BDC Scopes

Mort · Nov 27, 2018

As you all have read, I flung lead at least 8 times before connecting on my last shots of three.
2 of the deer were little long shots in my eyes, but probably nothing for some of you masters out there...(grin)

Is getting a BDC scope were all the hype??? And how do you master calculating yardage without the ranger finder, I feel at some point, the darn thing can cause loss of shooting window if fart around with it and they dang deer are moving to get the hell out of area. specially in the 200-300 yd range.

You military guys got it down to a T I bet

AND....go......oh, don't say practice practice practice....try to hit a target absolutely still with no adrenaline rush is not the same thing....(buzz) wrong answer

Kurtr · Nov 27, 2018

If you dont have time to range find it you probably dont need to worry about how far it is. So yes you range find any thing over 200 or so. Also you want to shoot at moving deer ar 200-300 you better be damn good at shooting and the only way to do that is practice. I am not a bdc fan but i like the usable reticles like this. You dial range and hold for wind

Jiffy · Nov 27, 2018

Standard mildot or Moa, take your pick. I have M1s on all my Leupys and Geovids don't lie.

I don't like fancy reticles, KISS for me.

wby257 · Nov 27, 2018

A BDC scope will not make up for poor shooting.

AND....go......oh, don't say practice practice practice....try to hit a target absolutely still with no adrenaline rush is not the same thing....(buzz) wrong answer

A person still need to practice. The adrenaline will still be running with the BDC scope.

AR-15 · Nov 27, 2018

My kid uses a 22-250 with BDC scope for coyotes and he likes it, he says to get another one for my 257 Roberts, the scope bit the dirt during deer season

espringers · Nov 27, 2018

this is my extremely KISS method on the only BDC i have. but, it kind of applies to my other .243 as well. my BDC is on my 6.5. i've only felt the need to use it once. and that was at nearly 400 yards. which is a shot i don't normally take unless under ideal circumstances. which this was. sitting with my stick at a standing deer with a slight headwind. i've got a 200 yard zero on that gun. so, i will put it dead center up to 200 and just slightly above at 300. not above the deer. just slightly above center. in other words it will kill by putting it on brown out to 300. after that the BDC comes into play. i just don't see most folks needing to use it on most calibers in most real life hunting situations. if you sit and glass a lot and have shots at standing deer then it could probably be real beneficial. but, then again.. under those situations, like jiffy said, you've probably got time to use mils or moa and make some clicks. having said that BDCs work for us laymen who haven't familiarized ourselves with mils moas and fancy

turrets. but, still need to practice and familiarize yourself with the BDC and your particular round and rifle and learn to read wind if that concerns you.

running deer... that's just an art that takes practice plain and simple. if you haven't been shooting at running deer for 20 or 30 years and didn't get to "practice" on multiple does in the 2000s, a person may never get good at it. i like to think i am damn good at it and have a few friends who i hold in similar regard. others, i swear will never figure it out. and it gets bothersome having to track their deer year after year and then watch them waste meat and/or clean a gut shot animal.

my layman's deer hunter non expert rifleman 2 cents.

Jiffy · Nov 27, 2018

In general I don't shoot at running deer, just too much room for error.

Mort · Nov 27, 2018

So for coyote hunting shooting at dogs 400+ yds when the don't come in...BDC good...but 200-300 yd deer just do the best you can with reg recticle? Seems logically to me, but just frustrating watching the lead whiz over their backs....lol...I just get nervous when I start missing and window starts to close on me when the start getting to far out or head for thick cover...just me I guess....all good comments, keeping them coming

Retired Educator · Nov 27, 2018

Don't have a BDC scope but have used the concept. Out to the 200yd range I know I can hold right on. At the 300yd range I know my gun will drop a shade over 3 inches so just hold up about 3 inches (does it really amtter if I'm an inch high or low?" At 400yd I drop about 17 inches so hold right at top of back or slightly higher and so on. With practice I know how much my gun's trajectory drops so I hold accordingly. It's not rocket science to a point. Trajectory is the easy part, wind drift is what really takes practice. You get out in that 400yd range you will be surprised how far that bullet will drift.

Another major concern with long range shooting is not always hitting the target, it's do you have enough energy to kill the intended target? As mentioned earlier, if you're going to get into the long-range game, you cannot practice to much.

Kurtr · Nov 27, 2018

Mort said:
So for coyote hunting shooting at dogs 400+ yds when the don't come in...BDC good...but 200-300 yd deer just do the best you can with reg recticle? Seems logically to me, but just frustrating watching the lead whiz over their backs....lol...I just get nervous when I start missing and window starts to close on me when the start getting to far out or head for thick cover...just me I guess....all good comments, keeping them coming

deer, coyotes, lynx it dont mater range it dial it shoot it. or range it hold over and shoot it. The one thing that is the most important is practice so as not to think about it when the time comes it just to react and shoot

Downrigger · Nov 27, 2018

Knowing your bullet drop is very important. Without knowing that you're guessing the entire time and that's no way to do it. Practice and actually shooting those ranges on large targets will teach you a lot. Or find a friend with a Chronograph to determine muzzle velocity and input the data with your zero range and that will get you close (technology on this has come a long ways).

Ranging a deer should not take much time. If it does then you need to set up yourself better to do it faster. I have mine in an Alaska Guide chest pack and it is tethered to the pack. Grab, range, drop, shoot. Only thing faster in a handheld would be binocular with range finder. I should also mention I don't shoot at running deer often but wouldn't think of it if I felt I needed to range the deer first.

Other option is Mil-Dot and learn how to range with that.

