Exposed windage turrets for hunting.

[ccmain]

I love it, it is in fact the 2.5-25x52 with second focal plane MOA reticle, the closest thing to it I have used as far as quality is a vx6-hd, other than putting a few rounds through an NXS or a Mark 5HD, and I think the March is a much better overall optic. I'm not the best at judging glass, but I can see an improvement, and the overall features of the scope are just better. I have never had my windage or elevation turret move, the feeling is great, they are tight, and low profile, they don't catch on anything. My rifle rides in my mystery ranch pack for miles while hiking into camp, and it sets bedded into a DNZ one piece mount on a 9.5 lb braked .338 Norma, so pretty stout recoil as well, and has held up great. View attachment 277613View attachment 277614

Sweet rifle, I shoot lefty to

 

[Zen Archery]

It depends how hard you hunt and how thick the country you are hunting. Most of the areas I traverse is thick and branches and limbs swiping turrets are a major issue.

 

[Hard rock]

It depends how hard you hunt and how thick the country you are hunting. Most of the areas I traverse is thick and branches and limbs swiping turrets are a major issue.

Sounds like open sights would better for how you hunt . How can turrets on a scope be a issue if their capped or locked?

 

[BrentM]

Sounds like open sights would better for how you hunt . How can turrets on a scope be a issue if their capped or locked?

I believe He was answering the ops original question and his seems fitting to that

 

[xsn10s]

Sounds like open sights would better for how you hunt . How can turrets on a scope be a issue if their capped or locked?

I set my 06 for 200 yard zero. I then use the mildot reticle for my drops. I hit steel out to 800 yards with it without touching the dials. But that rifle is set up for 400 yards or less. On other rifles I do the same thing, but if time permits I remove the caps and use the knobs. Samething could be done by unlocking the knobs. Pretty simple.

 

[Hard rock]

I set my 06 for 200 yard zero. I then use the mildot reticle for my drops. I hit steel out to 800 yards with it without touching the dials. But that rifle is set up for 400 yards or less. On other rifles I do the same thing, but if time permits I remove the caps and use the knobs. Samething could be done by unlocking the knobs. Pretty simple.

I agree I wouldnt hunt where I had exposed windage or ele turrets thet wouldnt lock .My original reply was recommending locking ele and caped windage problem solved . Forgot the orignal post I apologise

 

[xsn10s]

I agree I wouldnt hunt where I had exposed windage or ele turrets thet wouldnt lock .My original reply was recommending locking ele and caped windage problem solved . Forgot the orignal post I apologise

Ah I see. Well I misunderstood and apologize also.

 

[xsn10s]

I'll say this much for my cheapy SWFA 10X. So far the knobs haven't moved for open desert chuck hunts. I usually carry it in either a pack or drag bag for transport so nothing savage. That's isn't the same as some of the forests in the Cascades or dense swamps in southern Georgia. I'm gonna try the neoprene scope bikini for the SWFA. Cheap and functional fix.

 

[sobrbiker]

It happening once is too much.
I shot competitve PRS stuff for years, and once my rifle is zeroed I'm known to wrap windage turret with electrical tape to keep from a) inadvertent adjustment from handling and b) dialing a little and forgetting to take it off next time.
I hold wind and dial (or use holdover) for elevation.

I wish I could afford new optics as they come out, and if I get a better hunting scope that my old US Optics tanks, it will have zero stop/licking elevation and locking/capped windage.

 

[mnoland30]

My Leupold turret moved, and I missed an ibex. I now use scopes with elevation marks for different ranges. I don't like scope covers, because once in a great while, I get a chance for a quick shot.

 

[brant89]

I have had two separate issues with windage turrets moving on me during a hunt. 2015 in Wyoming I lined up a 500yd shot on a pronghorn doe with my .260AI and hit nothing but air with no idea where the bullet went. Assuming I overcorrected for wind I made an adjustment and still hit nothing. I chalked it up to a terrible wind call and at this point I was questioning everything I thought I knew about long range shooting . The following day I crawled to the top of a ridge to get into position on two does bedded at 240 yards and sent a bullet right into the larger doe's guts. This was followed by several failed attempts to put her down until finally connecting AMAX to spinal cord. Went back to the range to check zero and found that my windage turret had spun nearly a half rotation WITH A NEOPRENE COVER ON in my scabbard. Even if I had checked the turret I would not have been confident on which direction it had turned since it was basically 180 degrees from where it should have been. Immediately after that hunt I sold off all hunting optics with exposed windage turrets and replaced them with Vortex Viper HS LR FFP scopes. Fast forward several years and I borrowed by stepdads 6.5CM to eliminate a coyote that had been hitting a bait pile right at twilight where I needed an illuminated reticle (illuminated scope was in for repair but that's a story in itself). Saw a beautiful chocolate colored coyote on my deer carcass at 220 yards, grabbed the rifle out of the safe, and got set up. Touched one off and watched the dog take off, which is not what usually happens when coyotes take a frontal hit with a 129SST. First thing I checked was the windage turret, and sure enough, half rotation off even with a neoprene cover on sitting in a gun safe. Lesson re-learned. In summary, windage turrets can get rotated even with a scope cover and the only sure way to make sure this doesn't happen is with locking or capped turrets. Scopes in both scenarios were Gen 1 Viper PST's.

 

[sobrbiker]

Neoprene scope covers are horrible at grabbing turrets. They grip too much on the interior and stretch easily to exterior rubbing...

 

[jaeger19]

I just finished a long range school and the instructor recommended not using the windage torrents and using the scope reticle for wind instead. First ..there is the chance of forgetting you turned them.
Second was the need to make wind calls based on what you saw in the scope.
I saw this the last day when we fid our shooting competition at a number of different targets from different ranges and different winds.
At one 875 yard target there were winds at 12mph..with occasional lulls . It was a timed event. With a few seconds left for a shot I was holding off 8 moa when I watch the wind die and so I held at left edge of target and hit first shot.
If I had dialed that it would be difficult to make the make the windage correction.

 

[hugheserj]

Im a lefty and cary my rifle on my left shoulder so long windage turrets are a pain. In the past I've had a vortex scope windage turrets move enough to miss an animal after hiking for a day.

Zeiss V8 turrets lock so there are no issues there.