Looking for a quality, good priced, high magnification, 50mm scope

[streetstang67]

Currently I have a Leupold VX-I 3-9x50mm. This scope works great, except I'd like something with more magnification. The problem is this will be a "do-all" rifle. That means hunting and target shooting, so it will be a compromise. I want something with variable magnification and large objective for hunting. I want something with high magnification and maybe even target knobs for target shooting. The scope has to last a lifetime and can't break the budget.

After a short time searching, I found a scope that could work: Burris Fullfield II 6.5-20x50 for $390, add target knobs for $20. The only problem is those target knobs seem to stick out a lot, not low profile like some of the higher end stuff.

What do you suggest?

 

[streetstang67]

anything?

 

[trueblue1776]

Tasco has some reasonably priced varmint scopes in that flavor, for less than 150 bucks. I hope I don't get beat up for saying that.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I have a Simmons Whitetail 6.5-20x 50mm that has been on my AR-15 varmint rifle for 10 years and is only $99. The glass is pretty good, the only complaint is that the crosshairs are a little thick for long range shots (300+ yards) at small game.
Whitetail link at MidwayUSA
It gets 5 stars from the people that have purchased it.

 

[ArmedBear]

The Burris is a good scope. At least mine is. It's a 3-9x40 Fullfield II, and I wouldn't want anything bigger on a hunting rifle.

What can't you hit with the 50mm Leupold scope you already have, though, when it's set at 9x?

And what kind of rifle is it? A varminter, or a big game rifle? Heavy barrel, or hunting contour?

Unless it's a whiz-bang small caliber varmint/target rifle, there's nothing you can't see with a quality 9x scope that won't be smaller than the size of your groups.

Turrets, oversized heavy scopes, etc. are a handicap on a hunting rifle, at least around here. My 24" barrel .30-06 with a low-mounted 3-9x40mm Fullfield II seems to get hung up on everything, in the field. I'm going to supplement it with a stainless lever gun this year, if I can scratch together the scratch. I'd like a gun that's 6" shorter and 2 lb. lighter, a lot more than a scope that will let me read the date on a nickel at 100 yards.

Again, depends on the rifle, and the game.

 

[aspade]

Do it all scopes don't really exist. How about quick release mounts and a second scope?

 

[MarshallDodge]

What can't you hit with the 50mm Leupold scope you already have, though, when it's set at 9x?

Unless it's a whiz-bang small caliber varmint/target rifle, there's nothing you can't see with a quality 9x scope that won't be smaller than the size of your groups.

Turrets, oversized heavy scopes, etc. are a handicap on a hunting rifle, at least around here. My 24" barrel .30-06 with a low-mounted 3-9x40mm Fullfield II seems to get hung up on everything, in the field. I'm going to supplement it with a stainless lever gun this year, if I can scratch together the scratch. I'd like a gun that's 6" shorter and 2 lb. lighter, a lot more than a scope that will let me read the date on a nickel at 100 yards.

Again, depends on the rifle, and the game.

I think he asked for suggestions, not opinions.

 

[ArmedBear]

Well, Dodge, those recommendations aren't worth squat if we don't know if this is a .204 Ruger for prairie dogs or a .338 for elk. He says the turrets stick out too far for his taste, but we don't know why that matters, since people who care about having a low-profile gun don't often get 3-9x50mm scopes.

Furthermore, "target shooting" has a variety of meanings.

He doesn't even tell us what magnification he wants, just that it's a "compromise" of some sort, and that, while he is on a budget, a $400 scope (with knobs) is within that budget.

That's my point. To make any recommendation, one would have to know more than the OP has told us.

 

[MarshallDodge]

Well, Dodge, those recommendations aren't worth squat if we don't know if this is a .204 Ruger for prairie dogs or a .338 for elk. He says the turrets stick out too far for his taste, but we don't know why that matters, since people who care about having a low-profile gun don't often get 3-9x50mm scopes.

I understand what you are saying, your post just sounded opinionated and condescending.

 

[ArmedBear]

Oh, I really didn't mean that. I'm sorry I sounded like that.

I was just throwing out what I think are some factors in a compromise.

If you picture me cussing while tripping into cholla, because my full-size scoped hunting boltie on a sling got hung up in the chaparral again, I don't think I look too high and mighty, that's for sure!

