stagpanther
New member
Bought the rifle this winter and so far have been very impressed with savage's execution. very adjustable, lightweight compared to the tactical space guns, and most of all soft recoiling pussycat for a very powerful cartridge. I've had a night force SHV on top, a Nikon black 1000 and even briefly an IOR valdada terminator.
Recently I decided to splurge and buy a new model of Leupold's 5HD ffp zero-stop side focus with their 60 MOA impact reticle. So far, it's proving to be one of the best scopes I've ever used, though I have to admit I'm only now getting past the load development stage and am soon ready to test tracking; and unfortunately will have to do some searching to find a place where I can reach out in range. If you're an experienced long range shooter I know what you're thinking--so what, right? I've never seen as much "short range prejudice" against the use of any cartridge as I have with the 338 Lapua Magnum.
The 5HD is noticeably lighter than other high power scopes I've tried--though I have to admit I don't have a whole lot of experience with top-tier scopes. The glass is fabulously clear all the way to the edge of the glass at all magnifications, and has an ever-so-slight whiteish cast which I'm guessing is the result of their multiple coatings but IMO more than worth the tradeoff in maintaining clarity through all magnifications. If you have the chance to look through one at a store or range do it--the way it scales the reticle at all powers is really quite slick--it's so good even at lower powers I think it's a disadvantage to "use the crutch" of higher power at closer range as I often do with all my other higher magnification scopes.
Here's my second go at finding a good load with hornady's 285 eldm so I can do some tracking tests on the scope. Yesterday I discovered 87.5 grs of H1000 was pretty good at 100, so I bracketed it +/- .2 grs and found that these were good as well, so I think I'm good to go to do the tall target tracking test. Unfortunately I nudged my portable shooting table and blew the flier in this group, but it otherwise has pretty good numbers and consistency.
Recently I decided to splurge and buy a new model of Leupold's 5HD ffp zero-stop side focus with their 60 MOA impact reticle. So far, it's proving to be one of the best scopes I've ever used, though I have to admit I'm only now getting past the load development stage and am soon ready to test tracking; and unfortunately will have to do some searching to find a place where I can reach out in range. If you're an experienced long range shooter I know what you're thinking--so what, right? I've never seen as much "short range prejudice" against the use of any cartridge as I have with the 338 Lapua Magnum.
The 5HD is noticeably lighter than other high power scopes I've tried--though I have to admit I don't have a whole lot of experience with top-tier scopes. The glass is fabulously clear all the way to the edge of the glass at all magnifications, and has an ever-so-slight whiteish cast which I'm guessing is the result of their multiple coatings but IMO more than worth the tradeoff in maintaining clarity through all magnifications. If you have the chance to look through one at a store or range do it--the way it scales the reticle at all powers is really quite slick--it's so good even at lower powers I think it's a disadvantage to "use the crutch" of higher power at closer range as I often do with all my other higher magnification scopes.
Here's my second go at finding a good load with hornady's 285 eldm so I can do some tracking tests on the scope. Yesterday I discovered 87.5 grs of H1000 was pretty good at 100, so I bracketed it +/- .2 grs and found that these were good as well, so I think I'm good to go to do the tall target tracking test. Unfortunately I nudged my portable shooting table and blew the flier in this group, but it otherwise has pretty good numbers and consistency.
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