Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles load testing using a high power scope

I've never shot nothing at 1,000 yards and probably never will. But for general hunting I dont think I've ever shot a deer with a scope set higher than 7x.

I can generally shoot or sight in just as well with a medium powered scope vs. a higher powered one.

4x at 100 yds.

How's the 6x42mm on a light carbine ? Seems it would be a little top heavy ?

To NOBODY in particular (he, he). Amid all the pizzing on one another's shoes, I wonder if any of you have ever been to or participated in a Hunter Bench Rest Match ? For the uniformed, they are limited to SIX power scopes and I rather doubt any of the groups proudly posted here would bring home a trophy ..... i.e. they shoot bugholes.

As far as hunting goes, I can only defer to Finn, who was reasonably good at it.
He once said:"a big game animal too far away to be killed with a 3X scope is too far away." Some might remember that JOC killed a lot of his big game with a hopeless Lyman Alaskan 2.5 X with a FIVE inch dot. While it is obvious that their experience pales compared to the Bard of Milne, it is interesting.

Big clunky scopes turn sweet rifles into clubs. IMHO best combination of price, quality, reticle (illuminated on demand), weight slimness and optical quality for a HUNTING rifle is the 2.5-10x32 Nightforce with one of the velocity compensating reticles. No knob twiddling and slips in a saddle scabbard beautifully.

Of course, some may consider me contrary, as I think, like the Sr. Askins did, that semi-autos are better HUNTING rifles than things you have to manipulate. Good enough to win WW II is good enough to kill anything a 300 Winmag (the real one) will handle.

Unlike some, I'm happy match my money with my opinion ......

I've shot 1/2 moa with 2.5x, and I can easily detect a 1/4moa wobble through 2.5x. Heck, I can shoot moa w/ irons. If you can't hold steady low magnification, you won't magincally hold steady with the hubble mounted atop your rifle.

A simple test for the doubters. Once you have an accurate load worked out for your rifle, if you have a 3-9 on top, shoot groups at 3, 6 and 9. If you worked up groups with a 12, a 24 or 36, compare them to those shot w/ 3, 6 and 9. Odds are you won't detect a difference in the size of the groups.

Comparing groups shot with a hunter BR class rifle to those from a hunting rifle since they both wear 6x scopes makes about as much sense as comparing lap times for a Formula One race car to those of a street sports car that happens to have the same number of cylinders in its engine.

And so IT goes, the logic of BossLady/Oldballs.....

I have shot Hunter BR and I can guarentee that those bug hole loads were not developed with a 6X.
And to all of you that suddenly want to relate the thread to hunting with a big scope or a excessively powerful scope, the original question was "does anyone LOAD DEVELOPE with a high powered scope".

Really I know FIVE people who compete in HBR all over the West and ALL their loads are worked up using the same scopes as the match ....... 6X
Hard to practice with equipment different from that you compete with. (in any sport)

As for the "expert" on scopes and engines ..... LAFFIN

A 6x42 Sightron, Leupold etc HBR scope will work just fine for hunting. As for the rifles .... there are plenty of sniper wannabes hunting with rifles weighing as much or more than an HBR rifle.

You apparently know little of F 1 engines, scopes or the vast variety of rifles folks hunt with !

No [bleep] Sherlock. I only use about a half dozen 6x scopes myself.




Once again you fail at making a meaningful comparison. Of course, weight per se doesn't a competitive benchrest rifle make.

lin�e�al

Straight out of Merian-Webster

Meaning:: having a direct family relationship : related by a direct series of parents and children ▪ He claims that he is a lineal descendent of a famous military hero. ▪ a lineal ancestor

Know or not know, people who put down you or your equipment (rather than politely offering advice), because it's not what they use, or put you or the way you hunt down(rather than politely offering advice), because it's not how they hunt...suck.

Retard, how many times do you have to banned before it sinks in?

+1

You put it better than anyone I have ever read. You are 100 percent correct. Wish I had thought of it. Your comment should be made into a sticky and automatically come up when ANY thread is opened.

Well I suppose someone can translate this, BUT the hard FACT remains that very tiny groups are shot by HBR shooters with ONLY 6X scopes and rifles that weigh no more than many used by hunters.

As for what I use or don't use having a thing to do with my comments ..... well it's just wrong.

My gunsafe contains everything from an 1809 Flintlock to a 30-378 Accumark and lots in between. They all work and most have taken game.

When someone can bring hard evidence to the table that higher power scopes produce smaller groups in developing loads for shooting other than hyper benchrest, I'll be happy to change my opinion.

For those who have actually shot long range target will be the first to know that having a spotter with a HIGH POWER spotter, is not to shoot smaller groups but rather to read wind, mirage and track bullet flight. Ditto snipers.
Absent a spotter, a higher power scope might do the same thing for a shooter.

If calling me names gives you a warm tingle down your leg, so be it.

But without facts, that's all you'll get.

"For those who have actually shot long range target will be the first to know that having a spotter with a HIGH POWER spotter, is not to shoot smaller groups but rather to read wind, mirage and track bullet flight. Ditto snipers.
Absent a spotter, a higher power scope might do the same thing for a shooter."

I have always thought that the better you could see your target, the better were your chances of hitting it.

Years ago, when I shot Metallic Sil., I used an 18 power scope, for the standing position.

Some days, about mid day, with bright sunshine, and when most of the fresh paint had been chipped off the targets, you could not even see the long range targets with your necked eye. Some of the shooters were snipers from Ft. Benning, and they used M14 sniper rifles fitted with scopes. IIRC, the Leatherwood 3X9 variable. The rifles were also equiped with the issue peep sights, but I never saw anyone using them in competition.

There were a few M14 match rifles around without scopes and they let me shoot them on occasion. Not in competition, but just the oppertunity to fire an M14. I could usually hit the targets I could see when using the issue sights, but, as I mentioned above, in the bright sun and mirage, I could not see the distant targets.

Too bad someone didn't tell them they could have shot better scores with the open sights, or with the scopes set on 3X.
As it was, they had to struggle through with inferior sighting equipment.

The Army and Marines could save a lot of money if they left the scopes off the latest sniper rifles, and used factory iron sights. Maybe someone should write the Army and Marines and tell them about the benefits of the latest discovery in aids to long range shooting.

I have shot enough 600 and 1000 yard matches, some with open sights and others with scope sights, to know that you can get a much more precise aiming point with a scope that with open sights. Some on here apparently do not realize it, but with open sights, you have to line up the rear sight, front sight, and the target. That is not nearly as precise as lining up a reticle and the target, a target that you can see much better with a scope, and lining up a reticle and the target with a high powered scope is much more precise than with a low powered scope.

I guess it all boils down to how much precision you want. For testing loads and a rifle's accuracy, I want all the precision I can get. When testing, I also want the steadiest position available.

That was the question the OP asked. I assume he wanted the most precise testing equipment available. For testing, it is high magnification. For hunting is thick forest, it would be low magnification. For long range hunting, it would be a 4 or 6X scope, or even higher magnification, if conditions warrent it.

What is a "F1 engine"?? What car does it go in? Is it anything like a "platform'? Or a "boolit" or a "handle"? Are those tactikewl terms used by the in crowd?

F1 = Formula One racing

He probably thinks an "Auto Union" is the UAW as well.