Shepherd scopes

[Badgersmilk]

Largely a commercial, but edjucational.  

http://www.shepherdscopes.com/intro.html

[billt]

These things have been around for a coons age, but have never really caught on. I think part of the reason is they are somewhat caliber specific, and really don't offer much more than a conventional Mil-Dot system, except for the fact they might be a little bit easier to use. I have also heard their quality was a bit spotty, but that I cannot verify either way. I know also they are quite expensive, and for the money you can get a comparable Leupold VX-III, or for a few bucks more a Mark IV.

Back when Redfield scopes were made here in the 70's, they had a ranging system avaliable as well. It involved too much monkeying around, similar to the Shepard system. You had to "fit" the animal between a set of lines beneath the crosshairs while turning the power ring up or down, then a little "yardstick" would pop up from the bottom of the field of view giving you a range readout. You then established any hold over based on that. This was all big stuff back then because things like Laser Rangefinders didn't exist. The problem with all of these kind of systems is by the time your done doing all of these things the animal is more than likely in the next county. Not to mention unless you have the stability of shooting off of a bench, or some other kind of stable resting system, it is all but useless. With modern Lasers being now incorporated into scopes that are fast becoming smaller as well as cheaper, these kind of gimmick scopes are headed the way of the 8-Track Tape Player.   Bill T.

[Badgersmilk]

Don't know for sure I'd actually want one on anything, but it'd be something fun to have on a "hobby gun".  Or a conversation piece at the range if nothing else.  

I've only ever seen a very, very few of them, and they were on used rifles in gun shops.  Never really knew what they were about until I saw the vid..

Always caught my eye just because I like buttons and knobs and such! 

[billt]

Always caught my eye just because I like buttons and knobs and such! 

I'm the same way. I bought a new Pioneer Stereo Receiver back in 1979 and it had 2 full rows of knobs, along with a full row of toggle switches. I looked at a new receiver the other day and it didn't have a single one! If you lost the remote I don't know how you would run the damn thing!  Bill T.

[rat31465]

An old friend of mine (Wild Bill Ingerley) now passed on....had one of these Shepherds mounted atop a Pre 64 Model 70 Winchester chambered in .270 Win.
 I witnessed him mount that scope, set it up per the instructions and make hits on an 18" steel target on the second shot...Oh yeah I forgot to mention the range.   He was shooting at 600 yards.  No lie and no joke....Shepherd Scopes perform...but as some have posted they are set up to be Caliber/Velocity specific.

[Sponsor]

[m25operator]

I had an older model, and the 2 shot zero actually works, but mine had a noticeable parallax problem, at the shot show, I asked the inventor about it, and he said, well a lot of benchrest shooters like some parallax, and we built it in, in my mind I said BS, sold the scope with a rifle, I did get it cheap, like 175.00. No great loss.

[billt]

I never did get the "2 shot zero" concept. You can do that with most any scope with a 1 inch grid target.  Bill T.

[rat31465]

I asked the inventor about it, and he said, well a lot of benchrest shooters like some parallax, and we built it in, in my mind I said BS.

BS is right..and a big steaming heap of it too.  I used to shoot BR50 matches and have owned a few light varmint class rifles as well....Any amount of parralax in a scope is an accuracy killer if you want to shoot tiny bughole aggragates.
That little knob on the end of Target/Varmint scopes is all about getting that parralax out. 
Fixed optic ....Big Game scopes are usually set parralax free at 100 yards and rimfire scopes between 50 and 75 yards.
If you have a fixed parralax optic with some slop in it.....then the best thing you can hope to do is go for a consistent cheek weld and hold.  I try to hold my cheek tighter down on the rifles comb so the reticle rests at the top of the parralax image...you can shoot this way, but it still isn't conducive to best accuracy.

[Bess]

I had an older model, and the 2 shot zero actually works, but mine had a noticeable parallax problem, at the shot show, I asked the inventor about it, and he said, well a lot of benchrest shooters like some parallax, and we built it in, in my mind I said BS, sold the scope with a rifle, I did get it cheap, like 175.00. No great loss.

[Bess]

I am writing to let you know that if you talk to an experienced successful competition shooter you will learn that what Mr. Shepherd said is true.  What the paralax does is forces the shooter back into the exact same position each time.  Depending on how much paralax, even to holding your breath the same way.  This then maximizes the accuracy that is available to the shooter with his rifle, load & scope.  When used properly it is a great tool & will increase the accuracy of both the elite shooter & the novice.