Re: Shepherd scopes...Good/Bad
Had one for some 800+ rounds with my .300 Win. Mag. Tested it from point-blank to 1,000 yards. Recorded every shot fired with it.
Didn't like the lack of a windage adjustment knob, and had to raise the 18" circles some 6 clicks of elevation at 1,000 yards to compensate during winter here in Colorado, by unscrewing the elevation caps no less. The circles, even with the ones calibrated with the .308's, always needed tweeking, sort of a "warm-up shot", to figure the difference in elevation point-of-impact. Temperature/altitude plays hell with the elevation, therefore the circles aren't quite accurate. Got sick of holding X number of circles windage and firing. Recorded the scores of every string fired, and wondered if I could beat it with some other glass.
Qual Day included a string at 600 and 1,000 yards, recorded the score, then striped the Shepherd off, and replaced with a tactical riflescope. Another string at 600 and 1,000 yards with the tactical scope and I compared the scores.
All things equal, the tactical scope beat the Shepherd scope by a full 5-8% on the scoring.
Dumped the scope off on E-Bay, and haven't regretted it.
Some pluses include the crosshaired circle up to 300 yards, and I did like that. I could chop up a quarter at 300 yards by adjusting that crosshair and using a 300 yard NRA target, which is also 18". The glass was also determined to be better than the tactical scope that replaced it, the brightness was good. Took a beating, never lost zero. Zeroing was quick, when I didn't screw it up by getting confused. Dan and Glenn Shepherd also endured my endless questions, and were always available and loved to talk shop. I would recommend this scope to an FNG, as it's so easy to use that it wouldn't intimidate someone into not playing with it. My non-shooting friends loved it, 'cause I'd just say, "put the circle that has the 8 next to it on the target, and fire". FNG's will love that simplicity.
If it had tactical knobs, this might be worth owning. I couldn't make one click adjustments like I needed.
Might make a good hunting scope, but for competitions and tactical use, a definite no, as I've experimented in both arenas with the Shepherd, and it just isn't precise enough, too much of "averaging the averages" involved.
