Rifle Scopes My first quality long range scope...help please

[Tin Shot]

Hi guys, first post from me down in Australia.

I'm building a long range gun on a budget and in Australia we not as spoilt as you are for scopes and good deals.
I have new Savage 110 desert tactical in 6.5 Creedmoor
It is going to be used mostly for silhouette out to 500 yards and long range target shooting out to 1000 yards.
I can get the following scopes all in the same price range and in my budget.
But as I'm new to this style of shooting, having mostly shot open sights and hunted with a 12x old Weaver scope.

All help please will be appreciated in whittling this list down to a choice of two, max three.
Glass quality and clarity is my primary worry, as for as reticles are concerned, I'm favouring the Christmas tree style. But one to advise.

Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x50
Burris XTR II 4-20x50 Mil
Buschnell Elite Tactical 6-24x50
Leica ER5 4-20x50 Ballistic Reticle
Meopta Optika 6 3-18×50 FFP
Leopold VX3i 6.5-20x40 EFR CDS
Nightforce Varminter 5.5-22x56
Sightron S2 6-24x50
Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50

( most are new, some are demo and second hand but excellent condition)

What would you pick?
Cheers
Tin Shot.

 

[Genin]

IME I have found that Leupold and Zeiss have fantastic low light gathering capability. You had mentioned hunting above as well so if that is something you’d also be doing I would consider those 2 and then the Nightforce or Burris.

That is just the preference of my eyes though.

 

[TerribleOne]

Hey mate.
I'm from Australia as well, and currently down the rabbit hole with scopes.
Burris and Bushnell seem to have a strong following and good specs for the value.
Have you considered the vortex viper PST 2 can be bought from cleavers new for $1700 and has the Xmas tree reticle, I had a look through one the other week and was impressed with the glass and feel. If you can get some time behind a few of the scopes it might help with decision making.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

The Bushnell. Just based on personal preference.

 

[Tin Shot]

This scope and rifle won't be used for any hunting, I have a dedicated hunting rifle with the Weaver on it.

This is purely a long range target and silhouette gun

 

[Backcountryguy]

Sounds like you do not need illumination. I’d exchange the Ares BTR for the Midas TAC model. I really enjoy floating dot reticles and don’t see myself buying anything different for the foreseeable future. The Midas TAC 6-24x50 with APRS3 reticle(floating dot, Christmas tree) will save you around $200 USD versus the Ares BTR. They have the same exact glass.

 

[Cuzz]

I guess by long range , you mean 1000 yds?
I dont shoot that far and i use holdover instead of clicking turrets, probably NOT the best way. But i like nightforce with moar reticle.

 

[10ring'r]

Hey mate.
I'm from Australia as well, and currently down the rabbit hole with scopes.
Burris and Bushnell seem to have a strong following and good specs for the value.
Have you considered the vortex viper PST 2 can be bought from cleavers new for $1700 and has the Xmas tree reticle, I had a look through one the other week and was impressed with the glass and feel. If you can get some time behind a few of the scopes it might help with decision making.

Just bought the PST 5x25x50. Don't have a lot of time behind it, but in my opinion, I think the glass is fantastic. My last "long range" scope (?), was a Nikon M-223 4x16x42 w/ 600 BDC ret. and I thought it was pretty nice for what it was (Nikon does make cameras). The PST is about 3x better in the glass dept. (besides the turrets, illum.,etc.), according to my eyes, anyway. The only thing that I'm still getting used to, is the length, it takes up a lot of real estate on top of the gun. Since Tin Shot is just using it on a long range target gun, I think this scope would work out just fine. Is their better scopes/glass out there? Yes there is and his mmv. Mac

 

[Bender]

I guess by long range , you mean 1000 yds?
I dont shoot that far and i use holdover instead of clicking turrets, probably NOT the best way. But i like nightforce with moar reticle.

Nothing wrong with holds. They’re fast and accurate.

