Which Reticle is best?

Which reticle is best?

Varmint guy,
You are absolutely correct on how to figure the dot size at various yardages. The majority of my former silhouette scopes are 3/8 or 1/2", the 5/8" dot is a 16X Leupold that was boosted from 12X by Premier. It is on a 223 that I seldom shoot over 400 yards. The others are on a 22 BR, a 223AI, a 22 PPC and a 6mm Rem. The 6mm Rem has a 25X Lyman that has a 1/2" dot and was used by me and several of my friends to get into the VHA 500 yard club. Confirmed kills out to 618 yards without anyone whimpering that they couldn't see the target because of the reticle size. That particular dot would cover 3" at 600 yards and there is a lot of critter peeking around the edges at those ranges. Just center it up and squeeze.

I'm a laser ranging knob twister and will hold off for wind. I like my elevation centered, and have used my Skymate windspeed meter to dial for wind with some success, but it really slows up the operation a lot. I prefer to just hold multiples of a dog into the wind. In a target rich environment, I try to shoot multiple times at a similar range and in the same quadrant before going on to other targets. Makes the hits a lot easier.

For my 1000 yard gun I use a Nightforce 8-32X BR scope with the NP-R2 reticle. This does not use dots, but at 1000+ yards, the reticle covers a proportional area of the ground squirrel or prairie dog as the other scopes at 200 to 400 yards using the larger dots. Never felt I needed a smaller reticle on live critters.

I don't use my varmint rifles on running jackrabbits and such, although most running game target scopes utilize a rather generous dot system. The running varmints are such great practice with my 280 AI's or 6.5-06 hunting rifles that I don't feel the need to try to shoot 12# high scope magnification varmint rifles offhand or at running targets.

I do utilize the 1/8" dot on my 6 PPC benchrest gun and my 6X Burris scope on my Hunter gun. It does offer a precise aiming point and simplifies holding off one bullet hole in the match environment, but for me it's just not big enough for real world hunting.
 
Riflemeister: Thanks for your detailed explanation - I appreciate it very much.
I should have guessed you were a "knob twister"!
I also use a top quality Leica Laser Rangefinder and an electronic wind gauge.
I, though, never touch the windage and elevation knobs when afield.
I do 98% of my Varmint shooting under 450 yards myself.
I have got to learn to trust my top of the line scopes someday, and try out the knob twisting method of elevation alignment again.
I have tried this method a couple of times several decades ago and it just did not work out well for me back then - seems the scopes of that vintage would "surprise" me by not moving until after the first shot! By then I would have added some more elevation or windage and eventually the scope would "move" resulting in misses.
Anyway I have the "hold off and hold over method" so ingrained in me that maybe at this point in my life its "to late" to change.
I will say this, this year and last, several of my Varmintng friends have brought along the new style Leupold scopes with the "Varmint Hunters" reticles in them. I have shot several of them and find them pretty intriguing and easy to use!
Maybe my next "new" scope will have one of these reticles in them.
Over the last few years all the scopes I have purchased have been from the "used" market! Saving dollars has been my intent with this used market shopping.
I follow your "similar range - same quadrant" regimen myself when Hunting Ground Squirrels, Prairie Dogs and Rock Chucks. This helps the percentages stay up there - helping with both elevation AND windage holds.
Thanks again for your explanations.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

P.S.: I am a great admirer of the 22 Remington Bench Rest cartridge myself - I see you have one. Mine are both Remington 40X's - although they are different models of 40X. One is a 40XB-BRKS and the other is an older 40XB-BR.
Both shoot extremely well and I find the cartridge a pleasure to be around - great performance in a small case.
What model 22 BR do you have?
 
To Varmint Guy and Others.

The level of refinement that you people have achieved is breathtaking. Where I live 250yds is a long way and some of my friends shoot .303's with the wood cut back and that makes me the Guru,you see its all relative. The horse went home yesterday so I had the opportunity to test fire my Ruger 220Swift. Results were good without being starteling but I still have a lot of combinations to try, so here are the tests so far. 60g Hornady Spire point 46g H4831 Wlr O.A.L 72.95mm 3shots 100yds .528" 35g Hornady Vmax 37g H4198 Wlr O.A.L 65.20mm 3 shots 100yds .443" 55g Sierra Game King 38g Reloder15 Wlr O.A.L 66.85mm 3shots 100yds .535." I seem to have got the epoxy bedding right,as groups were round and all groups shot to the same point of impact in the horizontal plain and only about 11/2" difference in the vertical plane.Will keep do some more tests today and keep you posted. Murphy.:D
 
Which reticle is best?

Varmintguy,
My 22 BR is on a Farley action (bolt currently with Jim Farley) with a 14" twist Krieger 24" HV barrel pillar bedded in a McMillan Rem Varmint stock. The scope is a Leupold 6.5-20X EFR with dot reticle. It is chambered for the .243" neck. I also have a spare Lilja 22 BR barrel with the same chamber and a 6 BR Shilen select match barrel. The 6 BR is a standard chamber with a .030" freebore that shoots 75 grain V-Max's into very small bugholes. It is one of my favorite varmint rifles with any of its barrels.
 
Day Two of Tests with Ruger 220Swift.

:D Best load so far is 44g W760 Rem 91/2 primer 55g HornadySP #2265 O.A.L 68mm. 3shots at 100yds .421". Intrestingly point of impact for this load and .443" 35g Hornady Vmax H4198 load ,have Identical point of impact which indicates to me that both loads are slap bang on the bottom node. This does not entirely surprise me because I tune by seating depth and this pattern is emerging with other rifles also. My overall impression is the rifle will digest just about any powder and bullet combination and provided the seating depth is correct, will put 3shots in the low .5s. This kind of preformance is ideal for Kangaroo culling, long shots at dingoes and that kind of thing but another side to this rifles personality is emerging. That is the sub 1/2" side, just how far I can go with a non custom barrel is any bodys gess. Because the recoil is so mild and in a heavy gun, I just love shooting the thing. My benchrest is set up in a small cave with the targets out in the open. Looking through the scope at dusk the muzzle flash is really something to behold and the bullet holes appear without any blurring of vision. Will have a break for a few days then back with more results. Keep smiling Murphy.
 
Bought a new scope.

Many thanks to one and all for the reticle information. Bought a new scope yesterday, chose the 6.5 to 20 x40 leupold with fine duplex reticle. Shop didn't have that reticle in stock, and because I live in the bush, they are going to post it out. Bought some long impractical projectiles,because I have a theory that if I :cool:drive them at maximum speed in the Swift they might stabalise. Will do some tests today and if I can get 11/2" groups, they might be suitable for larger critters. Don't know why, but ever since I got the Swift I get the feeling that with the right bullets, bigger game than crows could be taken cleanly. Will see if Barnes MRX stabalise today. Murphy.
 
Barnes Didn't Work.

62g Brnes won't stabalise even at 220Swift speeds.40g sierra spitzers shot a .45" 3 shot group when it was almost too dark to see the target, with 34g H4198 Rem 9 1/2 primer o.a.l 68mm. Should have seen the muzzle flash, 3 foot long Hereford red with a silver streek up the middle. Today I will try some 53g sierras. :cool:
 
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