Scope purchase suggestions

[stallard]

OK; For my birthday, my wife and kids tell me to order a scope for my Savage .308FV. I will be getting around $400.00 for the purchase.
What do you all think?
Which scopes do you suggest?
Target shooting is the primary use.

I'm wanting a 6-24 power at minimum, or 8-32 power maximum.

Let the suggestions begin

 

[dakotasin]

leupold vx-2 6-18...

shooting scopes in the power range you are describing isn't that easy, and mirage will, most days, wash out the use of higher powers.

good luck.

 

[waterhouse]

I'm a big fan of the sightron SII line of scopes. Very good glass and repeatability, great value for what you get. Pretty much all of my scopes are either leupolds or sightrons (and a nightforce, but that's a little out of your price range), never had a problem with any of them.

 

[Uncle Alvah]

dakotasin is spot on. Don't buy into that high mag nonsense, once you get above 12 power, it's like shooting thru a swimming pool, even in cold weather.

 

[Cueball]

Bushnell Elite 4200, 6-24x40, 1/4 MOA Dot, Matte
$389.00 @ Optic Zone

 

[CDignition]

I just picked up a Marlin rifle with a Mueller Eradicator 8.5-25x50AO IGR in it.. here is the link:

http://www.muelleroptics.com/Eraticator.htm

Looks pretty decent so far...for 200 bux it may be a best buy

 

[GunGoBoom]

For that budget, you could get two of these scopes, which wouldn't be a bad choice:

http://theopticzone.com/detail.aspx?ID=2315
http://www.muelleroptics.com/Eraticator.htm

and they have an illuminated microdot which is cool.

But that Elite 4200 is a better scope (very good one), and a great choice. I have a Leupold VX11 6-18x40, and while it is good, the Elite 4200 I have is better IMO.

Here's one of my varminters with the Mueller Eradicator on it:

 

[bogie]

Higher power scopes mean more mirage. For a general use rifle, I'd probably top out at 18x.

 

[GunGoBoom]

But when conditions are such that mirage is NOT present, then why NOT have the ability in reserve to dial it on up and take advantage, if it's a target/precision setup? I'm no expert on mirage effects - maybe someone can fill me in. But my limited understanding is that heat causes mirage, and when it's cold outside, higher powers work fine, no?

 

[Mike Hull]

I'm a big fan of the sightron SII line of scopes. Very good glass and repeatability, great value for what you get. Pretty much all of my scopes are either leupolds or sightrons (and a nightforce, but that's a little out of your price range), never had a problem with any of them.

+1 on the Sightron.

Midway also has them on sale at the moment. They have 6-24X with 1/4"dot, or plex.
The Dot reticle is $399.99, normally $418.99, the plex is $349.99, normally $378.99.

P/N=430-426 for the dot, and P/N=776-273 for the plex reticle.

Lifetime warranty too.

 

[GunGoBoom]

Mike Hull, could you be more specific - which Sightrons are you high on - SI, II, III, all of the above, what? Thanks.

 

[Strongbad]

Burris Signature, in either 6-24 or 8-32. They're a tad out of your price range but if you shop around you'll get close. You can find them on Midway for a smidge over $400 most times and brunoshooters.com usually has better prices even than Midway. If you can't afford either of those, then maybe a Fullfield II in 6.5x20.

 

[rbernie]

As a general recommendation, I'm a big fan of the Sightron SII and Nikon Monarch UCC scopes for range/field work in the under-$500 price bracket (which is where all of my optics live). You didn't mention the ranges that you intend to shoot - dunno if you intend/want to get into an AO unit or one with reticle hash lines/dots for elevation holdover estimation or the like. Zak Smith just did a thread last week explaining all of this really well - you can read it here if you missed it.

Anyway - there are some pretty good sub-$500 optics out there but when you start adding farkles like AO and fancy reticles, things get expensive in a hurry. You'd probably best decide how much of those amenities you need/want, and go from there.

 

[hillbilly]

Leupold........whatever you want.

But Leupold.

hillbilly

 

[dakotasin]

But my limited understanding is that heat causes mirage, and when it's cold outside, higher powers work fine, no?

no.
the worst mirage you are likely to ever see in your life will be when trying to shoot when there is snow on the ground (cold), and a fairly cloudless sky. in those conditions, i have encountered nasty mirage as low as 6x... also, if you shoot from prone, you will run into more mirage than somebody shooting from a bench, which will be more than someone shooting from an elevated bench. to do totally away w/ mirage, you need to eliminate the sun, humidity, and heat from your barrel... the 'mirage' spectrum is a continuum, though - it isn't all or nothing. some days it is really, really bad, and others it is just a little bad. mirage isn't necessarily evil though... it can help the shooter discern conditions way out there...

there's a lot of elements to using high mag scopes... once you get 'em down, they are very nice, but they can be extraordinarily difficult to use.

i stand by the reccomendation of the vx-2 6-18... i have vx-3 8.5-25's, and a couple 6.5-20 vx-3's, but for the money, the 6-18 is awfully tough to beat.

 

[GunGoBoom]

thanks, dakotasin; that helps clarify my misconception quite a bit! Strange that I've never experience mirage even when shooting at the range on higher powers - probably would if I shot prone however.

hey guys, want the ultimate long-range scope? - how about the new Zeiss VM/V Diavari 6-24x72mm, with IR and 30mm tube:

http://www.riflescopes.com/products/5216939943/new_zeiss_6-24x72_diavari_vm_v_30mm_riflescope.htm

That's correct - a 72mm objective - gives you a full 3.0mm of exit pupil on highest magnif (24x). And it's only $3,300 - chump change.

 

[Mike Hull]

Mike Hull, could you be more specific - which Sightrons are you high on - SI, II, III, all of the above, what? Thanks.

Right above my post, there's a quote that states that the original poster considers himself a big fan of the Sightron SII scopes, and the reasons why.

I answered with a +1, which means I agree with his summation, and gave some sale prices on SII Sightrons in the power range the thread starter was inquiring about, and where to get them, along with part numbers.

I don't know how I could have been any more clear!

 

[USSR]

Agree with the above recommendations of the SII Sightron scopes. I've got a 6-24x42 scope that I am using in 1,000 yard F Class competition. Great scope for little $$$.

Don

 

[GunGoBoom]

I don't know how I could have been any more clear!

By saying "SII" only. Actually, it WAS pretty clear that you're keen on SIIs because of the prices etc. But the reason I asked is to get from you some clarification on whether or not you are ALSO keen on SIs and/or SIIIs as good values. Hence my quote:

which Sightrons are you high on - SI, II, III, all of the above, what?

to which you COULD have simply answered "I like the SIIs, but have no experience with the others." Or "I like the SIIs, and SIIIs, but SIs are not worth it". Or any number of other responses which *answered my question*, rather than the response you actually gave, which didn't. Some people think the SIs are crap values; some don't. Some people think the SIIIs are good but overpriced; some don't. I have no idea which category you are in - I'm just trying to gather info. So is your opinion that SIs (a) ARE, (b) ARE NOT, or (c) NO OPINION, also superb values for the price, because you couldn't have made your answer to THAT point less clear.