A major concern regarding today’s long-range shooters is their penchant toward the BDC system as well as a similar blind reliance on ballistics charts in general. Based on the growing trend of the usage of these ‘shooting aids,’ it is becoming apparent that an alarming number of modern-day shooters do not understand the importance of hard data as it pertains to the operation of the precision rifle. Additionally, this would also suggest that many long-range shooters do not understand the unpredictability of ‘felt recoil’ versus ‘free recoil.’

It is worthy of noting that the algorithms used in some of the better PDA systems still fail to predict the ‘felt recoil’ effect on external and terminal ballistics due to the inability to reproduce the barrel vibrations that are induced by the shooter himself. As a result, there exists a significant problem with BDC reticles.

Though the BDC reticle may produce reasonably effective bullet impacts on extremely large game out to distances of 600-700 yards, to expect sub-MOA impacts with varying environmental conditions, assuming of course that the shooter is applying the proper fundamentals when taking his shot, is simply impossible and, therefore, my contention to the usage of BDC enhanced optics is this:

• A well-rounded long-range shooter must first gain hard data for his weapon’s system. In other words, he must find out exactly how many minutes or mils are required to hit a target within MOA in increments of 25-50 meters out to 1,000 meters), and
• Understand to how adjust his data for varying environmental conditions.

Another concern regarding the BDC system exists when a shooter fires reloads from his rifle. What happens to your data if you decide to change the round type? Are you stuck with a BDC turret or BDC reticle that was originally meant to accommodate a specific type of ammunition?

Let’s say you have BDC enhanced optics that account for variations in ammo and the only requirement is to input the specifications for the grains, BC, and round type that you intend to use. Then, let’s say the mechanism is capable of providing information to you if you were to input environmental variations, too. The fact is that the mechanism still cannot account for ‘felt recoil.’ This means hard data, hard data, hard data – you need to go out, shoot and find out what dope you need to dial in order to hit within MOA, which most weapon systems are capable of accomplishing.

The metric system is something that I have found to be very user-friendly when dealing with scopes. Who knows what a 10mm or a 4mm wrench looks like, right? But I’ll guarantee that you can spot a 9/16″ wrench or a 3/4″ wrench from across your garage.

I believe that this is the one instance (when dealing with scopes) when the metric system is actually conducive to us. There are 21,600 minutes in a circle and 6,283 mils in circle. So the minute system, in regards to turret adjustments on a scope, allows for much more refinement than mils, which is why I believe that a well-rounded shooter should use a mil-dot reticle with a minute turret adjustment system. This way, the shooter can utilize the mil-dot system for rapid target engagement, range estimation, hold overs/hold unders, et al. and dial onto the target with minutes, if time allows.

By utilizing hard data effectively and frequently and applying it to the appropriate optics platform, a good shooter can become a highly skilled marksman. This information has been predicated by my personal experience and research, and I hope that you will find this useful toward your ongoing endeavors to become superior long-range marksmen.

Train hard, train often