I am trying to grasp the concept of a BDC reticle on a SFP scope. I know Nikon has a wiz bang app to calculate drop in a rifle/bullet combo but that would only work at the highest magnification setting. I have hunted enough to know that a SFP BDC reticle is a liability under excitement and limited light. When my daughter is old enough to hunt I am not going to put her behind a bunch of nonsense and I am not a fan of obstructing view of target.

No, there is a bar there that will allow you to change your magnification and it will show you the DOPE based on the magnification.

If you are in the SA area, I will be doing the Texas Trophy Hunters show there and I have an Ipad, with the app that I can show you how it works if you like.

don't waste your money on a bdc, its not worth it...if shes gonna be shooting under 300 yards, stick with a standard crosshair reticle. now id rather see you get a mil dot reticle, and a simple mil dot wont be to busy to look through. with the mildot, you can create your own bdc that has data on the ammo u use, and your felt recoil, which will give you a much better use of the reticle.

Umm....

I disagree with Nighteagle.

I personally think reticles like the BDC have there place and uses. To me, it's just like anything else where it's as useful as you make it.
The last year or so I've been on and off teaching my wife how to shoot rifles. We got her a 243 Savage paackage with a BDC Nikon. At first she only paid attention to the center. The circle are hardly noticeable and don't really take your attention away if you don;t let it.
As she got more proficient in general at rifle shooting, she was using the BDC markers better and better.

To me, BDC reticles and the alike are simple reference points on your view. It's up to you to understand what they mean and how to use them for your specific set up. And from a more practical stand point, mildot reticles just aren't offered in many of the lower cost point hunting scopes. Outside of a duplex type, the BDC types are your only options.

Nikon BDC is cluttered crap

And a Mil is superior, clean, and easy to understand.

FIFY!!!!

Yeah, if you're a short bus, window licker, that doesn't have the brain to even own a rifle, much less be shooting one.

I never said a bdc would not work, but why have it...its not accurate to moa and it does not account for felt recoil, temp, baro pressure, altitude, or any of the things that will make you hit moa. can u hit the broad side of a barn with it...sure nuff, but at the range were talking about, cross hairs are fine...

I like the BDC on Nikon scopes for hunting. Helps on hold overs within 500 yards. I can actually see the target more clearly vs looking around wider cross hairs that is on some of my other scopes. Would I use it for target shooting past 500 yards , probably not.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not trying to pick or you to insult you, but once again I disagree with this much of this statement.

No reticle is "more accurate" than another. Even MOA vs MIL, or throw in any other reticle you want, is not more accurate than another. The milradains is just more user friendly and makes calcs much easier. The BDC, and similar systems, simply supply reference points. It just happens to be in this case that the spacings of the reference points are almost abritrary. And no reticle accounts for any of what you mentioned unless you get a customized one for your exact rifle and bullet combo. They're all merely reference points you use to make adjustments.

Getting back to why one using them. Because at a certain price point you just can't find a mildot reticle as an option. Yes I understand if I had $200 budget that I can find a mildot, but it would have to be something like BSA. I'd much rahter have much nicer glass in something like a Nikon with a BDC than a lower quality scope with mildot because to me clarity is the #1 priority at any price point. In terms of reticels, something is always better than nothing.

I have scopes with BDC and scopes without. I can do fine out to about 400 yards without BDC and I've done so for decades. On new scopes I now go ahead and get the BDC, since I like to have it. Of the types available, I'm not fond of the donuts that Nikon uses, and I won't buy that type. That said, I don't shoot past about 450 or so. If I was going for the really long shots, and planned to make a habit of it, I'd definitely get an MOA or MIL reticle, though I've given no thought or study to determine which one.

If a fellow had an inexperienced shooter in the family (wife or kid), then they won't, and shouldn't be, shooting out past 300 or so. In that case, I'd go with BDC if I went with anything other than a plain duplex reticle.

no insult taken at all. this is all in good fun...

I think our disagreement comes from different expectations of hitting a target. first your right, crosshairs on the target, from a bdc mil or moa reticle are still crosshairs on the target so in that respect one is not better than the other...that was never a question. at 300-400 yards, there is Absolutely a difference. a bdc reticle can not (reliably within moa) account for temp, baro, elevation different ammo, felt recoil, wind, at multiple ranges ,or other affects on shot placement. it cant account for those changes because the reticle lines are not even...you can not reliably measure an any variation if the ruler your measuring it on doesn't have even lines.

can u hit minute of deer at those distances, sure, but you don't NEED a bdc reticle to do that, crosshairs are just fine.

now using a reticle that has even graduations, like a mil, or moa reticle, you can affect shot placement and account for all the different things that will affect that shot placement over a variety of conditions, and at a variety of ranges. and you can do it within minute of angle reliably...over and over and over and over. in essense you are creating your own personal bdc within the mil or moa system, but because there are even graduations of the reticle (ruler) lines, if you know your dope and know how different things affect that dope, you can account for any changes that might happen. the reticle lines are even...

I haven't even discussed wind because we are really just talking about elevation with a bdc...however, the same rule applies to left/right variations, and at 300-400 yards wind is a factor that cant be ignored. can u deal with the wind, with just crosshairs...sure, but your not gonna reliably shoot moa at that distance with crosshairs.

so the difference between being able to pluck a deers eye out at 400 yards, versus just being able to hit the darn thing become very apparent...will they both kill the deer...sure nough...

