what scope??
 

I own a 300 ultra mag would like to know what scope other owners of this caliber use ,shooting antelope and deer out to 700 yds, Thanks

Have you ever seen what 700 yards looks like? Lets be honest for a second. You aint never going to shoot an antelope that far away. You know it, I know it. Go get one of those blister packed tascos from walmart them good right tere.............

If you find a sales man that will tell you that you will be able to shoot accurately out to the ranges you want then make sure you also buy the bridge to Australia that he's probably also selling. Go buy a 3-9 or 6-14 powered scope and plan shots that are actually realistic.

I've got a Leupold 3.5x10x50mm on my .300 ultra. I've tried it with success to about 450-500. If you are serious about 700+ you might want a 6.5-20 or 8.5-25 LRT, but I doubt you'll make many shots that long unless you're deliberately looking to do that.

I like the Leupold 8.5x25 for hunting longer ranges. The Nightforce scopes are very nice but not needed. I have both and like both. If you are on somewhat of a budget the Leupold will be just fine. I'm going to side with RR, as to all the non believers 700 yards isn't all that far if you practice at long range. With proper equipment and good practice 700 yards is actually kind of a chip shot but don't expect to go to Wal Mart by a rifle and a box of ammo of the shelf and expect to hit anything at that distance with any regularity

Zeiss Conquest with the Rapid Z800 reticle.....good out to 800yds, matches the bullet drop...

4.5-14x44
or
4.5-14x50
or

they also make a 6.5-20x50 or something, I'd probably get the 4.5-14x44mm.

Wheh I googled "long range" shooting this is what I found;


There are always exceptions, of course. Jack O'Connor himself killed big game animals at over 300 yards, and other masters like Bob Hagel, Warren Page, Elmer Keith, Pete Brown, Francis Sell, and Townsend Whelen did likewise. But these men had the skill and the experience to justify such shooting. They lived at a time when game was much more plentiful than it is today, and when bag limits were generous or nonexistent. As full-time professional gun writers, they had the opportunity to shoot an enormous amount of ammunition through a very wide variety of rifles, and to spend a great deal of their time hunting. Such opportunities were rare then, and are almost nonexistent now. The times have indeed changed, and not always for the better.
I would like to conclude by pointing out that long range shots are less common than might be inferred from reading the sporting magazines. Most big game animals in North America are killed at under 200 yards; in fact, most are killed at less than 100 yards.

A very good friend of mine has a Leupold Vari X-III 6.5x20 on his Remington Sendero 300-Remington Ultra Mag.
He likes this rifle & scope combo for antelope, deer & elk. He has taken several deer & antelope at 500-plus yards.

My take on this is if someone is capable of shooting stuff at 700 yards, they are not asking an online forum what scope to use.

Never thought of it that way, but you are probably right!:s4:

I think this forum needs to take the edge off. Everyone on here has been sucked into illusions/delusions of grandeur at some point in there lives.

Lets try to educate folks instead of talking down to them. You have no idea how old the op is.

Maybe we need a long range hunting/shooting sticky that we can send people to.

Public service announcement over.

For the record I agree with all that was said. LOL.

Tom

700 yards is no different than 100 yards...all you gotta do is the RANGE TIME to figure out your clicks, learn to read mirage and windage just a little and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll be able to do it. Pick a great scope, say a Lightforce 10x42 or one the newer Sightrons, work up some loads with REAL bullets, spend a little time on your handloading techniques, start out by shooting 200-300-500-600 etc. and you catch on real qucik, you'd be surprised how good some factory rifle actually are..most will handle it just fine

While I will readily admit that shots at those ranges can and do happen, most people don't even realize just how far a shot at half that distance actually is. Practice, practice and then practice some more at the intended ranges.

700 yards is a L O N G way. I believe I'd try and get closer.

I believe I'd just ask Ridge Runner what he uses and do likewise...:)

What scope were you using the last time you shot that far?

Good for Google. Now ask people with real experience.

RR has regularly made good shots on animals beyond 700 yards. My longest is an elk at 683 yds, also solid.

