Talking Leupolds and NO adjustable objectives.

I have 2 VariX II 3x9x40 and 2 VariX III 2.5x10x40 scopes atop 4 different rifles. I shoot all at top power from the bench at 100 yds....is this the wrong thing to do?

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Talking Leupolds and NO adjustable objectives.

I have 2 VariX II 3x9x40 and 2 VariX III 2.5x10x40 scopes atop 4 different rifles. I shoot all at top power from the bench at 100 yds....is this the wrong thing to do?

I don't think this is wrong at all. I like variable scopes on hunting rifles just for that reason. At 9X (or higher) you can usually see the bullet holes in the paper target at 100 yards (and maybe even at 200 yards), so you don't need to use a spotting scope.

Then, for hunting, you can reduce the magnification to 3, 4, or 6X -- whatever works best for your hunting.

quote:

is this the wrong thing to do?

nope......I do it too if it's wrong and it's not been for me.....yet!

How about 20 and 24 power at 50yds. roger

I don’t understand why it would be wrong to use any high powered scope (10X +) at any range (25 yards too as far as you can shot)?

Off a bench? Working up loads? I would like someone to explain to me why shooting with a scope in the highest powers you can use is wrong.

Bartsche, I bet you can count the toes on that fly crawling on your target face at 50 yards with a 24X. The question is, can you shot him?

I have no problem with it and do it on the range to sight in. You might want to fire several shots at say 4 power to make positive the impact point does not change from power to power -- which can happen sometimes with an inexpensive or defective scope.
In the field, I keep my variable at a lower power (4x) and really only crank it up if I have a stationary target at distance and a rest to shoot from. A scope on 9x with game jumping up at 10 feet is hard to find in the scope.

I use top power all the time at 100 yards to sight in 15x 24x are common on my varmint rifles. Shooting at a .125 dot real helps shrink your group size.

MickinColo I ran 4 out of 5 blue bottle flys at a hundred yards one day all you could see were the legs around the bullet hole after the shot.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
MickinColo I ran 4 out of 5 blue bottle flys at a hundred yards one day all you could see were the legs around the bullet hole after the shot.

LOL, I don’t hit many of them but I feel pretty good when I do. I’m sure I scared hundreds of them to death though.

What is the old saying, opinions are like noses, every one has one and most of them smell (nice version), so here's mine.


Is it wrong, no.

Is it the optimum use of a 3 x 9 variable, that depends. If you are shooting 1" dots at 100 yds, it probably is. Shooting deer sized animals at 100 yds., 4x is probably all you need and 6x for most varmints.
The longer I shoot I am opting for lower power scopes. At higher magnification there is a much smaller field of view and it takes much longer to get back on target to either confirm a hit or make a follow up shot. If your are shooting along a sendero or in heavy brush, the animal is not DRT, and you do not know within 15 to 20 yds where the animal was when he was hit, and you cannot follow him in the scope as he departs, its hard to find a blood trail to track.
If you do much target shooting at high magnification, you can watch the crosshairs as they move back and forth in time with the beating of your heart. I find that when I am shooting game at lower magnifications and my heart is hammering, I do not have the problem of the crosshairs seeming to jump around, and as such I seem to have better luck with bullet placement.
GWB

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Talking Leupolds and NO adjustable objectives.

I have 2 VariX II 3x9x40 and 2 VariX III 2.5x10x40 scopes atop 4 different rifles. I shoot all at top power from the bench at 100 yds....is this the wrong thing to do?

This is also my preference to test grouping. The possible downside is when you shoot in the field at a lower power, if there is a change in point of impact between the two settings. After you finish your shooting with the higher magnification, check the zero at the lower magnifications also. The grouping will probably not be as pretty but the point of impact should remain the same.

Remember, the original question was, “I shoot all at top power from the bench at 100 yds....is this the wrong thing to do?†We’re not talking about getting ready for a hunt here.

