What power scopes do you use on your 223 Rem. target or varmint rifles??

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I shoot prairie dogs and coyotes and have the following listed in the order of favorite to least favorite. Obviously I like Leupold. The first 2 listed are fantastic scopes. The rest are very good. The AO feature is a waste of time. The one I shoot the most PDs with is the .223. With my reloads, it is one wickedly accurate rifle.

Anschutz 17HMR with Leupold Vari-X 3 3.5X10
Remington 541S .22 with Leupold Vari-X III 2.5-8
Ruger #1 .204 with Leupold Vari-X II 4X12 50mm
Remington 700 VSF .223 with Leupold Vari-X II 4X12 AO
Remington 700 VLS .243 with Leupold Vari-III 4.5X14 AO
 
223 AI wears a US optics SN-3 Tpal 3.2x17
223's...a Leupold M8 12X, another wears a 8.5x25 Leupold Mark IV and another wears a Zeiss Conquest 3x9. They all have different purpose.
 
Tikka Lite wears a Nikon 4-12 Mil Dot, Remington Tactical a Bushnell 10x Mil Dot...


M
 
I have two AR-15's with match barrels that I use to target shoot with out to 300 yards. One has a Mueller 3-10x44 tac II and the other has a nitrex by weaver 2-10x50 TR2.
 
REM 700 XCR “Tactical” Leupold MK4 6.5-20X Illuminated TMR Reticle in Larue mounts:

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Most of my varmints are beavers and muskrats on my 9 acre pond, so the illuminated reticle is a must for twilight with a dark pond bank background. The extra magnification comes in handy when there’s not much more than a head out of the water.

Chuck
 
My Savage 12FV .223 has worn a Meopta 3-9x42, Bushnell 4200 8-32x40, Nikon Buckmaster 6-18x40, Bushnell Elite 4200 3-12x44 FFP, and is currently scopeless; if I want to shoot it I'll take the Elite 4200 6-24x50 FFP off my .260 Remington.

I plan on putting one of SWFA's recently announced mil/mil 12x42 fixed power scopes on the 223 when they are introduced later in the spring.
 
My Remington 700 SPS Varmint .223 wears a Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40 with A/O.
My Weatherby Vanguard Varmint Special .223 has a Nikon Buckmasters 4.5-14 x40 with side focus, and my AR-15 (S&W M&P 15 Sport) has a Nikon Prostaff 2-7x32 shotgun scope. It is accurate enough that I may put my Redfield Revolution 4-12x40 on it when I go to Montana for the gophers.
 
Dang it, I had a big long response typed out and hit the wrong darn button and lost it! I'll try this again.....

Most of my varmint hunting is limited to shooting prairie dogs. I try to plan my first shoot around the time that the pups are just starting to come out of the holes. As you spend time at a specific dog town the older/larger dogs get wise real quick. Even the younger ones at closer ranges keep down for long periods of time. When the ranges start getting past 300, 400 and 500 yards you are going to want to crank that scope up. Shooting at targets no larger than your hand at those types of ranges is very difficult. If you are limited by low end magnification it will only compound the problem. As I've gotten older and spent more time shooting I find more/quality magnification to be invaluable. Granted, mirage can be a problem if you are shooting in an area that gets hot but my shooting has been limited to ND and MT and it doesn't get unbearable like it does here in TN so it really hasn't been an issue.

Another thing that I feel a new shooter should know is that a good quality scope with less magnification is going to be much easier to use than a cheap scope with tons of power for the most part. I've got Swarovski's, Leupolds, Sightrons and Simmons scopes on my rifles. My Swarovski Z3 is leaps and bounds above the cheaper simmons scopes that I have during times of less than optimal shooting conditions. But when I'm shooting on a bright sunny day with rifles that are really only capable of shooting 400-500 yards the elcheapo Simmons whitetail classic 6.5-20 scopes work great (yeah I know I said most cheap scopes are not that great but these are a great value for those on a budget). The eye relief is a little on the critical side so it can wear you out looking through them but scanning for new targets is done with binoculars so it's of little concern.

Sure different critters are a lot bigger than prairie dog pups but from my experience having extra magnification available is never a bad thing.

All this talk about critters has me chomping at the bit to get out on the prairie!

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I have various scopes, but 4 primary scopes for varmint/target purposes. Because all of my heavy barreled rifles have picatinny rails, I can use any of these scopes across any of my rifles:

SWFA 10X
Nightforce 3.5-15 X 56
Nightforce 5.5-22 X 56
Nightforce 12-42 X 56

Regardless of the magnification range of the scopes, out to 300 yards, I find that about 11X is perfect for me to be able to consistently hit a 3.5" steel disk. I have said here at THR before, all factors considered, the SWFA is as close to a point of rationality (the most scope for the least money) as I ever have experienced.

Geno
 
Vortex Viper 6.5-20x50. It is probably more magnification than most need, but my eyes suck. Works well for groundhogs and yotes out to 300 yards (probably further if I had the space to do it).
 
The Remington R-15 .223 sports a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x50 side focus

The Remington 700 Varmint 22-250 has a Leupold VX-II 6-18x40 AO

FWIW Both are great scopes, but I like the Nikon better. The eye relief of the Nikon does not change like the Leupold does when switching between minimum and maximum power settings.
 
Lots of good choices here.My heavy barrel 223 wears a NF 3.5-15.My 22-250AI,243 and 6.5-284 have NF 5.5-22's.I have had good service out of my Leupolds,both VX-111's and MK-4's,but have slowly switched over to NF. Lightman
 
I have a stevens model 200 that I just mounted my bushnell 4200 elite 3-9 X 40 on. As I look through it, judging by my experience with more powerful scopes on a 22-250 I owned, I can say I would definitely like more power. Reason is, I only do target shooting on paper, and like to use dime sized target dots out at 200 yards. Set at the max of 9 power, the target dot would be completely covered up by the crosshair. This is no good to me. However, if you are hunting and not trying to put 5 shots into the smallest possible area, I would say the 3-9 would easily be good enough for squirrel sized animals or larger out to 300 yards. I know this scope will be good for printing on paper all day at the 100 yard range, however.
 
You can only shoot as well as you can see. I've got a 6.5x20x40 VX-III on my AR. Shoots WAY under MOA. My 22-250 has a 4x16x50. My target CZ .22 has a VX-III 6.5x20x40EFR.

I'd agree that good glass is exceptionally helpful.
 
My 700LTR primarily for target use , has a Leupold Vari-X III 6.5X - 20X with target dot.

On my other .223s I have used a Bushnell Elite 4200 6X-24X , Weaver V16 4X-16X both with target dot.

When I began shooting .223s my main scope was an old Burris 12X Fullfield with plex reticle.
 
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