd zero, the 300 and 350 holdovers are fairly moderate and the tip of the duplex post is on at 400yds. That's fine by me, as the BC isn't great for running out a lot further than that. Wind starts to whip it around a bit.

You can use this, and adjust until you have something that works for you and whatever load you choose. Just went through it recently with a friend and I think he settled on 1.6 high at 100 for his son’s 6.5 C load.

http://calculator.meoptasportsoptics.com/approw.html#Input

Download the Strelok app. Makes it easy to play with variables.

405wcf

+1

For starters you are probably aware with a second focal plane the spacing and subsequent moa spacing will change with magnification. 14X will have the tightest spacing and most likely with a 257 Roy any lesser magnification will be useless. You can figure out the zeros for the stadia will do at various distances on 14X.

The issue is when you go to use it for a long shot in dim light. Can't see the animal and if you lower the magnification you cannot use the stadia! I know I did exactly that with a Swarovski Z6 2.5-15 x 44. After that debacle I began to acquire FFP or fixed power scopes mostly SWFA as they are dependable and affordable.

I suggest you go for the highest POI at 100 you can work with. At least with that setup you can use any magnification.

Another approach is to get a reasonably priced SWFA SS FFP 3.5-15 x 42 or for quite a bit more money the SWFA HD FFP 5-20 X 50. Either one will have useful mil stadia at any magnification or you can depend on the turrets to work. Heck the fixed 10X is only $299 and is also dependable turreted scope.Comes with MOA or Mil stadia.

My 257 had that Swarovski now has the 5-20 x 50 and is setup for a zero at 400 yds. 3.1" high at 100, apogee 5.2" at 225. It is used for coues wt which rarely give you a shot less than 300-350 yds. I would only use the stadia for a shot around 225 by aiming with first stadia ABOVE the crosshair which is .5 mil making it a zero'ed shot. For shots 450 or more I could use stadia or for more precise hits the turret.

There are many ways to resolve the issue. what works for my LR coues wt hunting may not be for you.

I never use a 100 yd zero with BDC reticles. It's usually 200, but 250-300 is feasible. As others have said, it comes down to figuring out useful values for the lower hash marks. A lot of playing with the numbers will give you the result you want. I also keep a small notation attached to my rifle just in case I run into a looong shot that I feel confident to take. So far, they have worked perfectly for me out to exactly a quarter-mile, and I'd feel comfortable stretching further if need be. I also want the freedom to "point and shoot" out to typical hunting ranges, and the thought of farting with hashmarks at 250 seems silly.

Bingo...

Sounds like the 2.5-3" zero and then just shoot the thing out to 500 to see how it does. The MPB sighting will work for 90%+ of the shots I will take. When I ordered the scope I was not thinking of the issues with the 2nd focal plane or the need to be at 14x for the stadia marks to work well. I may become a convert to the SWFA but I was not impressed with the optics when I looked at them, maybe with field use I would appreciate their practicality more.

This makes me appreciate the 6x Meopta with German # 4 no guesswork involved with that one.

AKWolverine thanks for the link that will prove useful.

Thanks for all the other replies as well, went through 9 responses with no pizzing matches, pretty good for the optics forum.

Here is my routine for 2nd focal BDC. After you get your rifle sighted in for whatever range you want, put a few rounds into the 400 yard target. Then mark the target with a horizontal line thru the center of your group using a heavy marker broad enough you can see thru your scope.

After you get back to your shooting rest, twist the power selection ring until the stadia line you want is on the line you marked on the target. This will give you the power setting for your scope to use on a 400 yard shot. It will probably be around 9x or 10x. using a 250 yard zero.

Then repeat the process for power settings and stadia lines for other distances.

StrayDog: This sounds like a good method to try, only problem is most of the ranges nearby stop at 300 yard targets. I think I can generate the numbers with the ballistic programs and shooting at 100 to check them. The 9-10x power is usually as high as I go in hunting situations.

Optimal use of your stadia might be higher than 10x but from a practical standpoint sighting in at 200-250 will offer way more speed & simplicity than a 100 yard zero ever could. My 25-06 is sighted at 225 yards & estimating to 500 is very simple. Everything 325 & in is point and shoot. On the 300 I have hash marks out to 800 & they work beautifully but have no practiced at long range with it for several years now.

Were it mine, I think I would zero at 300 yards, then move to 500 and adjust the power to work out center hits at that range with the second dot or hash mark.

This is what I will do. A 100 yard zero seems like putting a throttle on the 257s main virtue. The reality is I limit myself to 3-400 yards unless everything is just right which it seldom is in most of my hunting. Point and shoot to 375 is where it is at for me.

My 257 wby used to have a 4.5-14 vxiii with the B&C reticle and I ran a 100yd zero ad the hashes got me to 570yds and the duplex line was right at 650yds iirc. Plenty for the 257 but I now have a swfa 3-15 as I like turning turrets when time allows.

I'm not a fan of BDC reticles as there are too many variables involved. Like cartridge choice, what magnification the rifle is on and so forth.

I sight-in all my rifles to hit 2" to 2.5" high at 100 yards. I've killed deer out to 310 yards with no problem whatsoever. That is my maximum effective range in reality.

The truth is, 99.9% of the deer I've killed in my lifetime have been under this distance anyway.

I love my .257 WbyMag lefthanded rifle. I zero mine at 200 yards and run the number through Strelok Pro to get the drops for my Meopta scopes. All you need is a good rangefinder and you will have accurate distances for the hash marks on your optic. The more accurate the data is the more accurate your shots will be. Strelok can give you the distances for each magnification setting too, not just 14.5.

It's not that complicated, but I can see that hunting deer in the Southeast with maximum shots being 300 yds wouldn't require a BDC.

The BDC variables involved are all controlled by you. What that means is that it is highly flexible and customizable. That isn't a bad thing.

I set mine up to use the highest power setting. If I have a long shot, I also want all the magnification. Otherwise, it stays on a lower power. I use the companies' app and program the bullet, BC, velocity, and typical atmospherics where I will hunt. I sight the scope in based upon how the lower hashmarks line up for distance. You can still sight in a BDC reticle exactly how you sight in now, but then you'll also have other aim-points below the crosshairs to account for drop at distance. Like you said, if you never have longer shots, it really doesn't serve a purpose.

In my tests and in actual hunting, I've found the BDC to be accurate and simple, once I have set it up and then ranged the shot. As I said in an earlier post, the longest shot I've taken on an animal with one was at 440 yds, and the bullet impacted about an inch to the right of where I was aiming on the elk. It was across a canyon, and the early morning air was dead-still for me. I didn't have to reference my chart, because I knew where the approximate 400 and 450 hashmarks were, and there was no wind. Simple.

In that same group of elk, my brother also shot his, just before I shot mine, also using a BDC set up for what he was shooting. I've seen him take shots past 550 with the same reticle to good effect on animals. After shooting quite a bit at 300, 500, and 600 yds, in diverse places, I am not comfortable shooting at animals past about about 500 unless there is no wind. It's all about confidence, I have confidence that BDC's account for drop just fine when set up properly.