Rifle Scopes Am I making the right choice - Optic for Savage FV-SR

[Ipe]

Hey folks. I've been reading the forums here pretty throughly, abusing the search function and have learned a lot, or at least a lot more than I did before. I know there's been a lot of "what scope to get" posts but I'm hoping you'll read on and help me out. I'm willing to admit that I don't know enough to make an educated decision.

Reading the forums here I get the feeling that the MidwayUSA BSA 4-14x44 FFP MRAD, Primary Arms 4-14 FFP Mil-Mil, and the Falcon Menace 4-14x44 FFP Mil-Mil are all essentially the same scope. I also get the feeling that all are pretty well regarded when considering their features in relation to their cost.

I'm building up a Savage FV-SR for my son and I to use (mostly him but I'll use it too). I learned to shoot long ago in the Army and am now getting back into it after being away for a bit. He's progressed beyond plinking and now we want to build our skills and accuracy. As those skills build we want to move out in distance. I see some of you shooting 22lr accurately at 300 yards. Thats something we'd like to do too, eventually.

Here's where lack of experience trumps all my research. I'm not sure how to proceed. If I'm reading things correctly any one of those scopes (Midway BSA, PA, or Falcon) should work pretty well for what we want to do. The BSA and the Falcon can focus down to 10 yards if we want or need that, and with non-capped turrrets we should be able to adjust for windage and elevation when shooting longer distances so these all seem like good choices. So what am I missing? Are these good choices? Or, am I so lost I don't even know it?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[redneckbmxer24]

They chinese pieces of crap with only about 20mils of travel that isn't going to hold up to cranking the knobs. For $50 more you can get a mil/mil SWFA SS that's made in Japan and is a much higher quality scope. They have almost 40mils of travel so it's double what the others have. It's a lot more scope for not much for money.

 

[mlh29]

plus one with above.. save a little moreand buy better.. many like the lower vortex line on 22lr, if it were me a straight 10 x bushnell elite would be the cheapest I would go if you have to have open turrets and mildot. . That being said they will gove you fits if trying to focus under about 50 yds.. I am running a 20 moa base on my 22lr and a ballistic plex 4.5x14x42 burris .. not using it at 300yds but the reticle is close enough and the adj are good enough for my plinking and hunting with a 22lr needs.
Optics for accuracy/repeatable adj are not cheap.
Good luck

 

[fdkay]

I have had a Falcon 4-14 for several years and it has served me very well.
The glass is surprisingly good for the price range, it has 90 MOA or so of travel, an excellent reticle and tracks true.

I don't use it much anymore, as I upgraded to an IOR, but I ran through a basic sniper course with it mounted on a savage 10PC in .308 with no issues.
I put it on a savage 12 varmint with a LW .308 barrel in a B&C stock. It continues to function just fine and every time I use it, I continue to be amazed at just how good it was for 355 dollars.

It most certainly won't have a problem on a .22 and they offer an excellent introduction to FFP mil/mil scopes.

 

[NewsShooter]

They chinese pieces of crap with only about 20mils of travel that isn't going to hold up to cranking the knobs. For $50 more you can get a mil/mil SWFA SS that's made in Japan and is a much higher quality scope. They have almost 40mils of travel so it's double what the others have. It's a lot more scope for not much for money.

I'm guessing you've never played with one since you don't have a clue about it. Not a bad scope, glass is decent, and I don't think you will find another FFP scope within a couple hundred. I have three right now, one on my MkII and two that I bought for my nephew's 10/22's. Shot mine at the steel range a couple weeks ago. Getting dope out to 300 meters, with a 50 yard zero it was 24.5 mils with CCI SV, somehow I didn't run out of adjustment. Dialed it up and down getting dope while practicing positional stuff on the steel range. I've had it for several months, so far no issues, it tracks accurately and focuses down to 10 yards which I like on a .22.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I had several Falcons, every one crapped out. Fortunately I have enough sense to not even give the BSA a thought, I learned my lesson about them years ago.

 

[delfuego]

Hey Ipe, You should look at Mueller scopes for .22's. They have parallax down to 10y or so. They are plenty durable enough for rimfire. Price is definitely right. Check out rimfirecentral.com and you will see a lot of people using them, and those people shoot lots-o-22!

I do have a SWFA 10x mil/mil on my trainer, partly for the great price (>$300) and partly to match up with my big scope in form and function.

I wouldn't worry too much about FFP and tactical turrets on a 22, (especially a kids 22). For the cost of admission on most 22 scopes you wont lose much cash if you upgrade later. I second the opinion to avoid BSA, Facon, Etc. If you really want a "real" MRAD, FFP, variable power scope it will run you $1000 +/- to start.

Most important thing is to get you and your kid out shooting!!!

 

[Ipe]

Thanks for the replies folks. I apppreciate it.

Looking above it looks like one bad Falcon experience, a couple good Falcon experiences, a suggestion for an alternative, and a couple suggestions to step up a couple notches. I'll keep all this in mind before making any final decision.

Looking at the SWFA SS scopes the 3.5-15 is beautiful but just too spendy for what I can swing right now. I'm trying to understand better how the fixed 10x or 12x scope would work out well for us seeing as we'd be using it in what many of you would consider very short to medium ranges.

I like Rimfire Central. What some of those guys do with their 10/22's is amazing. But I have noticed an interesting trend. A LOT of these guys will build up an amazing rifle that easily set them back $1500-2000 and then go and throw a pure crap scope on the thing. The UTG "Bug Buster" seems to be pretty popular.... but this really doesn't make much sense to me. Its almost like a lot of them forgot to budget properly for glass and then it was too late so they just get anything to put a check in the box for "Scope".

Looking over the interwebs I found these links from LoneWolfUSMC (who I think is very well respected here and out on the web). He talks about the Falcon 4-14 in these and seemed to be pretty happy with it. Thats one of the reasons I was liking their scope. That said I'll take a deeper look at the Mueller and SWFA SS scopes, I just don't see being able to swing much more than $400 for glass at this time.


8541 Tactical - Falcon Menace 4-14x44FFP Rifle Scope
Mail Call Mondays #34 - Zombies and Budget Rifle Scopes - YouTube

Thanks again for all your help.

Ipe