Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold CDS...how well do they work?

More for people that are shooting a 24" plate vs the ones that are shooting a 2" plate. You may think that is "anal", when others are thinking precision and hitting a smaller target, with more regularity.

So, it's for shooting Plates. The CDS works fine for people who hunt a big game animal or several every year and don't want to Get Anal about dials. They make white trucks. They make black trucks...whatever suits your needs.

No kidding. A dope chart taped to the stock is nothing different, just slower to use. Still figuring in approx velocity, approx elevation, approx temp, etc, etc.

Not sure how fast someone can run a ballistics program on their phone while an animal is standing out at 700 yards. Even then it is still a guess on some things. Could be updrafts, various cross winds, etc.

Doesn't matter if you are calculating in MOA, MIL, Inches, Centimeters, fractions of a foot, or whatever. Still have to consider all variables, and raise the aim point to the location of the intended impact point.

Or you can use a Christmas tree reticle and do the same thing. Still raising the aiming point by counting dots or hash marks, and guessing on the variables.

Slower, but more precise. I can print a DOPE chart with 5 yard increments, but the CDS dial only has so much space for distance markings. Between them, a guy has to guess within a couple of clicks.

The more variables you can eliminate or bound, the more closely your POA and POI will match. I mentioned this early in the thread, but I’ll say it again, with a CDS system you give up accuracy and versatility for convenience and simplicity. A Kestrel or a phone app can take MV variation per degree F, update atmospherics, etc. Slower than CDS, yes, but a 700 yard shot at big game shouldn’t be rushed, anyway. As I said before, out to about 600 yards the CDS system will likely get you within about 0.50-0.75 MOA of POA. If that’s good enough for your needs is for you to decide.

I don't think those that have them are trying to hit a 2" plate. We're trying to hit a 8" circle on a deer, elk, etc...at whatever yardage they're at. I do think the CDS does that as advertised. Does it happen with precision? I donno because I haven't tried it. I haven't tried it because it does what I ask of it, with a reticle my schitty eyes can see.

Exactly correct.

I've left the majority of my CDS dialed scopes in MOA, and use a dope chart just because I change loads and didn't want to buy more dials.

A friend of mine has one on his 300WSM and I've seen it work for him very well during an Antelope hunt a couple years ago and in practice. My "backyards" range goes out to 760yds. In prep for hunting season I'll put steel plates out at varying distances and we'll practice from field positions from 200-600+ yards. For those sessions his dial works very well on an 8" standard kill zone.

The biggest advantage I see is speed. I can't laze, check a dope chart and twist a turret as fast as he can laze and twist a turret. The turrets still have 1/4 MOA graduations, so you can "refine" + or - in 1/4 MOA off the yardage mark.

My solution to need for speed is the B&C reticle and the CDS dial left in MOA. Out to 500yds the B&C works quite well, especially when pared with Strelok so I know what the absolute distances are.

True, but wondering which scope allows you dial in 5 yd increments?

After reading all this, I double checked the name of this sub forum, and sure enough it is still called Hunting Optics🤔

I love the MIL/MIL setups for sure, but I've lost count of the number of hogs myself and a couple of buddies have whacked with a CDS scope. It definitely has it's application, just like every other piece of hunting gear does.

The inverse argument (which is the one I’m making) is that for a given distance, a DOPE chart can tell you an exact solution, rather than guessing within a click or two between distance markings. The DOPE chart and CDS dial would essentially be the same if the chart were printed in 50 or 100-yard increments. Again, assuming mechanical integrity, I’m not arguing against the CDS concept, more pointing out the trade-offs. For some, it may be the best option. Though, I do still think that the tape idea is more versatile and adaptable.

The HILARITY of the situation,is the schit erector mechanics,that CDS is cobbled onto. The script on the turret is moot,but internals are not and that's where Reupold sucks copious ass. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!.............

The best some can do is hunting 2” steel plates.

Raging Estrogen Levels and Hurt Feeler Reports,don't "enhance" Reupold erectors ladies. It is fascinatingly HILARIOUS,how incredibly Stupid you Crying Clueless Kchunts are. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!............

Actually a dope chart can tell you the exact solution for the conditions for what it was made for.. so unless your temp, pressure (also takes into account altitude), humidity remain exactly the same as when you ran the ballistic software, you're using dated data.

Real current data is derived from a ballistic app tied to a Kestrel or similar with current conditions.

At work, we call it the 5 tenants of accurate predicted fires ( I was an Artillery Officer), one of which was meteorological Data.

Bottom line, CDS is for people who don’t know any better. With a little education and better understanding, no one who is well informed uses them. Every single one of the guys that Ive met who uses CDS (or similar) also shoots factory ammo. Which I find funny. Because I then ask them, “so you bought 4-5 cases of that ammo with the same lot # right?” Blank stare. Hell, most don’t even own a chronograph and just use the velocity printed on the box when cutting the turret! Ha! Then they think that cut turret allows them to do magical things at 800 yards!

And I think that brings up the real objection people have to CDS. It’s a shortcut. It enables people to take shots and attempt to do things they probably shouldn’t. Without the proper understanding required to take such shots.

Not ONE of the fhuqking "esteemed" tenants,involves suffering a Reupold erector. HINT.

You ladies are sooooooooo enthralled with "winning" your Dumbfhuqk Tournament,that the horse can't even see the fhuqking cart. Had a visiting pard yesterday,pounding things at 1K with my Montucky Baby 6 BR/6x MQ and he simply blew his own mind. That despite having his 15lb 6 CompMatch PRS Rifle in tow,with 105 Booger HighBirds(XTR2 Mil/Mil '15x). My 20" Waypoint with 112 MB's performed exceptionally to 1400yds+,with the '12x BTR Gen2. The jaunt has him cutting multiple checks and rethinking numerous things. Sig Kilo6's sure are tough on Geovids! Had me simply saying "Toldjaso". Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!..............

Well, yeah. That's obviously the case for both the CDS dial and the DOPE chart. We were discussing how their resolution compares, not how air density variation necessitates a new set of solutions in either case.

You assume a lot of things that quite frankly, are flat out ridiculous. I've got a couple of buddies with either a VX5 or VX6 CDS that have killed several thousand inches of mule deer with them, no problemo. They are far from ignorant, or inexperienced. In the hands of experienced hunters like these guys, it's quite elementary actually.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. I know you are correct, and I know some guys like that too. Very experienced hunters, many are also bowhunters, but their technical knowledge of ballistics and shooting is minimal. They know how to hunt and kill, and that will always be far more important in the field, but they also don’t know and don’t care about the finer technical aspects of shooting. Great hunters, not shooters. Shooting long range at a high skill level requires a greater understanding of ballistics than simply hunting. I’ve also killed plenty of inches of mule deer and a lot else with a bow and/or a simple duplex scope at under 300 yards, long before I knew what a milliradian was. Two different skills. Hunting success is different matter. My point is, those who have a deep understanding of the technical aspects of ballistics probably don’t shoot CDS. There are the few experienced hunters who get by on grit and woodsmanship and may choose CDS for whatever reason, and then there are the overwhelming majority of the rest who choose CDS because they just walked out of a big box and it sounded cool.