Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

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Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby ali_squidz on Sat Feb 04, 2012 7:49 am

Hey everyone, I am looking for some help or advice.
I recently had an AR-15 built and I put a Nikon Coyotes Special 4.5-16x40 scope. I intend to use it for coyote hunting.
I am having a heck of a time sighting this scope in. Im completely stumped. It has a BDC recticle.
Image
The manual says to sight it in at 100 yards for the center crosshair. If you are using an ammo with a muzzle velocity of 3200 fps, theoretically the rest of the crosshairs should line up at 200, 300 and 400 yards. It's just not working.
Take a look at the picture of the target.
Image
I get it dialed in at 100 yds on the top right target.
I moved out to 200 yards and it was supposed to be right on at the bottom of the center circle of the recticle (as shown above). It was 2.5-3 inches high. It took about 9 clicks to get it dialed in and I had to change where I was using for the recticle to finally get it pretty close. I moved over to the top left target and the best I could do is what's shown.
Now I realize that any inaccuracies will be amplified at a farther yardage. However, I am seeing this is a pretty large pattern change from 100 to 200 yards. I will be shootin around 275 yards and I dont stand a chance getting a kill shot with that large of a spread.
I called Nikon Tech Support. They said that didn't sound right and that I should back everything out 120 clicks. If I did that though, I would be shooting to mars wouldn't I?
I am lost. I was hoping someone had some experience with the BDC recticle. Am I wrong to think the crosshairs should be accurate? Am I sighting it in wrong?
Thanks for any help I get!
Alicia
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby timwarner on Sat Feb 04, 2012 7:57 am

sell the scope, buy a standard crosshair, or mil dot. Chrono your load, find the BC of your bullet, and calculate your drop. Print it out on a small piece of paper and tape it to your stock.

Scopes that have the drop pre-calculated in, are only right in the rifle/program they developed it in.
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Re: Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby goett047 on Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:02 am

timwarner wrote:sell the scope, buy a standard crosshair, or mil dot. Chrono your load, find the BC of your bullet, and calculate your drop. Print it out on a small piece of paper and tape it to your stock.

Scopes that have the drop pre-calculated in, are only right in the rifle/program they developed it in.

This. Mil dot is the way to go. Allows you to range find and compensate for drop and windage without hold over
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby ali_squidz on Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:05 am

My last gun had an ACOG on it, and that's what I am used to. However, the ex took it along with about 20 other guns and it took me every penny to scrape together to buy another AR. I wish I could afford to replace it. :-(
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby timwarner on Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:39 am

I sighted in a gun for my cousin in 17hmr with one of those, it was close, but not an accurate way of ranging. Having standardized marks helps ranging, but if the scope is trying to predict how your rifle shoots, you are fighting 2 beasts at one time. The hundred yard zero, and the differential between your rifle and the rifle the scope was calibrated for.

If you are set on using what you have, I would suggest getting a good 100yd zero and do the calculations and ignore the other ranging parts of the reticle.
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby farmerj on Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:56 am

ali_squidz wrote:My last gun had an ACOG on it, and that's what I am used to. However, the ex took it along with about 20 other guns and it took me every penny to scrape together to buy another AR. I wish I could afford to replace it. :-(



Love a system that works well when put together like that. So rarely can you do it unless you use the same ammo the factory did for designing the scope.
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Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby JoeH on Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:10 am

Where's Goalie and HammAR when you need them? (Not a fan of 3-4 forums)
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby dsm2nr on Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:39 am

What ammo are you using?
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Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby Snowgun on Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:49 am

These things work just fine, although they may be off an inch or two at longer distances. (like 4-500 yds)

First off, is your scope mounted correctly? Are your rings and rail adapters tight? I had a similar situation happen to me before I realized my scope was moving.

Second, sighting in through a ring is tricky. If you actually were an inch low at 100, (due to some error looking through the ring) you would be on at 200. Then when you went to 200 and used the lower reticle, you would have been high by 2 inches. (I'm taking 55g vmax data at 3200fps). Your target looks like this is what happened.

You could try sighting in at 200 with the 200 reticle, and then going back to 100 to check the zero. Or, shoot at 100 yds with the 200 rd reticle, the rounds should strike about 1.1 inches high to be sighted in.

The reason I suggest the above, is because the 200 reticle consists of intersecting lines, which is easier to line up when sighting in compared to the middle of an open circle.
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby ali_squidz on Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:47 pm

they allow you to match the ammo or so it says...
http://www.nikonhunting.com
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby farmerj on Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:04 pm

I have to ask. How much do you know about external ballistics ?
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Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby Snowgun on Sat Feb 04, 2012 7:55 pm

Jbmballistics.com is a great place to get
A good idea of your trajectory
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby dsm2nr on Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:40 am

Snowgun wrote:You could try sighting in at 200 with the 200 reticle, and then going back to 100 to check the zero. Or, shoot at 100 yds with the 200 rd reticle, the rounds should strike about 1.1 inches high to be sighted in.

The reason I suggest the above, is because the 200 reticle consists of intersecting lines, which is easier to line up when sighting in compared to the middle of an open circle.


I would go with this. Although, there aren't intersecting straight lines. They're intersecting lines of the two circles, which will make it harder.

Or you could do yourself a favor and buy a scope with a decent reticle. If you bought this one from a big box store, you may be able to return it.
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Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby Snowgun on Sun Feb 05, 2012 11:57 am

I agree that a holdover reticle with lines instead of circles might be a better bet. I believe the bushnell DOA scopes are a good example
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Re: Nikon Coyote Special Scope/ AR-15

Postby Holland&Holland on Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:31 pm

Nikon's system can work well so do not listen to the haters on here who's only advice is "go buy something else because I think it is better" that is just not helpful. I think the advice to make sure your mounting is not moving is good, then it is all about range time. Your specific gun and load will act differently than anothers so finding out what your load will do in your gun at various distances and at various hold points is all about spending the time on the trigger. Document your range sessions so you do not lose the data you collect. Eventually you will know what aiming point to use at each distance.
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