If we’re talking about getting ready for a hunt, You better be checking the load at all powers of the scope to see were it hits. After that you better get your butt off the bench and go shoot the darn thing out in the woods or on the plains, offhand, off sticks, seating, prone, leaning against a tree, off a backpack, etc.

Learn your rifle, get smart with it.

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:

After that you better get your butt off the bench and go shoot the darn thing out in the woods or on the plains, offhand, off sticks, seating, prone, leaning against a tree, off a backpack, etc.

Learn your rifle, get smart with it.

Yup, and the best thing to do for this is shoot at things that blow up like milk jugs, plastic oil quart's or vegetables like tomatoes.
Shooting at paper is best left for bench work then when you KNOW your rifle is shooting where you are pointing it, go take at some targets. Watching a milk jug explode at 200 yards off hand can be fun.

Ted, What you are doing is the right thing to do! You're testing your rifle and your scope to see how it is doing accuracy wise to your ability with your equipment! HOWEVER!!! Being a long range shooter and shooting with scopes up to 32 power and with the availability of various levels of optics offing high magnification, I often have folks come into my shop wanting (or think they want) "high powered scopes"........as if that will automatically improve their performance............it won't! Along with using the higher powered stuff to magnify the image, there also comes along with that the "ability to magnify any movement" of the rifle and the shooter(heartbeat, breathing). My old rule of thumb(and it is old now as my eyes seem to be getting weaker) is that you should "learn to shoot your rifle really well using 9x or 10x optics before you step up to high powered stuff!
What "MickinColo" and "Arcorey" added is spot on! Use the rifle in different situations rather than just on the bench. And Corey's suggestions of targets left out one really easy target to spot...............ROCKS! Rocks burst with wonderful clouds of white or gray dust when hit and can be seen from hundreds of yards away!! I wish my eyes were like they used to be..........regularly shooting 3/4" groups using a BUSHNELL HOLOSIGHT on a 7BR XP-100 and killing groundhogs out to 376 yards with NO Magnification! Using 9x or 10x will teach you to shoot. Using 4x(my first really good piece of glass was an M8 leupold in 4X that I mowed 40 yards for to save up the money!!)will teach you a lot. That old M8, 4x rested on an Arisaka action in 300Savage!! A lot of groundhogs fell to it! But so did a lot of "white rocks" when I just needed to hear a "bang"!! have fun! Charlie (GHD)

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:
Bartsche, I bet you can count the toes on that fly crawling on your target face at 50 yards with a 24X. The question is, can you shot him?

No but my cousin did!Fact. roger

When I'm doing load development I shoot with the highest magnification that my scope has. I put a 6-24X on my 300 WSM just to fine tune my 180 grain partition loads. After I was done I just put the 3-9X back on it for hunting.

quote:

Ted, What you are doing is the right thing to do! You're testing your rifle and your scope to see how it is doing accuracy wise to your ability with your equipment! HOWEVER!!! Being a long range shooter and shooting with scopes up to 32 power and with the availability of various levels of optics offing high magnification, I often have folks come into my shop wanting (or think they want) "high powered scopes"........as if that will automatically improve their performance............it won't!

I respectfully disagree on this. You can shoot only as well as you can see. The better you can see the better you can place your shots. Years of benchrest has taught me this. Try holding 1/2 of a bullet hole if you can't see well enough. High Power shooters that shoot at my range use 36X scopes on their High Power rifles to work up loads with and their expalination is always so they can see. And some of these guys are very highly respected High Masters, Palma Team members and world record holders.

I think you guys are talking about apples and oranges. It's one thing to shoot with a high powered scope from the bench to develope a load and to check accuracy or to compete. It's another thing entirely to hunt. I also think having too much scope on your rifle can tempt a shooter into trying a shot he is not capable of making.
I put a 36x on a varmint rifle and it was a royal PIA even tho I was very comfortable shooting it off the bench. just too narrow a FOV and depth of focus to be effect shooting Pdogs. A 6x24AO worked great.
Only a few of my hunting rifle have 3x9's on them. Most top out at 6 or 7. I'm not competing in a group match.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Talking Leupolds and NO adjustable objectives. ...

