Rifle Scopes Recommend a FFP for NRL22 Rifle matches

JesseM

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Minuteman
Sep 16, 2017
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What is the platform for the scope? Ruger 10/22

What cartridge are you shooting? 22 LR

What is your intended use for the scope? I'm using this rifle in these NRL22 style matches my local club is doing where you have to do weird things like mount the rifle on clock from the weak side which and I need to use the reticle to compensate for drop without necessarily having the time to adjust the turrets. I will of course shoot the rifle at the bench for shits and giggles but the primary purpose for the rifle and scope are these NRL22 matches.

What type of conditions will you typically shoot in? Daytime shooting but I live in the PNW so might be overcast or even raining. I will never shoot near dusk or at night.

What are the typical distances you intend to shoot? For the matches the max distance I think is 75 yards but the range I go to goes out to 200y so that's the max distance I'm likely ever going to attempt with this rifle and scope.

Are there any specific specifications you would like? I would like something with a max magnification around 20x-ish with a FFP and hopefully a large enough eyebox that I can find the reticle under the clock. I'd prefer the christmas tree style reticle if I could but obviously if I can't something with useful easy marks I can use to hit targets at various distances without adjusting the turrets. I know people are going to say 20x is too much but we're shooting at match sticks at 50 yards.

What is the price range you can afford? I'd like to keep it under $1000.

I have been using an Athlon Argos 6-24x50 but while it is fine for the bench it wasn't great for these matches because the width of the reticle itself is thick enough that it makes it harder and the eye box at a usable magnification level made mounting it on the clock difficult. I don't know enough about scopes to know if I can get something that has both a thinner reticle lines and better eyebox in the price range I'm looking for but I thought I'd ask.

Feel free to ask me more questions but please don't be surprised when I don't know your answers.
 
Used viper pst II or the athlon you are looking at would be my first thoughts. Also, no one who actually has done any nrl22 will tell you there is too much magnification.
 
I had been using a S&B 3-20x50. On a few occasions, at 20x, the bullet landed in the black ring in the bull and I couldn't make it out, so I was unsure how to correct. Edit, I forgot to mention that at this match I got 2nd place by 11 points so just one little mishap like this can make the difference between 1st place or not.

I have a Cronus BTR on the rifle to try for at least a few NRL22 matches. I guess I'll find out how they compare, especially on 29x for certain stages.

My Ares BTR 4.5-27x50 just came in last week, I don't have it mounted yet, but when I do I can compare it to my other scopes including the Talos BTR 4-14x44, the Argos BTR 6-24x50, the new Midas TAC 4-16x44 and the Cronus BTR 4.5-29x56. I can tell you right now that the Midas TAC needs a tree reticle offering, it's a great scope for that niche price range with awesome feeling turrets.

To get what you really want you might have to step up in price, to what I don't know. I'm not familiar with which scopes have the easiest eyeboxes, except Hensoldt???

I suggest getting your stock set up so your eye is always as close to centered in the eyebox as can be as well as just training more so that getting your eye centered is second nature. I'm so used to scopes on different rifles I only recall one scope that had something wrong with it which made the reticle weird out if my eye wasn't exactly in the right place.
 
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I had the chance to look through a Midas Tac recently. The reticle is very fine and probably would not consume the target. It maybe worth a look.
 
i started with a argos BTR after 2 weeks i sold it...not bad if only shooting a little but when looking through it for a long time like a match the eye fatigue was bad.

next was a a SWFA 3-15...nice glass but the reticle was to thick and not enough magnification...this was about 2 weeks as well.

now im shooting a gen2 PST...i like this scope been shooting it for about 8mos or so...pretty good glass and the reticle is nice with the open center but im thinking about a 3-18 kahlels with the SKMR reticle...i have a 624i on my 6.5x47 that i love.
we shoot out to 230yds at the matches and i shoot out to 425yds where i practice but even at those closer match distances nice glass is a good thing.
 
Main issue is making sure you can focus down to 25 yards. I went with the PST Gen 2 . Seems to be working good.

I shoot 100’ benchrest and practice tac with mine, to find a tree reticle in a scope that has a thin enough reticle, completely parallax error free @100’, enough elevation adjustment to go 300+ yds, and accurate clicks was not at all easy. I ended up with a Bushnell ET6245FG, which I think is still a great option.
http://www.bushnell.com/tactical/riflescopes/elite-tactical/ers-6-24x-50mm-mil-dot
 
25 yard parallax is key- as stated, so the Bushnell isn’t a great choice.

Used several Athlons and the PST 5-25 genII on my Vudoo in NRL22, dispite there being some nice hardware at the match the combination was very successful. What works in PRS and NRL like 12-15x for target acquisition , does not work as well for speed when the targets are literally in front of your nose. 8x-10x or more importantly the FOV is key. You’ll go from 25 to 100 yards in a stage occasionally. I’ve seen guys now using the 10-50 Sightrons, they have crap FOV.. something to consider.

The PST gen II FFP is a great fit and price balance and ncluding with nice turrets for NRL 22.
 
