Know your weapon and your ability; know my 06 and where the bullet I use will carry, with a tight grouping (1") I have room for miss judging distance. 25 yd & 100 yd I am on, out to 200 yds I allow 4", 300 yds allow 9" using my 06 with a 165 gr spbt. I have only taken a second shot once, rifle was sightrd in @ 200 yds at my Uncle's urging. KNOW YOUR WEAPON.

They work..But I don't recommend using them unless you consistantly shooting at targets or game animals over 350yrds...If its just the odd time, those reticles can really screw one over,(lets face it, those crosshairs are close together)ifa hunter/shooter happens to take a shot an animal,especiallywhen shooting 150yrds and under..
I've seen it3 times in as many yearshunters will put the wrong crosshair on the animal and its missed, or wounded
one (moose)was not recovered.

I don't consider myself a long range shooter by no means. In a perfect situation I feel confident to 500 yards on game however in reality under most conditions 400 yard and under is the comfort zone. For the conditions I see up here, even these ranges require lots of practice and knowing your rifle/load/abilities.I see no need for a mass marketed BDC reticle for my big game hunting purposes. I sight in for a MBP range of approx 300 yards which is what I plan for allowing forno hold over @ 0-3xx with my rifle/load and then just learn through lots of practice what needs to be done for longer and climiate situations.

The BDC aren't perfect as mentioned, I have found I can adjust as close without them. So I ain't messingwith theKISS theory??

Like Jeff pointed out more in the sight picture isn't always better and as easily as I may take a shot at 400 yards I may also take a shot at 100 or under. Learning my equipment and making the adjustmentswhen requiredworks for me personally.

In the case of Ridgerunner who shoots long range and gets a BDC type reticle developed for a specific usage I can see the benefit. Though he and others like him are in a different league compared to most. They build the rifle & trim it out for the task. Not talkingoff the shelf guns/components here...

I am sure many who buy the BDC do benefit from them, however on the flip side I have seen some who buy them based on cleaver marketing and now think they can shoot farther without the effort required to be truly proficent. All said there are no easy paths, shooting longer distance requires practice and knowing your equipment/abilities. Much like your hunting knifeshooting skillsneed to be honed to be kept sharp.

Good Luck

I was looking for scope with hold over capabilies when I got the 270wsm. I look through Leupold,Sheperd,Nikon and Burris. To each their own but I liked the Burris Ballistic Plex. I got the Burris Euro-Diamond 2.5x10x44mm objective with the Ballistic Plex retical.I sighted the normal crosshair at 200yds. with factory Winchester 150gr. Power Point ammo. I am within plus or minus 2" up to 600yds. with the given range that match the retical. 6" difference at 600yds. Which I will never shoot past that point with this set-up. I am currently hitting consitently 6" dia rocks at lasered500yds. off the bypod kneeling. In my eyes that is good enough to put a round into the boiler room off a deer or elk.

YOUR BDC RETICLES, AND BULLET DROP KNOBS ON YOUR SCOPES ARE GENERALLY FOR A PARTICULAR LOAD, OR VELOCITY. Many of the higher quality scopes that i have looked at will specify, BDC for what caliber?? that is how it is going to be accurate. they can and do work, you just have to make sure that you get the one that you need for your caliber.

Here is some info from a previous posting...

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2569636

So much more to long range shooting than most will ever believe or begin to understand....

And They will Dang sure let you know it at Benning ,wont they.

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!

I mounted a Burris 4.5-14X42 on my 257 Weatherby Mag. and sent an E-Mail to Burris telling them what caliber I was useing, along with the bullet I was shooting. Within ten minutes they sent methree pages of material documenting exackly where my bullet would hit on each mark . Also included was an eight-inch pieplate hit markfor shooting in the field compared to shooting at the range,along with a diagram showing me how my bullet flew compared to their scope reticle!!!!
(for example: my BDC is 200, 300, 425, 550, and 675yds for my gun)

AWSOME Customer service, and an AWSOME round to shoot if I do say so myself.
Useing this information, I shot my first Coues Whitetail at 386yds this past December here in Arizona

Hope this info helps

BDC reticles are great for quick opportunities which present themselves in the field.


Now, take it to a long distance shooting range with the round you plan on using to hunt with & confirm where your bullets is hittting at each distance vs each line, dot or circle.

No other way builds as much confidence so that you are ready at the moment to truth !!!

Practice, practice, practice........................