Newbie looking for advice

[eglassy88]

Hey Everyone,

Long time hunter - never hunted anything past 100ish yards. I'm hunting a new property this year that is wide open and I'll be able to shoot very far distances. I've always zeroed my reticle at 100 yards so I don't know much about reticle hash marks and shooting at further distances. I have a NightForce scope and Im trying to figure out how much drop there is between hash marks on my scope so I can shoot further distances. Can someone point me to an article or video that will help with this? Again, I have no experience shooting long distance but im very excited to learn!

 

[Frog4aday]

Welcome! Sounds like you'll get a chance to 'learn' your rifle and scope at some longer distances. It's good you are looking into it now, so you'll have some time to practice and do some longer range shooting before hunting season.

People are going to need to know which MODEL Nightforce scope you have in order to give you 'good' info. In the meantime, you can go here and find your scope and then click on the PDF links they have to get more info on that scope's reticle.
http://nightforceoptics.com/reticles

 

[Rick Richard]

Welcome! Sounds like you'll get a chance to 'learn' your rifle and scope at some longer distances. It's good you are looking into it now, so you'll have some time to practice and do some longer range shooting before hunting season.

People are going to need to know which MODEL Nightforce scope you have in order to give you 'good' info. In the meantime, you can go here and find your scope and then click on the PDF links they have to get more info on that scope's reticle.
http://nightforceoptics.com/reticles

You will HAVE to know the velocity the rifle is shooting the projectile you have chosen so the hash marks in the scope can correlate to a point of impact. Which means, running the FPS and projectile information into a ballistic calculator and finding out the MOA equivalent for the yardage to be shot at.

For instance a 6.5 traveling at 2850 with a 140 grain projectile will be 2 MOA high at 300 yards (scope sighted in at 200) based on the calculator results. That may correspond to 2 hash marks on the scope (hold over) if each hash mark is one MOA on the scope by design.

 

[eglassy88]

Thanks so much for helping out guys! So I have a Seekins Precision Havak Pro Hunter PH1 Bolt-Action Rifle chambered in .308 equipped with a Nightforce SHV 5-20x56 with the MOAR - 20 MOA reticle. I've been shooting Winchester silver tip .308 168 grain rounds.

 

[Liberator]

Welcome ! From Eastern Washington !

 

[Frog4aday]

Okay, according to Winchester, that bullet has a BC of 0.474 and a muzzle velocity of 2670 FPS (I'm assuming from a 24" barrel...they don't say definitively.) Since your rifle also has a 24" barrel, we'll just pretend the velocity shown is 'accurate' in this case.

(Very nice rifle and scope by the way!)
Reticle should look something like this:

 

[Frog4aday]

And here is an explanation from NIGHTFORCE on the markings in your scope:

That's as far as I can take you.
Trying to explain the whole MOA thing for different distances is not my strong suit. I'm sorry. There are people FAR more knowledgeable than I on this topic who will find your post and chime in soon, I'm sure.

 

[ShtrRdy]

The best way to use the reticle or turrets is to use a ballistic program. If you have a smart phone there are several ballistic programs that work very well.

If you don't have a smart phone you can use a free ballistic program online to calculate the trajectory and then you can use this information to build a drop chart.

Does that scope have first focal plane?

To give you an idea of what the MOA marks mean - basically 1 moa is a span of 1.047" on a target at 100 yds. At 200 yds it's twice that or 2.094". At 300 yds it's three times 1.047 or 3.141". But you don't want to be thinking in these terms if you're working on making a long shot. The Ballistic program will tell you how much to dial up or to hold over in terms of MOA.

 

[slv hunter]

Welcome from Colorado
Go to a place where you can shoot different targets at varying distances and find your holdover for each one. Having a range finder will be a necessary piece of euipment and a good steady rest. A Ballistic app with advertised MV for your ammo should get you close, but you need to field verify all your info.
Practice, practice, practice

 

[Frog4aday]

<SNIPPED STUFF>
Does that scope have first focal plane?
<SNIPPED STUFF>

I believe it is a Second Focal Place (SFP) scope because the 'rangefinding' instructions direct the user to set the scope to 20X to be accurate/correct.

