Leupold CDS setting recommendations for a .375 H&H

[John the Electrician]

I bought a rail mount Z8i Swaro and a rail mount for my Blaser R8. I decided to go a different route on the optic.

I have landed on the Leupold VX5 2-10 Firedot with the CDS turret option. I have a really good supply of 300 grain A-Frames and am considering getting the turret calibrated to that bullet.

I haven’t loaded any of the Swifts so I can’t answer questions about velocities. What I’m asking about is what distance should use for a zero?

I plan to hunt DG with this rig, of course I am aware that one rifle safaris are often accomplished with the 375. So, PG and their respective distances are on the table as well.

Do I zero at 50 yards and dial up from there? Or zero at 100 yards as the point of impact will be very close to point of aim at those closer DG distances.

Thoughts from the group?

John

 

[dchum]

Zero at 100 yards

A 375 sighted in at 100 yards is a 0.02 inches difference when shooting at 50 yards.

 

[Ndczerwinski]

100 yds

 

[JimP]

I'd just zero at 100 yards and forget about the dial.

The CDS scopes are really for long range shooting. I have one on my 25-06 and will shoot out to 600 yards with it. Sighted in at 250 yards it's dropping around 4+ feet at 600. That's where a CDS shines where you don't have to use Kentucky windage.

I doubt that you'll use it on a 375 for DG

 

[dchum]

I'd just zero at 100 yards and forget about the

I doubt that you'll use it on a 375 for DG

You are correct, but he says he will use it for PG and one gun safaris.

Kudu bull of a lifetime is 375 yards out, it’s nice to have the CDS. I love mine

 

[USMA84DAB]

My 1-5x24 VX5 CDS dial got used twice in South Africa. Once I dialed to 200 when we checked a bait station and a troop of baboons ran off as we pulled up. The drop would have been 5" if I held manually.

The 2nd time was 253 lasered by the PH, so I dialed 250 and held dead on the Blesbock.

Mostly what Jim P said above - I had a zebra at 100 yards, a giraffe at 100 yards - everything else was under 100 yards - kudu, oryx, wildebeest, impala, a cull warthog put-down, 2nd baboon.

I have switched to a 2-12x42 for next year in the field as I anticipate longer shots and the CDS may be more important.

Do you even have a 200 or 300 yard range to zero the rifle? No place around my house. 100 yard, got it.

 

[JimP]

I'd still sight it in at 100 and set the dial up for longer shots

You are correct, but he says he will use it for PG and one gun safaris.

Kudu bull of a lifetime is 375 yards out, it’s nice to have the CDS. I love mine

 

[John the Electrician]

My 1-5x24 VX5 CDS dial got used twice in South Africa. Once I dialed to 200 when we checked a bait station and a troop of baboons ran off as we pulled up. The drop would have been 5" if I held manually.

The 2nd time was 253 lasered by the PH, so I dialed 250 and held dead on the Blesbock.

Mostly what Jim P said above - I had a zebra at 100 yards, a giraffe at 100 yards - everything else was under 100 yards - kudu, oryx, wildebeest, impala, a cull warthog put-down, 2nd baboon.

I have switched to a 2-12x42 for next year in the field as I anticipate longer shots and the CDS may be more important.

Do you even have a 200 or 300 yard range to zero the rifle? No place around my house.

I do have a 250 yard range that will be expanded to 300 yards this summer. With a little more effort, I can shoot 600-700 yards down the power line right of way on my hunting land.

This is where I deer hunt in Wisconsin, so there is some plausibility that even in my normal hunting being able to dial in a distance might be relevant. I am not, am not saying I am planning to long range hunt animals.

The basis of this question is for a smaller target like an impala, which makes more sense a 50 or a 100 yard zero with a 300 grain bullet? Again keeping the DG element in consideration.

Thanks John.

 

[Andrew62]

100 yards, adjust from there.

 

[JimP]

I'd get the load that you are shooting shot over a chronograph and then run it through a ballistics program to see just what it is doing with a 100 yard zero out at 300 yards. Then make a decision.

For DG you might even zero it at 150 yards, but you can play with that on the ballistics prgram.

 

[RedTag]

In my opinion the cds is a solution looking for a problem. For regular hunting just sight in at 200 yards and you’re good from 0 to 300 no fuss. It’s just ridiculous to see guys dialing for shots inside 300 yards. Now if you’re going to shoot long you’ll need a scope with repeatable adjustments and you’ll need drop charts for each load and current environment. Now if you're going to shoot the exact same load at the same ambient temperature and elevation all of the time then perhaps the cds can save you the trouble of basic math.

 

[BGGMKLR]

I bought a rail mount Z8i Swaro and a rail mount for my Blaser R8. I decided to go a different route on the optic.

