Long range scope
- Thread starter gk6654
- Start date
ronemus
Gold $$ Contributor
I really like my Burris XTR II 8-40x50 FFP F-Class MOA scopes: 70 MOA of elevation, +/-18 MOA of windage, side focus/parallax, good glass, illuminated & graduated reticle with a second horizontal crosshair at -20 MOA for easy holdover, and a good price (<$1200 every day, $800 on Black Friday or used). The elevation is set up to run 0-70 MOA instead of +/-35 which is a nice feature. Unfortunately the windage turrets are marked 5R to 5L which can be a pain in the heat of the moment when you need to crank on serious windage.
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What is the target at those distances? Barn-sized, moose-sized, deer-sized, coyote-sized, squirrel-sized?
Also, what is the cartridge?
Horizontal? Vertical? Portable?
With what? How much elevation adjustment you will need will vary tremendously based upon the bullet/ballistics. Plug your velocity, BC, etc., into a ballistics app and tell us how many MOA (or mils) it says you will need, then shop for a scope that has that much.
I use Burris Signature rings, as they enable me to position my scope so that when I am sighted in at 100 yards I have nearly the full amount of internal adjustment available for long range. I also usually put on a 20-moa EGW base.
It depends on the muzzle velocity, which is dependent on the load and barrel length. The "load" means the particular bullet and powder combination. A pointed bullet with a better BC (ballistic coefficient) will require less "up" than a round nose bullet. A faster load will require less "up" than a slower load, other things being equal.Pretty sure my 45 ACP takes more than 20 MOA to get to 1,000 yards.
To shoot 1,000y with your .45 ACP, you might want to use a longer barrel, say 26" instead of the typical 5" bbl on a 1911A1. That will make the pistol front heavy, which will make it more difficult to hold it at maybe 45 degrees from horizontal to have a prayer of hitting a target at such distance. Speaking of prayer, I like a Hail Mary because it's not too long and Mother Angelica recites it on TV in case you don't know it. As to target size, I think a barn door would be a good start, especially if you can find one painted with Shoot-N-C.
If you want to know the "drop" of your load, you can use various software programs available online, some of which are free. It's easy enough, and you'll learn something along the way rather than just trying what someone you don't know (and never will) tells you to do on a website.
As to a bandsaw, I decided on a Rikon 10-326, based on the advice I got on this Forum (which was none).
Sorry, Nate!
I don't own a bandsaw, hence no recommendation from me.
I also don't have a 5" barrel on my 1911.
4" Springfield Armory Champion.
185gr Sierra JHP, or Tournament Masters at 900 fps.
Figure if Jerry can hit at 1,000 yards with his 9mm revolver, 45 ACP on balloon sized target would be a good one come upance for me.
I don't own a bandsaw, hence no recommendation from me.
I also don't have a 5" barrel on my 1911.
4" Springfield Armory Champion.
185gr Sierra JHP, or Tournament Masters at 900 fps.
Figure if Jerry can hit at 1,000 yards with his 9mm revolver, 45 ACP on balloon sized target would be a good one come upance for me.
Aha, that shorter bbl will result in lower velocity but because it is stiffer it may be more accurate. The disadvantage of a 26" bbl on your .45 ACP is that your muzzle might be on the ground when it is holstered, unless you are tall.
I used to shoot my S&W 629 'Classic' (6.5" bbl) in metallic silhouette, but that only stretches to 200 meters. Elmer Keith would think me a pantywaist. What a kook he was though, in some ways. He considered the .44 mag revolver to be a doable choice for shooting deer at 200y, but sneered at the .30-30 rifle for such things. Despite the .30-30 having more energy at 200y than the .44 mag did at the muzzle.
For your balloon at 1,000y, I don't know if Amazon Prime is applicable, but here's what I would start with: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00513FWQI/?tag=accuratescom-20
I used to shoot my S&W 629 'Classic' (6.5" bbl) in metallic silhouette, but that only stretches to 200 meters. Elmer Keith would think me a pantywaist. What a kook he was though, in some ways. He considered the .44 mag revolver to be a doable choice for shooting deer at 200y, but sneered at the .30-30 rifle for such things. Despite the .30-30 having more energy at 200y than the .44 mag did at the muzzle.
For your balloon at 1,000y, I don't know if Amazon Prime is applicable, but here's what I would start with: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00513FWQI/?tag=accuratescom-20
And a 220 Swift has as much energy at 300 yards as a 30-30 has at 200 yards. There's more to the killing power of cartridge than a ft-lb energy formula that squares the velocity of the projectile in it's calculation and ignores the caliber.
If you weren't referring to killing power with the reference to energy comparisons of cartridges, what were you referring to?
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
Looking first is usually a good idea.
. The Table below shows 30.2 MOA drop at 1000 yd from a 100 yd zero for a fairly typical F-TR load with the Berger 200.20X bullet at ~2650 fps. It would take a very high BC bullet moving very fast to require only 20 MOA drop to reach 1000 yd from a 100 yd zero. That is why shooters often use at least a 20 MOA canted rail for shooting to 1000 yd, because a 30 mm scope tube doesn't usually allow for sufficient elevation travel, dependent on the upper magnification range of the scope.When asking for suggestions to an inquiry such as this, providing the specific bullet BC and approximate muzzle velocity of the rifle setup, or the predicted drop at the specified distance will allow for better feedback. Given that a rifle scope generally comes from the factory with the erector assembly at mechanical zero (i.e. in the middle its elevation and windage travel range), you can usually count on using about 2 MOA elevation travel or so to reach a 100 yd zero. That amount of travel is then subtracted from the possible upwards elevation travel, which is one half of the total elevation travel. For example, if the scope has 45 MOA total elevation travel, that would mean 22.5 MOA up and 22.5 MOA down from the factory zero elevation turret setting. Subtracting ~2 MOA from that would mean you'd have somewhere around 20.5 MOA upwards travel remaining after setting your 100 yd zero. With an external ballistics prediction (Drop Table) in hand, you can then easily determine at what distance you can zero the rifle before running out of upward elevation travel. Based on this determination, you can then estimate whether the setup will require a canted rail to zero at longer distances, and if so, how much cant is required. Remember also that the scope optics are not going to be at their absolute best when the erector assembly has been moved to its extreme travel limits. Thus, a little headroom is usually a good idea so you aren't forced to run the elevation turret near its maximum travel all the time. The caveat to that is that selecting a scope rail with too much cant may mean that you can no longer zero the rifle at 100, or even 200 yd. The upwards elevation travel you gain back using a canted rail is always offset by a concomitant loss of downwards elevation travel.
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