Went to website to be certain - yes, SFP scope.

 

[Frog4aday]

Hey Everyone,
Long time hunter - never hunted anything past 100ish yards. I'm hunting a new property this year that is wide open and I'll be able to shoot very far distances. I've always zeroed my reticle at 100 yards so I don't know much about reticle hash marks and shooting at further distances. I have a NightForce scope and I'm trying to figure out how much drop there is between hash marks on my scope so I can shoot further distances. Can someone point me to an article or video that will help with this? Again, I have no experience shooting long distance but im very excited to learn!

Now that you know you have a Second Focal Plane (SFP) scope and an MOA reticle, and you know what your Ballistic Coefficient (BC) and velocity are for the bullet you are shooting, you need an app for your phone and a rangefinder. Now you have the 'tools' you need, but the knowledge will take more time. This article might help:
https://www.ammoland.com/2018/10/first-and-second-focal-plane-rifle-scopes-explaned/#axzz5tWXCWgei

I've also attached a PDF file I found on the VORTEX website (yes, I know you have a Nightforce). It explains SFP scope with MOA reticle use. 8 pages long, but very helpful. This should get you on the right track to start practicing.

 

[YZ-80]

This is exciting! I can't add anything to the great advice that's been given other than to reiterate the importance of practice. AND practice the way you plan to hunt (e.g., off a bipod, prone, etc).

I remember my first kill at "long" range. I was crop damage hunting around dusk and spotted a doe at 375 and dialed up on my Vortex HST. Took the shot and saw the tail flash and she jumped through the hedge. Darn-it! I thought - I shot over and missed that deer! I came up off the rifle and looked down range....no wait, there she is! So I sent another one from my 6.5L and down she went. I walked across that bean field with my Buck 110 in hand ready to do the dirty work and was pleasantly surprised to find 2 mature does laying not 15 feet from eachother, shot perfectly through their hearts. I've gotta learn to trust my equipment!

 

[aushunter1]

So according to the specs the subtension values are calibrated at 1MOA @ 20x magnification-
Reticle Subtensions Per Model
https://nightforceoptics.com/sites/default/files/NFO_MOAR_SFP_20170620.pdf

Dialing the turrets is one way of using the scope but sometimes you do not have enough time to make these adjustments in the field so I think its important to understand if you choose to use the hash windage & elevation marks for holdovers then see the chart marked 'F' & 'G' for values.
As mentioned value 'F' is 1moa(1.047inch) @ 20x magnification, for you to understand a bit more about what this means then have a look at this very informative youtube on both adjusting the scopes elevation/windage but also explains how to work out how to how many moa it is at a set distance so you can work out the holdover OR under depending on your zero point-

In watching this just remember your dial is in 1/4 or .250 increments.

If you don't have one you really need to get yourself a rangefinder for both methods(dialing & holdovers) & yes you need to know the velocity of your ammo or have worked out your drop at the range for set distances.

Because its a SFP scope these subtensions values will change as you change the magnification so be aware of that & find out what they are at say 10x magnification!


FFP scope windage & elevation values do not change through the magnification range, this is why they are favoured for distance shooting.

Another good thing to know is about or setting up a scopes zero point to work at its 'Maximum point blank range'
https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2017/7/17/learn-your-maximum-point-blank-range/

 

[skipglo]

Hey Everyone,

Long time hunter - never hunted anything past 100ish yards. I'm hunting a new property this year that is wide open and I'll be able to shoot very far distances. I've always zeroed my reticle at 100 yards so I don't know much about reticle hash marks and shooting at further distances. I have a NightForce scope and Im trying to figure out how much drop there is between hash marks on my scope so I can shoot further distances. Can someone point me to an article or video that will help with this? Again, I have no experience shooting long distance but im very excited to learn!

Type in what you are looking for on YouTube...you will get all the video you need to help out!