Hi, Need a little help please. l just bought a varmint bolt rifle

in 22-250... Just wanted some opinions on how much magnification

l should get for the scope... l will be using it on prairie dogs..

Don't know what model to get either... 0ne word written in STONE.

lt will be a L E U P O L D

thanks

282

Mirage probably will make it tough for you to consistently use more than 20x or so, IMO. Leupold’s VX3-series that tops out at 20x should be perfect for your new varmintblaster.

Since I seldom had an observer I needed magnification low enough to observe my bullet's impact. Misses can be seen as puffs of dust. For a given cartridge and shooting rest the heavier the rifle & scope combination the higher the magnification could be. We shot prone using Harris bipods and boat cushions under the butt stock. For protection from the prickly pears We used the rubber mats that machinest's stand on at their milling machines. With the bipod legs settled into the dirt that set up can be as accurate as a bench rest. For the recoil of a .223 sporter 10 to 12X was about the most that still allowed seeing impact. Even on a varmint weight rifle I did not use more than 12X. That's partly because I needed to be able to lower the magnification to scan for prairie dogs. Also, like like M29since14 wrote, mirage is more troublesome at higher magnification.

Your set up might be different. Some people truck shooting benches out into the prairie. Experimentation with your set up will teach you how much magnification you need.

A lot depends on your eyesight. I really like the Leupold Veri-x III 6.5-20 (I have 8) but am very fond of the 4.5-14 version (I have 2). I never shot a groundhog beyond 450 yards, and in bright wide open fields the lessor out of the shadows.

I would say these powers are fine. But it seems at distance ground hogs in the tree lines are hard to pick. I would recommend you spend the extra money and get a scope with the adjustable objective or side focus.

I think you'll want a fine crosshair or the "Target Dot", works very well on paper or furry targets.

Ivan

I had a Weatherby .223 varmit rifle with a 4-12x Leupold and I remember wishing I had more, like at least 16x and the adjustable objective is mandatory in the high magnifications. I recently shot a friends gun with a Leo VXII 6-18X AO scope and I REALLY liked it.

I have a Kimber Walking Varminter in the caliber and have a 6.6-20 x 56 on it..Mainly because I got the scope cheap. It is plenty of magification even for my ol eyes. I have an old 722 Rem in 222 with a Burris Signature in 4-16 which is just fine for most of my uses. Back when my eyesight was young and good I had a first year Ruger no 1 in 22-250 with a fixed power 12XAO Leupold. Never missed a groundhog with that rifle out to about 425 yds. The last 22-250(Rem 700 Varminter) I had, had a Leupold 6-18 on it. Barely got it sighted in when my plumber talked me out of it

I've had 2 Remington 700's in 22-250, and one was with a Nikon Monarch 6.5-20 and the other was with a Leupold 6-18. I felt the clarity was the same in both scopes, I found shooting Prairie Dogs (did that for 10 years), I most often used around 14X. Getting a Leupold you can also get the custom elevation knob made for exactly your load. It makes things very easy, take a range finder reading, dial in the range on the scope and judge the wind. I have made one shot kills over 500 yards that way.

Unfortunately the area in S D where we hunted had a big die off from the plague a few years ago and what were left were way over hunted. Hopefully in a couple years things may return to better shooting. If anyone is willing to offer any locations in that general vicinity SD or Nebraska that has a good population of dogs I'd be interested. PM me.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I have a Savage model 12 in .204 Ruger that I used for prairie dogs in South Dakota a few years ago. It has a Leupold VX-3 8.5-25 x 50 with the custom dial and I am very satisfied with it. When shooting something as small as prairie dog at 400+ yards, more magnification is better. If you get a mirage effect, back off a little. I would rather have too much magnification than not enough. You can always dial it back.

I am a big fan of the 6x18 variables on stuff like this. Have 3 of them on heavy barreled guns, one on a 223, another on a 6mm and another on a 25-06. Right now eastern Montana is on the high part of the population cycle. Most ranchers will welcome you and there are also arge towns on a lot of BLM land.

There is a town on the UL bend of Fort Peck reservoir that stretches several miles. But, it is on the CMR reserve and is a no go because it has a population of endangered blackfooted ferrets.

I have had a Leupold Vari-X II 3-9 AO for about 40 years. Mounted on a Ruger #1 single-shot .25-06. Excellent clarity, holds its zero from year to year (sometimes spending several years in the safe between outings).

Not a dedicated varmint rifle, but it has done very nicely on everything from coyotes to mule deer. This is one of my firearms that I purchased new and have never fired with factory ammo (handloads only), and it will shoot 1/2" groups at 100 yards with very little effort. Easily the most accurate rifle I have.

