i am looking at a shepperd scope and am wondering if they do what they claim to do.anybody have one out there?are they worth it?here in canada they retail for about $ 1000 and just can't convince my better half to let me get one unless i can convince her they are worth the cost.

I use to own a couple of them. I sold them and now go with Mil dots and a laser range finder. I find this works out a lot better.

From my point of view, HELL NO

But, then again, my point of view is that there is no reason to take your first shot at game, even if one is in a stand, at more than ~250 yards... and if one knew it would be a longish shot (i am trending towards iron sights only, of late... just trending, mind you) over over 150 yards, then the gun should be sited in for and shot at some of the expected yardage.
For example, if you are going to nebraska (kinda like canada) and you KNOW your shots are going to be between 100 and 300 yards, you would load and site in accordingly. This is nearly within the max point blank range of most modern centerfire rifles. (240 to 270 for the most part... highly generalized). MPBR is the distance covered by a bullet's rise and fall, over/underline of sight, of a given HIEGHT (generally called a diameter)
My understanding is that this is generally considered to be 6" for deer. take a round as plain jane as the 30/30 (i am cheating with 165 gamekings in this example) at 2200fps, the mighty 30-378 weatherby at 3400fps, and the old faithful 30-06 at 2900 fps.

The 30/30, at 3.4" high at 100 yards and -6" at 253 yards, with a 6" MPBR of 253 yards... not a 200 yard gun?

The 30-06, at 2900, is 1.7" high at 100, and -6" at 288 yards... a WHOPPING 35 yards further than the old faithful 30/30

and the mighty 30-378, at an arm killing 3400 fps, is 1" high at 100, and -6" at 313 yards. WHAT?!?!?! only 60 yards more than the old faithful 30/30 and only 35 more than the lowly 30-06...

(this is a skewed, but accurate representation, if you zeroed the 30/378 at 300 yards, it's 2.6 high at 100 and -6 at 380, effectivly 1/2 again the range of the 30/30)

So, if you just really really need to have a long range gun, you really MUST shoot it at long ranges. It would be far cheaper to buy a good leupold, a good range finder, and shoot a couple boxes of shells, to know what your gun will do.

in the states a leopuld 3x9 runs 200 for a vxII, and a bushnell 400 yard range finder is about the same... that's what, 400 us, and 1,600,000c? (just kidding) and the range finder works with all your scoped guns.

try shooting your gun at 100, then 200, then 300... know where it shoots....

good luck
jeffe

Hi browning. I have a Shepherd scope on my .22 Anschutz. Yes it works. Optics are good, not great. Considering what our dollar is worth (about 75 cents US as I type this), you might want to look into bringing one back with you next trip. That will save you a little money. As for whether it is a better system then mil dots, it depends what you are used to. Unless you practice a lot with mil dots, the math will make you nuts. The Shepherd system is much, much faster for the average shooter. Is it accurate enough? It will certainly keep you horizontally within minute of deer out to 1000 yds/meters easily. Note I said horizontal, the wind is a whole 'nother problem. Is it worth it? Only you can answer that. (this scope is deadly on gophers as far as I care to shoot, and I'll shoot further with this scope then any of the others on my gopher guns). If you are in the Edmonton area, and you would like to try the scope out, email me and we'll set something up. - Dan

The Shepherds are set-up for ballistics of cartridges available about 20-25 years ago. The scopes come with cams that allow for the bullet drop only of the cartidges that Mr. Shepherd believes you need to be shooting. This is not to say you couldn't use a wildcat with the scope; you'd just have to determine the differences between your wildcat and the standard cartidges for which Shepherd cams are available. In another direction, Leatherwod makes a scope and mount that has a cam that takes drop into account and the US price is around $250 or so. Shepherds are $600. Choose wisely.

Jeffe,
When you are seeking a point blank range you select a kill zone diameter and on deer it is usually 6". You cut that in half so that the rise and fall of the bullet never goes above or below half. If you use 6" as the radius you are then using a 12" kill zone and given some latitude for bullet group it would be more like an elk kill zone. I have used 8" in the past and actually think it is probably a bit large for deer.

After using PBR for a number of years, I feel that it is a lot more important to know your bullet trajectory in addition. Of course that necessitates the use of a range finder.

[ 10-16-2003, 09:12: Message edited by: Customstox ]

A couple of friends use Shepperds but a lot more use Leupold or NF and a "come-up" chart. All of them use quality rangefinders and all of them shoot a lot at extended ranges. The Shepperds do better than I would expect and are faster to get on target. But they are projectile-path specific which I think is a negative. With the target knobs on the Leupolds you can generate a new come-up chart for a new load or cartridge. I wouldn't bother with either system on anything less than a 7 STW or .300 Win mag and would prefer a big case .338 for serious longrange stuff. Opinions by Jay

Chic,
I see what you are saying... if it's 3" high at 100, and 6" at 240ish, you are actually shooting a 9" "ellipse"

funny you mention this.. for myself, i use a 3" DIAMETER for deer, but the "gun writers" use that special 6" one,,, along with the 20" "yard"

But, I did post it correctly, i think.. with the caveat that if one has even basic knowledge of range, say you can tell 100 vs 250 yards, then you would, of course, shoot accordingly...

if using a 3" diameter, drop off, say, 30 yards from each, as I don't really want to reduax the excercise for calibers I dont shoot... nor do I shoot over 150 on undistrubed game anyway... as I don't trust to KNOW what's behind the target much past that

jeffe