[Bird Dog II]

OK I have one Burris Ball Plex scope. It has a decent glass for the money and I have never had a Burris scope fail me. I am confused on their on-line literature though. http://www.burrisoptics.com/pdf/BALLPLEX.pdf

I was tracking ok on this site even up to the part where they talked about using a 158yd zero for a .308. But then it talks about magnification differences and how the charts are calibrated at 9x. I do most of my hunting at 3x. How much different will the impact be at 3x vs 9x for the 158 yd zero .308 example?

 

[pruhdlr]

Mil Dot'ish "Complications" ??

Not trying to minimize the problem and don't have a direct answer to the problem.

But.....seems to me that any scope/sight should always be set to the highest power to use the ranging or drop system that is built in. If the target is far enough out to have to worry about the drops the scope/sight(seems to me) should always be set to the highest setting anyway.

Learn/memorize the drops for 9X and that should be fine. If you find that 3X is all you need...you got the wrong scope.

As far as using the scope to range,if the target is out there "only" 100-200yds you should not care exactly how far he is. Hold high on back and send one.

Forgive me if I am missing the point. -----pruhdlr

 

[Bird Dog II]

Yes But I should not have to crank the scope all the way up to nine should I? I rarely get above 6x in the field, but they don't make a 3x6 variable;-)

 

[Colohunter]

They are usually calibrated for one magnification, usually the highest. Unless the reticle changes size (first focal plane), it will not equal the same distances at different magnifications. The best way to find out what the difference is would be to go out and shoot the rifle with the load you want to hunt with at the magnification you prefer. Then take detailed notes and memorize them or better yet, make a card that you can keep with you hunting.

 

[unclenick]

The argument has come up before between the Chandler brothers, who like the fixed reticule good at only one magnification mil-dot sight, and those liking the newer scopes that shrink the reticule as the magnification is reduced. The first system has the advantage you can always make out the fine divisions, while that gets harder in the latter style. The latter style has the advantage that a mil is a mil is a mil on the reticule regardless of magnification.

The difference is simple. If your ranging reticule graduations are fixed for 9X, and show, say, 100 yards at 9X, the same graduation will show 150 yards at 6X and 300 yards at 3X, assuming the magnifications are accurate. For 6X multiply by 1.5, for 4.5X multiply by 2, for 3X multiply by 3 (that's the easy one to remember).

 

[jodum]

Last months Successful Hunter magazine by Wolfe Publications had an excellent article on using these type of recticle. They provided a chart to show how to figure different ranges at different power settings. I will see if I can find the formula.

 

[Bird Dog II]

Last months Successful Hunter magazine by Wolfe Publications had an excellent article on using these type of recticle. They provided a chart to show how to figure different ranges at different power settings. I will see if I can find the formula.

Yeah that would be great if you cant find a link. Nick has me all messed up. If the second mark down is -2" at 300 yds at 9x with a 150 gr .308. What does that same mark do at 6x or 3x? Why doesn't my Burris paperwork explain this better?

 

[Shawn Crea]

The Burris ballistic plex system works at the highest magnification setting of the scope. Keep in mind that this system is for 'long range' shooting. For most bottleneck cartridges and 'standard' bullet weights, don't even worry about using anything but the crosshairs out to 300 yards. And if you're within 300 yards, hunt away at 4x or 6x and use the crosshairs.

If you encounter an animal out past the 300 yard mark, you probably want to turn your scope up to 9x anyway, and will probably have the time to do so, and you then use the ticks below the crosshairs.

Where you will get into trouble is if you want to load say 200 or 220 gr RN bullets in your 308, which are somewhat non-std, and those ticks aren't going to work for you if you think 1st tick is 200 yards, second tick is 300 yards, etc.. You then have to shoot those loads, choose your 100-yd x" high zero at 100 yards, and memorize your drops for the various ticks at your yardages. For anything past 400 yards, with whatever cartridge/bullet you're shooting, you have to do this anyway.

The Burris ballistic plex system works well, but you may have to customize it for your cartridge/load. The first tic may be dead on at 300 yards for the 8mm Rem Mag with 200 gr bullets, but may be dead-on at 200 yards with a 165 gr from your 308, but depends on how high you want to be above point-of-aim at 100 yards. It takes some time behind the trigger and load, beyond 300 yards.

 

[Jakeway]

Yes But I should not have to crank the scope all the way up to nine should I? I rarely get above 6x in the field, but they don't make a 3x6 variable;-)

No. but they make a 2-7X35, which I have on my woods gun. I haven't sighted it in yet, but I plan to set it at 7 power, sight in the gun to be right on at 300 yards with the 300 yard "tick", and then see where it hits with the 200 and 100 yard marks at those ranges. I expect that it will be slightly high, but less than the usual 1.5 or 2" high at 100 yards. I shoot through some pretty small openings sometimes, especially when shooting though branches near my treestand. I want the bullet path to be as close to line of sight as possible.

I expect I'll use the center cross hairs virtually all the time, and at power settings below 4 or 5; the only time I'd have an opportunity to shoot beyond 200 yards is if some deer were standing out in the field as I walk to my stands, and then I'd have time to set the scope to 7. I'm not going to take any running shots at deer that far out.