Took my BC out for the first time . . .

[Natty Bumppo]

and it shot well - 1.5" at 100 yds.  Tried the (cheaper) break in procedures on the FAQ page (JB paste) first.  Boresighted and then zeroed at 25 yds with off the shelf Remington rounds.  Fired the rest of the box at 100 yds and got pretty good groups.  Then fired 20 rounds of the Hornady Leverevolution rounds (my shoulder could certainly tell the difference).  After rezeroing with the new rounds, it was shooting about 1.5 - 2".  After about ten rounds, though, my shots started wandering all over.  Thought it was because I was getting sore.  After shooting the rest of the box, I was changing to a new 7mm-08 barrel (btw, it only took 4 1/2 weeks for the barrel to come in from the time I mailed the receiver) and I noticed the scope (Nikon Prostaff 3-9x) on the .45-70 barrel was loose.  I had used fingernail polish on the mount, but I suppose I'd better invest in some loktite.  I expect that had a little to do with the "wandering" shots.  The 7mm-08 barrel shot ok, also (about 1 1/2"), but I only shot it about 15 times.  From reading the posts here, I expect both barrels will do better as I shoot more and they break in.  For the record, I also shot my new Tikka T-3 .300 WSM with Shepherd 3-10x and it shot sub 1" at 100 out of the box.  Love that rifle.

[tykempster]

How does the Shepherd scope do past 300 or so yards?  Do you dial in your windage?  How is the reticle in varying altitude and temperature conditions?

[Natty Bumppo]

I live in Louisiana and it's usually consistently humid here and, of course, there is no "altitude" to speak of, lol, so the conditions are fairly constant.  I like the reticles (it has two, one that looks like an upside down T, and the other going down from the crosshair with the circles).  The "crosshair" reticle stays the same size, no matter what power the scope is set to, and the circles get bigger or smaller as you increase or decrease magnification.  I've never noticed any difference in the reticles whether it was cold and dry or hot and wet, or vice versa.  I never dialed in windage with my .270 (but I never shot at a deer over 275 yds, either).  I haven't shot the .300 past 100 yds yet.  I like both the Shepherds I have, and the one on my .270 seems to be dead on the money (out to 275, anyway).  I'll have to see if the new scope is matched to the .300 as well as the older one is to the .270.  If you want to take me on a hunting trip out west where we can really test it, I'll bring them both, and you can decide for yourself.