Cholla, for those who aren't somewhere blessed with the nasty stuff, is this plant:


It's commonly called "jumping cholla" because it breaks off into balls of spines if you brush by it or brush by a plant that's touching it. The spines are barbed, and often require pliers to remove. I've been hiking with a guy who got a ball stuck in his leg -- through thick pants -- and just gave up on trying to get it out until we got back off the mountain. Some places around here are thick with the stuff.

Sometimes, it's fun to give a cholla plant a good couple of shotgun blasts just on principle.

But I digress...

 

[streetstang67]

Sorry I didn't give enough info before...

Its a Remington 700 .30-06 sps. I chose .30-06 so I could hunt pretty much anything in north america. But I love shooting at the range, I like to set up a water bottle at 350 yds just to see if I can hit it, I like to practice shooting standing up, from my knee, and prone. I enjoy doing that kind of random target shooting, and I want to do it with the same equipment that I hunt with, because I think that if I stick with one gun, I'll shoot best with one gun...if I get a whole arsenal, I'll have to learn each individual rifle/scope and get used to each one.

Anyway, thats my "do-all" definition. Therefore, I want something with high magnification but it needs to be variable so I can use low magnification if hunting close range or a moving deer. I want the high magnification to use at the range to see if I can shoot that bottle cap off. Tall target turrets look like they could catch on loose clothing and such when hunting, but they would be necessary if shooting at the range varies from 50 yards to 500 yards. Lastly, I want 50 mm for low light hunting conditions.

This is a tall order, I know. I also know there will be compromises, but I'm trying to do the best I can.

 

[ArmedBear]

With the Fullfield II, you can just take the turrets off while hunting, right? Then you can throw them back on for fun shooting.

I like my BPLEX Fullfield as a hunting scope. An inch or two is plenty good enough; I wouldn't mess with turrets while big game hunting.

That might be a good solution. A drop-compensating reticle will do a lot to make long-range shooting at things like water bottles (and deer) quick and fun.


WRT magnification, the .30-06 stock 700 with a sporter barrel is good for what, 3" groups at 300 yards with expensive ammo, off a benchrest? That's all my .30-06 is good for, and that's more than it needs to be.

If you're standing, sitting, etc., there's no sense shooting anything smaller than a pie plate at distance. My 3-9x40mm works well enough that I can see all my bullet holes at the local rifle range, and it's a half-lit 100 yard indoor range. I don't even crank it up to 9x. The reticle just about covers up one .30 hole at 100 yards. Low light is no problem, either.

That Leupold has such fine optics that I truly don't think that doubling the magnification would give you an advantage worth spending a few hundred bucks. You won't see anything new; you'll just see the same thing slightly bigger. In fact, you may well crank the magnification back because the slightest movement of the rifle is magnified, too. This can be fatiguing.

My thoughts: to see a really meaningful improvement, you'd probably have to spend more money than makes sense, and you'd give up hunting utility in the process. And I think you're right to think that you will shoot best if you get to know your one rifle very, very well.

Can you just add turrets to the fine scope you have?

One more caveat... I've heard that many scopes, until you hit the really expensive price ranges, don't return exactly when you turn the turrets, say, from your 300 yard setting back to your original 100 yard setting. I have also heard that Leupold VX-I scopes, while they don't have a "clicker", return quite accurately to where they were set. Unfortunately, I haven't tried it with the Burris I have, since I have the BPLEX reticle that includes tickmarks for every hundred hards, so I can't vouch for how well the adjustments return to previous settings.

(By NO MEANS do I mean this to be condescending in any way, if it sounds like that. I mean this as a set of sincere recommendations. And I figure that saving $400 and still getting the results you want is a good thing.)

 

[cheygriz]

Look at the Leupold VX lll 3.5-10X50 and 6.5-20X50. But stick with Leupold, or the top of the line Nikon, and avoid the "el cheapo" Wally-World specials like Tasco, Bushnell, Simmons, etc.

 

[jpalovich]

I have a Millett 6-25x56 on my Savage 10FP. It works great. But, it's like having a Hubble Telescope on your rifle. But, damned if I can't see a Flea on my target at a 100 yards and I only paid $125.00 dollars for it on EBAY.