Just because you don't understand the ballistics and calculations of long range shooting personally, does not mean it is not routine for others. I shoot animals over 300 yds with a muzzleloader compensating for over 4 feet of bullet drop. To date all have dropped where they stood.

Someone wanting to shoot 700 yards should come to the table with more specific questions, skills and knowledge should be coming before shooting that far, however.

The primary concern is that you have a scope with repeatable target/tactical turrets so you can dial in your elevation and windage. The lowest-end scope I would consider for this is a Bushnell 6500 Tactical in the $600 range. I have seen $300 Nikon Buckmasters used but I would not trust one to do it regularly on such a large magnum due to potential repeatability issues.

On a gun meant for 700 yards, your budget should really start at $900 for a used tactical scope and go up from there.

My take on this is if someone is capable of shooting stuff at 700 yards, they are not asking an online forum what scope to use.
__________________

Your a wise man... good thought

Sure it is, you just listed several major differences. Not to mention drop compensation and range determination. A small flinch at 100 yards can turn into a nasty wounding gut shot at 700 if your form is not perfect.

If you want some REAL answers about what scope to use go to longrangehunting.com
People wont talk to you like you are an idiot there and will help you out with all you want to know. As for my suggestions, leupold mark 4 or nightforce. I have a nightforce 5.5-22x56 on my custom 338 Edge. Havent gotten a change to shoot it yet since its been really cold up here all winter but will get out as soon as spring roles around. I suggest all of you nay sayers check out longrangehunting.com also. Might change your opinion a little bit and might not belittle people when they as a legitamate question.


This past season i shot a buck at 492 yards with a 270 Winchester. All i used was the ballisticplex reticle on my burris scope and a range finder

Didn't I see that gun on Snipers Hide?

nope. not part of that forum

"real experience".......................WHAT !?!?

Jack O'Connor himself killed big game animals at over 300 yards, and other masters like Bob Hagel, Warren Page, Elmer Keith, Pete Brown, Francis Sell, and Townsend Whelen did likewise.

Great choices.

Questions like this one simply make me cringe. We have no idea what the original poster's experience is. All we know is ".300 Ultra Mag" and "out to 700 yards" - asked on an online forum.

Though there's no question in my mind that guys like RR do this as a matter of routine, they talk in a language most average hunters don't have time or patience to learn. I'd venture a guess here that they're not parking their rifle at the end of the season and then sending a couple of sighters downrange at the beginning of the next season? Guys I know who do this kind of stuff do it almost year-round, it's their passion.

We can't tell any of that from the original post. While it's not safe to assume complete inexperience, it's not safe either to credit or grant benefit of the doubt that the original poster has sufficient experience and resources to be a credible long-range hunter, PARTICULARLY when the question is asked on a non-long-range hunting, generic by all other descriptions, online forum.

So, my recommendation would also be to seek advice on a forum more dedicated to this type of hunting. I'm probably pretty average here in terms of ability. Like many here, I'll probably cast a suspicious eye toward anyone claiming to make routine shots on big game at over 400 yards (not to say that some don't do just that). I've been tempted at times to take shots farther out than what I practice at. I've seen the big-game version of waterfowling's "sky buster" shoot at game at ranges well beyond their experience level. I've overheard conversations at the gun counter that make me wonder which magazine article brought the potential buyer there and whether they've otherwise spent any time in the field. I think most of us here have experienced some of those things.

Becoming a long-range hunter is more than which rifle and scope. I'm certain you'll find that out on a board more dedicated to it.

Poeple can name off all kinds of scopes they like. Just buy the best one that you can afford. The reason I say the best you can afford is that a scope that is not lined up and able to hold the line is no good. If you get a scope and get it sighted in good and it will hold. Then you have a good scope. You will be able to hit what you shoot at.

So the OP disappears.....another topic to generate chatter

Plenty of people here and elsewhere consistently kill animals far beyond 300 yards, which is a chip shot for them. It is simply ignorant to look something up like this on Google and pretend it is relevant. If you do not have the experience to understand this, it's a good chance to sit back and LEARN.

