Need help on scope choice

[glock55]

hey guys need your thoughts on a scope for 300 to 600 yard shooting. just bought a rem 700 adl in 308 and  am replacing stock with a rem m40 bdl from red hawk rifles with conversion floor plate. plan to also install a harris bipod. any suggestions on a good scope would be appreciated. i would like to keep scope price around 500.00 not including mounts. have not done any long range shooting so your thoughts on reticle would also be helpful. is a bullet drop reticle helpful in this situation. thanks in advance for your input

[RED333]

http://www.nikonhunting.com/products/riflescopes/

[Dolomite_supafly]

I would avoid the bullet drop reticles. The reason is they work with one bullet, at one velocity in one weather condition. I have had a bunch of BDC reticles over the years and very rarely do they work as intended. I would look at a mildot reticle. It is a much more useful reticle when it comes to determining range as well as a quick holdover.

 

I never thought I needed a mildot until I got my first. Now every scope I buy has to be a mildot.

 

What I normally do is make a chart for the drop and stick it inside the scope's objective cover. It has my adjustments that need to be made on the turret as well as a quick mildot holdover. I rarely use the mildot for quick shots and turn the turrets 90% of the time to get on target.

 

The math to range a target can be done in your head as well. It is a super simple formula. Take the target height, multiply by 1,000 then divide the target by the number of mildots that cover it. Thats it. And whatever units, meters or yeards or feet or even inches, are used on the front end that is what comes out on the back end. Take a 2 meter tall target, multiply by 1,000. This gives you 2,000. Then lay the reticle over the target and the target is 3 mil tall in the scope. Now you devide the 2,000 by 4 and the result is 500. So that target is 500 meters. You can use the average height for a deer at the shoulders as well. Or the height of the average door of a building. There are plenty of things you can use to judge distance. As long as you have an idea of the height or width of the target you can get the distance.

 

And once you have your distance you just refer to your chart and turn your turret to the correct adjustment. Which brings me to another thing that a decent mildt scope needs. Easily adjustable turrets. You also want turrets that can be reset once zeroed. Most tactical or precision scopes while most hunting scopes do not have a way to zero the turrets back out once the scope is zeroed.

 

Ideally you want the turrets graduations to match the reticle. That is if the reticle is mil then the turrets need to be mil. The reason why this is important is if you are shooting and you see the "splash" is say 1 mil low. You can just add 1 mil to the turrets and be on target. If you have a mil reticle and moa turrets then you need to do a conversion that is impossible to do in my head.

 

And finally, it might make it a little out of your price range but you want a first focal plane scope. This means the mildot reticle works at all magnifications. Normally the mildot only works at one magnification.

 

I would make sure the turrets matched the reticle before getting a FFP scope.

 

If you are LE I would also look at Burris. They used to offer a 55% (yes 55!!!!) discount to LE or military.

 

Here are a few that would work fine for you in your price range. Just make sure to get a mildot.

http://www.opticsplanet.com/millett-6-25x56mm-lrs-1-1-mil-click-illuminated-multi-coated-matte-long-range-riflesc.html

http://www.opticsplanet.com/vortex-riflescopes-vpr-m-05fp.html

http://www.opticsplanet.com/burris-3-5-10x-42mm-mtac-g2b-mil-dot-reticle-rifle-scope.html

http://www.opticsplanet.com/hawke-sport-optics-sidewinder-30-4-5-14x38mm-side-focus-rifle-scope.html

 

http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-MRAD-Scopes-C4225.aspx

http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-MOA-Scopes-C4226.aspx

 

For my top pick this would be it:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/183567/vortex-viper-hs-tactical-rifle-scope-30mm-tube-5-15x-44mm-side-focus-1-10-mil-adjustments-mil-dot-reticle-matte

 

I have been hearing GREAT things about this scope as well:

https://www.primaryarms.com/Primary_Arms_4_14X44_FFP_Scope_p/pa4-14xffp.htm

It has EVERYTHING it should. Mildot reticle, 1/10 mil adjustments to match the reticle, first focal plan so you can range at ANY magnification. And a top notch warranty. They even have blems for under $200 that way you won't have a lot of money to see if you like a mildot setup. The only problem is you might run out of elevation at the rather distances.

 

Dolomite

Edited December 21, 2012 by Dolomite_supafly

[Caster]

Red has it. You cannot beat Nikon for the money.

[Guest nowheretobefound]

You've purchased a good rifle, you're putting it into a different stock, and you’re adding a bipod...why would you put junk on top of it?  Save up and get a decent scope, meaning at least triple your current amount.

[Dolomite_supafly]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="MSG Jano" data-cid="865121" data-time="1356095851"You've purchased a good rifle, you're putting it into a different stock, and you’re adding a bipod...why would you put junk on top of it? Save up and get a decent scope, meaning at least triple your current amount.</blockquote>

Not everybody can afford or justify a $1,500 scope. $500 is a great budget for his purposes and his rifle.

Dolomite Edited December 21, 2012 by Dolomite_supafly

[Guest nowheretobefound]

Not everybody can afford or justify a $1,500 scope. Way to make a guy feel inadequte about his new purchase.

 

Dolomite

 

Opinions vary and he might feel alot better if he gets a decent scope, even if he has to wait a bit, rather than regret a impulse purchase just to get something.

[Dolomite_supafly]

So every $500 scope is not a decent scope?

Dolomite

[RED333]

I go cheaper than that, max 200 dollars, so far (years) I have not had any worries.

One day I will buy a better scope,  scope dont make them go bang any better.

I know, easy to hit the target, I am not a "Sharp shooter", just a plinker.

[Dolomite_supafly]

People have budgets and they live within those budgets. I would love to drive my Ferrari to my 30k square foot mansion and shoot my $15k rifle on my 1,000 yard indoor range. But I live in the real world under MY budget, no one else's. And my budget dictates what I can afford just likd the OP. The OP came with a request that was within HIS budget, not yours.

Good for you that you can afford a $1,500 scope but not everyone can. Which is better? Not shooting a gun while you save or shooting while you save?

Dolomite

[Guest nowheretobefound]

People have budgets and they live within those budgets. I would love to drive my Ferrari to my 30k square foot mansion and shoot my $15k rifle on my 1,000 yard indoor range. But I live in the real world under MY budget, no one else's. And my budget dictates what I can afford just likd the OP.

 

I'm happy you are satisfied with your personal choices.

[Romad7]

I have the SWFA SS 12x MRAD on my .223 Tikka and love it. For $300 you can't beat it, the new reticle is nice too, to me it's better than the normal Mil-Dot reticles out there.

It's better than the cheap scope that RED runs on his evil Saiga;) (jk, I have the same one on my 10/22) Edited December 22, 2012 by Romad7

[Dave Keenom]

I have taught classes where students have used SWFA Supersnipers with great results if you are going with fixed power I recomend a 10x due to the difficulty of finding your target with a more powerful scope. I have a Buriss tactical on on rifle and Leupold MK4s on the others.

 

Do not forget robust mount and rings. They are often the weak link in a setup. You do not have to get Badger the Brownells stuff will work.