Healy Arms ***Another Endorsement***

[stanley]

I picked-up a new rifle so my boys and I could get on the 'suppressor' wagon.  (Ranch buddy let one of my sons use his silenced rifle on our NM pronghorn hunt last year, and we're sold on them!  lol)     Anyway, against my better judgement, I stopped by Bass Pro on a whim late last week and rushed into buying a low-end Vortex scope.  VERY limited hours for scope mounting services, so I went to Healy Arms yesterday to have them mount it.

After talking to Mark's staff there, I ended-up buying a scope from them that is perfect for us!  (Gonna go return the other one to BP.)  Mark was super cool, as always, and he had the scope mounted and ready to go in short order.  Knowledgeable and helpful!  Good guys!

Side note:  I've always used scopes with the 'hash marks' built-in for holdover.  We aren't super long-range shooters, so never went with the fancy and relatively complicated turret systems.  In talking to Mark's guys, they said they didn't have any rifle scopes with hash marks, but they showed me Leupold scope with the 'CDS' system.  It's awesome.  It's basically turret management for dummies like me!   No more holdovers for 300/400/500 yard shots.

GO SHOP HEALY ARMS!!

[Couzer]

100% concur! His staffs knowledge is top notch, always enjoy chatting with Mark as well. Good people!  

[Chef]

Love it Stan!

What rifle and caliber did you end up purchasing?

[stanley]

Went with the good old trusty 30-06.  Mark actually made a complimentary comment when he saw the caliber.  He said that in the day and age of 6.5's and 300WSM's , you don't see many guys buying 06's, but the ballistics are almost on par with 6.5/7MM......     Old school.  

For me, it's a move mostly made out of practicality:  a) We already own 3 rifles of that caliber.  b)  The ammo is much cheaper than the fancier calibers.  LOL

[NOTAGS]

Stan, great upgrade. We had a Vortex go fritzershitzen on a NM hunt. Guy ended up using my rifle to tag after three fails, shot #4 thru the heart at 250.    Vortex has a “great”  warranty cause they need them.

 

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Healy's is great.  I have to put blinders on when I go in there for targets or ammo.

I'm a BDC/holdover/hashmark person but new copes like that are super hard to find, so I'm interested in your process. And to show how dumb I am, I have some elementary questions (for you and/or the CWT community). Which Leupold did you end up going with and why is the CDS simpler than a typical turrents? Also, how will the suppressor effect the CDS system?  Thanks!

[stanley]

I went with the Leupold VX-3HD 4.5-14 40MM CDS-ZL DUPLEX (Sounds fancy, I know...  lol)

 

So here's my take/viewpoint on CDS.

With typical 'turret/dial' systems on scopes, it has always seemed confusing to me.  There is elevation, windage, etc.   Figure out how far and what conditions are, then dial it into the turrets.  BTW, I know it must work VERY well for most folks who take the time to figure it all out and practice it!

For me though, I don't have interest in super long range shooting.  I just like to be able to shoot as accurately as possible out to 300-500 yards.   To achieve that, I've always relied on the ballistic chart published for my over the counter ammo with my rifle zeroed at 200 yards (So hold over 8" at 300, 26 inches at 400, etc...).

The Leupold CDS (Custom Dial System) is basically a way to account for the holdover.  There are numbers on the top dial:  3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, etc...     Assuming the rifle is zeroed at 200 yards.   If the target is ranged at 300 yards, you quickly set the dial to 3, and the rifle is now on target at 300.  If the target is ranged at 450 yards, you quickly set the dial to 4.5, and you can aim directly at the target (no holdover).

 

 

 

[Chef]

Welcome to the world of turrets Stan. 

[stanley]

Baby steps.....

[NOTAGS]

Which suppressor are you going with?

[stanley]

I bought a Savage AccuCan AC30.    Sort of middle of the road to low.....   (Just like me.  lol)  Looking forward to getting out to the range!

[buckmaster21]

I have the savage Accucan 30 BOB and it has done pretty good on my 300 win and is stupid quiet on my 300 blackout 

[Jimmer Negamanee]

9 hours ago, stanley said:

I went with the Leupold VX-3HD 4.5-14 40MM CDS-ZL DUPLEX (Sounds fancy, I know...  lol)

 

So here's my take/viewpoint on CDS.

With typical 'turret/dial' systems on scopes, it has always seemed confusing to me.  There is elevation, windage, etc.   Figure out how far and what conditions are, then dial it into the turrets.  BTW, I know it must work VERY well for most folks who take the time to figure it all out and practice it!

For me though, I don't have interest in super long range shooting.  I just like to be able to shoot as accurately as possible out to 300-500 yards.   To achieve that, I've always relied on the ballistic chart published for my over the counter ammo with my rifle zeroed at 200 yards (So hold over 8" at 300, 26 inches at 400, etc...).

The Leupold CDS (Custom Dial System) is basically a way to account for the holdover.  There are numbers on the top dial:  3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, etc...     Assuming the rifle is zeroed at 200 yards.   If the target is ranged at 300 yards, you quickly set the dial to 3, and the rifle is now on target at 300.  If the target is ranged at 450 yards, you quickly set the dial to 4.5, and you can aim directly at the target (no holdover).

 

 

 

Thank you Stanley!