Ballistic Turret vs Hold Over Lines

[the blur]

I'm deciding on the Ballistic Turret vs Hold Over Lines on a Z6.

My thoughts are if I have 10 seconds to make a shot, and my heart is pounding out of my chest, I'm not playing with a ballistic turret. I'd rather compensate with the hold over lines .

What are your thoughts ?

 

[Country Bumpkin]

I decided last summer that I wanted to be a "dialer". I practiced all summer, figured out my drops, then on opening morning of elk season I dialed for a 680 yard shot that never materialized. Before putting my caps back on I returned dial to zero with my heart still pounding from the excitement of the near-opportunity. Later that day I found another 6 point and ended up sneaking to within 200 yards (perfect, I'm zero'd for 200). Breath, squeeze, boom .... "you missed" my buddy said. Reload, repeat.... "missed high". Reload, repeat "same spot".

I basically shot two complete revolutions over him. When I dialed back "down" that morning, I actually dialed up and completed the second rotation up.

Now I use my hold over marks and have been hammering rock chucks. Apparently my lizard brain resorts back to my childhood tendencies when stakes are high, hold high and let fly (except that now I have the equipment, form and knowhow)

 

[dmj]

I understand your thoughts and in no way am I trying to say they're wrong. But in my narrow minded way of thinking. If I understand correctly to use the holdover lines your scope has to be on a certain power. So if you have to adjust the scope power it probably would not take much longer to dial. Also if your shooting long range I just can't shake the feeling that you need a little bit of time to set up and get all your ducks in a row to make a shot. There are also other issues to consider when comparing the two methods in question. Have a great day.

 

[Axl]

I'm deciding on the Ballistic Turret vs Hold Over Lines on a Z6.

My thoughts are if I have 10 seconds to make a shot, and my heart is pounding out of my chest, I'm not playing with a ballistic turret. I'd rather compensate with the hold over lines .

What are your thoughts ?

If you have to dial you should have plenty of time to do it ( target is out there and doesnt know you are there) I have a Z6, a Z5 and a Z3 with BT's they are very good hunting scopes: they only have
1 revolution so you can't be off by 2 revolutions. with the BT set up and practiced with a bit I have killed a lot of game and used it with many young hunters to take big game and i dont think it takes even 10 seconds to set it most of the time. I also have many of the hold over reticles and use them,but not for hunting. You just need to know the limitations of the scope it is not a 1000yd scope and wasnt designed to be. It is a simple to use system that is pretty light with the best glass you will ever look through. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

 

[dok7mm]

I like the ability to have both options available. I hunt with FFP March scopes with zero stops. They are usually on low power, so I sometimes turn on the illumination for close shots with ffp. I'm ready at any power to hold on the hash marks, but if I have time, I prefer to dial.

Of course, I'm wearing out my turret checking to be sure I'm still on zero.

 

[KyCarl]

10 seconds to make up my mind and shoot?
I'll pass...There will be other shots..
I dial....

 

[Bravo 4]

I decided last summer that I wanted to be a "dialer". I practiced all summer, figured out my drops, then on opening morning of elk season I dialed for a 680 yard shot that never materialized. Before putting my caps back on I returned dial to zero with my heart still pounding from the excitement of the near-opportunity. Later that day I found another 6 point and ended up sneaking to within 200 yards (perfect, I'm zero'd for 200). Breath, squeeze, boom .... "you missed" my buddy said. Reload, repeat.... "missed high". Reload, repeat "same spot".

I basically shot two complete revolutions over him. When I dialed back "down" that morning, I actually dialed up and completed the second rotation up.

Now I use my hold over marks and have been hammering rock chucks. Apparently my lizard brain resorts back to my childhood tendencies when stakes are high, hold high and let fly (except that now I have the equipment, form and knowhow)

I've seen someone do the same thing while using a reticle for holdover, kept using the wrong stadia line.
Point is- once that fever sets in, even the easiest of tasks aren't easy. Happens to even accomplished shooters.

Side note: If my scope doesn't have a zero stop I write the base line number on the scope or rings with an arrow pointing at it to remind me to check every time I look at it to dial up/down or back to zero.
Also tell your buddy it's his fault, the spotter is responsible for ensuring the shooter has the right dope or turret settings.
See how far that gets ya!

 

[AZShooter]

Advantage goes to turret if needed for those longer shots.

You will be shooting at center of mass
You can use any magnification with SFP

While some prefer to zero their rifles at 100 or 200 yds, I choose a useful trajectory for that particular rifle. A flat shooting rifle like my 257 Weatherby which is used for coues deer is the most extreme setup with a zero for 395 yds. Our cross canyon shots are typically 300-400 yds or more. Should a buck show up closer I just aim low for that particular shot.

3" high @ 100
5" high @ 200 apogee
4" high @300
2.2" high @ 350
1" high @ 375
.4" low @ 400
2.1" low @425
4" low @450
6.1" low @ 475
8.5" low @ 500

 

[Rich Coyle]

If you have to dial you should have plenty of time to do it ( target is out there and doesnt know you are there) I have a Z6, a Z5 and a Z3 with BT's they are very good hunting scopes: with the best glass you will ever look through.

I would put my Leupold VX-6 and Bushnell 6500 a notch above my z5 and my buddy's z6. He agrees with me when he has looked through them at the same time. We were looking at deer antlers 131 yards away.

 

[jda2631]

Dial turrets. You will be limited with the holdovers. If its 2nd focal plane, you will have to shoot at the designated power (but you could verify different ranges at different power settings, would just need to memorize or write them all down). With First or Second FP you will have to shoot to verify the ranges, and they will most likely work out to be odd ranges at each line. So the 300 yard line in the reticle most likely won't be 300 yards, it'll be like 278 or 331, etc. And you will be limited to those ranges. 300 and under you will probably be fine. Past that you will run into issues, let's say you've verified the 400 yard line in the reticle to actually be 420 yards with your set up. if the animal is at 370 yards or so you'll have to use "kentucky windage" for holdover/under. For my 6.5 creedmoor the difference between 370 and 420, only 50 yards, is 10 inches in bullet drop. And yes, there are flatter shooting calibers, but they all still drop and the further you go, the more the bullet drop magnifies between the reticle lines.

TL/DR: If you only plan to shoot out to 300 or so, you should be fine with bullet drop reticle. Past that you will run into issues while actually hunting, that bullet starts dropping fast.

 

[ValleyPursuits]

How about both. Maybe not in a Swarovski but there are other makes...

 

[the blur]

Both is actually the answer. If an Elk shows up at 200 yards, you're not dialing anything. Where I Elk hunt, it could be 30 yards to 530 yards... for an Elk, or Mule Deer. and time may be 15 seconds to shoot.

 

[coop2564]

Dial is more accurate. 10sec and a pounding heart you should not be making a long range shot you are not going to be precise.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I am a twirler if I'm hunting LR, if I'm stalking, my scopes are set on the lowest power and I rely on my MPBR to keep me on target way out to 500mtrs. All of my rifles have 8" MPBR which equates to a centre hold to 400mtrs and a backline hold to 500mtrs.
This is about as far as I'm confident shooting off a hastily assumed field position using my pack as a rest, even prone is risky in not so ideal conditions.
I am primarily a 'snap shooter' and can hit running game just as easily as when standing still. I practice this moreso than my other shooting positions, but keep running shots inside of 200mtrs.

Cheers.