Hey Ted, I think you have asked a bit more technical question than perhaps some have realized.

It really depends on how far out the pre-set Parallax is set for those scopes. I seem to remember Leupold "used to try" to set the Parallax at about 175yds. I either read that or perhaps they told me when I was on the phone with them years ago.

However, I've gotten the impression over the years that a Fixed Parallax is not as precisely set as we are led to believe and it seems to vary between 150-200yds. But, perhaps that could just be my old tired eyes.

For scopes with "NO adjustable objectives", you might find your groups are enhanced by shooting at the corner of a Black Square out at 200yds.

Even if the Parallax is a problem, it is often difficult for some to realize(like me in the other thread on Reloading), and is easy to shrug off as something in the Load not being quite right.

Nothing at all wrong with using the highest power to sight in with. Normally speaking, when I'm walking in I have my scope set to a lower power and then adjust it as appropriate. Any difference in the Group Center between the 3x or 9x setting, or the 2.5x or 10x setting can be verified before going afield. I really don't see it moving the Group Center enough to matter on Deer size game with todays scopes.

Best of luck to you.

Hot Core thank you this is what I was looking for!

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Talking Leupolds and NO adjustable objectives. ...

Hey Ted, I think you have asked a bit more technical question than perhaps some have realized.

It really depends on how far out the pre-set Parallax is set for those scopes. I seem to remember Leupold "used to try" to set the Parallax at about 175yds. I either read that or perhaps they told me when I was on the phone with them years ago.

However, I've gotten the impression over the years that a Fixed Parallax is not as precisely set as we are led to believe and it seems to vary between 150-200yds. But, perhaps that could just be my old tired eyes.

For scopes with "NO adjustable objectives", you might find your groups are enhanced by shooting at the corner of a Black Square out at 200yds.

Even if the Parallax is a problem, it is often difficult for some to realize(like me in the other thread on Reloading), and is easy to shrug off as something in the Load not being quite right.

Nothing at all wrong with using the highest power to sight in with. Normally speaking, when I'm walking in I have my scope set to a lower power and then adjust it as appropriate. Any difference in the Group Center between the 3x or 9x setting, or the 2.5x or 10x setting can be verified before going afield. I really don't see it moving the Group Center enough to matter on Deer size game with todays scopes.

Best of luck to you.

I am 99% sure Leupold sets parallax at 100yds for their centerife scopes as do pretty much all makers.

3x9 scopes with 100 parallax are at their best at 9X from the bench at 100yds.

That's what I heard.

Hey Ted, You are welcome.

The other guys could be correct about the Parallax being at 100yds - today. It is easy enough to check for at whatever distance a person thinks it happens to be.

No argument from me - as normal.

I use the top power for sighting in and all test work..I also take the time to test the zero on all powers or at least on its lowest and highest power...sometimes it does not work so well...some folks don't think and inch or two off zero means much, to me its means a lot, and its not acceptable.s

Were talking hunting scopes 1 to 12 power, not the big target scopes that need to be dialed in on target for long range shooting..I don't have a use for those big scopes as my heart beats too heavy and heat waves dim my target.

Great for load work ups!, but I keep it simple out in the rain, fixed 6x or 8x Schmidt for Deer.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Latham:
Great for load work ups!, but I keep it simple out in the rain, fixed 6x or 8x Schmidt for Deer.

If you only ever see objects through the same power regardless of range or field use you're going to be more efficient at killing deer. No fiddling, stick the cross hairs on the chest - it looks small hey maybe I'll get closer or use the rangefinder.

The above only applies (IMHO) to killing things

quote:

I shoot all at top power from the bench at 100 yds....is this the wrong thing to do?

At 100 yards, won't shooting with more than a 6x scope cause chamber pressures to sky rocket?