4X Scope Recommendation for Ruger 10-22

Status
Not open for further replies.
35 Whelen

35 Whelen

Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2008
Messages
4,039
Location
North Texas
I'm working out of town part of the week now and am having a serious coyote problem around the house; Coyotes-2, Chickens-0 so far.

I keep an M1 Carbine, SKS and Ruger 10-22 in the laundry room gun rack, but they're all iron/aperture sights which can be difficult to see in low light. I want to put an inexpensive 4X scope on the Ruger for when I'm gone and the wife has the coyote killing duties.

Suggestions?

35W
 
I know not exactly what you asked for , but ! May I suggest a variable power scope 4 12 magnification or so, set on 4 power for the yotes and dial up when squirrel shooting. Ya want to be able to see up close so you can see their beady eyes get the smithereens put to them :what: Just something to think about !

Brand is up to you many decent ones out there. I am a Leupold fan myself, others have their favorite brands and I am sure you will hear from others shortly.

Good luck with the critters:thumbup:
 
How far? I have a Simmons 4x fixed scope I use as a utility scope, but I’m getting ready to mount it on a Marlin 60 as a general use/plinking rifle. It works fine for shooting playing card kings and queens etc., but I don’t know that inexpensive scope and low light go together. It does work, hold zero, and is pretty clear.

ETA: you may need different rings. The rings that come with the Simmons scopes are hit or miss.
 
Last edited:
35 Whelen said:
serious coyote problem around the house

Ruger 10-22 ... want to put an inexpensive 4X scope on the Ruger for when I'm gone and the wife has the coyote killing duties.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...
When my sister/BIL lived on 5 acres near mountains, they had coyote problems and needed to see at low light conditions as they howled but would only come out at night (But no more coyote problems since they moved to Texas). I set them up with 9mm/223/.300BLK carbines along with my 10/22 TakeDown and various scopes from Bushnell Banner D&D, Trophy to Minox and they were surprised at how much they could see at close to night condition.

I have been conducting 10/22 and T/CR22 accuracy testing at 50/100 yards using various 3-9x/6-18x/4-24x scopes with particular focus on low light conditions (I shoot at heavily shaded 150' tall tree lined area and gets dark fast after sunset) and would make the following suggestions:

3-9x40mm - I think this is going to be your "best bang for the buck" inexpensive scope. I now recommend Bushnell Trophy as the minimum level of scope for durability but for scope use that won't see hard field carry, I have been happy with Bushnell Dusk & Dawn line, especialy for low light conditions. (They are made in S. Korea if you want non-China made scope and comes with lifetime warranty)
3-9x50mm - If you need to see under low light conditions, larger 50mm objective lens will help. BTW, here's my low light testing of Banner/Trophy vs Leupold at 100 yards to near dark at 9:30 pm conditions - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...mendation-for-308.842282/page-2#post-10944780
6-24x50mm - If you don't mind the size/weight and shooting from a bench, especially at longer 100+ yards and near total darkness, Viridian Serac will blow away any 3-9x40/50mm priced at $150 for a 30mm tube scope. Viridian is OEM weapons light/laser supplier to Ruger and also supplies Eon scope lines for Ruger 10/22 package. Serac is their top of the line scope and comes with tactical turrets and flip covers. I would say Serac field of view brightness is on par with Burris FF E1 and better than Bushnell Trophy/Leupold American Marksman 3-9x40mm (Which are best of 3-9x/4-16x 40mm "lower end" scopes I have used). I like the Serac so much that it has become the reference scope for accurized 10/22 that can produce 1/2" groups at 50 yards and 1.25" groups at 100 yards. It is made in China - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-focus-sfp-long-range-reticle-for-150.900740/

NOTE: If you are going to shoot past 25 yards with scoped 10/22, you will likely run out of vertical adjustment and require 20MOA scope rail. I recommend EGW 20MOA scope rail for $36 - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...22lr-on-the-cheap.898035/page-2#post-12214070


BTW, here are some "real world" targets from my 10,000+ round testing of 10/22 and T/CR22 and these are from factory 10/22 barrel with over 6000 rounds shot through at 50 yard and 100 yards with Viridian Serac scope (Target squares are 1 inch and green circles are POA) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...22lr-on-the-cheap.898035/page-2#post-12304052

index.php

index.php


And 100 yard groups - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...22lr-on-the-cheap.898035/page-2#post-12194385

index.php
 
Last edited:
35 Whelen said:
I'm working out of town part of the week now and am having a serious coyote problem around the house; Coyotes-2, Chickens-0 so far.

I keep an M1 Carbine, SKS and Ruger 10-22 in the laundry room gun rack, but they're all iron/aperture sights which can be difficult to see in low light. I want to put an inexpensive 4X scope on the Ruger for when I'm gone and the wife has the coyote killing duties.

Suggestions?

35W
Click to expand...

In that situation, I am going to suggest a dedicated rimfire scope since the parallax is set correct for close in work. I am also going to suggest a simple duplex type reticle, unless your wife is comfortable using a BDC reticle. I would not bother with a scope with adjustable parallax or a MILDOT reticle, Christmas tree reticle, or similar unless your wife knows how to use them. A fixed power scope will also keep things simple, otherwise I will recommend a 3-9 variable scope.
 
I'm quite averse to higher magnification scopes. In 45 years or so of hunting with scoped rifles, I've found less is typically better and I personally feel high magnification scopes have been marketed much like the latest whiz-bang cartridge.
Currently the Ruger wears an ancient Weaver 2.5x straight tube scope with a straight crosshair in a see thru mount. Plenty of magnification for a 50 yd. or so rifle, but without coated lenses it's not much good in low light, the crosshair doesn't doesn't jump out like a duplex, and the mounts put it too high above the barrel.

