Rifle Scopes Anyone have experience with the P-223 for the AR at distance?

[Smooth73]

I recently purchased Nikon's P-223 3x-32 carbine scope for my AR-15. I was looking for a tactical solution that would balance short and long range situations, which they claim this scope is designed for.
I have yet to get it to the range (the weather has sucked here lately), but my range here only goes out to 100yds. They advertise this scope is good out to 600+ with the BDC reticle, with a 200 zero, and I'm wondering if anyone has used this scope at distance and what you thought. Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[bman940]

I have put over 2000 rounds under this scope with the my longest shots being to 200 yards. For my 54 year old eyes I need a bit more magnification after that. The being said I have had guys tell me they have popped pigs at over 400 yards using the BDC reticle. I recently put the P-223 3X Carbine scope on my carbine comp. AR.It worked so well my son claimed it for his use at the next match. Check out Nikon's P-Series AR mount which works great with the compact fixed 3X.

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd363/bman940/P-223 3X/spotonp2233x.jpg

 

[Smooth73]

Thanks for the info, bman! I have this scope mounted on nikon's p-series rings, so I'm set there!

 

[bhoges]

Same here Ive shot mine to 200 yards. Its a nice compact scope but Ive yet to get it out to my 600 yard range. Im a fan of higher magnification as well. On steel you can probably reach out a little more with no issues.

 

[seanhagerty]

I have a 4-12X that I have pushed out to 600yds. It flat out works.

 

[precision308]

I have the 3-12 and shot it to 400. It tracks well but I felt the glass quality was poor but then again they are inexpensive so I can't bitch.

 

[sscoyote]

Heck after I saw the specs on it I had to have it--1/2 SMOA turret (though it's advertised as 1/4), with 150 MOA total travel (sweet!), though I measured mine at 160. Now don't laugh but here's what I put it on--



Shot it at 425 yds. recently at a coke can which I could see easily enough. Could even see almost every dust signature in the dirt as I shot (something I couldn't do with the 2X's I've had on the pistol before). Cranked on 100 MOA and was all around the can, then cranked back down to 50-yd. zero perfectly. Very bright and clear optic I thought. Very impressed especially with the price tag...

Oh yeah here's the BDC subtensions--10 MOA post tip to x-hair (windage)---nice IMO. x-1=5.5 IPHY, x-2=14.25, x-plex post tip=20

 

[AKONA]

I have used superb glass monarchs out to 850 yards. These use the "sold as simple" BDC system typical with nikon.
The problem with most 2nd focal plane is that your holdover references will change with the magnification so you have to keep magnification always the same or write down mean values.
And also if you change altitude, some atmospherics and/or brand of ammo, the references will change again. One could do a calculation by mapping magnification settings to correction value
but it will be more complex that something with a uniform scale and unit of measure like a mil-dot. Zeiss provides some software to work with this method and typical commercial loads
and they can get close but not dead on precise, even with their richer Z reticles based on the Pride & Fowler design.
Even in a 2nd focal plane you can rely on some of the stadias to work at a specific magnification just like a fixed/straight tube and some as equally effective for ranging and
accurate holdover if needed. One can even range with drop comp stadias but you will need a conversion table at the intended magnification settings. For this you will have to
write precise measures on a target (I suggest at 100 yards) and convert to MOA value. In other words you could take values from the stadia and be able to calculate target distance
based on estimated size using preset magnification ranges. ie: A human head (10") might be the 300yd circle at 5 magnification and that means 550 yards range.
These systems cannot work out of the box as some people think because of the above and the different speeds in the ammo. ie: 55gr PMC bronze is 200fps+ slower than 55gr Federal LC.
Also keep in mind that if one zeros a M193 at 300 yards you willl get a point blank range on a human torso 10 to 12 inches (kill zone) all the way to 400 yards. Again this
with nato LC stuff or equivalent.
So no much is needed, a simple small correction and you got a deadly hit... well aside from the wind but that is a different story.
It can be done, it is just a lot more complex.
For repeatability at 600 yards get a better scope.

 

[Smooth73]

SSCoyote- Truthfully, I did laugh at first, but after thinking about it I realized it makes good sense for your application. I like how much relief this scope has, so in your situation I can see by the evidence it performed well for you. I also thought it was weird when I looked at the scope when I got it and saw 1/2" MOA stamped. Bummer, but it'll work.

4A guy I work with mentioned he bought the 3x9x40 (I think that's right) version and put it on the new Ruger AR (very nice camo BTW), and said he took it out to 400. I think he said he was somewhere at 1.25" on the day first time out. He has the opportunity to shoot long range quite often, but I thought that was still pretty good.

My main concern was how well one could view the target at those distances, considering the magnification but it sounds like it does fairly well. I'll be interested to see how well this setup performs in the semi-auto challenge! My AR was a recent build, and haven't fired one round through it yet. I'll post my results in the forums!

Thanks again guys

 

[rmfield]

SScoyote, just how do you shoot with a scope that has 3.4" of eye relief when mounted on a pistol?

 

[sscoyote]

RM--I just hold it close to my eye with my left hand, elbow against my side. Really no more awkward than normal holding at arm's length. When I shot at the range I was using sandbags sitting, which is easily applied then of course. I shoot mostly with specialty pistols so I've learned to adapt...quite common with them IME.

That setup as you see above is where I want the scope to mount as far back as possible. I still have to get another slot milled into the base to achieve this. I had to mount it a bit further forward than what is seen in the pic for now--but it still worked OK.

If nuthin' else it sure looks cool...huh? Heck what else really counts.....? Who cares if you actually hit the target as long as you look good trying?...Hardy har!

 

[Smooth73]

This scope was the first Nikon product I've bought in a long time, and I didn't know about their SpotOn ballistics program/website. I thought that was a really cool idea, and haven't seen anything like this from other scope manufacturers. Granted it only works for Nikon products, but still a good idea nonetheless.

You pick the scope and load you're using, punch in your ambient factors, and it produces range estimates and trajectory charts for various zeros. works much like any common ballistics program, but for the specific scope being used. Again, haven't been able to compare it to my real world results yet, but it looks pretty solid.