Not happy about this story but here it is.

Live in Ohio and have to cut grass around a large dying cherry tree that is covered in poison ivy or sumac vines. On most of these I just cut the vines at the base and let the tree be. This one had holes at 3' and about 15' and was a literally hive of activity. Wasn't sure if they were hornets, yellow jackets, honey bees or whatever, but they didn't like my 72" Hustler whenever I went near it.

Being March, I was naively hopeful that it was dormant, and I could drop it and eventually burn it without too much prednisone.

The bees weren't having any of that.

I was able to drop it yesterday then they started to swarm. I mixed up a bit of Termidor (Taurus SC) and a pint of water and hit the hollowed out base.

Went back this am to cut it up. Not a soul survived. I was unhappy that it turned out to be a 8-10' column of honey bees with what turned out to be very sweet honey. (yeah, I tried some near the top of the hive). Wish they were something else.

Hey all,

I know this question has been asked a couple times and I've been reading through some recent threads, but hoping for folks with experience on a few of these optics to chime in. In short I have a proven 20" SAMR-ish .223 gun that I love but just haven't shot much in the past few years.

So I pilfered the old school mildot SWFA 3-9 I had on it and ending up selling that along with a .308 bolt gun to a buddy getting into hunting.

Well I'd like to get an optic back on the rifle and I figured there's probably something out there these days for around $1K that'd have some nice updates compared to the old reliable SWFA. And wouldn't you know it there's just as many trade off's now as there was back then.

I'd be curious if anyone had any $.02 on my considerations here or if I'm missing something I'd appreciate it. Use case is primarily a bit of target shooting, coyote hunting, and maybe a gas gun match from time to time.

Things I like (for this gun):

FFP
2-10x-ish magnification
Length around 13" or less
Weight around 25oz or less
Illumination
Zero Stops / Locking Turrets
Not super busy reticles
Adjustable Parallax (nice to have but not required for this gun)

Things I don't like (for this gun):
Unreliable things
Heavy / Long Scopes
Super busy reticles / should be hunter friendly


I have a range for sure but this is what I'm considering:

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Leupold Mark 4HD M5C3 FFP TMR Illuminated
~$1000

My initial replacement thought. Love the size/weight, features, reticle is acceptable for me.
Concerned about tracking and reliability based on Rokslide tests for the money. Conflicting reports on glass quality for the price.

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Steiner H6Xi 2-12x42mm STR-MIL FFP
~$1500

Love the size/weight, features, glass is probably excellent, bit spendy (diminishing returns?)
Reticle is a bit busy for me and feel it might get lost hunting

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Trijicon Credo 2-10x36 FFP w/ Red MRAD
~$1000

Good size/weight if just a touch long, Japanese glass
Reticle a bit busier than I'd like, unsure if better that the Leupy for the same price?

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Athlon Helos BTR GEN2 2-12x42mm AHMR2 FFP IR MIL
~$400

Like the size/weight, features, generally like the reticle, ranging capability is really cool, cheap means more money rolled into scope on a different rifle faster, or less buyer's remorse if someone ever comes out with a banger MPVO.
Don't love a 1 MOA dot, biggest concerns is on quality and reliability, glass is said to be OK, seems like a dice roll.

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Vortex PST Gen 2 2-10x FFP Mil
~$750

Like the size/weight, generally like the reticle, cheaper than other options, Vortex warranty
Discontinued/Somewhat Hard To Find, glass said to be OK

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Bushnell LRTSi 3-12 FFP
~$800?

Like the weight, a touch long, G3 tree is ok, said to have great Japanese glass, should have bought one years ago during the blow out.
Discontinued/ Very Hard To Find, read a few horror stories about Bushnell warranties on these and replacing them with worse options

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Maven RS1.2 - 2.5-15x44 FFP
$~1100

Excellent performance in Rokslide tests, Good glass, good hunting reticle, great magnification range
Definitely a long boy, a touch on the heavy side, temptation to slap on a bolt-gun hunting rifle instead

Edit: To be clear, I expected to see zero shift between barrels, just trying to determine what would be considered excessive.

I just started using an AXSR after getting set up with one with several barrels of different calibers. Had a question after my first range trip and thought I'd post this since I don't have any experience with this platform and according to most threads I've found this doesn't seem like the norm.

The gun came with the .300 Norma barrel and I also got a 20" .308 AI barrel, A 27" .338 Lapua AI barrel and a 24" Stainless Proof 6.5 Creedmoor barrel.
What is considered a typical zero shift when swapping between calibers or is there even a typical outcome?
I zeroed the gun with the .308 barrel (175 FGMM) and when I switched to the .300 Norma barrel (215 Berger OTM ammo) it was less than .2 mil off the .308 zero which is fantastic.

When I switched to the AI .338 Lapua barrel (Hornady 285 ELDM) it was 9.5” low and 4.5” left. Would this be considered within acceptable limits or does this sound unusual for this rifle?
I actually thought I did something wrong installing the .338 barrel so I loosened the locking bolt and barrel and re tightened everything and the shots went back into the same group. I understand not to expect it to hold the same zero between barrels and calibers, just wondering if this is typical.