Hmmm, and all these years (and upwards of 300 deer) I've been ignoring temperature, barometric pressure, felt recoil, and elevation above sea level and still killing deer at 50 to 400 yards. Silly me...but yes, I do allow for wind, and being a reloader allows me to ignore the factors involved with different ammo. What Nighteagle says is true, but to me it's a huge overcomplication when it comes to deer hunting. My rifles do shoot MOA or better, but that degree of accuracy isn't really needed for deer at less than 400 yards.

If your shots are under 400 yards, and if you have a relatively flat shooting rifle (3000 fps and a decent bullet), a knowledgable hunter does not need BDC dots or lines for deer hunting. The hunter will still need to know bullet drop at intervals up to the 400 yards, and that is only useful if the hunter knows what range the animal is at. For smaller targets at 400 yards and beyond (such as coyotes), I do like BDC dots or lines. It isn't necessary, but it can be useful. If I had any intention of shooting a deer at 600 or 700 yards, I would most certainly want to use an MOA or MIL reticle.

Temp, baro or Density Altitude don't really matter until you start shooting outside 500 yards for a .308 Win, or outside 600 yards for the more high BC firing cartridges, like .243, the six fives, and the sevens.

BDC helps in elevation correction, but doesn't address wind. When time allows I will dial elevation in the scope and hold wind. So my target is on the horizontal line of the reticle and I'll hold into the wind the prescribed amount. I shoot prairie dog pups very far out there, and that's the standard practice. I shoot competition, and that's the standard practice. I'll dial elevation and wind when I am on a semi-unsteady platform, but that's the only time.

My biggest problem with the BDC is that it gives some, not all, average shooters false confidence in being able get a clean hit outside their true effective range. The Nikon rings, or the Burris hash marks are an approximation on vertical trajectory, and they do not address windage, at all.

Distance is science, wind is art. The wind is the great equalizer.

A BDC is junk if you assume you can mount it & hit targets/animals @ the 'designated' distance. A BDC works if you go shoot & figure out where those 'designated' hash marks truly are for your gun/ammo. It's that simple.

Right.

As long as there's no wind, and that's rare.

temp, baro and altitude do matter within 500 yards...they just don't matter much...

I would certainly hope that folks wanting to use BDC lines or dots will take the time to determine what dot is good for what distance. Without that info, having those dots is of no value. And, like I said above, even if you know that the second dot is dead on at 267 yards (for your rifle), if you don't know the distance to the deer, you still don't have the info you need. Honestly, that's why I like rifle loads that are at approx. 3000 fps with bullets with a decent BC. Sight em in at 200 and they'll be about 7 down at 300 and 20 down at 400. And if you can't tell the distance, but know that it's over 200 and less than 350, you can still make the shot. Don't need the dots for that. Now if I was into shooting tiny targets at distance, my approach won't work worth a darn. I'd have to upgrade my scope and fine tune my technique. And pay more attention to the wind.

Bottom line...BDC dots can be useful if a fellow takes the time to learn how to use them. And then there's the wind to consider, but at 200 or 300 yards, that isn't normally a big consideration on a deer sized animal (where I live and hunt).

Just to mention it, for the OP and his daughter, once I've got my favorite load for a given rifle, I'll sight it in (usually at 200 yards) and then determine the bullet drop at 300 and 400. Then I put that info on an inch square piece of blue painters tape and stick it to the top of the front bell of the scope. It's good to have that info for reference, and if I put it in a little book, I'd probably forget the book sometimes. I was out last year with Dad's beloved old 270, and I forgot my dope for the bullet being used and I hadn't stuck on the info tape. Shot under a hog at about 400. Man, I hate that. Tape is on there now.

This is the main point I was trying to make. I whole hearted agree that people thinking that BDC substitutes range time and one's specific rifle set up is wrong. I used to hate any of these BDC type systems, but over the years I appreciated having some to reference of off over nothing/plain duplex.

Just a note: I think that is you use the Spot On by Nikon and know some basic info on your particular chosen bullet, then it works fairly well. And by that I mean well enough to ethically take game IMO.

I think this is true of many folks. The equipment (scope or rifle), as cool as it may be, is of little benefit if the USER doesn't practice with it to the extent it becomes an extension of the shooter. Same is true of any tool. My smart phone can do 100 times what I "know how to do" but those capabilities are useless since I don't care/bother to explore them all. Remember, a sniper rifle does not make one a sniper....only practice, practice!

They don't matter. Not for a 308, which I put 1500 rounds through, or a 6.5mm which I've put 1500 rounds through, or a hot 22-250 which I put 2000 rounds through.

I've documented environmental conditions every time I shoot and notice extreme consistency in all weather from 25F to 105F inside 500 yards. Outside that, D.A. and temp are all I look at. Wind judging exists, always.

fireman with all respect, you can not argue factual ballistics...the facts are the facts, and ballistics don't magically start at 500 yards...altitude and temp, and baro pressure do affect a bullet flight performance. it may only be .1 mil but its still .1 mil. or for you moa folks that's .3 min... every 20 degrees, and every inch of baro pressure change affects it. every 2k feet of altitude affects a bullet. these are ballistic facts and im sure you know that.

as I said, it wont affect it much...but it still has an affect.

That's too much to consider. When that big buck steps out this year, I'll have to grab my calculator right after I use the binocs. I'm sure you are correct Nighteagle, but to me that's like taping a nickel to the left side of the front bumper just to see how it impacts driving.

You actually bring to mind a quote from a fellow I used to work with. It was either meaningless or insightful. I've never fully decided. The quote was "Ya know...it matters, but sometimes it really matters". He's absolutely right, and I'm leaning toward the quote being truly insightful. As it applies to what you said, the barometric pressure matters, but it doesn't really matter.