Not sure were I should place this post, but I decided to start it here. Do yall have a scope you use for load development. I usually use the same scope for developing all my loads, but now it is being used on my hunting rig for this coming fall and I dont wanna pop it off.

I typically will work up a load and then place a lower power scope on it for hunting use. When switching to a lower power scope I find that my groups will expand a bit, I have always just chaulked this up to me having a slightly varring point of aim with less magnification.

I was thinking of buying a fixed powered higher magnification scope to serve in this role for future load developments.

Also, do yall have a perfered target used in load development?

What say you?

Badley

I have an old, steel tubed, Weaver T12 that I use for my load developement. It's been on everything from a .222 to an 8mmRM.

Very good idea but no I don't YET! I plan to get a Weaver T36 just for that task. For load develovment I like to use a 1 inch orange dot on blank white paper.

Bad,

Yes, I use an old RWS 6-24x50 for load testing. It holds zero great regardless of the cartridge (some Thumpers) involved. It's too large & slow IMO (Adjsutable Objective) for a hunting rifle but wrings the test loads out in a hurry and saves alot of running back & forth to the target burm 'cause I can see easily everything on the paper.

I picked it up on Egun for less than €100,- for just this purpose. Since I'm using a Blaser R93 for hunting it's in a set of Blaser Saddle Mounts so switching form one barrel to the next is a snap.

IIRC the link correctly; I download & print targets fron here: www.targetz.com printed on cheap-o bulk photo paper since it's thicker than regular printer paper and doesn't rip as much from bullet impact & handling. I use a color printer anyway, so get all the benifits of the colors offered but tend to the red targets. Of the countless targets offered there's pretty much a great selection for what you perceive ought to fit your sighting-in needs.

I prefer the large diamonds as for my eyes I can best align the scope for a solid hold. The smaller dots are great for Varmint rifles with fine X-Hairs or Dots but the vast majority of the recticles in my hunting scopes cover the small dots completely.

We use teh scope for that particular rifle to develop its loads with.

I think we have had less than a handfull of scopes that we found to be faulty, throughout the years.

Older Leupold 12x for modern rifles and old 1 1/4" Litschert 12x target scope for the ones with target mounts. Have been doing it this way for 30 years. The higher magnification allows more shooter confidence than using a hunting scope, at least in my mind it does, while at the same time minimizing any mirage caused by our local sub-tropical temp & humidity levels(!).
Regards, Joe

Thanks guys for the info.

FWIW IMO a T36 might be a bit much. Mirage would come into play as well as other problems. I THINK something in the 10-14x range would be better. You could still see your bullet holes and if you use a gridded target, save yourself some running back and forth. YMMV

quote:

Originally posted by Badley:
... Do yall have a scope you use for load development? ... Also, do yall have a perfered target used in load development? ...

Hey Badley, I have a 6.5-20x VariX-III that goes through a lot of Load Development on numerous rifles. I need a bit more Power for way out yonder though.

If your Power is too Low, then it is difficult to see all the normal Scope movement on the Target. You should be able to easily see your heartbeat move the reticle if you have enough Power.

I use the "Corner" of a Black Square for the majority of my Targets. I just snug the Reticle up mext to the Square and try to have a tiny amount of "White" (as wide as the Crosshair) visible between the Reticle and Square. That way I only have to align two straight lines which converge to a point(center of the Crosshair).

Someone(maybe Saeed) mentioned using a Circular Target on the RimFire Board(maybe). But I believe his scope had a Dot in the Center. Perhaps this is a mix-up in my memory though.

I've used the corner of a Black Square for so long that other Targets seem a bit awkward to me. Probably everyone feels the same way about the Targets they use the most.

Best of luck to you.

I think using a cat for a target would enhance the needed precision.

I have several older Weaver K-10's. They are dependable. Work great on a new rifle.

I have one of the early 70's Weaver K12s that were built just prior to the Micro Trac series.
This is a version that many of you would recognize if I called it the boat anchor series.
The tubes must be about .040 thick steel. They are very heavy and the tubes take a lot of mounting with almost no ring marks.
The weight helps slow down recoil, the extra magnification helps groups and it takes a beating.