Need help with leupold CDS dials for .300 win mag

[dirtrider]

I am pretty new to rifles but have numerous handguns. I picked up a new winchester model 70 in .300 win mag. I also picked up a new leupold CDS VX-3 4.5-14 x 40. So I need help deciding on the dials to get for this.

I will need to get accustomed to this rifle by shooting quite a bit at a range first. After I gather some experience I would like to hunt with it someday. Not sure what yet or where.

I have quite a bit of the following factory ammo already (100-200 rounds of each):
Nosler Custom Trophy Grade Accubond 180gr
19.3" drop, 2261 fps, 2043 ft-lb @400yards with 200yd zero
2950fps and 3478 ft-lb at the muzzle
Winchester Power-Point 180gr
20.3" drop, 2157 fps, 1859 ft-lb @400yards with 200yd zero
2960fps and 3501 ft-lb at the muzzle
Federal Premium Vital Shok 130gr Barnes Tipped Triple Shock Hyper Velocity 3500fps
7.9" drop, 2670fps, 2055 ft-lb, @300yards with 100yd zero
3500fps and 3535 ft-lb at the muzzle

I think the Nosler and the winchester are hopefully close enough that I can use the same dials for each??? I figured I could use the winchester ammo for practice and then keep most of the nosler ammo for hunting. If you were wondering I bought the nosler ammo last year when they had the buy 2 get 1 free sale so I figured it was worthwhile to get as it likely won't be cheaper when I need it. Also got a good deal on the federal and figured it is fine for practice too (maybe hunting) with a different dial.

So I originally ordered my 2 free dials from leupold (on promo) with the following info:
[Factory load data from above for the nosler and federal ammo]
Temp: 70 degrees
Altitude: 1000'
Zero at 200 yards

However both my dials got messed up. One says 100' instead of 1000' elevation (evidently was made for 1000'). The other was made for 100 yard zero. Leupold was great about it and offered me another 2 free dials. So my question is what should I get? I have no idea where I might be hunting yet. I figured the temp and altitude was good for where I am in Chicago area now and the ranges I may shoot at around here in summer. Should I get the next dials made up for a different round all together like something in the 165gr range or should I get dials made for a lower temp and higher elevation? I'm really not sure how much the temp and elevation affect things at say 400 yards. I'm trying to get something made that will be as versatile as possible. I know that may be an oxymoron with regards to cds but you guys have more experience than I do and may know what I will want down the road and what would be most useful in light of what I already have.

 

[davewilson]

welcome aboard, you might have won the longest first post, but you'll have to check with Len on that. my thoughts are you're over analysing this. get one load, don't worry about shooting different ammo. and you're correct in the 2 loads trajectary might be very similar. the problem is they might not have the same point of impact, meaning at 100 yards they might be 3" different to start out with. the altitude and temperature won't mean squat out to 400. even at 6-700 it's very small changes. a 300 win mag is a big cartridge used for big game. the 180 accubonds would be a great all around bullet in this cartridge. the best way to know your drops is to get it sighted in, then see what the setting on your scope is to get hits at the different yardages. give this info to Leupold and you have a perfect ballistic turret for your gun and scope. this works every time.

 

[dirtrider]

Thanks for mentioning that point of impact consideration. I hadn't thought of that. It is good to know that at least for hunting considerations it really won't matter much with some of those variables. I was able to confirm that with the jbm calculator.

 

[Buster1]

IMO, you're wasting your time basing your dials off of factory ballistics. You need to shoot YOUR rifle over a chronograph to see what it does speed wise with any given load. I've seen up to 200 fps difference in what the factory claimed and what the actual chronographed results were.