Is there anyway to range est. w/ any of the ACOG's?  I wish they would put in a Russian type range finder in their glass.

USMC0351

Easy enough for me [:D] IMNTBHO ...

First a limit.

The .223 is a tiny little round suitable for shooting man sized targets at less than 400 yards. Beyond that get close air support or a .308 [;)]. The tiny round is just floating along at those distances and shots on man sized targets are possible but difficult and very very very rarely needed. Depending on which half of Colorado you live in you'll never see a shot of that distance. I routinely see hunters who claim 300 and 400 yard shots that laser to much less then that (like half). The AR was designed as an inside 350 yard rifle - where 99.999% of shootings take place.

When I lived in Washington State the gun ranges had 100 yard ranges and out in the woods I was lucky to find 80 yards worth of shot.

I use the TA50-4 which has a center crosshair narrowing of 38 moa - which will cover a man's chest at 50 yards, half of which at 100 yards - used vertically it covers a 6' tall man at 200 yards. My point blank range is 325 yards so aiming for the center of mass is good enough out to that distance as long as that center is visible. I zero 2 inches high at 100 yards with a 20" barrel. If you can tell a person is inside of 325 yards center your crosshairs and shoot. Beyond 325 yards I'd wait for a closer shot or my .308.

My shooting routine is to take 3' tall surveyor's stakes and staple 8" round paper plates to them. I'll walk or drive down a long straight road along side of good old Iron Mountain in the desert driving in one or more targets at unknown distances. When I run out of targets I fetch my rifle of the day, a side arm and a roll of masking tape (to repair the targets as I pass them).

I will then approach my targets with either weapon taking close shots with the pistol and longer ones with the rifle. I'll go prone and shoot out the most distant ones and work inwards going rice paddy prone, kneeling and then freehand up to pistol range and then back out. I'll move about sideways and forward closing on the targets. Afterwards I'll tape up the targets for another pass and laser range find the distances - this is how to learn how to judge distance - or by spending time on the golf course (6' tall flags and well marked distance posts).

I'll also hang a 12 square rifle gong and work it from range back and forth taking long and close (about 75 yards) shots at it.

So bottom line is that your rifle ought to shoot flat enough out to 325 yards, you are the best range finder, and no gadget beats out practice.

Learn your rifle, your optics and your abilities.

Uhhh, have you looked at through any of the ACOGs?  There are several models that have a rangefinding/bullet drop compensator built in.  You range by using the width of the hashmarks, representing width of a human silhouette (I think 19", but check Trijicon's website for factual info) at the different ranges.  My TA11 ranges to 800 meters.

Check out Trijicon's website to see all the models that offer rangefinding reticles.

[url]www.trijicon-inc.com[/url]

On the fullsize ACOGs, the hashmarks equal the width of a target silhouette that distance (19"). So the 400m hashmark is exactly 19" wide at 400m.

You can do decent range estimation with the ACOG just by the reticle. With the 4MOA donut, I know that at 300yds the width of the donut is equal to 12" and the interior is equal to 6". If the donut is bigger than the silhouette then I know it is at least 375m out and I use the hashmarks.

If the donut is smaller than the silhouette, then the 5.56mm is flat enough that you should have no trouble hitting the target by just slapping the reticle on it.

Then I guess you could assume the 600m hashmark is 19" across at 600m.

The diagrams do not look that way on Trijicon website.

Really nice to know.