Newbie question about BDC reticle

[Clayed21085]

Are the BDC reticle systems actually accurate? According to the vortex site of I calberate my 223 to my reticle (zero of 100) the first hash mark should be closer to the 200 yard drop but it's an more accurate estimate to 300 yards with my rifle, 200 is more inbetween the center dot and first hash mark when I went shooting. I'm shooting out of a rem 700 with 26" barrel, 1-12 twist , 55 grain and it was a little down hill but I wouldn't think it was enough to warrant a significant elevation rise ( is that correct? Shooting down steep inclines causes bullet rise?) I'll probably just go with MOA adjustment in the long run but a second question is it hard on the scope turrets constantly adjusting the MOA if there not exposed target turrets? It's an vortex 4-12.

 

[ColinW]

1) From my (...limited) understanding of BDC reticles, they were designed with a specific bullet at a specific muzzle velocity to be used. Granted, unless Vortex tells you what bullet and at what velocity it was designed for, it won't be completely accurate for your personal bullet/MV criteria. It could be *close* and put you in a relative area, but if you were to account for your own bullet weight, BC, MV and atmospherics at longer ranges, it could be off by quite a bit. Your own margin of error with the BDC could be different than mine...But, I like being able to hit smaller targets at ranges beyond 300yds and I personally, wouldn't rely on a BDC reticle to do that for me. I would rather gather all my “known variables” such as bullet weight, G7 BC, know what my avg. MV is and knowing how much elevation to adjust, or hold over, for my target size and distance. If there’s one thing I could recommend to newer shooters who are interested in long range shooting(anything beyond 500yds/m) It’d be to buy and read “Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting” by Bryan Litz to easily learn the factors at play.

2) Shooting either uphill or downhill changes your actual horizontal distance. Therefore, enabling you to shoot higher because the bullet doesn’t drop as much(both up hill and down hill because gravity is a constant force) Here's a good article by someone who can explain it better than myself What's your Angle?

 

[Slab74]

BDC should stand for barn door contact. That is about what they are good for in most cases. You might get lucky and it may be close, but since it’s sfp, it will only work at a certain magnification. Although I do have one that works for my 7mm mag that is close enough for me to take a broadside shot on an elk up to 500 yards.

 

[stello1001]

no

 

[Powder_Burns]

Meat in the freezer right thurr.