Currently have Ares BTR 4.5-27 I can get 20.3 dialed tracking accurately and 10 off the etched reticle so 30.3 mils max potential, but have to back off the mag a ton so not ideal. I like the glass and the reticle thickness is my fav of all the glass I have looked through, but clearly I'm lacking with a 10m etched hold over limit....if I had 20 I wouldn't be looking around. I am not the guy who keeps up on every new offering of scope to hit the market and have been quite content with this Athlon until recently due to the aforementioned limitations.....getting out this long was not possible. I'm certain there are piles of folks who have been in this position and suddenly could shoot a long way and then found out....time for an equipment change. Would love to hear what direction you went....thanks
- Thread starter atepointer
- Start date
don't know about anyone else but i am going to be using the same scope i am using now but with other items to help get me out to 3k when I do my 7mm saum whether its an adjustable base for +200 moa for about 600 or that mike ivey stuff for about 1500 or more by now and try for a 350 moa set up . unless I hit the lottery between then and then Id go with the same set up .
My Cronus has 26 mils available (I usually just dial to 25 and stay off the internal stop) as it sits on rifle with a 45 moa rail.
That gets me to about 2250ish yards with a bit of reticle.
For further shots I use a Charlie tarac macro in front of the scope.
It gives more elevation than I’ll probably ever need.
That gets me to about 2250ish yards with a bit of reticle.
For further shots I use a Charlie tarac macro in front of the scope.
It gives more elevation than I’ll probably ever need.
Ok wow thanks for posting. Question on the Cronus b/c that is high on my list.....it reads 32mils on their site so I was hoping to get at least say 29 out of with my XTR signature rings. Does yours stop tracking at 26? That's hugely disappointing to read if the last 6mils aren't actually useable:/ I have to keep away from the last 2.7mils on my Ares BTR b/c it stops tracking, but dang if the Cronus can't use the last 6 ouch. I figured I'd end up having to do a blend of dial and hold anway.
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If I had more rail offset I’d probably have more useable elevation but 45 moa is all that’s available for my action.
It tracks well all the way but I just stay away from the top because 25+10 reticle is a clean number to remember and I usually run my macro at 35 mils, makes keeping track of things easy.
I wouldn’t sweat getting the most out of a scope, let the prism or adjustable mount do the work.
ok good stuff guys thanks! was not aware of the prism.....looks like for $650 bucks I could have one that mounts on my current optic? I shoot a Bergara B14 HMR not sure if a rail mount could be finagled on?
Like steelhead showed, it’s a couple of mirrors on the Charlie and an actual prism from nightforce. It bends the light or offsets it to give you more elevation. With a 20 moa rail and Burris rings with the inserts, you should be able to get just about all the elevation out of most any scope. That’s what I use to get all that the ATACR has
I think the 650 is for the rail mounted, I thought it was extra for the scope mount. I haven’t looked in a while.
While holding is an option when nothing else is available and you're out of travel, being able to dial your elevations is a bonus when shooting long distances. The Taracs are an option but you have to beware of the "dead" space and what you're willing to hold. "Dead" space is the area between what you can dial and where the Tarac starts. For instance, if you have 20 Mils of scope travel and your Tarac is 25 Mils, your dead space is between 20 and 25 Mils; many shooters will have the Tarac pick up where their scope tops out. In this case, you'd get a 20 Mil Tarac which only gives you a total of 40 Mils of elevation (20 Mils scope and 20 Mils Tarac). Depending on the caliber and distances you're shooting, this may or may not be enough elevation.
Another option that works well is an adjustable scope base/ring combination like the ERA-TAC. These are adjustable from 0 - 70 MOA (they have a MIL version as well) and work well. I run a Vortex Gen 2 Razor (28 Mils internal travel) on a 300 Norma with a 30 MOA scope rail. I set the ERA TAC at 20 MOA which gives me a base of 50 MOA: 30 from the rifle and 20 from the ERA TAC. This almost bottoms out the turret but it still allows me to zero at 100 yards and dial out to 2300 yards. If I increase the ERA TAC to 50 MOA, I now have a 970 yard zero and increase my shooting distance to 2500. If I increase the ERA TAC to 70 MOA, I now have a 1480 yard zero and increase my shooting distance to 2700 yards. These numbers are based on a DA of 3000.
Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for the Taracs but you have to have a rifle/caliber that makes the cost worthwhile. I have a 33XC which is a 2 mile gun but it require 58 Mils of elevation. Even with the ERA TAC at 70 MOA, I can't get there so I use a 30 Mil Tarac (I have 2 Mils of dead space) that gets me there. That's the limit of the caliber so I'm happy with how it's set up and there's not any thing I'd do different.
If your interested in the ERA TAC, there are a couple of threads in the ELR section with more information, they run around $450 and are available from Euro Optic.
