Finally had an opportunity to take the developed load for my .243 WSSM to the range and test data out to 760 yards.

The rifle is a Browning A-Bolt Varmint Stalker and I've recently put on the 6.5-20x40mm VX3 with the Varmint Hunter Reticle. I really like the fine crosshair on the reticle. The scope has factory target knobs as well covered with caps.

My load is the 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip with 42.5 grains of Winchester 760 and a WLR primer. It shoots about 1/2 MOA during development. I chrono'd it at about 3150 fps so I put all the relevent data into BulletFlight, got a good 200 yard zero and proceeded to shoot steel hangers with a spotter. After dialing and shooting way high on the 425 yard hanger, I realized I had picked the wrong bullet from the computers library and imported it into the program. oops. Made the correction and continued. With a little correction to the velocity in the program, I was able to make solid repeatable hits out to the 760 yard plate while dialing the data.

At this point, I really wanted to nail down the hold over aimpoint data so that I could use the reticle on targets. The reticle subtensions given by Leupold when the power selector is on the big triangle on the dial are correct. I've actually checked them on my gunsmith's board marked in MOA. About 1.8 MOA to the 300 yard aimpoint, 4.13 to the 400, and 7.02 MOA to the 500 yard aimpoint.

I used a 200 yard zero for the center intersection and after checking my data table, the 300 and 400 yard aimpoints matched my actual drop at those ranges. For the 500 yard aimpoint on the scope, the data was saying that about 510 yards was actual. My rifle shoots a little flatter than the reticle set up. I returned the knobs to -0- and began testing the hold over aimpoints, but on targets that were at 300, 400, 500 METERS or 330, 425, 550 YARDS.

I was able to make first round hits on all of the swingers by using the reticle and holding over the target slightly since they were a tad further than the aimpoints matched. It's most important that the power selector be set on the big triangle or the reticle will not work for hold over. I'm happy to report that it works great if you do your homework.

I was really happy to confirm the dialed data and the hold over data and really enjoyed the way that .243 WSSM smacked the heck out of those plates with loud audible gongs!

If you really want to dial it in, shoot your zero at 200 yards, then shoot a group at 500 yards using that aiming point. Put a good sized spotter on the center of that group and go back to 500 yards and bracket reticle on the target by putting the center at the aiming point and adjusting the power of the scope until the 500 yard mark is dead on the impact. Use a paint marker or some other durable method to mark the magnification ring need to be set and your good to go. If you want to shoot farther, work up a drop chart with a 500 yard zero and just dial up from there using the 500 yard aiming point. Works very well. I set up my brother in law with a 300 RUM and the same scope. With that one we zeroed at 300 yards and he was good to 600 yards with the VH reticle. When an elk presented himself at 856 yards, he only had to dial up 6.25 minutes and he smacked him in the shoulder with a 200gr Accubond. Dropped him right there.

Yes, that is the other way and the way that is recommended by Leupold on the website. I've done it as well and it works.

The reason I did it this way is that I had access to the board marked accurately in MOA and was able to see that when the power selector was on the big triangle, that the distances between the aimpoints were exactly as shown by Leupold. I checked my drop data in MOA with a 200 yard zero and it was so close all the way out that it was a no brainer just to use the big triangle, confirm by shooting, and go with it.

I didn't have to make another mark on the ring.

I think it's the best way knowing that when on the big triangle, you know the distance to the next aimpoint in MOA. You can shoot different bullets and just check your drop data for what corresponds to the next aimpoint down.

It's like having a reticle set up in mRad or MOA at that point. All that is needed is your drop data.

The zero of each aimpoint may not be in a nice neat 100 yard increment, but you can put a piece of masking tape on the scope bell to tell you the zero of each aimpoint. When you have a shot and know the yardage you can make adjustments.