Scope for 300 yds without breaking the bank

[AJ]

If long range shooting is what you want to do, then buy a good fixed power scope. 3-9X to me is a good 100 yards scope, get a Nikon or a Leupold. For longer ranges get a fixed 24X or 36X Leupold. Much clearer and better glass. Used or new will do, as Leupold has a lifetime warranty.

 

[lrrifleman]

mmb617,

Sorry for getting into this discussion late.

Back when I shot iron sight 30 cal NM, I used a Kowa TS601 spotting scope with a 25X eye piece. At 200 yards, I could actually see the.30 bullet holes. At 300 yards and beyond, I needed the assistance of either golf "tees" or spotting discs. When I graduated to my AR HBAR, even with the 25X eye piece, I couldn't see my bullet holes at 200 yards with my spotting scope unless it was open blue sky behind the target, like you see at Camp Perry.

Now that I'm disabled and shooting F class, I retired my spotting scope, and using my rifle scope to read mirage and (when not using electronic scoring) view the scoring discs. On my 600 yard AR, I use an old El Paso Weaver T10. My Rem 700 in 308 wears a Weaver T16. My Rem 700 Long Range (1000 yard rifle) wears a Vortex Viper PST. My 224 Valkyrie upper will wear another Weaver T10 when it hits the 600 and 1000 yard lines. While magnification can be your friend, it can also be a greater enemy!

The likelihood of being able to view a quarter inch bullet hole or smaller at 200 yards or more will typically require a spotting scope with an eye piece of at least 60X, if not more.

Good luck in your quest!

 

[mmb617]

Well to my surprise the new scope that was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday actually got here yesterday. Today is another of the 95* ones we've been having lately so I went to the range at 8 AM to try out my new scope and beat the worst of the heat.

The good news is that I'm really happy with this scope. I set splatterburst targets out at 100, 200 and 300 yds. I first used the 100 yd distance to sight in the scope which was pretty far off to the left at first but was really clear at 10x, super easy to see the holes. I'm new to scoped rifles and later reading leads me to believe that I'd be better off sighting in at 50 yds so I'll do that next trip out. Today was just getting the feel of things and checking the sight picture at some longer ranges.

Next I tried the 200 yd targets and found I liked 12x best for that distance. Again the shots were very easy to see, much better than with my old scope.

Finally I moved out to the 300 yd ones and quickly found that 24x was blurry. The temp was already over 80* by then which I'm sure didn't help. But when I dialed back to 16x the image was crystal clear and I could make out my holes although they were a little hard to see. Then I noticed that while my target was in the shade the left portion of the target stand was in full sunlight so I made that long walk to change the position of the target into the sun. Wow! Big difference. I could now see the hits quite clearly at 300 yds.

I brought along my 15-22 with it's new scope (the old one from the AR) and was pleased to see how much better it is now at 100 yds which is as far as I expect to shoot it.

I'm very glad I went ahead and got the 6-24x scope. It's capable of doing what I wanted, that being letting me see my hits at 300 yds. I don't see any reason I'll ever need anything for any distance greater than that as it's the longest range at my club. I've got lots of room for improvement in my accuracy at that distance but I'll work at it.

I will be the first to admit that I'm no marksman but I will also say that there's obviously some room for improvement in my equipment other than the optic. For one thing I'm still not happy with my trigger. I did install an aftermarket single stage trigger but I still think it's too heavy and not smooth enough. I'm thinking about maybe trying a two stage, as I've never used one but from what I've read they sound like a solution to what I don't like about my present trigger.

I also don't like the amount of rotational flex in my handguard. I need to do more research on possible cures for that.

I just wanted to give an update to those who gave their input. It was appreciated.

 

[1sailor]

mmb617. I don't know which aftermarket trigger you have now but I am thrilled with the 3lb Timney trigger I installed. It feels a lot more like the triggers on my revolvers. When finger pressure reaches 3lb's the gun fires. After installing the Timney I fired the best rifle group of my life. Probably just luck but still.... great trigger.

 

[Rastoff]

I set splatterburst targets out at 100, 200 and 300 yds.

With those targets you don't even need a scope to see the hits.