Anybody successfully using a regular X plex style reticle for PD shooting?

[TGT]

I prefer to use hold-over when shooting, and was wondering if I can expect to be able to do accurate PD shooting using a regular Burris fine plex reticle that has no dots, hash marks, or other forms of reference points on it

Any of you guys currently using a simple x plex style reticle and succesfully able to accurately hold-over for drop and windage. My logic tells me it shouldn't be too easy without some sort of reference points on the reticle.

It would seem to me that dialing in the clicks is one thing with a plain plex reticle....but trying to use hold-over is quite another?

 

[taliv]

what is an x plex reticle?

 

[Horsemany]

Duplex I assume. Don't forget any reticle you have with elevation hash marks probably does not have anything for windage. The Leupold Varmint Hunter being the only one I've ever seen with windage and elevation.

Look up a wind chart and just see what a 10mph wind does to a bullet at 300 or 400 yards where you'd be using that ballistic plex. So even if you have you're elevation dud nuts on, a ballistic reticle you'll still likely be off by feet in windage when shooting on a dog town. My point is the ballistic reticles are not necessary for shooting prairie dogs since they only address 50% of the problem shooting long range. I've hunted with some big groups and used a lot of prairie dog guns and I will also add most rigs don't use ballistic reticles. Not that there's anything wrong with them (my favorite is the Varmint reticle) but it certainly gets done all the time with conventional target scopes with fine crosshair, target dot, or fine duplex's.

 

[TGT]

Yes, I'm referring to any reticle of a Duplex style, as in the Burris "Fine Plex"

Horsemany,

The biggest problem I have is that the issue of "hold-over" syle shooting is not being addressed by folks who are trying to help me. Or, they are not clarifying what style of shooting they do. It's a whole different ball of wax if they always dial in their bullet trajectory, instead of trying to use hold-over. Whether one intends to dial in the required amount of clicks, or to use the hold-over method of shooting makes a difference. If I were to estimate the range of a PD and dial in the clicks accordingly, then hash marks or dots are not necessary for that style of shooting, and a spotless plex variety of reticle works just fine for that. If you click-in your distance accurately (by using a rangefinder for example), then having hash marks or any kind of reference points is moot and much less required (except for judging wind deflection).

But, I'm referring to using just a hold-over style of shooting. (ie; holding the crosshair of the reticle over the target just the right amount)

In your opinion, or anybody else here, will I have a problem doing accurate shooting trying to hold-over the crosshairs of a bare dual-plex reticle and connect on a PD at 500-600+ yards.
Without reference dots or hash marks, I'm wondering if that has to be that much more difficult then if I had a Burris ballistic mil-dot reticle for excample.

(One may say..."Well fine then. What's the problem? ...buy the bal mil-dot scope! But I prefer the fine plex scope over the ballistic mil-dot scope for target shooting at paper that I do most of the time anyway)

 

[SGR]

After one season of trying to figure out the amount to hold over on long shots, I gave up and got a Nikon 4.5-14 with the BDC feature, it works much better.

 

[Horsemany]

To answer the question more directly NO you will not have a problem killing prairie dogs with a standard duplex reticle. Thousands upon thousands are killed this way every year I promise.

The number one thing to remember is even if you have a great ballistic reticle, you will either have to holdover or dial your turrets for WINDAGE. If you can do it for windage you can do it for elevation IMO. I can't answer it any more simply than that. You will also have the side effect of a smaller subtension with the standard fine plex as well. THat's a slight advantage for paper shooting.

The ballistic or mil dot type reticles are never perfect either. There's a certain level of Kentucky windage/holdover on those too.

 

[dakotasin]

was wondering if I can expect to be able to do accurate PD shooting using a regular Burris fine plex reticle that has no dots, hash marks, or other forms of reference points on it

yep, sure can.

you will not have a problem killing prairie dogs with a standard duplex reticle. Thousands upon thousands are killed this way every year I promise.

agreed... a couple thousand belong to me alone...

to do the hold over method, you need to get a good frame of reference (practice), and be able to estimate the gap between the x-hair and the head of the dog... much more difficult to explain than to do, but you shouldn't have much problem doing it.