 

[_Windrider_]

I’ll say this, my bushnell is useless on hot days beyond 800 yards. The parallax won’t focus and the image just becomes blurry. I won’t put it on anything bigger than a 308. It tracks perfect but it’s limitations are obvious at distance.

 

[Tin Shot]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice.
I'm in Western Australia and we have not got the selection and range of scopes that they have on our East Coast, so I need to try and pick from what I can get, or wait months for an order here.

I have to take hot mirage days into account, as our summer weather here can see days over 100degF with ease and lots of shimmer across the range.

 

[nn8734]

Can you get Vortex scopes down there? If so, perhaps a gen 1 Razor or gen 2 viper. Gen2 viper has a Xmas tree reticle (EBR 7C MRAD) that may interest you.

 

[Tin Shot]

I can get
* Vortex Viper HST 4-16x44 $440
* Vortex GENII PST 3-15x44 FFP MRAD $890
That's US dollars here, and yes we get ripped off on prices .
They in my budget of under $1000 and both secondhand but in very good condition

My concern was the low magnification. Will 15/16 power be good enough for 1000 yard shots?

 

[stello1001]

I never tried it or looked through it but I would take a shot at the Optika 6 in your list...

 

[nn8734]

@Tin Shot “My concern was the low magnification. Will 15/16 power be good enough for 1000 yard shots?”

A lot of variables go into answering that question, including individual’s eyesight , conditions, target size, etc.

For ref, I don’t have a problem hitting a 3/4 “man shaped” steel target with my r700/SB 3-12 x 50 at a grand. Additionally, I used to own a PST gen 1 2.5-10 x 40 and the glass was never a limiting factor hitting targets at a 1000 yards.

 

[TerribleOne]

I can get
* Vortex Viper HST 4-16x44 $440
* Vortex GENII PST 3-15x44 FFP MRAD $890
That's US dollars here, and yes we get ripped off on prices .
They in my budget of under $1000 and both secondhand but in very good condition

My concern was the low magnification. Will 15/16 power be good enough for 1000 yard shots?

Depends on what you are going to be shooting if it's just steel out to 1000 you would be fine with 16X,if paper(F-class) I would maybe go higher mag.

 

[Tin Shot]

Depends on what you are going to be shooting if it's just steel out to 1000 you would be fine with 16X,if paper(F-class) I would maybe go higher mag.

Mostly steel to 1000 yards and big mansized silhouettes to 600/700 yards.
Paper targets are limited to 500 yards in the range for now.

 

[MakeSawdust]

Lots of good options. I would make sure and get ffp. As far as enough magnification, it's pretty rare for me to shoot above 12-13x in a match unless the targets are <1 moa. 15-16x will be plenty for 1000 yd steel. A lot of people complain about the glass in the Burris XTR II but I have a 4-20 that is excellent for the price. Currently, my match rifle wears an AMG, but the difference between it and the Burris, while noticeable, is not as large as you would think.

 

[Thumb]

The bushnell is a good choice.

 

[HEnrI]

I agree with Going with the Bushnell here.

 

[Tin Shot]

So it's 3 votes for the Buschnell Elite Tactical 6-24x50
Cheers

 

[aprocast]

The Bushnell LRHS 4-18 is a far superior scope

 

[Proxemus]

tbh go with what you like the most, one person might like another one better then the other and ect ect. Its all what you like. what your eye likes the reticle it likes... but for sure FFP for me i have a 5x25x56 Schmidt and bender pmii its amazing i couldnt ask for more of a scope. and the nikon black fx1000 4x16x50 is a really really good 400$ scope thats also FFP.

 

[Tin Shot]

Thanks for the advise guys and helping me understands what price range is correct for each scope.
Like the Nikon Black, it's a $400 Scope in the USA, but here in Australia it was being pushed on price as more close to an equivalent $700-800 scope.
Yes we get ripped off here!

