AR 223 scopes : Interested in what they're about.

[Hallbilly]

I've got a well behaved .223 Weather Warrior with a perfectly good 3-9 scope, but I must be bored and also have money burning a hole in my pocket.
Have been reading about scopes setup for .223's, specifically the Bushnell AR/223 3-12 or 4.5-18x40 BDC.
All they seem to do is have the MIL dots positioned to suit .223 fall at 100m increments, is this correct and is there anything else magical about them ?

[DrThunder88]

Well, Mildots are a reticule feature not based on any specific trajectory, but the scopes you mention do have reticule markings corresponding to bullet drop. The .223 Remington-specific BDC reticules will have the same limitations as any other BDC, though if your pet load is very similar to the calibration load or your targets are generously sized, it could be close enough over the reticule's entire range. I have an old Primary Arms prismatic scope on one of my ARs, and the BDC on it was good enough to ring steel out to 300 yards, but it almost certainly would not be good for varmints or X-rings, especially at distances much greater than 300.

I also have a Nikon P-223 scope, and it is of typical Nikon quality (ProStaff level). It sits on a Saiga in .223 Rem, so the coarser BDC seems to be right at home. For more precise drop compensation, I'd dial in with the turret, which is a nice feature in my opinion so long as it is a MOA or Miliradian counter rather than a BDC turret.

[Twinsen]

They're little circles, not mildots. But the circles don't really correspond to anything. IMO, BDC is BS. YMMV. ...BBQ.

[shooterfpga]

The bdc reticles work if you know your load. It most likely wont match up to what the manual says ie usually something like 200/300/400. It might be more like 218/342/476 . I believe bushnell may have an online app for that?

[Hallbilly]

Thanks, I appreciate that various loads and projectile weights will return different drops so couldn't see how one set of markings could be regarded as "typical".
Just asking in case there is some magic to these scopes. For the time being I think I'll keep using my old Optical Judgometer.