Welcome to my page! This site is dedicated to the precision shooter: one who is not satisfied with ANYTHING that shoots greater than 1 MOA. This page will be updated from time to time with techniques and tips to help shrink those groups: reloading procedures to create more uniform, and therefore more accurate, ammunition; proper breathing to steady the crosshairs before the shot; the latest in equipment to help wring out those "one-hole" groups; and whatever else I find that is of interest to our sport.

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BRANDO

In the last few years there has been a tremendous upsurge in the availability and usage of riflescopes that are equipped with ballistic plex or ranging reticles. Although they come in different forms with different brand names, the concept is the same among them all: the lower vertical stadia wire has pre-measured hash marks, dots, circles, or whatever on it to allow for proper hold over at varying distances.

For the most part these ranging reticle equipped scopes do as they claim, although it becomes apparent when you first read the enclosed instruction sheets that the drops associated with the various ranges are approximations based on average factory ammunition loadings. There’s no way the ballistic ranging reticles can have the correct drop for every conceivable caliber out there, or every loading available for said caliber. Usually the instruction sheet will give a list of common calibers and factory loads that are compatible with this particular scope, or they may say that most hunting calibers pushing a bullet between such-n-such velocities will generally be close. Along with that, you will note that for any given caliber or load, there is some variance between the actual bullet drop and the reticle’s hold over point. For example, if you are shooting factory 180 grain loads from your trusty .30-06, the instructions may indicate that the actual drop at 300 yards will be four inches different from the scope’s; that difference might be even more at 400 yards, and so on.

Of course, if you’re a handloader, you can tailor the load you’re shooting to be a closer match to the needs of the ballistic reticle’s drop points. For the purpose of this article, I am going to be referring to the Ballistic Plex system currently offered in Burris riflescopes, which is one that I am employing on several of my rifles, but the procedures are the same for other manufacturer’s scopes.

Looking at the Burris Ballistic Plex instruction sheet, right on the front cover, it tells me what the actual drops are (in inches) on the lower stadia wire for both a 100 yard or 200 yard zero setting. Let’s go with the 200 yard zero, for some nice long range shooting. The instruction sheet indicates that if you zero the cross wires for 200 yards, then the first lower hash mark reflects a 4.5 inch drop from zero, the next hash mark represents an 18 inch drop from zero, followed by a 38 inch drop. Finally, the point at which the lower stadia wire fattens out represents your 600 yard hold point, a drop of 66 inches from the 200 yard zero. Now all you have to do is find a load that duplicates that exact same drop rate downrange!

Hold on, it’s not as tough as it sounds. In my example above, let’s say I have mounted this Burris scope on my 7mm Remington Magnum, and I want to shoot 160 grain bullets through it. A quick look in my trusty Nosler reloading manual shows that the bullets I have selected (Nosler Accu-Bonds) have a ballistic coefficient of .531, so now I turn to the back of the book where the universal drop tables are. I find the section for bullets with a B.C. between .530 and .539, and having reloaded for my 7 Mag before I know that a 160 grain loading will be somewhere in the 2900 fps velocity range. So running my finger down to the 2900 fps muzzle velocity, then over to the 200 yard zero column, I note the following drops: minus 6.5 inches at 300; minus 20 at 400; minus 40 at 500; and minus 68 inches at 600 yards.

Looking back at the Ballistic Plex instructions, I can see that this particular loading has actual drops that are about 2 inches off at every range point on the ballistic plex reticle. But what if I increase the muzzle velocity to 3000 fps? Now the drops come in at: -6, -18, -37, & -63. Now the 400 and 500 drops are nearly dead on with the reticle, while both the 300 and 600 yard impacts would only be about 2 inches off. If I was shooting at a mature bull elk that was 600 yards away, and knew my point of impact was only going to be two inches off my hold, that would sure be a boost to my confidence level!*

You can continue with this example in both directions: increasing or decreasing the muzzle velocity will yield a different set of drop points at all the ranges on the curve. You simply match up the load that most closely fits the drop points on the ballistic ranging reticle. If you think that most of your shots will come within 400 yards, then you try to find a load that hits closer to those range points, and not worry about the longer distances. Conversely, if you’re more concerned with making contact at extreme ranges, you tailor your load to hit those 500 and 600 yard hash marks, and then just make a mental note of how far off you’ll be at closer ranges. But in either case, you MUST shoot your loads over a chronograph to verify you’re achieving the velocity requirements your particular load choice needs. What the book says you’ll see in velocity and what you actually achieve can often times be greatly different. In my example above, I need to develop a load that pushes my 160 grain bullet at 3000 fps, and that may take a few trial and error trips from the loading bench to the gun range to accomplish. It also doesn’t hurt to verify your actual 300, 400, and/or 500 yard hits if you have access to a long range shooting facility. Remember: practice makes perfect.

(* Note: I am NOT advocating the practice of super long range hunting, and I would be the first person to always suggest that stalking as close to your game animal prior to taking a shot is the best way to go. But I do recognize that sometimes there is no way of getting close, and if you are going to fling lead at a super long shot anyways, this system is a hell of a lot better than firing off a “Hail Mary” shot and hope for the best.)

See 'ya in the field!

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