Optics & Scopes

Doug asked about rifle scopes and how you use them. I thought I should give some reference before explaining. Here are, left to right, a basic scope, a "tactical" scope, binoculars, and a spotting scope. I also wanted to show magnification differences when looking at the same area.

This is the view through the binocs. I apologize for the camera-optic alignment in advance, the sweet spot was often elusive. These binocs are 10x or ten power.

Same view with the spotting scope turned up to 30x. I estimate the mountain is 10 miles away+/-.

This is the tripod I use in the field. You could set it on your backpack on the ground, but that amount of magnification makes heartbeats look like an earth quake. The tripod also lets you pan smoothly.

Here is a great window mount and this is what I use when I can see the slope I want from the road. It gives me a good idea of whether I should hike in. I spend a good piece of time trying to find just the right spot or road to give me the best view.

This is a basic scope, 6x, and not really adjustable in the field( the first picture, one on the left) .

This is the view through the tactical scope, 10x, and notice the little dots on the cross hairs. These are called mil-dots and they can be used as alternative aiming points, and if you're good at math and you know what size the target is, they can be used for range estimation.

To answer Doug's question, with a regular or tactical scope, you need to decide which bullet you are going to use. Once you know, it's a matter of ballistics. There are charts and calculators which will tell you how much the bullet will drop in a given distance at a given speed. Now in my opinion, the Point Blank Range method is best for a basic scope, and a zeroed range for a tactical scope. Notice that the tactical scope has knobs with visible numbers,( it also clicks audibly) while the basic scope only has covers over it's adjustment screws. This makes the basic one much harder to change, so I use a system that lets me aim and know that out to a certain distance, I'll hit the vitals. Here's how the Point Blank Range method works.

I want to hit a target that is 5 inches in diameter. That requires that my bullet's arc or trajectory is never higher than 2.5 inches above the center, and never drops lower than 2.5 inches. Now let's add my bullet has a ballistic coefficient of .478, weighs 108 grains, and is moving at 3500 feet per second. (Fortunately there are programs that will do the math for you.) Once I plug the numbers in, this is what it tells me: my bullet will stay within that 5 inch tunnel out to 319 yards. Because the barrel is 1.5 inches below the scope, the bullet's arc starts below what the cross hairs are aiming at. So the bullets path starts below the aim point, then crosses the aim point (near zero), then hits the 2.5 inches above (midrange), then drops back down to cross the aim point again (far zero), then finally hits 2.5 inches low (point blank), and finally the earth.

For the above mentioned speed, weight, etc. Near zero is 34 yards, Midrange is 156, Far zero is 273, and Point blank is 319 yards. I now need to adjust my scope so that my bullets hit where my cross hairs are aimed, first at 34 yards and then at 273. Now if my target is anywhere between 0 and 319 yards, I can aim "point blank" at it. I don't need to make any adjustments. Which works very well in situations that happen quickly or the distance isn't decisively known. It isn't as precise and doesn't adapt to long range shooting like the Zeroed method.

The tactical or sniper style scopes use the zero method, because of the precision and flexibility it gives. The zero method is straight forward (relatively). If we use the same info from above, we pick a distance we feel will be a good average distance. For me that distance is 250 yards and that where I zero it. Because I can now use the knobs to change up and down, I now test how many clicks up I need for each distance, i.e. 2 clicks to hit on at 300 yards, 22 clicks at 600 yards. The other benefit is the sight picture, putting the cross hairs on the target, remains the same regardless of distance. The drawbacks are it is time consuming and you need to know the distance to make the right correction. This brings us to the last piece of optical gear, a laser range finder.
This range finder is about the size of a pack of cards and can tell the distance to an elk sized target out to 800 yards, and a highly reflective target like a house out to 1200 yards.

It fires a laser out of the bottom hole and reads its reflection, then measures the delay to give you your distance.usually instantly for close things, and within 1 or 2 seconds for long distances.

When the button on top is pushed, a red square( above the "2") appears, the second push ranges and then displays the distance in yards or meters. It is an amazing tool and helps the hunter a lot, but it can lead to people getting lazy in their range estimation. For hunting distances, 300 yds and under, I still try to estimate how many lacrosse fields something is away, and then use the range finder to check it out.

P.S. I do like to do these things with other folks. I guess I don't think most folks see my hunting style matching theirs, and if it does, scheduling dampens it. But I do hunt with others, and it's nice to have someone to share the experience with. If they are new to hunting, I really like to share what I've learned.