One scope, on one rifle, shooting different bullets

[elker]

I'm waiting for my S&B scope (bought at EE). I will mount it on my Zastava 9.3x62. The bullets are Nosler Accubond 250 gr, cutting edge 250 gr, naturalis 230 gr, matrix 270 gr, and some 285 gr bullets. I am thinking of using a notebook to track the clicks and return it back once switching to another bullet.

Can anyone share his experience on this? Do you mark the turret with a sharpie?

 

[medvedqc]

too many bullets. good luck

 

[geologist]

I put them in Excel and print the table in a tiny font then clear packing tape them to my objective bell.

 

[duncansuds]

I do this with my 22 (5 different types) and I memorized my zero for each based on turret position. I use one load as a “home” key. I count this one up from bottom. On my rifle makes for revolution from bottom +4.5moa. This get me within a click Or so of zero. I typically only use 3. Using stingers, fed 40gr bulk and then cci subsonic. Make for a very interesting time in the gopher patch.

I keep two loads for my 308 as well. They are only 1 MOA elevation and .5 for wind away.

 

[Galt]

It is easier with a bdc scope and quick adjust zero turrets.. but any scope can do it., on some I use a white marker for each spot

 

[Galt]

duplicate

 

[Potashminer]

I would go with Medvedqc Post #2. Too many bullets involved. Nice to work up loads for them all, though - gives you choices down the road if/when supplies get less plentiful. My own 9.3x62, I worked up decent enough hunting loads for 285 grain PPU bullets. Same load turned out just fine with 286 grain Partitions (Big Game powder). Then found some 250 grain Accubond and Varget - pretty much all that rifle has been fired with since. Probably rest of my life supply of 250 Accubond and Varget on hand, so should be good. Always have the notes in my reloading log to go back to the 286 Partitions if I want.

If I feel the need for more or less "power", I have other rifles / other cartridges to choose from. Everybody starts with one. In my case it was a 308 Win with 165 grain bullets for everything from jackrabbits to elk. Have become less convinced about the "one gun for everything" concept. Most cartridges have a real good bullet weight for the cartridge capacity - sort of it's "ideal" - no point, to me, in thinking to make a 7x57 perform as if it is a 7mm Rem Mag, or thinking a 300 Win Mag will do anything that a 375 H&H can do. They won't, but many of us actually get very little lifetime experience at using enough of them to do a valid comparison - professional "cullers" excepted.

 

[elker]

Except the cutting edge bullets, I have already in possession the hand loaded cartridges in 9.3x62. I prefer to polygamy this caliber simply because it can do everything in big bear country in northern or interior BC. When I hunt in Vancouver island, I will exclusively use 257 weatherby magnum, shooting hornady outfitter 90gr GMX. I bought hundreds of factory ammo already.
For 9.3x62, I may use 250 accubond as a Home cartridge and write down the clicks for other cartridges. If any two cartridges are close, I will group them as one to simplify.

 

[Potashminer]

Keeping notes of previous scope settings is probably a good idea. However, even though most of my hunting scopes are various Leupolds, I do not depend on the marks or clicks to know that the rifle is zero'd - I shoot at target to confirm yes or no. A small cost to be sure of what you have. Even though my rifles get used periodically during a year, I almost always do a "sighting in" session before deer season with the rifle I plan to take out - often do not have to touch a thing, but I feel better that I know it is good. Not "target shooting" or shooting for a group or a score - for my hunting purposes I plan that I will get one cold bore shot. My "plan" does not always work out, but that is what I planned for. For my own "piece of mind" I want to be sure about what I can control ahead of time. I have had to re-adjust scopes just too many times over the years to rely completely on their settings being perfectly repeatable. And I do know where the third and fourth shot will go, compared to the cold bore one.

 

[elker]

I surely sight in again before the hunting season. However, I always bring the cartridges with different bullet types. I may pick a round with copper bullet to shoot a meat game, and may pick an accubond for grizzly defence. If it is a longer shot, I will not use the Naturalis.

