BDC dots and iPad ballistic apps & Barska

603Country · November 10, 2013, 01:24 PM

So...I have this new 260. It's a Tikka T3 Stainless with a custom barrel and boy howdy it shoots great. And on the rifle is a Burris 4.5-14 scope. Nothing special, but I really do like it. The question I've been asking myself is what ranges are the BDC dots for. You can calculate it, but I hadn't ever proven to myself that the 'dot distances' were correct. I have the iSnipe App on the iPad and it gives the downrange ballistics (great app) and I have the iStrelok App also. The iStrelok will take your ballistic data and match it up to the BDC on your specific scope. You just tell it what scope and it'll show you your reticle with yardages (or meters) next to the BDC dots. Pretty cool....but is it correct? I just happen to have hay bales that are 250 from a hay field blind and 350, and those correspond to the first two dots. So, off I go, gun in hand - along with a lot of other stuff, including a Barska spotting scope (yeah, I know it's cheap and trashy). Got up in the blind, opened the windows, got snuggled into the stock and put the 250 yard rounds right into the bullseye, using dot number 1. Wow. Then off to the 350 haybale, which is the second BDC dot. The bullets landed right beside the 250 yard shots. Amazing. So...iSnipe and iStrelok are something you need.

As for the Barska spotting scope, I could easily see the 250 yard bullet holes but could only see them at 350 (faintly) because I knew where they were (rode over there on the 4Wheeler).

I'm going to have BDC lines added to my Leupold scope that's on the 270. Gotta do it.

Polinese · November 10, 2013, 07:08 PM

I can't speak for the BDC but using the strelok and the come up tables it gives me it's been pretty close to spot on. And I think the variations could probably be blamed on the wind we get where I shoot, and not having exact velocity measurements for the cartridges (i.e. using a shorter barrel than the test barrel listed on the packaging).

globemaster3 · November 11, 2013, 04:18 AM

I've been running Nikon BDCs for a while paired with their Spot On app. From 0-100 yards, I've found it very accurate. Beyond there, I've not had time at a sufficiently long enough range to stretch it out.

November 10, 2013, 01:24 PM	#1
603Country Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2011 Location: Thornton, Texas Posts: 3,998	BDC dots and iPad ballistic apps & Barska So...I have this new 260. It's a Tikka T3 Stainless with a custom barrel and boy howdy it shoots great. And on the rifle is a Burris 4.5-14 scope. Nothing special, but I really do like it. The question I've been asking myself is what ranges are the BDC dots for. You can calculate it, but I hadn't ever proven to myself that the 'dot distances' were correct. I have the iSnipe App on the iPad and it gives the downrange ballistics (great app) and I have the iStrelok App also. The iStrelok will take your ballistic data and match it up to the BDC on your specific scope. You just tell it what scope and it'll show you your reticle with yardages (or meters) next to the BDC dots. Pretty cool....but is it correct? I just happen to have hay bales that are 250 from a hay field blind and 350, and those correspond to the first two dots. So, off I go, gun in hand - along with a lot of other stuff, including a Barska spotting scope (yeah, I know it's cheap and trashy). Got up in the blind, opened the windows, got snuggled into the stock and put the 250 yard rounds right into the bullseye, using dot number 1. Wow. Then off to the 350 haybale, which is the second BDC dot. The bullets landed right beside the 250 yard shots. Amazing. So...iSnipe and iStrelok are something you need. As for the Barska spotting scope, I could easily see the 250 yard bullet holes but could only see them at 350 (faintly) because I knew where they were (rode over there on the 4Wheeler). I'm going to have BDC lines added to my Leupold scope that's on the 270. Gotta do it.

November 11, 2013, 04:18 AM	#3
globemaster3 Senior Member Join Date: January 28, 2006 Posts: 1,482	I've been running Nikon BDCs for a while paired with their Spot On app. From 0-100 yards, I've found it very accurate. Beyond there, I've not had time at a sufficiently long enough range to stretch it out. __________________ NRA Life Member "We have enough gun control. What we need is idiot control."

November 10, 2013, 07:08 PM	#2
Polinese Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2010 Posts: 949	I can't speak for the BDC but using the strelok and the come up tables it gives me it's been pretty close to spot on. And I think the variations could probably be blamed on the wind we get where I shoot, and not having exact velocity measurements for the cartridges (i.e. using a shorter barrel than the test barrel listed on the packaging).