I went to look through some more scopes yesterday and was disappointed in the CA on the new Bushnell scopes! Purple from wall to wall on the ones they had for $1000!!
I did like the Leopold VX3i and still impressed the most with the Meopta Optika 6... but sadly a four month waiting list here and no 6.5 Creedmoor being brought in and mostly MRAD reticle as well. No straight Christmas trees

 

[Jack's Dad]

That Burris 4-20 is very good. I've preferred it to several scopes far more expensive

 

[Proxemus]

Thanks for the advise guys and helping me understands what price range is correct for each scope.
Like the Nikon Black, it's a $400 Scope in the USA, but here in Australia it was being pushed on price as more close to an equivalent $700-800 scope.
Yes we get ripped off here!

I went to look through some more scopes yesterday and was disappointed in the CA on the new Bushnell scopes! Purple from wall to wall on the ones they had for $1000!!
I did like the Leopold VX3i and still impressed the most with the Meopta Optika 6... but sadly a four month waiting list here and no 6.5 Creedmoor being brought in and mostly MRAD reticle as well. No straight Christmas trees

Yeah in canada they are extremely over priced ( 1000$ not on sale and 850 on sale) so 400 usd was a no brianer.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

My $0.02 on magnification: You don't always need 25x, and sometimes that much is almost unusable in heavy mirage. But there are plenty of times when it's very, very nice to have it. You can always dial back a high-magnification scope (at the expense of diminished reticle size in an FFP model), but you can't dial up a medium-magnification model.

Fwiw, I currently have four Gen-2 Vortex scopes on my bolt guns, and one gen-1 I just sold:

• Viper PST 3-15x44 SFP
• Viper PST 5-25x50 FFP
• (2) Razor 4.5-27 FFP
• (sold) Razor 5-20x50

The Vipers live on my .22s. The 3-15 is "adequate." But the 5-25 allows me to see .22 hits on paper at 150 yards or a bit more depending on mirage. The 3-15 just can't do that.

I'd definitely go with FFP. My 3-15 scope would be a hands-down keeper if I'd had brains enough to get FFP. With SFP, the scope was essentially a fixed 15x for some of the competition stages I shot with it where holdover was required in the COF or needed for time constraints or whatever.

The Gen-1 5-20 Razor was/is a fine scope... but I won a 50% off cert and used it plus selling the 5-20 to upgrade to a gen-2 4.5-27x56 with the new floating-dot reticle.

I can't speak to any of the scopes discussed here other than Vortex. If you can get the 5-25, I'd go with it. The 3-15 is a great scope and 15x is plenty to put lead on steel at 1000 yards - you just give up "detail" magnification, which, again, doesn't really work much in heavy mirage.

 

[Heffo]

Hey mate..... used guns has a couple of XRS’s at the moment. Ones only $1050 I think. Great scope!

 

[Rocketmandb]

Personally, I believe the Vortex PST and Razor (Gen IIs for each) are some of the best values on the market. I currently have one of each. Additionally, I had an HST at one time. Optics are good, but I don't like the reticle (2 MOA increments) and the vertical adjustment was 1/2 MOA per click.

 

[Kickin45]

Out of your choices, I’d try the Optika or the Zeiss

 

[LawnMM]

From your list the XTR2, from other Kangaroo Puncher's suggestions I'd go with a used Bushnell XRS.

 

[beetroot]

I can get
* Vortex Viper HST 4-16x44 $440
* Vortex GENII PST 3-15x44 FFP MRAD $890
That's US dollars here, and yes we get ripped off on prices .
They in my budget of under $1000 and both secondhand but in very good condition

My concern was the low magnification. Will 15/16 power be good enough for 1000 yard shots?

If you shoot in mirage often you won't be able to make use of a high magnification scope anyway, 15x is more than adequate for 1000yards. Because mirage causes you to dial back magnification to try get a decent sight picture FFP will be the way to go.

I owned a HST 4-16 and currently have a 3-15 PST G2 , the Gen 2 is definitely worth twice the price of the HST.
You can probably import one, I've imported a few scopes to NZ and saved a tonne of money.

If price and availability is going to be a big issue, I'd jump on that 3-15 PST.