 

[Potashminer]

I have never tried to swap out bullets like you describe. I have had only one situation that nearly required shooting in "defense" - I was elk hunting in North Eastern Saskatchewan and ran into some wolves in the bush - there were pups with them - I did not have to shoot - there was no time - all over in a heartbeat - they wanted to get away as badly as I wanted them gone - what was up the spout was going to have to do - if there is time to swap out cartridges, and then to adjust the scope setting, it is not a "defense" situation, I don't think? Interior BC might be different from where I hunted...

 

[medvedqc]

kahles offered in the past a way to have 4 different settings a scope. but i do think for what the op is willing to do the best is to sight in each for different bullets and see how it works. if not meticulous there is a chance the wrong bullet will be in the chamber not sighted for ...

 

[9.3mauser]

If you run them all at the same velocity you might find they group close enough that you won't need to rezero.

 

[medvedqc]

maybe at 100 yards but not at 200 nor 300 for sure.

 

[medvedqc]

i surely sight in again before the hunting season. However, i always bring the cartridges with different bullet types. I may pick a round with copper bullet to shoot a meat game, and may pick an accubond for grizzly defence. If it is a longer shot, i will not use the naturalis.

for grizzly i will take something different even if we all know it will work. Accudond may be great for longer distance but i doubt at close call of the integrity of the bullet.

 

[SuperCub]

too many bullets. good luck

Right .... The most I would use in one rifle would be two loads, but most would only have one. I have a moose load and a deer load for my 275.

 

[Why not?]

Don't understand why is there such a tendency to overthink this stuff. One load that will do everything out to 300 yards in a hunting rifle is not hard to accomplish. ALL of my most-used outfits are set up for that, and it doesn't matter if I come upon a grizzly while hunting caribou, a wolf while after sheep, or a huge bull moose while stalking a black bear. Regardless of what I have in my hands at the time, I know the trajectory of the bullet and the anatomy of the animal well enough to determine the shot out to that range. I am never thinking about what bullet or load I am using. Doesn't matter if it's my old 270 Winchester or my 9.3X62, I KNOW what I am using.

It makes things a lot simpler.

The only exception here, is that for woods bison, which often exceed well over 2000 pounds live weight, there is a minimum caliber and energy requirement to hunt them legally. Of course, that means that anything you might encounter while hunting bison will be easily dispatched with the rifle and load you might be carrying at that time.

And, I do check the zero with a couple of shots at the range before every Spring and Fall hunting season.

Ted

 

[DGY]

That is why I like open sight on my rifles, I usually set the sight with heavy bullets to 50m and the scope for what ever bullet I am using up to 200-250m, so at night around camp I will take the scope off and load the “bear” rounds in it and if I need to shoot something in camp it will be I side that 50 m range anyway!!

 

[9.3mauser]

maybe at 100 yards but not at 200 nor 300 for sure.

Not in my experience. With 232 gr Oryx and 250 accubonds, both at 2625fps approx, the point of impact at 200 yds was not exactly the same, but close enough to be useable. I've experience the same thing with H-Mantles and Norma 285 gr Alaska at the same velocity.

 

[9.3mauser]

Don't understand why is there such a tendency to overthink this stuff. One load that will do everything out to 300 yards in a hunting rifle is not hard to accomplish. ALL of my most-used outfits are set up for that, and it doesn't matter if I come upon a grizzly while hunting caribou, a wolf while after sheep, or a huge bull moose while stalking a black bear. Regardless of what I have in my hands at the time, I know the trajectory of the bullet and the anatomy of the animal well enough to determine the shot out to that range. I am never thinking about what bullet or load I am using. Doesn't matter if it's my old 270 Winchester or my 9.3X62, I KNOW what I am using.

It makes things a lot simpler.

The only exception here, is that for woods bison, which often exceed well over 2000 pounds live weight, there is a minimum caliber and energy requirement to hunt them legally. Of course, that means that anything you might encounter while hunting bison will be easily dispatched with the rifle and load you might be carrying at that time.

And, I do check the zero with a couple of shots at the range before every Spring and Fall hunting season.

Ted

The main reason is to have a bullet weight/style that is more appropriate for the game in question. I would prefer a lighter/softer bullet for deer, rather than having them stand around wondering what the noise is about until they finally tip over. Locally there's not enough time between moose and deer season to muck about rezeroing.