Question for anyone that has tried both designs of parallax wheels, nautilus and crescent, is there an advantage of one over the other? Thanks.
-Marty
-Marty
Nautilus vs Crescent Moon Wheel
- Thread starter MartyMcFly
- Start date
Their both 8” so the only difference would be look and feel in use. I have a comma which is also 8” but for my new rifle ordered a battle ax which is 9” hopefully it will be better @55. For clarity I’m talking jd wheels
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Hi Marty,
I've got a couple nautilus-shaped wheels and really like them. As for an advantage over crescent/battle ax, I feel like it would depend on the design of crescent.
The benefit of the nautilus can be seen here....
The distance from A to B is much smaller than the distance from A to C. So, the wheel can be attached to the scope so that A to B is about where the 10 yards marks falls, and A to C is out around 55 yards.
The Nautilus on my Midas Tacs has more distance between the marks for 45, 50, and 55 than I have on the big round wheel for the Falcon X50. The Midas is not marketed specifically as a field target scope, while the X50 is. AND the big round wheel for the X50 is I think 125mm. So, the big round wheel with the centrally located "hub" takes up a ton of real estate on the side of the gun, and has a smaller effective radius for range-finding than the much smaller footprint of the Nautilus.
As long as the design of the battle ax isn't just a section of a circle with the hub in the middle, but rather an offset-hub, like a nautilus, I think the crescent would have the same mathematical advantage of the nautilus.
I've got a couple nautilus-shaped wheels and really like them. As for an advantage over crescent/battle ax, I feel like it would depend on the design of crescent.
The benefit of the nautilus can be seen here....
The distance from A to B is much smaller than the distance from A to C. So, the wheel can be attached to the scope so that A to B is about where the 10 yards marks falls, and A to C is out around 55 yards.
The Nautilus on my Midas Tacs has more distance between the marks for 45, 50, and 55 than I have on the big round wheel for the Falcon X50. The Midas is not marketed specifically as a field target scope, while the X50 is. AND the big round wheel for the X50 is I think 125mm. So, the big round wheel with the centrally located "hub" takes up a ton of real estate on the side of the gun, and has a smaller effective radius for range-finding than the much smaller footprint of the Nautilus.
As long as the design of the battle ax isn't just a section of a circle with the hub in the middle, but rather an offset-hub, like a nautilus, I think the crescent would have the same mathematical advantage of the nautilus.
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According to Joe @ JD’s Custom Design a crescent is more ideal for scopes with a longer arc from 10-55 say, Sightron. Not to say the crescent is the only wheel for a Sightron or other wheels won’t work on a Sightron or a crescent won’t work on other scopes.
The patterns he has are not random.
Each one is intended for a different parallax radius scope so the yardage spacing is the widest where your brand of scope needs it the most.
I’ve got a Hawke 2nd Gen Sidewinder and have used a Nautilus pattern for some time. Just for kicks, I recently tried all five of his current patterns, I found the Battle Axe pattern give a slightly better spacing for me and the scope I’m using over the Nautilus which has served me well.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say the Nautilus will be a great pattern for 90% of the scopes out there.
Or you can do as I’ve done….
Try several and see which one works best for you.
Know that with his new Gen 4 wheels, regardless of which wheel you select, once you’ve mounted the hub correctly, your yardage markings do not change when you switch wheels.
The patterns he has are not random.
Each one is intended for a different parallax radius scope so the yardage spacing is the widest where your brand of scope needs it the most.
I’ve got a Hawke 2nd Gen Sidewinder and have used a Nautilus pattern for some time. Just for kicks, I recently tried all five of his current patterns, I found the Battle Axe pattern give a slightly better spacing for me and the scope I’m using over the Nautilus which has served me well.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say the Nautilus will be a great pattern for 90% of the scopes out there.
Or you can do as I’ve done….
Try several and see which one works best for you.
Know that with his new Gen 4 wheels, regardless of which wheel you select, once you’ve mounted the hub correctly, your yardage markings do not change when you switch wheels.
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Thank you all for your input. The JDS wheels are precisely the ones I’ve been considering. Since I don’t have a Sightron I’m guessing that the Axe or Nautilus might be appropriate. It will go on either a Vortex Tactical or Athlon Argos…
-Marty
-Marty
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If it helps I’m shooting a athlon argos gen 2 6-24x50 My comma was bought for a element helix and had to swap the direction it turned for the argos. As I have it set now it just runs out of wheel at 55 and has been working well but hopeing to get slightly better at the long end with the ax.
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Marty,
In case you'd like to see it, here's a JD's wheel on my Sightron SIII.
The first picture is with the wheel at my 10 yard mark:
The second picture is with the wheel at my 60 yard mark:
It's probably a good thing this is a sub-12 fpe gun and that I'm not "generally" shooting out farther than 55 yds with it.
If it were on a higher power gun or I needed to shoot this one a little farther I'd either need to adjust the starting point for the 10 yard mark on the tape or consider a slightly different shape or perhaps a larger wheel.
FYI - I have JD's wheels on 3 of my guns and the speed wheel/knob on a 4th. He's a great guy, fun to talk to and stands behind his products if you're thinking of purchasing from him.
In case you'd like to see it, here's a JD's wheel on my Sightron SIII.
The first picture is with the wheel at my 10 yard mark:
The second picture is with the wheel at my 60 yard mark:
It's probably a good thing this is a sub-12 fpe gun and that I'm not "generally" shooting out farther than 55 yds with it.
If it were on a higher power gun or I needed to shoot this one a little farther I'd either need to adjust the starting point for the 10 yard mark on the tape or consider a slightly different shape or perhaps a larger wheel.
FYI - I have JD's wheels on 3 of my guns and the speed wheel/knob on a 4th. He's a great guy, fun to talk to and stands behind his products if you're thinking of purchasing from him.
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Thanks for sharing the pictures. I think I’m going with the axe shape just to make sure that I have more wiggle room. I also don’t go beyond 55 yards but it’s probably better to have the option rather than not.
I just received the Argos Gen2 6-25x50 FFP and noticed that the parallax knob is lighter/easier to turn than on the Vortex Tactical. I’m hoping that it doesn’t result in it moving too easily due to the additional leverage of the wheel.
-Marty
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