Domino
Member
Hey everyone, I wanted to share some of my experiences so far with my new toy. It's a Leatherwood M-1000 Auto Ranging Trajectory scope based on the same principal used in the military ART I and ART II scopes used on M-14/M-21 rifles from Vietnam to the early 1990's or so. Rather than go over the whole history which you can find in books and youtube, this scope works by framing the target inside the reticle. As you adjust the magnification ring, the (customizable) cam adjusts for the trajectory by raising the back of the scope base. The idea is to get a simple, effective method of ranging and trajectory without the need for a laser range finder and without having to make adjustements to your elevation turret. Of course, windage calculations must still be made...
Before I go into my results with shooting the M-1000 here are a few pics so you guys who are not familiar with this scope can get an idea what I am talking about...
Here it is on my LR-308...
The magnification and camputer. Range is in Meters...
Windage and Elevation are in 1/4" MOA and the Target Turrets have 4 additional "zeroing rings" for other loads. (I may use these for precise adjustments at farther ranges where the Cam is off by a couple of MOA.)
A look through the scope at 2.5X/250 meters, the reticle appears much bigger to the naked eye.
Camputer @ 250 meters
Camputer @ 1000 meters
Shooting:
So I mounted this scope on my DPMS LR-308B which is a proven sub MOA rifle. I zeroed the scope per instructions at 250 meters, starting at 100 meters to get it close. Groups with my 168g A-Max handloads were a respectable 2.5" or so with the cam ring set @ 250 and magnification ring set @ 10x for target work. I then set my cam setting to the recommended 420 setting per the scopes manual and proceeded out to 500 meters. With a 15 mile an hour crosswind my rounds were hitting about 12" down and to the right of the center of my 18" target. I then followed the instructions of the manual again and adjusted the cam setting to a lower number. Given my estimates of the MOA drop, a setting of 390 should be much closer @ 500. After setting the cam @ 390 then making the appropriate windage clicks I was hitting in the black a few inches low of the red in no time with about a 7" group under the wind. I then put a target @ 400 Meters to check inside that range and was getting a slightly smaller group just above the red. Not bad for having not made any adjustments on my elevation turret...
Initial Impressions:
Overall, the fit and finish is great and it appears to be a heavy durable scope. The base is tightened by hand and you will need to get it pretty tight to stay on although the use of pliers is not recommended. I found that it loosened a bit after about 20 rounds and did not come loose again after I re tightened. I am thinking it should be OK. The optical quality is good and on par with my Burris FFII scopes. I am not a huge fan of the turret locking system and would prefer it to have allen screws instead of flat heads for a tighter lock. The clicks do however appear to be accurate and consistent which is the most important thing.
I have yet to take it out further but the concept appears to work very well at getting you on the target. The auto-ranging capability seems to work well provided you have a good idea of the size of your target. It does not appear to be (nor is it advertised to be) a good "sniper" scope at extended ranges since it would typically be used at the lowest magnification ranges ie (2.5x @ 250 Meters, 5x @ 500 meters, and 10x @ 1000 meters). This is good however for combat type shooting as it keeps your field of view as wide as possible while still being able to put the crosshairs on the target.
Further, while the cam settings are pretty versatile, getting one that will be accurate at all ranges with a given round isn't going to be a realistic expectation IMHO. But given that I only intend to shoot this on a semi-auto 308 out to 700-800 meters, this should work pretty well and is well suited for a DMR type rifle. In part II, I will be taking the rifle out to 750 meters...
Here are a few videos from the manufacturer describing its use for those who are interested...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz612Q0QF1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cr1b43J_zE
Before I go into my results with shooting the M-1000 here are a few pics so you guys who are not familiar with this scope can get an idea what I am talking about...
Here it is on my LR-308...
The magnification and camputer. Range is in Meters...
Windage and Elevation are in 1/4" MOA and the Target Turrets have 4 additional "zeroing rings" for other loads. (I may use these for precise adjustments at farther ranges where the Cam is off by a couple of MOA.)
A look through the scope at 2.5X/250 meters, the reticle appears much bigger to the naked eye.
Camputer @ 250 meters
Camputer @ 1000 meters
Shooting:
So I mounted this scope on my DPMS LR-308B which is a proven sub MOA rifle. I zeroed the scope per instructions at 250 meters, starting at 100 meters to get it close. Groups with my 168g A-Max handloads were a respectable 2.5" or so with the cam ring set @ 250 and magnification ring set @ 10x for target work. I then set my cam setting to the recommended 420 setting per the scopes manual and proceeded out to 500 meters. With a 15 mile an hour crosswind my rounds were hitting about 12" down and to the right of the center of my 18" target. I then followed the instructions of the manual again and adjusted the cam setting to a lower number. Given my estimates of the MOA drop, a setting of 390 should be much closer @ 500. After setting the cam @ 390 then making the appropriate windage clicks I was hitting in the black a few inches low of the red in no time with about a 7" group under the wind. I then put a target @ 400 Meters to check inside that range and was getting a slightly smaller group just above the red. Not bad for having not made any adjustments on my elevation turret...
Initial Impressions:
Overall, the fit and finish is great and it appears to be a heavy durable scope. The base is tightened by hand and you will need to get it pretty tight to stay on although the use of pliers is not recommended. I found that it loosened a bit after about 20 rounds and did not come loose again after I re tightened. I am thinking it should be OK. The optical quality is good and on par with my Burris FFII scopes. I am not a huge fan of the turret locking system and would prefer it to have allen screws instead of flat heads for a tighter lock. The clicks do however appear to be accurate and consistent which is the most important thing.
I have yet to take it out further but the concept appears to work very well at getting you on the target. The auto-ranging capability seems to work well provided you have a good idea of the size of your target. It does not appear to be (nor is it advertised to be) a good "sniper" scope at extended ranges since it would typically be used at the lowest magnification ranges ie (2.5x @ 250 Meters, 5x @ 500 meters, and 10x @ 1000 meters). This is good however for combat type shooting as it keeps your field of view as wide as possible while still being able to put the crosshairs on the target.
Further, while the cam settings are pretty versatile, getting one that will be accurate at all ranges with a given round isn't going to be a realistic expectation IMHO. But given that I only intend to shoot this on a semi-auto 308 out to 700-800 meters, this should work pretty well and is well suited for a DMR type rifle. In part II, I will be taking the rifle out to 750 meters...
Here are a few videos from the manufacturer describing its use for those who are interested...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz612Q0QF1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cr1b43J_zE