Besides, those folks died before laser rangefinders, now the mainstay of long range shooting, were invented. Do yourself a favor and lurk longrangehunting.com before you try to comment on such things.

You got to start somewhere and i'll bet you even ridge runner has asked this question before he got into long range hunting.

Spaniel,

Explain this to me again.

I don’t know what I’m talking about, because I referenced these legends, and you are now one of the “new” names I will find listed in the annals of history going forward.


Do I have that right ?



Or these guys just didn't have rangefinders ?


This is not a criticism of you, just the way you present your points.

You reference "chuck hawks", himself quite ignorant to long range shooting in that he references how MPBR is not greatly extended with magnum cartridges and therefore concluding long range shooting is not greatly improved with these cartridges. This completely ignores the fundamentaly ballistic performance advantages seen at long range when appropriately educated on long range ballistics and drop compensation techniques that make the simplistic reliance on MPBR calculations obsolete.

These OLD TIME legends did not have access to tactical-style scopes, laser rangefinders, electronic windmeters, and PDAs loaded with ballistic software, all of which are fielded by long range shooters today. When you are shooting 700 yards you must know within 10-15 yds of the correct range or your drop error will cause a bad shot. In their day, they lacked the tools to adequately judge range for 700 yd shots. We don't today. They also lacked many of the wonderful long range cartridges we have today. So to cite them as examples is completely ignorant.

You don't know what you are talking about because you overlook all of these above points and reference google searches as your only knowledge of long range shooting. People here such as RR, myself and others have taken the time to learn about it and practice it before running our mouths and telling others whether they should or should not be thinking about it, or what equipment is needed to do it right.

Access to a search engine is not a substitute for real learning and experience. Every one of us is ignorant about certain topics, and it is wise to recognize this and stick to talking about the ones you know, and sitting back, being open and learning about the ones you don't.

"Google long range hunting RR"

So I did..................not because I needed to; just so I wouldn’t be so ignorant, remember.


So, to go hunting now, you need; “tactical-style scopes, laser rangefinders, electronic windmeters, and PDAs loaded with ballistic software”

BTW – I could have gotten the same type of response from Relentless, so again my suggestion was just to your presentation.

Last reply from me on the subject…………………….no worries.

You don't NEED it to go hunting, but you need it if you are going to reliably and ethically hunt to 700 yards.

Nobody is being purposelessly mean to you like Relentless Pursuit. But when you are going to criticize people who know their stuff with google searches and knowing nothing on the subject yourself, you should expect to get some push-back.

Getting my post count up ??? You're kidding right !


And I have NEVER criticized anyone !!!

I'll answer your question instead of cutting you down. Zeiss conquest and dont look back. In my opinion, the conquest is the best scope under $1000. I have one on a 375 ruger and I absolutly love it. Some of the best optics I've seen. Also maybe take a look at the nikon monarch. Have one on a tactical 308 and it works very well.

Just to emphasize, if you are shooting to 700 yards you need either tatical-style turrets or a BDC reticle. A mil-dot one will do in a pinch but a BDC that is ROUGHLY calibrated to your cartridge is better. I suggest dialing to take out all guesswork but that's just me.

Ridge Runner,

“you may not believe it, doesn't matter to me if ya do or not but 700+ yard kills on game are not only realistic but common, not everyone is limited to pistol calibers for big game hunting”

You're sounding more and more like Relentless, who was also childish and full of himself !

There, now I criticized someone……………….and one more thing;


Spaniel : here are some of your niceties;

Now ask people with real experience, you don't understand the ballistics, routine for others, It is simply ignorant, sit back and LEARN, before you try to comment on such things, quite ignorant, completely ignorant, You don't know what you are talking about, as your only knowledge, before running our mouths, not a substitute for real learning and experience, stick to talking about the ones you know, learning about the ones you don't, knowing nothing on the subject yourself

“Nobody is being purposelessly mean”, I know you are just a swell guy trying to be kind and helpful !


Whatever happened to humility ?



Oh yea, + 1 for a BDC reticle (I have it on all my scopes).