Hope this helps...YMMV
Another option that works well is an adjustable scope base/ring combination like the ERA-TAC. These are adjustable from 0 - 70 MOA (they have a MIL version as well) and work well. I run a Vortex Gen 2 Razor (28 Mils internal travel) on a 300 Norma with a 30 MOA scope rail. I set the ERA TAC at 20 MOA which gives me a base of 50 MOA: 30 from the rifle and 20 from the ERA TAC. This almost bottoms out the turret but it still allows me to zero at 100 yards and dial out to 2300 yards. If I increase the ERA TAC to 50 MOA, I now have a 970 yard zero and increase my shooting distance to 2500. If I increase the ERA TAC to 70 MOA, I now have a 1480 yard zero and increase my shooting distance to 2700 yards. These numbers are based on a DA of 3000.
Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for the Taracs but you have to have a rifle/caliber that makes the cost worthwhile. I have a 33XC which is a 2 mile gun but it require 58 Mils of elevation. Even with the ERA TAC at 70 MOA, I can't get there so I use a 30 Mil Tarac (I have 2 Mils of dead space) that gets me there. That's the limit of the caliber so I'm happy with how it's set up and there's not any thing I'd do different.
If your interested in the ERA TAC, there are a couple of threads in the ELR section with more information, they run around $450 and are available from Euro Optic.
Hope this helps...YMMV
Guys I ended up finding a Bushy Elite Tactical XRS II on crazy sale at Midway....33mils.....H59.....will be bore sighting it Friday morning! Thanks for the input
Let me know how you like the Bushnell. Ive been eyeing the xrs ii at midway also. My next option is the cronus btr gen2.
Let me preface by saying I'm not a scope connoisseur or snob.....if something works for me that's all I need. I have a couple of Athlon's and I've really enjoyed them and I thought long and hard about the Cronos last month when they were on sale at camera land....quite sure I would've been very happy with one. My buddy @Mike Casselton has an older Bushy can't recall exactly which model, but I believe it's the predecessor to what I have coming and I love that glass so I did have a point of reference. Honestly when I look through that vs the ATACR next to it another buddy has I'm not good enough to tell much of any difference although I'm sure there is some. I've also watched mike hammer the mile with that glass and a 6.5 in 15+mph full value winds at sea level so he's put that H59 to work! The H59 also has an etched reticle out to 40mils where the Cronus is only 10....my new dream range just opened last fall with steel out to 2k so no matter what I'm shooting the Bushy allows me to maintain the most magnification when resorting to hold overs after reaching max turret crankin.
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Oh geez......I mean cmon man. @Mike Casselton has already established himself as a dedicated Purchasing Mentor....every time I get within 20 feet of him $500 flies out of my pocket. Now I've got you nudging me over the edge....u guys r killin me!Shoot something biggerfaster and flatter lol
I subscribe to the faster and flatter options. A 257 131gr blackjack bullet at 3300fps makes the mile with 13.6mils, just over a single turn on my Razor gen2. That's from a 25saum, light recoil, shoots like a laser and still hits hard enough at distance to spot impacts.
But, from a glass standpoint, the XRSII, Razor Gen 2 or SB PMII grid reticle gives lots of internal elevation and reticle elevation. and all three have more than adequate glass quality to see, spot and make hits at 1mile+
But, from a glass standpoint, the XRSII, Razor Gen 2 or SB PMII grid reticle gives lots of internal elevation and reticle elevation. and all three have more than adequate glass quality to see, spot and make hits at 1mile+
I'll end up with a flatter and faster at some point, but literally just got into the game when our new facility opened in September. Getting feet wet!
Nah... this is what you seek
what the crap?! your 1800 dope is my 1k dope. at 700 you are slightly faster than me at muzzleNah... this is what you seek
So a little over 1/2 as flat 
I haven’t. I haven’t checked that specific bullet but for some reason, every other one I’ve checked from them had an inflated g1 Badlands is what I run in anything I run a solid in.
It takes some time behind an optic to be able to see differences, especially subtle differences. You have to be purposefully analytical and compare in different lighting conditions. On first glance, people new to looking through really high quality optics sometimes express that they perceive the image to be "cold", as if the color doesn't jump out as much as a less sophisticated optic. I think part of what is being described is due to elements of contrast being finer and there being less chromatic aberration. If you had a system to photograph through a rifle scope without loss of content (good luck with that) you'd be able to lay the comparison side by side and see differences more readily. To get around that, since having good alignment behind an optic is important to extracting the best performance, you'll just have to put in the time and learn to see better.
Same scope I used for ELR, ATACR.
Just purchased a Bushnell xrs ii with H59 reticle from Midway for $1058. Thought the price was good. Yesterday it was $1200.
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Is that really worth it???? I’ve shot out to 3200 pretty consistently when I was at a certain school. I’d be afraid that adding glass would darken the picture too much.
It’s not bad at all once I got my ring hight better for it.
I can usually still self spot at 3000+
Completely forgot I had started this thread until just now running past it in the forum list. I'm still loving my XRS II had it dialed to 30.4 mils yesterday tracks like a beast.