5575 · Nov 27, 2018

Almost 40 years of deer hunting and i can count on one finger the amount of deer i've shot at moving.
Funny because I was talking to a guy at work and he said he'd never shot at a deer that wasn't running!
I couldn't imagine hunting like that.
Get yourself a range finder, they don't cost much. And start spotting and stalking deer instead of just walking around
jumping them. A BDC works just fine on deer at reasonable range if you know the distance.
I use a rapid Z 800 reticle for deer hunting myself and it works extremely well for me, keeps it simple.
Last deer I shot was 686 no wind. Put my 700 on him and squeezed the trigger on the stw, boom..flop the 160 accubond punched through both shoulders.

ndlongshot · Nov 27, 2018

I have a BDC scope, never use it.

I prefer to memorize a couple numbers and go afield.

Example:
Lets assume a 30 caliber bullet sighted dead zero at 200yrds.
Lets assume 6-8 inches of drop @ 300yrds.
Lets assume 16-18 inches of drop @ 400yrds.
Lets assume 30 inches of drop @ 500yrds.

Lets assume...just kidding...past 500 yards is a LONG shot and doing a "hold over" gets much harder. Thats when turrets come into play. I realistically wont shoot that far in a hunting situation. I know that, personally its not going to happen. I will get closer to the game i'm pursuing. If you want to shoot further utilizing a BDC its very possible. But the complexities in hunting situations wasn't worth it for me. As I said, in the heat of the moment I prefer to know a couple numbers so I can quickly hold over my target. Practice is essential here and perspective is everything. 16 inches on an elk is easy to drop it in there. 16 inches on a pronghorn that is only 18 inches top to bottom and you may clean miss him.

In addition, with BDC circles....the yardage of changes as you zoom in the scope in and out. Too many variables for me and my simple mind. I like to think fast and take as many of those things out of the equation. Now if you an engineer at your day job, you may enjoy all that number crunching :::. I suppose if you are taking a long shot, and have time to calculate, you will have your scope cranked up and then again you would only have to memorize a few numbers as well but they will be oddball numbers. Not clean like 300-400-500, etc.

Holmsvc · Nov 27, 2018

If you don't want to use a range finder a BDC scope is pretty much useless.

I have been using a Nikon Monarch scope with the BDC reticle for a couple years. I have been very happy with it. They have their website you go on and choose the scope you have, the caliber, and round you are using. Then you enter in the zero distance and set the power you have your scope at and it will give you the yardages for the circles or the tops and bottoms of the circles if you choose. I bought a new gun this year and got it sighted in on the lead sled to 100 yards then moved to 300 and shot off the 2nd circle and it was pretty much right on. The setup is pretty much idiot proof, if you enter in the correct data and have your gun sighted in correctly. You still have to practice and you still need to be able to shoot, but I certainly think they are helpful.

SDMF · Nov 27, 2018

If you don't know the range, you have to guess about:

1. Range, which means you also have to guess about:

2. Drop
3. Drift/lead

If you DO know the range you have to guess about:

1. Drift/lead, sort of.

Because with knowledge of range, you can also know drop for sure. Drop is gravity, it's always the same.

When I say you're "Sort Of" guessing about drift, you're at least making a somewhat educated guess IF you know the range. Windage/lead are linear and relate to time-of-flight of the bullet. If a 10MPH wind pushes your bullet "X" inches, a 5MPH wind will push it 1/2 that and a 20MPH wind will push it "2x". Lead is really no different than wind. The bullet takes "X" time to reach the target. @ "Y" speed the target will move "Z" distance. If you have a chart w/10MPH windage, that's pretty easy numbers to extrapolate quickly.

This sounds more complex than it is. The real trick is to shoot enough that you can recognize wind speed by what leaves, branches, cattails, or grass is doing. Same goes for moving targets, deer, coyotes, whatever. You can figure roughly 35-40MPH running for all their worth then back off from there depending upon how hard they're running.

For the record, I still miss plenty, especially coyotes on the move, it's like the bastards have a force-field that deflects my bullets.

Obi-Wan · Nov 27, 2018

I have my 270 sighted in at 3 1/2" high at 100 yds. I don't allow for anything for bullet drop when shooting deer out to 300 yds. 100 yds its a high hit and at 300 its a low hit but still in the boiler room. I don't ever recall taking a shot at anything over 300 yds

Jiffy · Nov 27, 2018

SDMF said:
For the record, I still miss plenty, especially coyotes on the move, it's like the bastards have a force-field that deflects my bullets.

They have force-fields made out of voodoo magic....it's a well known fact.

- - - Updated - - -

Make a chart and adhere it to your rifle. Mine all have MOA and MIL, both elevation and windage. Windage is figured at a full grade 10 mph (you can adjust as needed). As a rule of thumb I dial when I have time and hold over in a pinch.

Most important thing, make sure you test your chart. Don't take it for granted it's going to be correct....many times they aren't exact.

Kurtr · Nov 27, 2018

Jiffy did you get to put that javelin bipod to work this year what did you think of it?

Jiffy · Nov 27, 2018

I did, I can't say as I liked them more than my Harris pods, maybe even a little less to be completely honest. It's really nice not having the weight and the bulk on the end of your rifle but IMO that is the only benefit. I really didn't like the fact that I couldn't leave them on and fold them up. That is the main reason I don't care for them. I'll probably give them a few more shots though....I'm definitely not putting my Harris pods up for sale just yet.

Kurtr · Nov 27, 2018

The weight is the biggest but not giving my atlas pods up either

BDC Scopes

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