Hi folks. I am wondering how much magnification I should use to properly range for F/T. I have thought that 50x would give me the most accurate ranging. I currently have a 4-18 and only shoot benchrest. I haven’t shot the F/T, because of the ranging. If some of you can enlighten me, set me straight.
Thanks,
RK
Looking at your posting history, I think you have a Daystate Wolverine?
Assuming that you intend to use the Wolverine to shoot FT (dialed down to less than 20 ft lb), your two top options would be the PCP Hunter class or open class.
Hunter Class Hunter class limits you to a max of 16x during competition and no touching your turrets during competition. So you'll need to learn to use your mil-dots or mil-hash for POA at different distances.
Some have opted to buy scopes that have higher mag (24X, 32X, even 50+X). Then turning scope magnification down to 16x or below during competition. Depending on your budget, and your experience with higher power scopes, you may or may not want to go that route. Some say the regular/cosistent reticle spacing and/or image quality of more expensive higher mag scopes at 16X are highly desirable compared to a less expensive scope.
Open PCP class Open PCP class, there are no scope magnification restrictions for your scope. You can range find, dial your turrets, and shoot at any magnification you want.
WFTF PCP class If you can dial the Wolverine to below 12 ft lb, you can shoot WFTF PCP.
There are no magnification restrictions for your scope. You can range find, dial your turrets, and shoot at any magnification you want.
your scope 4-18X I would dial down to 16X and learn to range find 10-55 yards. Just google search Hunter Field Target scope ranging topics (or search on this forum). There are quite a few quality postings. Some are also using "bracketing" of cinder blocks to assist in range finding. Some are also changing their POA at longer distances to minimize ranging errors.