by BD1 » Sun Jun 12, 2011 7:52 pm
Hey guys, I know I risk sounding like a broken record here, but there are two companies out there that make scopes specifically suited to the 250 grain FTX at 2,200 fps. Anything about those ballistics sound familiar? The Nikon Omega can be had for under $200 this time of year, and the Leupold Ultimate slam runs about $260, both have magnification ranges suited to the .450B ballistics, and BDC reticules that exactly match the the Hornady factory ammo. IMHO this is a no brainer.
To me the .450B is a pick up truck, a "game getter". It's true that I could buy a '64 Volkswagen bus and cut down the back, weld on a rack and build a plywood bed and make a pick up truck. I could also buy a BMV , cut out the rear quarter panels, weld in a custom stainless steel diamond plate bed and fenders; build a custom fiberglass tonneau cover and I'd have something that would look cool, and go really fast, but would it be a better pick up truck? Since both Ford and Chevy make perfectly usable pick-up trucks that can be bought right off the lot for a lot less money, and they're four wheel drive, why bother? If money is an issue, use whatever you already have to get range time until you save enough to put on a scope matched to the rifle.
My Leupold Ultimate Slam is still tight after 750 rounds. I can put 3 on target at 100, 3 on target at 200 and three on target at 300 all in a little under 20 seconds from any decent rest. 40 seconds with range finding. You'll have to go a long ways to convince me that there's a better scope "fit" to this rifle. That said, I see where Nikon has an Omega with a 300 yard BDC reticule. It could be the last word here. Anyone shot one?
I'm pretty confident in my .450 to 300 yards. Beyond that the really low BC of the bullets makes shots increasingly sketchy. Both drop and wind drift get into the realm of guess work. The other thing that I consider is that in 40 years of hunting deer, bear, elk and caribou I've never had a real opportunity that I had to pass up because the range was over 300 yards. We all dream of that perfect 500 yard shot were you're all set up, there's no wind, and the 6x6 elk walks out into the small sunlit clearing you've been watching for two hours and you just squeeze off the shot... In my experience it's more like you're moving along as quietly as you can on the way to, or back from , where you hope the game will be, it's snowing sideways, and suddenly something that you really didn't see, or register, moves, and it's game, and you have 2 seconds to make a shot between 30 and 100 yards. The question is: Can you hit it? And, Can you knock it down? That's what the .450B is about, getting on target fast and knocking them down.
BD