Spike Camp

Leupold CDS

Leupold CDS
« on: October 27, 2011, 07:39:13 PM »
Hello Im wondering if anyone has tried A leupold with CDS I am thinking of one for my 300 wby or having A turret put on my vari x II 4 x12 any thoughts.
Mark

ballistic

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2011, 08:45:53 PM »
grizzly, I have a couple scopes with CDS dials and one with M1 dials. I like them both for different applications, my hunting buddy also has a CDS dial so Ive had alot of experience with them. As a quick reference dial the CDS works great, when you get a custom cap designed to your load they're really accurate when you have your gun zeroed to your caps zero. I wouldnt consider a scope with just a CDS dial as a true long range scope, but can be dialed in for bullet drop at some long ranges, 4..5..600yds or even farther. They get rid of the guess work of hold over at longer ranges, I feel comfortable taking shots with my rifles out to 400.. 500 yds. For doing serious long range shooting I prefer my LR scope with windage, elevation adjustments, and parallax adjustment. I would recomend a CDS scope, its a very reliable system if you do your part giving accurate data to Leupold if you get a custom engraved cap, and zero your rifle properly. Hope this helps.
« Last Edit: October 27, 2011, 08:47:37 PM by ballistic »

zonie

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2011, 11:14:37 PM »
I have to agree with Troy,  4 & 500 yds outside environmental factors i.e. outside temp and altitude aren't terribly bad with your 300, but past those ranges it's iffy to be spot on.  Differences  drops due to  altitute & temps in the 1 K range  can be substancial.    The 300 is a flat shooting rifle to begin with and I would take a look at how topped or bottomed out the elevation is in your scope and that may very well need correcting if you only have a few elevation moa left.   If that's the case you would have to either shim the rear up or buy moa bases.   This is something you need to find out prior to having a dial made.

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2011, 07:38:11 AM »
Thank you both for the good advise.Thats all im looking to do is take the guess work out to about 500 yards. Leupold says they can put the CDS system on most any Leupold scope and sence my 4 x 12 has A gloss finish and its going on A glossy rifle is the only reason I was thinking of going that route. Sounds like I have An excuse now to get A chronograph so I can let them know exactly what my velocity is.
Mark

ballistic

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2011, 11:18:08 AM »
Sounds like a good plan to me, get some good accurate velocities and that CDS dial will work great for you. I dont know if your a reloader or not, if you are a chrony is a must have, if your not its a nice to have.  ;D

coreydelong

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2011, 12:27:40 PM »
My experiece is to just shoot at those distances and keep a log of elevation adjustments at different ambient temps vs. chrony load temps. CDS won't compensate for windage which can be huge at 600yds.

Just download a ballistics program and it's probably as close as the CDS will be IMHO. If you have an I-phone or Droid based phone there are plenty of cheap apps that are within a minute or two depending on the availabilty of local GPS weather stations in your area.... and they're good for more than one rifle ;)

I use Shooter Ballistics and Bullet Flight apps and both are within 2 MOA of actual zero at 600yds with my Vanguard .308.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2011, 12:29:57 PM by coreydelong »

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2011, 12:49:56 PM »
LOL Yes I am for over 20 years who knows why I dont have one yet. I have shopped for one several times and didnt like the reviews I was reading. I have allways past over on the chrony are you saying there ok?  I guess I just figured sence the price was so low they couldnt be any good.
Mark

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2011, 04:38:35 PM »
I'm pretty certain I prefer the B&C reticle instead.

plan to shoot past 500 or 600 yds?

coreydelong

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #8 on: October 28, 2011, 06:06:34 PM »
Invest in a chrony for sure. Competition Electronics Pro Chrono Digital is a really good chrony for the money. About $119 on Midway and you just need a $30 camera tripod to put it on.  I got the remote- it's real handy if you shoot at a club so you don't have to wait for the line to go cold to change strings.

Re: Leupold CDS
« Reply #9 on: October 28, 2011, 06:37:39 PM »
Thanks Again Corey And Husky
I think 500 is A realistic limit I live in MI. so I would only use my 300 for Bear here. And have only shot over 200 twice in my life both out of state. A pronghorn in Wy at A paced 212 And A caribou in Quebec that was on the other side of A freshly frozen lake that I was more worried about falling thru than counting steps lol. I am just trying to put together A good out west rig for Elk and Mule deer. So 500 is about All I would deam realistic. And of course hope my shot is half that. But if that throphy of A lifetime is 500 I want to be able to try the shot with confidence or theres no point.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2011, 08:04:56 PM by grizzly340 »
Mark