Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post

Buffalobob · 06-02-2007, 17:35

Ranging with a reticle is a useful skill to have, but with that skill you need several others. Animals and people come in many different body sizes. There are fat tall ones and short skinny one, ones with big rack and small bodies, and small bodies and big racks which makes ranging with a reticle on a lone isolated animal a difficult feat. You cannot just use the "average size" for long range shooting.

The advice about a range card is great advice because lasers don't like early morning fog nor light mist nor too much sunlight. In other words, when you get the correct conditons you build your range card so that when the animal comes you can hit him with the laser and then check your card as a back up to make sure you didn't under or over shoot him with the laser beam.

Most of the people I know are going to the NP-R1 recticle which is a finer graduated version of the NP-R2. It will range just as well as the more cluttered 1RR and allows for simple hold overs without the need to dial if the animal is close enough - 800 yards for moderate magnums and 1000 yards for extreme magnums. Many people who start off with the NP-1RR, wind up sending it back to have the reticle changed once they get some experience with it. Other option is a straight mildot which is hard to beat if you want to work in mils. A great feature of the simple graduated reticles is the abilty to make a quick second shot using the grid if the first shot is off. Some people (not me) are good enough to use the grid to develop a lead on a running animal and make a hit. In other words, the graduated reticles like the mildot or NP-R1 have multiple uses while still being uncluttered and simple.

One thing to look for in a scope for long range is total elevation adjustment available
In Luepold you will need to go to the VX3 Long range or the Mark4 to get the amount you need. Nightforces come with plenty of adjustment. Canted bases or Burris signature rings with offsets wiil get you down low in the adjustment so you can have more room.

Life is full of compromises and adjustments and the most irritating of those is getting older. At about age 40 or so you begin to lose your night vision and start needing scopes that will gather more light. Consequently, you need to move up to 50 or 56 mm objectives which is a real and literal pain in the neck unless you get an adjustable cheekpiece.

06-02-2007, 17:35	#12
Buffalobob Quiet Professional Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Potomac River Posts: 925	Ranging with a reticle is a useful skill to have, but with that skill you need several others. Animals and people come in many different body sizes. There are fat tall ones and short skinny one, ones with big rack and small bodies, and small bodies and big racks which makes ranging with a reticle on a lone isolated animal a difficult feat. You cannot just use the "average size" for long range shooting. The advice about a range card is great advice because lasers don't like early morning fog nor light mist nor too much sunlight. In other words, when you get the correct conditons you build your range card so that when the animal comes you can hit him with the laser and then check your card as a back up to make sure you didn't under or over shoot him with the laser beam. Most of the people I know are going to the NP-R1 recticle which is a finer graduated version of the NP-R2. It will range just as well as the more cluttered 1RR and allows for simple hold overs without the need to dial if the animal is close enough - 800 yards for moderate magnums and 1000 yards for extreme magnums. Many people who start off with the NP-1RR, wind up sending it back to have the reticle changed once they get some experience with it. Other option is a straight mildot which is hard to beat if you want to work in mils. A great feature of the simple graduated reticles is the abilty to make a quick second shot using the grid if the first shot is off. Some people (not me) are good enough to use the grid to develop a lead on a running animal and make a hit. In other words, the graduated reticles like the mildot or NP-R1 have multiple uses while still being uncluttered and simple. One thing to look for in a scope for long range is total elevation adjustment available In Luepold you will need to go to the VX3 Long range or the Mark4 to get the amount you need. Nightforces come with plenty of adjustment. Canted bases or Burris signature rings with offsets wiil get you down low in the adjustment so you can have more room. Life is full of compromises and adjustments and the most irritating of those is getting older. At about age 40 or so you begin to lose your night vision and start needing scopes that will gather more light. Consequently, you need to move up to 50 or 56 mm objectives which is a real and literal pain in the neck unless you get an adjustable cheekpiece. Last edited by Buffalobob; 06-02-2007 at 17:37.
Buffalobob is offline