How much power

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Not much.

You can lobe .22 RF at it and hit it.

You can shoot a Magnum revolver at 300 yards and do pretty good, with lots of practice.

You would have better luck though, with at least a .223 rifle or something.

rc
 
Now you tell us, what you were talking about! :scrutiny:

I have killed coyotes & crows at 400+ yards with 4x to 6x.

A 3-9x variable will do all you can hold at 300 yards.

Too much power is worse then not enough, as mirage, parallax, and the small field of view can make things difficult.

For formal target shooting, more power would be beneficial.
But the rules of some games might tell you how much scope you can use.

rc
 
From a solid position, benchrest, good bipod, GOOD prone with sling?

Scope power - Lots.
Good quality high range variables overcome the limitations rcmodel finds.
I have 8.5-25X on my F class rifles and don't use the bottom half of the range. The experts use more.
The range doesn't matter much. The better shots at our club's BR50 with nice .22s are using 36X, but I can't hold that even from a rest; I would be better off at 24X. But not a 10X or a 3-9X.

Of course that sort of performance costs a bit. A cheap big variable is junk, you would be better off with a medium quality fixed power.
Heck, maybe you don't mind paying for a March 5-50X. That will cover about anybody's idea of appropriate scope power. And only $3000. Unless you want a fancy reticle which costs more; or an illuminated reticle which is even higher.
 
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Scope power? I've made 1/2 mile shots with an 8x scope.

NRA Highpower shoots iron sights at 600 yards.

So my answer is 1x - or Mark 1 Eyeball.

Anything more than that is an advantage. :)
 
It's a personal choice, and depends greatly on how you are shooting. Got a rest? More power. No rest? Less power. Old eyes? More power. Young eyes? Less.

The only problem with power is that it also magnifies any movement in the gun.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk
 
Agree with Dandy.

When I shoot the standing stages at sporting rifle events I dial my scope down as far as it can go. Usually I shoot in the mid-80's to low 90's range (of 100) on an A23 target at 50 yards, standing. This Sunday I forgot to dial my scope back (was rushed), and I only shot a 42/100!

Also got a little sea sick.

I also got a little sick when I saw my standing score. I ended up winning the match by only 2 points with a 405/500. I pulled back ahead on the 100 and 200 yard stages. But only by the skin of my teeth.
 
Being new here I will try to be nice. Your question lacks the necessary information in order to get a credible answer. I shoot 300, 500 and 800 matches with my custom .308 Remmy 700 SPS AAC-SD with a 6x24x56 Vortex Scope. I reload my own rounds, mostly 175-SMKs with more Varget powder than the charts show but well within the guns rated chamber pressure. It's zeroed at 300 yards and the rest is done with a ballistics calculator. Most any High Powered Hunting Rifle is capable of 300 yards but there is so much more to learn if you want to shoot sub-MOA at any distance over 100 yards. If you are just looking for something to plink with .223 would be the cheapest route.
 

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NRA Highpower shoots iron sights at 600 yards.

So my answer is 1x - or Mark 1 Eyeball.

Anything more than that is an advantage. :)

+1 the furthest I've shot is 400yd and that was with irons. It works fine as long as you aren't trying to shoot a very small target at that distance.
 
Scope Power

A variable power scope that goes to around 36 power will do well at 300 yards to shoot tiny groups. It must have an adjustable objective or parallax adjustment built in. There are problems when on the highest power settings like 36X. Heat coming off the barrel will make the target dance in the scope. Placing a heavy paper over top the barrel will help. About 3" wide and 2" short of the muzzle. Mirage/heat waves are another problem on high power scopes. I made the mistake of buying a Leupold fixed power 36x years ago. A variable can be set to lower power in low light or when conditions are poor. Dont forget wind flags.
 
+1 the furthest I've shot is 400yd and that was with irons. It works fine as long as you aren't trying to shoot a very small target at that distance.

Heck, PALMA has always shot 1000 yards with iron sights. Granted, they're not your average, every day iron sights. But there's no magnification.

NRA F-Class was developed (partly) due to aging PALMA shooters not being able to see their targets anymore without magnification. :)
 
Like others have said, you really need to give more information if you want good answers. We don't know what you're trying to do, so you are getting answers all over the place.

FWIW, I shoot at 600 with my 1x eyeballs. Not as well as most, but well enough to stay in the black at least :D
 
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