Leupold CDS setting recommendations for a .375 H&H

[Hunt anything]

Not an H&H but a .375 Ruger, I had mine set at 100yds but have never used it.

 

[JimP]

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.

A nice thing with sending the dial out to Leopold is that you can put any elevation and temperature in for your dial that you want. Same with a ballistic program, at least on the one that I have. I can set it for any temperature or elevation that I am likely to hunt in.

 

[Daisy]

CDS dial meant for 100 yard zero.

If you like MPB range shooting then just set the dial at 200 and leave there.

 

[dchum]

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.

The difference between a .375h&h at 600 feet above sea level vs 4700 feet above sea level is less than 1.75 inches at 330 yards. Just checked that on a ballistics calc.

Not much different and you seemed to have made it a bigger deal than it is. Just my opinion! Inside 425 yards the variables are very minuscule. That’s why I like my CDS.

 

[Scott CWO]

I have two 375 H&H rifles with 2x-12x CDS scopes. One is setup for the 270gr Barnes LRX bullet and the other is setup for the 300gr Swift A-Frame.

My A-Frame load is 78.5 grains of Sta Ball 6.5 powder with Remington cases and Federal 215 Large Rifle Magnum primers with COAL of 3.55. This load chronographs at 2650 FPS. As with any rifle and load, don’t start there. Start with less powder and work up while checking for signs of pressure.

I have the CDS dial set for 100 yard zero in Africa at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I don’t remember the elevation I used but I looked at elevations in Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, etc… and they weren’t very far apart so I went with an average.

This difference for this setup for a 50 yard shot was minimal so nothing to worry about. For longer shots well past 100 yards, you can easily do what some guys have said and just hold a little higher, especially when you don’t have time to use a rangefinder and if you are a good judge of distance. If you have time to use a rangefinder, it is nice to just dial and hold dead-on with the crosshairs. Just make sure to always reset your dial to 100 yards before resuming hunting. This system is quite easy and uncomplicated so why not use it?

For the guys that don’t use this scope and dial system, you weren’t really asked to offer opinions. I don’t know why some people always have to jump in and discourage the use of equipment they don’t even have. Nobody is telling you to use this system so why tell someone who has it to not use it?

 

[Daisy]

The difference between a .375h&h at 600 feet above sea level vs 4700 feet above sea level is less than 1.75 inches at 330 yards. Just checked that on a ballistics calc.

Not much different and you seemed to have made it a bigger deal than it is. Just my opinion! Inside 425 yards the variables are very minuscule. That’s why I like my CDS.

It’s also easy peasy to get a second cds dial for location you are hunting. Can replace dial in 2 minutes.

 

[John the Electrician]

Thank you all for the input. I do appreciate the various responses/suggestions. I know I can aim a little higher, use max point blank range; I have been doing that my whole life.

With this dial, I can have some more reassurance that the bullet will hit where it’s dialed to. It’s one thing for me to feel confident holding higher on a whitetail I have seen thousands of with no trophy fee attached. It’s another to second guess myself on a big bodied kudu or a tiny ten that that is 265 yards away but the kudu looks way closer and the dik dik looks way further away.

If the technology is there, why not have another arrow in the quiver?

 

[Nhoro]

Download the Hornady app. It is free and is pre- loaded with Hornady factory ammo. It will give you a ballistics chart in intervals to whatever distance you want and then you can play around with zero distance, velocity etc. That will show you your trajectory at different zeros. Try it, it is free and easy. Then you can decide on your load, do your development and get a cds if you want. You will probably be surprised how flat it shoots and push your zero out to 150 or more.

 

[Altitude sickness]

100 yards.

The only reason I would do anything different is if all of your other rifles are zeroed at a different range. It might be good for muscle memory to stay the same.

 

[62flint]

100 yards.

The only reason I would do anything different is if all of your other rifles are zeroed at a different range. It might be good for muscle memory to stay the same.

I agree. I zero most of my rifles for 100 yards and dial or use the reticle for distance depending on the time I have. Even the flat shooting ones .

 

[IA1865]

The difference between a .375h&h at 600 feet above sea level vs 4700 feet above sea level is less than 1.75 inches at 330 yards. Just checked that on a ballistics calc.

Not much different and you seemed to have made it a bigger deal than it is. Just my opinion! Inside 425 yards the variables are very minuscule. That’s why I like my CDS.

It all depends on the amount of geographical difference. Running the variance accounting for elevation, pressure, humidity, and temperature between my cabin in MN and where I hunted in SA in January today, at 350 yards you have a 4.4 inch difference which rises to 7.3 inches at 400 yards for a 300 DGX factory Hornady load. We're not talking huge numbers here, but 4.4 inches is half the vital area depending on what you're shooting at that can be the difference between a clean kill and a wounded animal.

Obviously northern MN at 36 degrees and 700 feet of elevation and SA at 83 degrees and 5,600 feet of elevation are quite different scenarios and everyone's home conditions are going to be different. You're also less than 3 inches of variance 300 yards and in which is where most shots are going to be taken.

