Just got a Pro Hunter 50 cal. Are the BDC scopes for muzzle loaders worth having?

I am a leupold man myself and want one of the new scopes leupold offers for mzldrs/shotguns real bad. I don't know why because the Nikon 4X 40 Monarch I have had on my Knight Elite 45 cal for the past 3 years has never failed.

Or, maybe a mil-dot, because the trajectory is more critical than on my 270WSM.

quote:

Originally posted by aka willie b:
Or, maybe a mil-dot, because the trajectory is more critical than on my 270WSM.

Where I hunt optics are not an option. Since you can use a scope I have a couple questions. If you're using the usual sabot'd pistol bullets your rifle's performance will be somewhere between a 44 magnum in a carbine at the low end and a 444 Marlin rifle at the high end. Neither are regarded as long range numbers. If you run bore diameter conicals you'll have something that behaves more like a 45/70. How long are your shots where you hunt? What sort of groups does your in-line shoot at those distances? If you zero at 150 yards how high does the bullet strike at 75-100? How low at 175 or 200? Will you use a laser range finder when hunting? Until you map your group size against the trajectory of your best hunting load you won't know whether you will benefit from BDCs or Mil-dots. Might be best to keep your optics simple and sturdy to begin with this season. A fella can't go wrong with a Leupold 2.5x compact, and there are always other ways to use it when and if you grow out of it. P.S. By way of self-disclosure I'm hunting this coming weekend with a smoothbore .62 caliber flintlock that shoots into four inches at 50 yards.

I bought one of Leopold's BDC scopes for muzzleloaders this year. Put in on my TC Encore Pro Hunter. I shoot 195 grain PR .357 Duplex Dead Center bullets with a 110 grain charge of FFF Triple 7. The scope setting for 2 pellet load seems to correspond closely to my load. I zeroed the scope at 100 yards. The dots for 200 and 250 yards were right on. It was windy the day I sighted in the scope and at 250 yards the bullets were drifting about a foot down wind. I think I will limit shots at deer to 200 yards. I use Leupold range-finding binoculars when I hunt. Saturday I shot two does. One at 104 yards and another at 142 yards. The first one made is less that 20 feet. The second went about 50 feet. So yes the BDC scopes for muzzleloaders do work.

I use a Leupold Ultimate Slam with the SABR reticle on my 50 cal. Knight. Shooting 150 gr. of Triple 7 and a Hornady 250 gr. SST sabot, the sucker is dead on accurate at the designated ranges. Pretty amazing really.

You can have a 3-9X40mm for about $225 if you shop around.

That's what I needed to know. Thanks.

I have the Nikon BDC reticle scopes on my Encore and Savage and they work great. They reticles are spot on for me, and I've shot em both a bunch out to 250 yards.

Good luck with your choice!

Hey Willie, It looks like the description of the Muzzleloader BDC is real nice. If however you are still considering a Mil-Dot, here is a linl on how to easily Set-Up a Mil-Dot Reticle. Lots of folks are put off by the "Mil-Dots" because they appear at first glance to be difficult to determine the proper coresponding distances for the Dots. Actually, once a person understands how relatively simple it is, you can apply those same Tricks to about any Reticle made(excluding a single Dot).

If you think you will ever want to use the scope on a different rifle, then the link can help you with setting it up as well. Even the Muzzloader BDC Reticle.

Best of luck to you folks.