The property I'm on is my father in law's and my nephew and I are the only hunters on it. We set up in a clearing in bottom land this past year (first year with a blind) and after a year I realized that we were closing ourselves in too small of an area. We had 100 yards to the feeder but it "felt" even close than that with the way we were surrounded by trees and the deer were on top of you right away.

I've selected a new blind spot elevated 3 feet over a fence line between two pastures that will have 180 degree view with tree cover between 150 to 375 yards. Feeder will probably be about 175 yards away.

I've usually hunted in the 100 yard and under range but I have tight groups at 200 on the range and I can hit the kill zone consistently at 300.

Three rifles I own are are:
.257 Roberts FN Commercial Mauser with a 3x Lyman Challenger Scope with Post and Cross-hair reticle. Both are vintage 1950s and suitable for the <100 yard shots but I don't think it holds groups well at longer ranges so not suitable for this range without new optics and I don't really want to break the set from the way my dad gave it to me.

.30-06 Browning High Power ca. 1965 with a Leupold 4x fixed scope with a Post and Cross-hair reticle. This is a good stalking rifle with short barrel, flip off scope mount and is easy to carry in the woods and shoots tight out to 200. This is what I've taken with me the last 2 or 3 years. I know I can shoot with this as is and be successful to 200. At 300 I would want more magnification.

.270 Weatherby Mag Mark IV Deluxe ca. 1975 has a Burris 6x Fullfield II scope on it but the glass has some oxidation in the coating. If I used this rifle I probably have to put a new scope on it.I have never hunted with this rifle personally just shot it at the range out to 300 with the current scope. At 300 I wanted more magnification but shot kill zone groups.

I'm leaning towards the Weatherby. The only hold ups are buying a new scope, the decision paralysis associated with that, the length and weight of the rifle, and the price of ammo. I have a few loaded boxes of ammo that came with the rifle when my dad died and I've saved all my brass to eventually have some reloading done for me.

If I choose the Weatherby, how should I scope it? Primarily looking at Leupold.
-- Should I get the CDS or not bother at these ranges?

Which bullet should I be using in Weatherby's standard loads?
-- I think I currently have 150 grain and 140 grain bullets some Nosler and some Spitzer. I need to check the boxes again.

What distance would you sight it in as zero?
-- I'm thinking 200

All shots will be level or down hill, how does that affect shooting?
-- I plan to do some shooting from the blind after I build it this summer in the different directions and ranges

You could get away with a simple duplex scope for all three rifles. The scope depends on budget. You can zero on the top heavy post at 100 and that will easily give you five points of hold on a duplex reticle. Top post, halfway to center, center, halfway down from center to the lower post, and fifth, on the lower post. That is most likely a 200 yard zero or very close to it.

You could also truely zero at 200 then find the holds for 100, 150, 250, 300. Remember, with a second focal plane scope, the magnification you set an adjustable scope and learn the holds is the magnification those holds will work from now on. So if you learn those holds at 9X, then try them at 4.5X, you will have doubled the amount you are holding elevation.

Shooting at a significant incline or decline will cause a laser range finder to lie to you, unless it has a built in gyroscope to correct for angle. But angle becomes more significant around 20 degrees and beyond 300 yards, so your error will probably be slight.

Since it already sound like you have chosen the weatherby Ill start with the other things. I would not bother with a cds at that range. Just sight it in at 200 and you will be about 1.5 high at 100 and 3-4 inches low at 300 depending on your bullet speed/BC. Bullet also doesn't matter at that short of a range. Either will do justfine just chose the one YOUR rifle shoots best and go with it. Yes shooting up/down hill makes a difference but it would have to be pretty steep to make a difference at 200. At 300 it will a little if its steep but still not a huge amount. You mentioned the leupold but I would suggest you look at the zeiss HD5 ($600 if you can find a demo)or even meopta meopro(cameralandny for $350) as I personally think both are better scopes for the money than the leupold vx3. I would say you do not need anything over 10 power at that short of a range but a 12 power might be nice. Good luck and happy hunting.

What I would do is get a scope of your liking, sight in for 200, and then with a .270 you will be good at 100 and just a small hold over at 300 (around 6 inches lower so very small hold over).

The difference in elevation out to even 300 yards affecting the shot will be negligible, unless you are shooting at a target elevated or depressed quite a ways, over 100 feet or more, otherwise you are talking mere inches of drop/rise at less than that...

I'd go with the 270 wby.

A simple duplex scope, ive had good luck with Leupold.

Save your brass and get with chad when you need new ammo. Reloading for a 270 wby will be little difference in cost than a 270 win other than brass, which you already have.