I have landed on the Leupold VX5 2-10 Firedot with the CDS turret option. I have a really good supply of 300 grain A-Frames and am considering getting the turret calibrated to that bullet.

I haven’t loaded any of the Swifts so I can’t answer questions about velocities. What I’m asking about is what distance should use for a zero?

I plan to hunt DG with this rig, of course I am aware that one rifle safaris are often accomplished with the 375. So, PG and their respective distances are on the table as well.

Do I zero at 50 yards and dial up from there? Or zero at 100 yards as the point of impact will be very close to point of aim at those closer DG distances.

Thoughts from the group?

John

IMHO you have no need for a CDS dial on a scoped 375 in Africa. You will quite likely never need to dial to 3-4 hundred yards...which is what they were designed for. A quality 1.5- 5 sighted to 100 yards will do all you need it to do.
Spike

 

[DLSJR]

I have Leupold VX5HD’s on all four rifles I regularly hunt with. Each has the CDS turret with Firedot reticle. My 264 is zeroed at 200 yards, while my 338, 375 & 416 are all zeroed at 100. Keep in mind that with a 100 yard zero you’re Good to Go out past 200 yards without adjusting the turret at all on the 338 & 375. I wouldn’t adjust the 416 either at 200, just hold a bit higher. I don’t adjust the turret on the 264 unless I’m shooting beyond 300 yards.

You don’t need a CDS turret for a 375, but I like to have each of my rifles as similar to the others as possible, so they all are model 70’s, all have Brown Precision fiberglass stocks, all have triggers set for 2.75 lbs except the 416 is at 3 lbs. All have VX5 scopes with Firedot reticle, though the power ranges differ. 264 is 3-15; 338 & 375 are 2-10 & 416 is 1-5. They all weigh within a pound of each other. They’re as close to one another as possible.

I think the Firedot reticle is far more important than the CDS, at least for the 3 bigger rifles. I have used the CDS dial out to 750 yards on the 264 and find it very accurate.

 

[BryceM]

For a .375 H&H, I really like a CDS with a 100 yard zero. Out to 200 or so, I wouldn't fiddle with the dial. If you need to anchor a wounded zebra at 450 yards before he goes over the ridge, it's nice to have options.....

 

[62flint]

My 375HH is pushing a 300g ttsx at 2550fps. sighted at 100 yards, its 4 1/2 inches low at 200 and 16inches low at 300. I put a CDS on mine so I could dial for 300 yard shot is needed and I had the time.

 

[Bandera]

My 375 Ruger is loaded with 300 grain Barnes TSX @2550 fps.
The Hornady load advertises 2660 from a 24” barrel. It shot at 2550 average out of my gun. Pretty big difference even with inch shorter barrel.
I sighted in @75 yards. Ordered the CDS for it.
Because it is a custom set up, chrono your chosen load for the rifle then order the dial.

 

[Wiley64]

I’ve taken plenty of shots that I wish I could’ve dialed for with my 375. I would use a 100 yard zero and your load of choice for the custom dial.

 

[Bush Buck]

Another way to handle 300 gr tsx at 2550 fps is to sight in the rifle 2.5" high at 100 yards. This is equal to a 200 yard zero.
This gives you a point blank range of 230 yards with a 5" kill zone.
The drop at 300 yards is 10 inches. The drop at 350 yards is 20 inches.
This is almost dead-on at 25 yards if dangerous game is a concern.

I prefer this to dialing - but it has its limitations at longer range.
In my experience many hunting opportunities are time limited rather than range limited. I like to keep it simple.

Of course this method works even better with a flatter shooting cartridge/bullet.

 

[Tgood1]

exact same scope on my .375, i zeroed at 50 yards per my ph recommendation as well as i use same rifle for bear. Was shooting baboons with ease at 250-300 yards last trip.

 

[IA1865]

In my opinion the cds is a solution looking for a problem. For regular hunting just sight in at 200 yards and you’re good from 0 to 300 no fuss. It’s just ridiculous to see guys dialing for shots inside 300 yards. Now if you’re going to shoot long you’ll need a scope with repeatable adjustments and you’ll need drop charts for each load and current environment. Now if you're going to shoot the exact same load at the same ambient temperature and elevation all of the time then perhaps the cds can save you the trouble of basic math.

I think you make a great point here which needs to be reiterated, in that the atmospherics of your hunt location are likely going to be very different from your zero geography (living in Minnesota and hunting in Mozambique for example) and that's going to throw off your CDS. Get a good ballistic app, true your data, run atmospherics when you get on ground. If you're using mils, your adjustments will be pretty easy to remember.