Its all very solvable and easy math, and there's no right answer here! My opinion is that I'd rather have just standard mil markings and not have to deal with different dials but that's just me. CDS can be a great system and as others have noted, it's easy to get Leupold to make you a new dial or just note the variances in yours and remember your new distances.

 

[JimP]

It all depends on the amount of geographical difference. Running the variance accounting for elevation, pressure, humidity, and temperature between my cabin in MN and where I hunted in SA in January today, at 350 yards you have a 4.4 inch difference which rises to 7.3 inches at 400 yards for a 300 DGX factory Hornady load. We're not talking huge numbers here, but 4.4 inches is half the vital area depending on what you're shooting at that can be the difference between a clean kill and a wounded animal.

Obviously northern MN at 36 degrees and 700 feet of elevation and SA at 83 degrees and 5,600 feet of elevation are quite different scenarios and everyone's home conditions are going to be different. You're also less than 3 inches of variance 300 yards and in which is where most shots are going to be taken.

Its all very solvable and easy math, and there's no right answer here! My opinion is that I'd rather have just standard mil markings and not have to deal with different dials but that's just me. CDS can be a great system and as others have noted, it's easy to get Leupold to make you a new dial or just note the variances in yours and remember your new distances.

As was mentioned a number of post ago.

All the user needs to do is have the dial done for the area that you are hunting. If you are hunting in South Africa at 2000' where the average temperature for the time of year that you are hunting is 70 degrees then that is what you have the dial etched for.

The only CDS dial that I have I had it done for 7,000' and 60 degrees temperature and it shoots fantastic. If I would take that rifle and scope combination to South Africa I would have a new dial etched for the proper conditions.

Or if you don't want a new dial then just sight it in at your preferred distance at home, zero it once you arrive at the hunting location and leave the dial alone.

I hunted for over 50 years without a CDS and a few days in Africa isn't going to bother how I shoot.

 

[btheis13]

I've always been a little different!
I look at the ballistic trajectory of each gun and then decide where zero will be.
I recently did this calculation with a 375h&h with a 300 grain bullet.
25 yards. -.25"
50 yards .50"
75 yards 1"
100 yards 1"
125 yards .75"
150 yards 0"
175 yards -1.25"
200 yard -3"
With a 150yd zero, I can aim and shoot out to 175 without thinking about it.

My 7mm rem mag has a 175 yard zero.
50 yards .25"
75 yards .75"
100 yards 1"
125 yards 1"
150 yards .6"
175 yards 0"
200 yard -1"
Again, aim and shoot out to 200 before needing to make any adjustments.

 

[WyoBull]

I love my CDS dials and have them on most of my rifles, even those that don't necessarily need them, such as my 17 Rem. That being said, they are very nice to have, simple to use and my experience with them is that with my hand load information sent to Leupold and checked against the data in my Ballistics app, they are all right on the money.
Plus, sometimes it is just fun to pull up my range finder binos, range a rock out there in the country at a longer distance, set the CDS dial to that range and watch the rock explode. It gives you a lot of confidence to know you can hit something at distance.

 

[Daisy]

I've always been a little different!
I look at the ballistic trajectory of each gun and then decide where zero will be.
I recently did this calculation with a 375h&h with a 300 grain bullet.
25 yards. -.25"
50 yards .50"
75 yards 1"
100 yards 1"
125 yards .75"
150 yards 0"
175 yards -1.25"
200 yard -3"
With a 150yd zero, I can aim and shoot out to 175 without thinking about it.

My 7mm rem mag has a 175 yard zero.
50 yards .25"
75 yards .75"
100 yards 1"
125 yards 1"
150 yards .6"
175 yards 0"
200 yard -1"
Again, aim and shoot out to 200 before needing to make any adjustments.

In the first set of data, why would you need to think about it at 200?

 

[Wiley64]

I just hold squeeze and pray. Works for me

 

[btheis13]

In the first set of data, why would you need to think about it at 200?

I guess I'm ok with +/- 1" out to 175 yards, but at -3" I'd prefer to think to either aim high or turn the turret.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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

@John the Electrician
My personal opinion no matter what rifle I would put a CDS scope on is to sight in at a zero of 100 yards then have it marked out to the maximum distance you want.
At 50 yards the bullet would be very close to the point of aim even when zero is set at 100.
That's just my humble opinion tho.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@Wiley64
Depending on my rifle calibre and load I sight in for a 2-3" Hight at 100. This allows for a 4"-6" kill zone.
Depending on the cartridge this gives me a maximum point blank range of between 200 and over 350 yards.
For example my 25 loaded with a 100 gn TTSX @3,660fps sighted 2.5 inches at 100 is 2.5" high at 200 spot on at 300 and 8" low at 400.
My Whelen with 225 accubonds 3 inches high @100 still allows me pretty much a dead on hold out to 250 and hold a smidge high @300.
With 310s at the same sight setting it's spot on at 100 and fine without a problem on game out to 175.
Depending on the critter and load I can still hold on hair and have a kill shot to 400.
Like you I like to keep things simple. Put the dot/crosshairs in game, pull trigger, go collect game. Simples
Know your rifle, load and capabilities and all should be hunky dory.
Bob