Best Scope for testing rifle handloads @ 100yds

[Rol Page]

Deer season is almost over and after Christmas I want to continue fine tuning the handloads for my Encore 260 Rem. rifle with an MGM 24" barrel.  Currently handloads are running about 1" @ 100yds. with Sierra 120gr ProHunters and 1.5" with Nosler 130gr Accubonds.  Reloading Manuals publish the velocity of these loads at 2,800fps and 2,760fps respectively.
 
My scope, which is perfect for hunting with this rifle is a Leupold VariX III 2.5X8.  I am wondering if more magnification from a different scope will aid in load development.  I understand that every heartbeat, muscle twitch and small breath will be amplified by more magnification, but am wondering if I should give it a try.  Thoughts please...
 
Also will be looking for good 260 Rem. varmint loads.  Currently thinking of the light Sierra and Nosler bullets for coyotes and woodchucks.  Any suggestions will be most appreciated.
 
Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas..  Rol

[woodchukhntr]

Your scope should work well, I'd just stick with it.  If you have a 12X or higher scope available, it will help you refine your trigger control and hold at the expense of magnifying every imaginable movement.  Don't let that stop you since those movements were always there but you didn't notice them.
I like your choice of scope, adequate magnification in a quality scope is better than too high magnification in a low quality one.

[PowPow]

I go with the scope that stays on the rifle and then tune the target to match the scope.
For my deer rifle with a 7x wide duplex, I make a 6" diamond shaped target and match the points of the diamond to the outer crosshairs for a reproducible aiming point. The diagonal lines of the diamond are bold, but there are also light horizontal and vertical gridlines for use in my "lab".

[necchi]

  I am wondering if more magnification from a different scope will aid in load development.

Yup. I really like the 14x I have on my 223. I had it on my 308 and thought it was too much for a hunter and bought  a 3x10 for the 308 and moved the 4X14 too the 223.
I miss that extra power at the range.
 
If you change too higher then go back to the 8x, you'll be sad.
 
All this crap about higher magnification being a down fall for hunting situations, is from guy's that have lower power scopes..
 What is  true is, I don't want it cranked up too 14X a 1/2 hour before sunrise, but alot of fixed power 4x have taken deer. It's nice to have the higher power available.

[Grumulkin]

You don't need a high power scope for accuracy testing but, depending on the color of the target paper, at 16X you can see the holes clearly without a spotting scope.  That the only real advantage as I see it.

[shot1]

12 to 20 power scope will help you define your aiming point better at 100 yards. Problem many people don't realize is their aiming point. It is hard to shoot little bitty one hole groups even with a rifle and load that is capable of it when you are aiming at a 1" dot. Your aiming point is not precise enough. I have shot my tightest groups using a square or triangle black. Place the cross hair center on the sharp point of a corner and allow the cross hair to square up on the top and side of a square black or place the cross hair center on the top tip of a triangle. When my buddy and I were fooling with one of the first REM 700 rifles in 260 to come off the line we found that H-4350 and Sierra 120 and 140 gr bullets really shot tight one hole groups. From experience with my 6.5X55 Swede rifles the Sierra 100 gr HP is a very explosive varmint bullet that is really accurate. Muzzle velocity of a little over 3200 fps and impact on a ground hog is something to behold. RED MIST and pieces flying.

[Catfish]

I have a couple of 24X and acouple of 36X Leupols that I do load testing and try new guns with. They track great and you know what your aiming at.

[kynardsj]

I shoot targets at 100 yards ok with a 9 power, better with a 12 power and best with my 16 power. My old eyes like it when my scope makes that little bullseye bigger. My vote is to go as high as you're comfortable with.

[hillbill]

your getting one inch groups with your present scope?no way would i dismount that scope and start over.if you improve 50% your still only at .5 inch groups.if this is a hunting rifle, whats the point?the 260 is well capable of putting them all in one hole at 100 yrds. but is it worth the price of a high mag scope that may be no use to yu diring huntin season?

[243dave]

Shot1 has it right.  If your trying to shoot small groups use small aiming points(bullseyes).  What you need to do is get you a white piece of paper and put a circle on it a little smaller than a dime(high-power scopes and fine crosshairs about the size of a bullet hole) with a black marker.  Look at it thru your scope at 100yds, if you have trouble seeing it because the cross-hair covers it up simply make the circle bigger until its just big enough to see clearly.
 
