Hello all - Apologies for yet another scope recommendation thread but I’ve spent hours digging through the forum and am still torn on a few things. Was hoping those of you with actual experience shooting matches could help me out.
By way of background, I decided I wanted to shoot some local matches a little over a year ago and put together a custom rifle that weighed in at about 13.5 pounds with an AMG. Beautiful gun, shoots great. Heavy and expensive. Given it’s been a year and I have yet to shoot a match (and in fact only have a couple hundred rounds through it period), I’ve decided to sell this rig (listing in the PX later today actually) and get something considerably lighter so that I can use it hunting and less expensive so my wife doesn’t leave me.
I’ve settled on a Christensen MPR chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor with 22” barrel, which should arrive tomorrow. The AMG would be a great fit, but I’m looking to save cash and probably need lower magnification on the low end for hunting. FFP is a must, mild preferred. I’ve set $1500 as my budget but would really prefer to be around $1000.
So given those parameters, I’m looking hardest at the following scopes:
Vortex Viper PST Gen II 3-15x44
Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50
Steiner T5Xi 3-15x50 (I have an opportunity to get one for $1300)
Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56 (I have an opportunity to get one for $1500)
I’ve compared these scopes to the Burris, Sig, Athlon and Bushnell options and like the decidedly wider FOV of the PST. FOV on 5x for the PST Gen II is only marginally less (or even more) than the 4x and 4.5x options I looked at. I looked at the DMR II, but it’s FOV isn’t much better at 3.5x than the PST at 5x (25.3 vs 24.1ft@100yds), so I don’t see the extra weight and cost being worth it, especially giving up 4x on the top end. I’d really prefer something with a little more top end than 15x, but I also want low magnification on the low end so I need to either add cash or add weight and neither is ideal. Mark 5 or 6 3-18x would be fantastic but out of my budget for the illuminated options.
I think my decision tree can be summed up as:
1) 3-15x or 5-25x?
then
2) Is the Steiner worth $300-400 more than the PST Gen II?
What do you guys think about those two questions, and am I missing something?
Thanks in advance for the help.
EDITED to add Steiner 5-25x option
By way of background, I decided I wanted to shoot some local matches a little over a year ago and put together a custom rifle that weighed in at about 13.5 pounds with an AMG. Beautiful gun, shoots great. Heavy and expensive. Given it’s been a year and I have yet to shoot a match (and in fact only have a couple hundred rounds through it period), I’ve decided to sell this rig (listing in the PX later today actually) and get something considerably lighter so that I can use it hunting and less expensive so my wife doesn’t leave me.
I’ve settled on a Christensen MPR chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor with 22” barrel, which should arrive tomorrow. The AMG would be a great fit, but I’m looking to save cash and probably need lower magnification on the low end for hunting. FFP is a must, mild preferred. I’ve set $1500 as my budget but would really prefer to be around $1000.
So given those parameters, I’m looking hardest at the following scopes:
Vortex Viper PST Gen II 3-15x44
Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50
Steiner T5Xi 3-15x50 (I have an opportunity to get one for $1300)
Steiner T5Xi 5-25x56 (I have an opportunity to get one for $1500)
I’ve compared these scopes to the Burris, Sig, Athlon and Bushnell options and like the decidedly wider FOV of the PST. FOV on 5x for the PST Gen II is only marginally less (or even more) than the 4x and 4.5x options I looked at. I looked at the DMR II, but it’s FOV isn’t much better at 3.5x than the PST at 5x (25.3 vs 24.1ft@100yds), so I don’t see the extra weight and cost being worth it, especially giving up 4x on the top end. I’d really prefer something with a little more top end than 15x, but I also want low magnification on the low end so I need to either add cash or add weight and neither is ideal. Mark 5 or 6 3-18x would be fantastic but out of my budget for the illuminated options.
I think my decision tree can be summed up as:
1) 3-15x or 5-25x?
then
2) Is the Steiner worth $300-400 more than the PST Gen II?
What do you guys think about those two questions, and am I missing something?
Thanks in advance for the help.
EDITED to add Steiner 5-25x option
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