Thread: Holdover Reticles

Went scope shopping yesterday and quite liked the idea of the holdover reticles on the Burris stuff.
To me it seems like a better option when out on a hunt, rather than mucking around with dialing in.
What are peoples experience with using holdover reticles, are they reliable?
More specifically, has anyone compared the Burris Fullfield range with the Signature range?

If you go dial up and add a meters or yard s dial then in my opinion you are better off. Have had ballistic reticles and dial and far prefer dial

Hamish

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You need to have it on a certain magnification for it to be exact.
This has led to quite a few disappointments and undermining confidence at range.
If you can disciple yourself to turn to the correct power before shooting it can be simple.

There are first focal plane scopes where the reticle expands at higher magnification and solves that problem. But they tend to be on tactical or higher priced scopes so not really a “ holdover reticle” for hunting.

dialling is the way forward

Regarding dial up, yes its overall better if you havent got a real flat shooting rifle.
Some scopes eg Leupold have dials that turn easily and get put of zero while youre carrying them in scrub, on your clothes etc. so have a feel of them in the shop. Various locking turret and zero lock features should fix this and someone who has used them might give advice here.

i used to hold over using reticle but now dial, find it a lot more accurate and a lot less misses. assuming you have all the correct data then it is the best option i think. i zero at 200 yards so i can still take a quick shot out to 300 if need be without dialing. anything past that or if i have time inside that i will dial.
just brought an Arken EPL-4 and it does not have a zero lock, but it has a large marking showing zero so i find it easy to quickly look at that before i shoot to double check it has not moved. no issues as yet although a zero lock would be nice. cheers

Agree i was a hold over scope man for many years the trusty old Leupold B&C reticle but then switched to dial up and have never looked back - far more accurate in my opinion and when validated out to maximum range in my case 850yds with my 6.5PRC as long as I do my part I haven't had a miss yet.

Dialing is always going to be more accurate and less prone to error.
I also think hold overs in a SFP scope aren't a great idea, as much as people say they will only ever use it on the magnification range they are set at, they always try and work out the drops for different magnification settings and it turns into a cluster.

I used to use a Burris Full Field 2 on my 22 for some longer range hunting, got a few rabbits at over 100m, but now days use dialing scopes exclusively and wouldn't go back to a BDC type holdover reticle.

BDC reticles certainly have their place, they're not as precise as dialling but for hunting applications were limited prep time is available they are hard to beat especially out to 400 or so They apply at one magnification usually the highest but can be used at others, ie at 6x 200 m at 3x 400.
You need to work out what the drop marks relate to for your cartridge and record that somewhere. One of my favourite scopes is a 1-6 strike eagle on a 7.62x39 and it's reliable to 420. A Mil dot reticle is equally useful as a BDC to be honest, probably more so.

Where the BDC are quite handy is when using the same rifle with two loads, i.e. standard and then a sub load for short range or when you don't want to shock the sh1te out of the entire zip code for whatever reason (in my case usually a neighbour is anti loud bangs - a lot of horse people around here with in some cases animals with a telephone number insured value). Having the low hash mark as the sub zero means no piss arsing with dialing next week up for the subs just chuck one in and line up. They have their place is what I'm saying...

I think they have their place. I don't know why magnification should be an issue. Presumably, if you need to holdover, you'll be at maximum magnification anyway? BUT, you do need to validate where the bullet is going to end up rather than assuming 100, 200, 300 yard (or whatever) marks are spot on.

I was a dialing skeptic for a long time, but things have changed. Holdover scopes seem to all have 2 main problems:
1) the reticles never seem to have marks where I want them that correspond with particular distances
2) they always seem to be second focal plane, which means the reticle marks don't represent a specific distance throughout the magnification range.

What changed my mind about dialing was the Leupold CDS system, which is simple enough for my peanut brain to get, especially when in the throes of buck fever. I think I speak for many occasional hunters who harvest animals at modest distances, rather than the 400m plus crowd who are more diligent about practice on the range and fully comfortable with their rifle, scope and load at extended ranges.

Originally Posted by H.M

i used to hold over using reticle but now dial, find it a lot more accurate and a lot less misses. assuming you have all the correct data then it is the best option i think. i zero at 200 yards so i can still take a quick shot out to 300 if need be without dialing. anything past that or if i have time inside that i will dial.
just brought an Arken EPL-4 and it does not have a zero lock, but it has a large marking showing zero so i find it easy to quickly look at that before i shoot to double check it has not moved. no issues as yet although a zero lock would be nice. cheers

The little hex screw on the top of the Arken EPL-4 turret is the zero stop.

I used hold over for ages with reasonable success but now I dial and found its far more accurate.
I also found the little extra time helps to make a better shot. having to stop and think for a second then shoot helps to make a better shot, rather than spot, laydown down and bang away quickly.

Dont think the extra time has cost me any deer but trying to find a spot to get a shot from definitely has.

I always zero at 100y then can dial to 200y when walking around if needed. Normally don't find it an issue tho.

Originally Posted by 55six

The little hex screw on the top of the Arken EPL-4 turret is the zero stop.

yep i have that all sorted, but i am talking about a zero lock, like the vx5 ect have. love the scope otherwise will buy another if ever needed.