I can recommend Leupold scopes without hesitation.

I have a Leupold 12X target on my 22-250. I haven't ever shot Prairie Dogs but it works on the local varmints. Larry

What distances do you expect?
Shooting prone or from a table?

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

Shooting from a rotating portable bench... Never from a mat.

Went with a group earlier in June.. Three day jaunt to NE New Mexico..

Killed 5 snakes in 3 days... Quickly swapped 38 Wadcutters for

snake shot... Bolt gun l shot had a 3 1/2-10 Vari X lll on it...

Twas fine inside 200yds, further out was difficult for ME.. My

longest shot was 252yds.. One of he guys had a Swarovski .

That scope was absolutely AMAZING... Clarity was unequaled.

$3000 will definitely get you a lot of quality.... Comparing my

VX3 on the same power and yardage they were pretty equal..

Esp inside 200yds.... Difference came when he turned up the

magnification... Things that were a blur to me were DOGS!!!

i would go with the old 6.5x20 and you will learn to dial it down to find the target and dial it up to what you desire to see before touching off the round. There is a reason that old 6-20 has been so popular for Leupold over the years, now go experience why. Good luck on the dog shoot, most fun one can can have while hot and still have your clothes on.

I had one that I had to sell due to medical finance reasons and own another. Both Remington 700's with sporter barrels. The least I would use is 24x but both of mine had/have variable scopes that ran up to 36x. If the day was not too hot 36x was usable and helped on the long shots but as temps rose and mirage effected things 24x was the setting used.

I have straight powers on my Varmit guns. 10x & 12x. But they
were groundhog guns and 500yds is a long shot in this country.
I had a 16x on a Swift with fine reticle. It was hard to use, the
heat waves erased the cross hairs. My SIL just won a Ruger
22/250 and I put a 4x12 on it. We haven't shot it yet. I don't
know how much scope is practical to put on sporter wieght
rifles. The 22/250 in the ultra lites are a disappointment for
accuracy, 3x9 is good enough for them.

Less than 400 yards and you really don't need more than 10x. Like someone else said, the mirage really becomes a major factor with high magnification. Sitting up on a table helps reduce that a little.

I have a Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4-18x50 on a .308Win gun. I took this shot with it dialed back to about 12x due to mirage being an issue:

The red arrow is pointing to a 18"x24" silhouette at 1,250 yards. Second shot hit.


I was able to hit out to the 400 yard target in a 20-30Mph cross wind with a .223Rem round from a Tavor X95 and using an ACOG 3x scope:

In this one they all had silhouettes similar to the above target except the 1,200 yard target. That one is enormous and was about 8'x4'. I'm pretty sure I hit that one, but not positive. I am positive it was a guess on the hold-over and wind correction and it took several shots. All I can say for sure is that out to 400 yards, the 3xs scope was plenty of magnification for me.


So, if you just have to have Leupold, OK. There is better glass out there as you've seen. It's completely worth it to spend the extra money. If you want to stay around $1,500 or less, look to Vortex. No matter the scope, you don't need more than 10x.

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Freedom isn't free.

I do quite a bit of shooting out to 1000 yards.

I recently put a VX3i LRP 6.5-20X50 on my custom 6.5x55.

I have shot it out to 1000 yards and it tracks perfectly. The glass is very good. I am very happy with this scope I think it would be great on a 22-250.

Just my opinion.

Wingmaster

If you're set on Leupold, I'd recommend one of their Mark 4 scopes. I mounted a straight 16X on my .22-250 (Rem 700) and have been very satisfied with it. We've hunted antelope in Bill WY for the last 11 years and shoot a lot of dogs after we tag out. I liked the 16X so much, I put a 4.5-14x50 Mk 4 on my antelope rifle (Steyr SSG).

The Mark 4 scopes have precise repeatable turrets, excellent optics and side parallax adjustment. I went with standard duplex reticles on both scopes. I range with a laser and have turret adjustment data out to 500 yds taped to the guns. You still have to dope the wind (the hard part), but distance is pretty much eliminated from the equation.

I let other members of our party shoot my .22-250 and some of them have trouble picking up a particular dog with a 16X scope. I'm use to it and get on 'em pretty quick, but a variable power scope may be better for a lot of shooters.

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"I also cook."

l just want a bigger 'POP'! More scope will help me 'SEE' it better.. New gun will

DOUBLE the horsepower of my present rig... 4100fps vs 3300fps w/40gr VMAX