Help With Scope Selection

S

spinconn

Guest
I am not a benchrest shooter but I think this would be the best place for advice if you are willing to help.

I recently moved to a new area and do not have a gun shop close by so I will be buying my scope online without a chance to look through it first.

My new rifle range has target stands at 100, 200 and 300 yards. This will only be informal competition but we will shoot off bipods and bags, both off a bench and prone, both for group and for score, at 200 and 300 yards.

My rifles are factory sporters; a Winchester M70 Classic .30-06, a Ruger Hawkeye .243, and a Ruger American Rifle .223 and I plan to use the same scope on all three, until I have shot enough to pick which rifle to settle on. I will be using factory ammo only but good quality ammo.

I have previously had access to ranges with 100 yards, and one with 600 yards but this distance is new to me. For my most powerful scopes, I have a Nikon Monarch 3 3.3-10 X 42, and the image quality is fine at 10X but I find I would like more power at 300 yards. I also have a Bushnell Elite 3200 4-12 X 42 and the power is OK but I would like better image quality and also, if possible, a little more power. I tend to like simple duplex or dot reticles without clutter.

I will not use the scope for hunting or any other use so a fixed power would be fine, as would a variable, but I assume I can get better glass for the same price if I go with fixed.

I would like to spend no more than $400 to $500.

I realize you guys use scopes of much higher cost and quality but would be grateful for any suggestions. Thanks.
 
You were doing pretty good until you got to the budget. Good glass cost more than good rifles. But, not to worry. There is still a solution. Your best buy would be a used Weaver 36X. You should be able to pick one up on accurateshooter.com, if you are patient. You should be able to get it for $300-325, maybe a little more if it is a newer model. One thing though, when you put it on that '06 you better have a good grip or you will have a "weatherby eyebrow".

Rick
 
You did not specify what size the targets are.
how big is the 10 and x ring ??
i think for large targets you could easily do
well with less power. Do not get me wrong, i like power.
The VX-2 6-18x40mm Adj. Obj. Target
is 499.99 at optics planet
 
Thank you Gentlemen. I looked at some Weavers online and I believe I can afford a new one, plus I have received a private email on a used one.

This is just starting, trying to get some guys at the range together to shoot, so the target size is not decided yet. I am experimenting with that now.

I have never used that kind of power. Is 36X difficult to learn to use? I see Weaver has a T24 as well but if I am going to want more power with more experience I'd rather start off right.
 
spinconn said:
Thank you Gentlemen. I looked at some Weavers online and I believe I can afford a new one, plus I have received a private email on a used one.

This is just starting, trying to get some guys at the range together to shoot, so the target size is not decided yet. I am experimenting with that now.

I have never used that kind of power. Is 36X difficult to learn to use? I see Weaver has a T24 as well but if I am going to want more power with more experience I'd rather start off right.
Click to expand...

It is my opinion that for TARGET SHOOTING more is better up to about 40power.......maybe 36X in really humid conditions but I've personally never seen a 36 to be unusable.

Less power is always a compromise

Variables offer more moving parts

IMO Weaver or Leupold 36X is a great choice. Would be (was) mine.

In any case, you absolutely MUST get a high powered scope with a parallax adjustment. If any one item is indispensible it is this parallax adjustment.

Objective lens style is cheaper.

In you search for targets SERIOUSLY look at/make/shoot at/USE some of the round BR Group targets, simple concentric rings, sized per yardage.

There is nothing better.

You will generally not need the "aiming square" portion, just the rings.........



opinionby








al
 
BTW, no....... 36X isn't hard to use.

What IS hard is re-training to always shoot with both eyes open. If this is second nature to you then you're a leg up already.

Put out wind indicators,

Always

tape on a stake is OK
 
Again we have defined the tool without knowing what the task is.

Please note he said they shoot prone also.
If i am shooting 300 yds at a 6" bullseye,
i do not believe a 36x anything is helping.
 
Before you buy a scope, check out the Mueller 8-32×44 Target Scope.

It's the best 250 bucks you'll spend for a relatively powerful side-focus scope. I've had one for years on a .223 "fun range gun" and quite honestly I don't see a lot of difference between it and some of my other scopes which cost 6 or 8 times as much.
 
Sounds like it goes back to CMaier's comment and the size, and perhaps shape of the target influence the scope choice. If I may highjack my own post, I searched the forum for info about targets. Found places to download and print out BR targets and haven't yet figured out how to print them on my home printer with 81/2" by 11" paper but I have a question.

It looks like there is a square aiming point above the circles. Is this because the square shape allows more precision than a circle or other shape?
 
The T-36 Weaver is a good value for a light recoil Benchrest Rifle, but the way Weaver mounts the erector tube inside the scope tube would make it very susceptible to loosening up under the continuos recoil of a 3006 in a Rifle as light as the one you have.
 
It would surely be better if the scope didn't move but given the circumstances and the price involved...it really doesn't matter much. Think this over a bit.

BTW...a used scope is as good as a new one if the warranty remains.
 
Thank you for the tip Jackie. If I don't get an expensive target scope, and go with a used scope, would it make sense to go with a hunting scope of lower power that might be sturdier. Maybe something with a high power end of 15X, or 18X or 24X.

I have a trade in the works for a used Sightron SII Big Sky that I thought might be an intermediary scope.

This is an effort to make use of sporter weight, factory rifles and avoid an arms race but I may have started an arms race anyway with a scope upgrade.
 
spinconn said:
Sounds like it goes back to CMaier's comment and the size, and perhaps shape of the target influence the scope choice. If I may highjack my own post, I searched the forum for info about targets. Found places to download and print out BR targets and haven't yet figured out how to print them on my home printer with 81/2" by 11" paper but I have a question.

It looks like there is a square aiming point above the circles. Is this because the square shape allows more precision than a circle or other shape?
Click to expand...

No.

The square is there for those days when you can't see the circles.

Somebody does win, but nobody sets records on these days.
 
spinconn said:
...... snip.........
It looks like there is a square aiming point above the circles. Is this because the square shape allows more precision than a circle or other shape?
Click to expand...
Lots of folks, including me, prefer an aim point different from the POI so you don't shoot up your aim point. I personally prefer to aim at the circle and have the bullets impact inside the square.

My normal 100yd target is a series of ten 1.5" circles with a 1" square above them printed on 8.5"x11" card stock. I size the bull to be just slightly larger than the scope cross hairs so that when it's centered, four tiny triangles peek out behind the cross hairs. It helps refine my hold to be dead center. There is also a 5/8" diamond inside each circle to help correct both aim and cant.

A 5 shot group impacting inside the 1" square makes it easy to roughly determine the size of the group.

Others prefer to aim at an offset square or diamond and have the bullets impact the center of the circle. Either way works.
 
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