Does anyone have any experience using the LRV reticule on ground squirrels or prairie dogs? I've got a VX2 6-18 and they won't put the varmint hunter reticule in it but will do the LRV for $69. It would be going on a .223. I'm having them put the VH in a VX3 8-25x50 that lives on my 22-250. I've been using scopes with target dots or duplex the last couple of years and find I could really use a VH type reticule. The LRV is the best I can do with this scope. I picked it up for $350, I just wonder if I'm better off selling it and putting the money towards a VX3 with the VH? The LRV lacks the windage marks of the VH but will at least help with hold over. Need to send them in early this week if I want to get them back in time for a May 1st hunt.

I have several Leu 6-18 with that reticle. Works great for 204 R and 20 Vartarg. I think it would be worth the change.
Larry

We shall see. Leupold received the scope yesterday.

I have two 6.5x-20x40 Leupold's with the Varmint Hunters Reticle. I love them. IMHO they are much easier to use than mil-dots. Currently mine are on a 204 Ruger and a 223Ai, but I have used them on my 243 and 7 mag.

I find the LRV just as useful as the Varmint Hunter reticle. Elevation is essentially constant with distance, but windage is highly variable and the fixed windage marks on the VHR don't particularly add anything useful, but do clutter the sight picture a bit.

Under field conditions, your horizontal hold-off is going to be measured in "prairie dogs", not in MOA, anyway.

I have 2 Leupold LX7L scopes a friend wants me to sell. They're NIB...he paid $2,500 for them when new. They are 4.5x18x56 with 34mm tubes...monsters! They come with 34mm rings in the box. One has a Boone & Crocket and one the Varmint reticle. $1,100 off original retail!

So I'm back from the ground squirrel safari to Northern California this week. Had the scopes modified by Leupold as described in the first post and couldn't be happier. They turned them around in eleven days. The .222 and the LRV worked very well together and I had several strings of hits at 300yds and nailed two at ~415yds. Anything inside 225 was smoked if I could guesstimate the distance correctly. The reticle is easy to use and I didn't feel hindered by not having windage references. Most I had to hold off was five squirrels at 400.

The VH was great too. It is a little busy and I had to pay attention to which elevation I was on out at 400. But, I really like the design and the thickness of the lines is perfect. Unfortunately my 22-250 barrel gave up at the end of the first day and I couldn't hit much past 150 with it after that so I really didn't get to try it too much in the 3-400 yard range. Started the trip shooting sub-.5 MOA and was nearly 2 MOA at the end of Day 1. In its defense, it had nearly 1500 rounds on it and I got it smoking hot when they were charging...

Great trip with more than 1100 rounds through two rifles over three days of shooting. I would definitely recommend either of these reticles. If I were to do it again, I think I would go with a 6.5-20 x 40 rather than the 8-25x50 I have with the VH. I rarely had it set higher than 18 due to mirage and I don't need that 50mm objective shooting in mid day sun and it sits higher which complicates holdover/under. Don't need target knobs either. So next time it will be the 6.5-20x40 LR with 30mm tube, side focus, and low profile knobs.

The 6.5-20x40 with VHR is what I use. I have two of them. One on a 204 the other on a 223AI. IMHO they are great for varmint shooting. As close to perfect as I can get. I like the windage hash marks as they give me a good reference point when deciding how much to hold off.
Edited to correct spelling.

quote:

Originally posted by gzig5:
If I were to do it again, I think I would go with a 6.5-20 x 40 rather than the 8-25x50 I have with the VH. I rarely had it set higher than 18 due to mirage and I don't need that 50mm objective shooting in mid day sun and it sits higher which complicates holdover/under. Don't need target knobs either.

That certainly comports with my experience. Anything more than 18-20 power is of no benefit -- and your ranging feature is thrown out of kilter if you turn the power down from maximum. As a matter of fact, I've haven't found much advantage in scopes greater than 12X for prairie dogs at 400 yards and more. Once you can see them, there's little benefit to simply making them look larger. Besides, the narrower field of view of higher power scopes makes target acquisition slower, often letting the target scurry down his hole before you find it in the scope.

I've always been amused at people who put a 50mm objective on a varmint or target rifle that's only going to be used in full daylight. My 30x transit level only has a 20mm objective and is amply bright in any light in which it would be used. Besides, as you mention, placing the scope higher above the bore line not only complicates the holdover/under, but also makes for a less comfortable and steady shooting position due to the location of the sight picture pulling your cheek off of the stock comb.

I like 14 to 16 x on the high end a lot of the time I spend shooting is around 10.

I have 4x12 on a 22-250 and don't feel under scoped at all.

I been thinking of selling my 6x24s as they are really to much, great for sighting in but rarely use the high end in the field.

I mostly shoot on 14x or 16x at the most also. Most scopes are optically a little better if not cranked all the way up. That's why I like 18x or 20x on the high end.

I shoot most prairie dogs on 10-14x. As far as yardage dots I find them of little use- very seldom do pd's line up at even yardages- I am a clicker. For windage I use the pd measurement, visualize a pd laying down and use a 1/2 dog, one dog etc.. Actually I often do the same( only standing) for elevation before I click. I hate scopes that are cluttered up with so many different hash marks etc.