Nice guns, and obviously well kept and representative of years past...from about the time I started hunting in the late 1960's

IMO If you choose to use the Wby, I'd 1. pull the Burris off of it and send it to the CS desk at the factory in Colorado, for a checkup, as it has lifetime warranty & let them decide it it meets specs still, or needs a rehab or replacement. Burris FF II's are still made (in the Philippines and not in Greely CO anymore) and are good buys comparable quality wise to some of the low/mid grade Leo's. I've shot Burris FF II's for 20+ years and never had one fail. and their CS in Greely is not hard to live wirth either, doing free checkups on stuff I'd traded into.

If you are determined to buy an "upgrade" scope I'd look at CameraLand of NY's website and shop their Demo section for a steal of a deal. Call'em and ask for Doug or Rick . Look at Minox & Meopta as well the usual brands you are aware of. I put a Minox ZA5 HD 2-10x50 30 mm tube on a T3 260 and have fallen in love with it...at about half regular price on a Sale from the Demo Rack. Vortex is another brand I've bought recently , with a "no Fault Lifetime Warranty" , and will again, since I am not into hitting things too far to walk to past 3-400 yards.

As far as ammo I'd get the scope situation ironed out and shoot the gun, and let it tell you what it likes best. Any of the factory ammo in 270WBY will do what you want for Texas sized critters at 300 and beyond.

FWIW do not sell the Roberts short..I have a set of Pronghorns on my wall from the Medicine Bow River headwaters area in Wyoming that fell to a Winchester M70 257 Rbts in 1981 using factory WW white box Silver Tip 100gr'ers and wearing a Leo Vari-X II 2x7 FCH crosshairs, I shot at 444 yards leaning against the side of the guides Bronco...Find out what ammo the gun likes and let it surprise you how well it will shoot at distance.
Ron

Thanks for the great information.

As you can see all my current deer rifle scopes are fixed power. (I have a 3-9x on my .22 and a 1-4x on my AR) Just what we used back in the 70s and 80s when I learned to hunt and I have not upgraded anything. I haven't actually shot a deer since about 1982 but shot a hog through the ear hole at 80 yards with that .257 Roberts back in 2005.

From Google Earth I think the worst elevation drop will be 20 feet at 200 and 25 feet at 300 (adding in the blind elevation of 3')

I understand what you mean about the holdover changing at the different magnifications. What do most people do here? Set it to 9x at 300, 6x at 200, 3x at 100 (or similar) to develop the holdovers?

I'd say my budget is in the under $500 range, comfortable at $300
I figured a 3-9x or 4-12x would be good have been leaning towards 3-9x in my research

I'm 46 and have noticed the change in my eyes in recent years. I wear glasses for reading and watching movies where I never used to before. I have not worn them hunting or at the range yet. My left/non-shooting eye is worse than my right/shooting eye.

BTW, my dad shot his only Pronghorn in Colorado with the Weatherby setup.

Use the .270 Weatherby. Sight in 2" high at 100. Hold on hair. 300 yards is a chip shot as far as trajectory goes. CDS is a waste of money at this distance. Pick a good factory load (if you don't reload). Go to the range and actually shoot to 300 yards from a field rest. Buy a good Leupold 6 X 42, put it in Double Detachable rings and never worry again.

Missed the up/down shooting. At those ranges, it doesn't matter. Remember true range is linear (as gravity affects). The key is holding the crosshairs WHERE YOU WANT THE BULLET TO EXIT. For example, visualize where the off shoulder is.

Inch high at 100 you will be set...

Here is a trajectory table.

270 WBY Magnum


BRAND: NoslerCustom Hand loaded Ammunition | BULLET STYLE: Partition
PART #: 15085 | COUNT: 20 | MSRP: $85.90
BULLET WEIGHT: 150 | BBL TWIST RQMT: 1-10"
FOR USE: Deer/Elk Sized Game | LEAD-FREE: N
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yards / Muzzle Velocity(FPS) Energy(FT-LBS) Drop In Inches(100YD) Zero Drop In Inches(200YD) Zero
MUZ: 3,150 3304 -1.5 -1.5
100: 2938 2874 0 1.3
200: 2736 2493 -2.5 0
300: 2543 2153 -9.7 -5.9
400: 2358 1851 -22.3 -17.2
500: 2180 1583 -41.1 -34.8
600: 2010 1346 -67.3 -59.7
700: 1849 1139 -102.1 -93.2
800: 1697 959 -147 -136.9

I would sight my rifle in at 200 set on the highest power I can set it and still be able to clearly see deer at the closest range the will come into my set. In other words if you think the closest you will realistically shoot a deer is 75 yards then look at that distance and adjust you scope till it gets blurry. If that's 8 power then sight in at that. If its 10 then there you go. Then if a deer pops out at 300 its easy to turn the scope up to 12 real quick to verify (if needed) then back down to shoot. Honestly though at 8 to 12 power you should be able to kill anything and hit it in the head if your a good enough shot to do so. So many people over thnk the magnification part when hunting. In my opinion anyway

And I will second (or third or fourth) that if the maximum elevation/drop is only going to be 25-30 feet max, you don't even have to worry about it.