12Bravo20 said:
In that situation, I am going to suggest a dedicated rimfire scope since the parallax is set correct for close in work. I am also going to suggest a simple duplex type reticle, unless your wife is comfortable using a BDC reticle. I would not bother with a scope with adjustable parallax or a MILDOT reticle, Christmas tree reticle, or similar unless your wife knows how to use them. A fixed power scope will also keep things simple, otherwise I will recommend a 3-9 variable scope.
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree with this and your suggestion is what I had in mind, I was just wondering about an inexpensive brand that was decent quality without spending a bunch of money.

35W
 
Last edited:
35 Whelen said:
I'm quite averse to higher magnification scopes
Click to expand...
Wait a minute ... I thought the scope was for your wife when you were gone? :p
35 Whelen said:
when I'm gone and the wife has the coyote killing duties
Click to expand...

35 Whelen said:
I was just wondering about an inexpensive brand that was decent quality without spending a bunch of money.
Click to expand...
If you are interested, I can "Pay It Forward" a Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40mm ... But for your wife ;) (I bought 5 scopes this year and have two spare Trophy 3-9x40 that I will never use). :)
 
Last edited:
LiveLife said:
If you are interested, I can "Pay It Forward" a Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40mm ... But for your wife ;) (I bought 5 scopes this year and have two spare Trophy 3-9x40 that I will never use). :)
Click to expand...

I'd take him up on that. If you don't want to use the higher powers you don't have to. Just set it on 4X and leave it alone. I put a 25.00 Bushnell fixed 4X on a Marlin model 60 in 2013 and it's still a good scope.
 
Unfortunately there aren't many good fixed 4 power these days, I've never had luck with Simmons everyone I've ever touched failed. I used to like the cheap barska for the money but I'm not sure if there still around, maybe at walmart.
 
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019981192?pid=430253

For its price range it has a lot of features. I bought one of them when they first came out years ago and the glass is still clear. Since then I bought a couple more and put them on 22s. When I was employed in a big box sporting goods store gun department I put a few of them on rifles. In the 2 to 3 years of working there none of them ever came back because of issues related to the scope.
 
Last edited:
troy fairweather said:
Unfortunately there aren't many good fixed 4 power these days, I've never had luck with Simmons everyone I've ever touched failed. I used to like the cheap barska for the money but I'm not sure if there still around, maybe at walmart.
Click to expand...

I've had a Simmons 44 mag on my 30-06 deer rifle since the 90's but it was made in the Philippines. They're made in China now. Mine is excellent in low light and has never lost zero.
 
Here is a simple 3-9 scope from Primary Arms. And if it anything like their other scopes, it should be a pretty decent scope.

https://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-3-9x44-sfp-classic-rifle-scope-duplex-reticle

Midway USA has the Bushnell 3-9 rimfire scope

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1024064834?pid=849221

And Athlon scopes get good reviews too

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1019621848?pid=479809

I have used plenty of Simmons and Tasco rimfire scopes in the past but none of them really impressed me much. I have tried the BSA line of scopes but had issues with the ones I had.

While the Bushnell 3-9 rimfire scope does have a BDC reticle, it is still simple and one would not have to use the BDC portion, same for the Athlon rimfire scope.
 
hawg said:
I've had a Simmons 44 mag on my 30-06 deer rifle since the 90's but it was made in the Philippines. They're made in China now. Mine is excellent in low light and has never lost zero.
Click to expand...
The 4 I've owned all failed in a few different ways, had 2 whitetail ii have the turrets fail, a 44 mag the lense with the reticle fail and a 17 the crosshairs would turn when you turned the power ring thought I was going crazy when mounting that scope. I've had pretty good luck with tascos, but my dad just had one fail this week he got last year.
 
I bought a Tasco once. I wasn't impressed at all. I've got a BSA target scope and it works well and holds zero but compared to my other scopes it's about as clear as a mud fence.
 
I’m batting .500 on the Simmons scopes. The 3-9 I had wouldn’t hold zero. The fixed 4x is doing fine so far but it’s not been used very much to be completely fair.
 
I have had two Simmons rimfire scopes that were bad. The problem with mine was that the reticle would turn inside the scope. I bought them around 2000-2003.
 
Lots of choices out there. I'm maybe looking at a 3-9x32 if they're not too big. The 3x option would be nice for a greater field of view which would in turn be nice for when the yotes are on the run. This frequently happens when they hear the door open or spot us before we spot them.

35W
 
Fixed 4X rimfire scopes use to be plentiful but not any more. A decent 3-9 with a simple reticle will work fine. And you don't have to use the zoom feature either, but it is nice to have when needed.
 
May be a bit more money but a Leupold 2-7X 36mm would allow you or your wife to dial it back to 2x. Also a VX III 3.5-8X 36mm is what I have on two .22 rifles. Really good scopes and quite handy at short range
 
There aren't many options for fixed power 4X scopes. And the ones out there are either junk, or high end. Not much in between. Get a 3-9X, a 2-7X or even a 1-4X. If you don't want to use anything but 4X, set it on 4X and leave it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Batty67
  • Locked
compact scope for a Ruger 10-22?
Replies
4
Views
410
Batty67
Batty67
cdahl383
  • Locked
Ruger 10/22 - scope vs red dot
2
Replies
27
Views
7K
Hookeye
H
T
  • Locked
Scope rings question 10/22
Replies
12
Views
551
TimeIsRunninOut
T
S
  • Locked
Scope for Ruger 10/22 Squirrel Hunting
2
Replies
28
Views
3K
d2wing
d2wing
wanderinwalker
  • Locked
Short Scope on a Remington 700 Long Action
Replies
6
Views
1K
wanderinwalker
wanderinwalker
Back
Top