Nomercy448

Sure must be rough, only shooting 800-1000yrds...

It's statements like this one that make me think: If I didn't like ya, Ridge, I sure wouldn't like ya!!!

Ridge Runner

Well if you do it enough, and it comes down to just "how many clicks" it reaches a point where 500 is the same as 600 is the same as 800 is the same as 1200, ya just dope the wind, add the up and it's all the same, till your eyes fail, then you think the parra lex is right, the hold looks good, you have checked, rechecked, and double checked the wind, confindance is high.......and ya miss, there are only 2 reasons to miss a shot with a proven load and proven trajectory, a bad wind call or improper parra lex setting, I,m seeing more of both, my 1 mile rifle is in the works, gonna give it a whirl but not gettin my hopes up, will be 54 in a few months, it kinda feels like a downhill roll
RR'

eatsleephunt

I am currently in the process of having a Remington action (from a current rifle I own) restocked with a Bell and Carlson, and the leupold 4.5-14 x 40 that is on it upgraded to a turret style. I'm having this done by a gunsmith. He is also developing a load that presumably will provide up to an 800 yd capability, as this is the upper end Leupold can supply with their turret modification.

I am mainly interested in capability within the 5-700 yard range at this time. What I have been doing for about a decade is using the Remington 700, .300 win mag with the same Leupold scope mentioned above and practicing overhold. 3.5" high at 100, etc. 500 yds is still a stretcher shot, but I have taken multiple big game animals over 400yds.

I have been concerned about the parallax issue. I don't fully understand the concept, but have googled and read about it as well as had it explained. My concept so far in using the parallax adjustment is first to know the range, and then dial the knob to that setting - see if the cross hair moves on the target and then micro adjust if necessary - but I have no official practice doing this.

This last hunting season I could have had a fairly good opportunity to harvest a bull elk significantly larger than the one I did had I been capable of shooting 6-750. Not saying I would have taken the shot for sure, but I would definitely have been able to set up a couple of times for it. Very open country. Not the first time I wished I could shoot further, effectively and confidently of course.

It seems to me that the Thompson weapon, regardless of being overpriced, would serve well as a 5-700+ yard gun.

Another question... at what range should a hunter using these types of setups begin to be concerned about parallax? What range is the definite cutoff where you are a fool not to adjust for it, and under that range what consequences are there if you don't adjust? Basically, where should you have your parallax set when hunting country you expect to make a minimum of a 300 yard shot in?

Ridge Runner

Very seldom will you make the absolute perfect shot, the trick is everything that you can control has to be as close to perfect as you are capable of, then hopefully the things you cannot control won't cause a bad shot.
Now say your not exactly level with the rifle on the shot, not holding it so it looks level, but level, 5 degrees of cant and you just missed a deer at 500 yards, ya need a level for anything over 300 yards. It's a must have
A dead solid hold, not steady, DEAD SOLID, if the muzzle moves just .00693" at any range you just missed moa at that range (In the field I shoot of a swivel bipod with a rear support from the prone position)
Parralex this adjustment puts the target and the reticle on the same focal plane, depending on conditions you could miss a deer with an improper parralex setting at any range beyond 300 yards. (This is where the side focus really shines)
Bdc turrets they work well to 500' from there on out , you must take into account your atmospheric conditions, temp. And bar pressure, with bar pressure being the biggy. Bar pressure actually has the ability to change your bullets BC causing you to miss and miss big.
If you want to make first round hits consistently at ranges beyond 600 yards you must dial with the conditions considered.
This long range shooting isn't hard, if I can figure it out anyone can, it just takes study, dedication, and lots of practice
RR

Nomercy448

On the topic of parallax:

Easiest dead give-away of a parallax issue: if you can't get the crosshairs AND the target in focus at the same time. When the image is focused within the scope in the same plane as the reticle, then they'll both be in focus, and you won't have parallax errors. If you focus your eye on the target in the scope and your crosshairs go blurry, you know the focal planes are not overlaid, and you run the risk of parallax error misses.

I put this picture together a while back to illustrate the potential for parallax issues:



So they aren't the best quality pics and you have to look pretty closely to tell the difference between the four pictures, but there's very obviously a parallax error induced with the focus setting at this distance. Focus set at 1,000yrds, target at 10yrds. The red laser dot is a laser boresighter in my barrel that I dialed away from a bit, it's in the same position in every picture to show that my rifle wasn't moving in the vise.

Dead give away, the target is in focus, the reticle is not. Focal planes of the reticle and target are NOT overlaid properly.

By moving my eye right, left, up, down (or rather the camera in this case), the crosshairs move about an inch and a quarter across the target, without the rifle ever moving at all - laser boresighter dot doesn't move.

So ~1.25" at 10yrds = 12.5" at 100yrds, and 125" at 1,000yrds. Granted, you can tell by the shadow and the black rim around the image that my eye/camera position is poorly aligned, but I exaggerated the mis-alignment to illustrate the point. You could make less of a mis-alignment and still be off by 30" at 1,000yrds compared to my 125" example.

This is why I will never use a fixed focal length scope for anything more than casual hunting at 150yrds or less.