But if you need an excuse to buy a new scope, have at it !!!   
 
Dave 

[drdougrx]

I find myself buying 3x10s or 4x12s and then leaving them on the lowest power for most hunting.  I do find that 12x is very helpful when testing loads at 100.

[necchi]

if you have trouble seeing it because the cross-hair covers it up simply make the circle bigger until its just big enough to see clearly.
 

Ya know, that's a big deal too! The size of the retical. No sense haveing a high powered scope if the retical covers 4"s at 200.
I picked up a Bushnell scope that's got the BDC type hash mark retical, and theres a dot at the 200-300-400 ranges and that darn dot is covers a HUGE part of the target at 200.
Not a happy camper, this one will be on the trading block soon.

[Rol Page]

Thank You for all of the insights fellas..  I was blessed yesterday with deer number 3 this season with my handlaods.. Nice doe at about 50 yds with a Sierra 120gr ProHunter.  NY gives me 6 tags with the super sportsman license but I do not need more venison.  May go for one to donate to the Venison Coalition.  My Host Farmer and friends will enjoy venison this year.
 
To work for smaller groups I will try a smaller aiming point, purchase a Sinclair hexagonal bullet comparator to improve the repeatability of seating depth with various bullets, pillar bed my forend, and lastly if necessary, purchase a scope with more magnification.  If purchasing a new scope it will definitely have 4X at the low end of the range to have utility in the hunting field as that is where my current 2.5X8 is set while hunting.
 
Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts and Merry Christmas.   Rol

[flashhole]

What section of NY are you hunting?  I live in Owego, about 20 miles west of Binghamton.

[Dave in WV]

I'd go with the scope you will hunt with. As already posted, use a target with small aiming points to help refine your aim.
This target illustrates the point. The rifle is a Remington 660 350 mag with a Leupold 4X scope with the post & duplex reticle. @ 100 yards I only can see the corners of the white boxes which are 2" across because the reticle is very thick. Please note: I do not consitantly shoot this well. I had an exceptional day at the range.

[Ladobe]

I lived by "to hit small you have to aim small" as a seriously smitten long range predator/varmint hunter since the 50's.    So I always had a couple of extra high quality high mag fine hair/dot target rifle and handgun scopes on hand just for load work.  Never felt the need to go more than 36X though, and some where 20X or 24X, some 1" some 30mm tubes for the rifles. I got by with 10X target and 12X handgun scopes (but always wanted more on them).
 
Target design is another huge factor, and most commercial targets just don't do it for me for precision shooting.   So I designed and made my own, both very easy to do with a computer, printer and graphics app, and they are real cheap to have more than you'll ever need.   Best of them design wise for load work had a fine diamond as the aiming point, allowing the H & V reticles to have a specific "point" to bisect that perfectly centered the dot in the diamond.   Allowed me to have as close to the exact same aiming point as possible on every shot, so they really did show what a load is capable of.
 
I made dozens of designs, all sized for specific uses, but settled on what worked best for my eyes at the ranges they were shot at (100 to 500 yards for most, but I also had 1000 yard targets). 
 
Always had some "fun" targets I'd made along too for after the load work.   One in particular got a lot of use from this varmint hunter - a life size ground squirrel silhouette with just a 1" white circle as the aiming point.   I'd put them at various ranges out to 500 yards and switch between those to about 250 offhand and those beyond off my portable bench for some excellent field practice.   I also made targets specifically for both open and peep sights.
 
Some that worked well for me for load work and for field practice...

 
 

[Rol Page]

Thanks again for the additional suggestions.  Flashhole, I hunt in Wyoming County.  This is the first year that rifles have been legal for deer hunting in Wyoming County and I took full advantage of it.  I am retired so I could hunt most any time that I wanted, even hunted without success in the rain.  My host farmer is retired, rents out his farm to a dairy farmer.  He has an olde John Deere tractor with bucket that he brings into the field to take my deer to my truck.   Life is Good.  God Bless America and Thank a Service Member for our freedom and his or her sacrifice.