Think of it this way, 30 feet is 10 yards. A triangle with a side of 10 and hypotenuse of 100 is going to have the other side of 99.5 yards...essentially a wash.

A triangle with a elevation of 10 and a hypotenuse of 300 with have the long side of 299.8....totally a moot point. Don't worry about the elevation, just think of hold overs and practice those.

But as stated above, depending on your factory or handload, the drop may be very small so a hold over will be tiny, shooting at the hair line on the chest at 300 will put you square in the chest vitals (assuming a sight in of 200 yards)...

Yeah, I guess the magnification difference is more important when shooting for points than for downing a deer.
I just want to step up the magnification because at 300 yards my paper targets look so small in a 4x fixed scope. The gun and I are accurate enough but when the post blocks out the target it gets to be hard.

Thanks for the ballistics table, I actually ran one too. I'll see how far they are off since I guessed at the ballistic coefficient.



Edit: I used Muzzle Vel of 3375 which is what I think the factory load is.

On the chance I got to a 500 yard range with this rifle and it has a Duplex reticle scope with maximum 9x power do you think I would be able to see and hit a 12" target? I'd be looking at a 30" drop with a 200 yard zero. Or would you adjust the elevation at that distance, by my chart about 6 MOA.

We have about 700 yards from the gate to the back of the pasture and it would be fun to see if I could hit that far. If the price difference is not that much more money I'd like to be prepared for that. (The woods behind that are on the same property and it's downhill so it would be safe shooting)

I really should have focused this thread on scope selection.

Don't overthink it. Get a decent scope like a Leupold 3x9, sight in your rifle an inch or two high at 100, hold where you want to hit out to 200-225, and hold over a little incrementally from there out to about 6" high at 300.

Don't shoot for the head.

Big difference between 300 and 500 for me. I'd need 12x at that distance with a cds dial. I sure there are those that can do itwith 9x and a plex reticle but to be comfortable I would prefer to have the extra. Plus the cost is very little more so why not. IF you will truly use it more than once or twice.

Caddokiller, that's where I was starting to go with my thoughts. If buying a new scope get one that will shoot 500.
I mentioned the decision paralysis on the scope purchase. I'm only going to be able to buy one. Unfortunately my budget will not go much about $500.

It's either this or a ATN for my AR to shoot hogs I fear.

I'll send the Burris back for warranty eval. With the way the coating is flaking I'm sure they will do something. Then decide if I'm getting a new variable power or not.

Thanks but what about the magnification? Move to a 4-12x?
I doubt I would ever shoot a deer at that range, more likely just target practice.

I can hit 500 with a 6X, but it's mucho harder-o. 12X is plenty for 500 yards.

Agree with that, hits can be made with lower powered scopes at long range but becomes easier with more magnification to a point where mirage can make it more difficult.

Dial scopes make it much easier at ranges past 300 but we used to and some still do quite well hunting out to 500 with 3X9 duplex scopes. Takes lots of practice and knowing your target is necessary for holds to be reliably repeatable.

For quite a while I was comfortable with a 3X9 duplex to 500 yards but was shooting that gun a lot during that time out to those type ranges.

+P's in the Roberts will get er done with less recoil. Practice a lot with that Weatherby and it will knock you silly.

+1 on what sumbody said about getting Chad to load some rounds for you...IN THE Roberts. Only drawback for the ole Roberts is Factory ammo bullet selections are limited...but using Chad you can get him to build ammo FOR YOUR GUN or pick out a bullet that you think you'd like & can't get in factory ammo...like a 90 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips that'll put a hurt on hogs and deer for sure & not be too small a caliber & bullet weight in 110gr NAB's for elk at under 300 yards with good bullet placement. Just Sayin ya got lots of options.
Ron

He has a 3x scope on his Roberts so he'd have to buy another scope with it, too. And the recoil of the .270 Weatherby is less than a .300 Win Mag.