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I'm currently playing with a SFP SWFA 3-15, and it is quite good so far. Tracking has been spot on, and the floating center dot is fine enough for any .22 shooting that I do. Not as good as the NF it replaced, but it does seem like a very good budget option.
 
What works in PRS and NRL like 12-15x for target acquisition , does not work as well for speed when the targets are literally in front of your nose. 8x-10x or more importantly the FOV is key. You’ll go from 25 to 100 yards in a stage occasionally. I’ve seen guys now using the 10-50 Sightrons, they have crap FOV.. something to consider.

Now there's something that isn't mentioned much. I just compared the FOV of the Viper PST Gen 2 to the Athlon Ares BTR and the new Midas Tac, along with the Sightron SIII and the PST has the widest range of any of them. Having not shot any action matches, I never paid much attention to FOV, but I can show it could be critical in competition.
 
In NRL 22 matches, for someone used to their rifle anyway, a few feet extra FOV won't make enough difference for it to even be a consideration. It's literally like having the scope with the most FOV set at 15x and the one with the least FOV set at 16x to achieve the same sized FOV. Splitting hairs...

I rarely ran my 3-20 below 20x for NRL22 but on occasion had felt I needed more magnification.

I'm just putting this out there but if I could pick the near perfect scope for a NRL 22 rifle it'd be a NF 7-35 with H59, or a March FX 5-40 but with the FMLT1 which the scope isn't available in. This is splitting hairs too, really any scope mentioned in this thread would do. It comes down to how much money one can afford vs the features you can't live without.

If being the most budget minded I'd try to get my hands on a used Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x50, it shouldn't take long to find one in the low $600 range and it is a ton of full featured scope for that amount of money.
 
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25 yard parallax is key- as stated, so the Bushnell isn’t a great choice.

Used several Athlons and the PST 5-25 genII on my Vudoo in NRL22, dispite there being some nice hardware at the match the combination was very successful. What works in PRS and NRL like 12-15x for target acquisition , does not work as well for speed when the targets are literally in front of your nose. 8x-10x or more importantly the FOV is key. You’ll go from 25 to 100 yards in a stage occasionally. I’ve seen guys now using the 10-50 Sightrons, they have crap FOV.. something to consider.

The PST gen II FFP is a great fit and price balance and ncluding with nice turrets for NRL 22.

The Bushnell I referenced will adjust the parallax error out at 25 yds, that’s the point.
 
I have the Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 on my CZ 455. I've been happy so far. I use it for practice and teaching friends and family the fundamentals of shooting and calling wind. For the price, this scope is packed with features. I wish it had a zero stop, but other than that I like it.
 
I have the Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 on my CZ 455. I've been happy so far. I use it for practice and teaching friends and family the fundamentals of shooting and calling wind. For the price, this scope is packed with features. I wish it had a zero stop, but other than that I like it.
How do you like your 455, and which stock did you get? My Argos BTR came with shims for a zero stop. I have it on a 17 HMR.
 
Which appeals more, FFP or SFP?

I think some people are using SFP because they think it does not mater on a 22 and price / magnification is what they are chasing.

My preference is FFP on all my scopes for consistency.

Shooting a NRL22 match last week, I had a huge advantage of the guys using SFP as there was a hold over stage only and max zoom for the SFP was slower to acquire targets. I also think I had a BIG advantage on the paper stage with the thin reticle on the GENII PST at max zoom. Those two stages created a lot of separation. I shot 430, but gave up points because I can't see out of my right eye well and shot wrong target a couple of times. Hence why I now shoot everything on my weak side my right hand actions, it is just ironic that when I switch to the old strong side I can no longer shoot.

When I switch to the centerfire for the following days match all seems congruent.

The thiner APLR2 reticle as the Talos FFP is nice; but the turrets.. Ya, on my other loaner 22 I don't turn them, ask people to use holds - The price for the features is really attractive for the 22 guy on a budget shooting positional matches.
APLR2-FFP-IR-MIL-4-14x44-reticle.png


The Argos BTR with APMR I tried, was a bit soft at max and the reticle a bit to thick at max as well (paper stage in NRL22).. If the APLR2, or similar was in the 6-24 BTR that be great~
APMR-FFP-IR-MIL_624501.png
 
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I think some people are using SFP because they think it does not mater on a 22 and price / magnification is what they are chasing.

My preference is FFP on all my scopes for consistency.

Shooting a NRL22 match last week, I had a huge advantage of the guys using SFP as there was a hold over stage only and max zoom for the SFP was slower to acquire targets. I also think I had a BIG advantage on the paper stage with the thin reticle on the GENII PST at max zoom. Those two stages created a lot of separation. I shot 430, but gave up points because I can't see out of my right eye well and shot wrong target a couple of times. Hence why I now shoot everything on my weak side my right hand actions, it is just ironic that when I switch to the old strong side I can no longer shoot.

When I switch to the centerfire for the following days match all seems congruent.

The thiner APLR2 reticle as the Talos FFP is nice; but the turrets.. Ya, on my other loaner 22 I don't turn them, ask people to use holds - The price for the features is really attractive for the 22 guy on a budget shooting positional matches.
View attachment 6906794

The Argos BTR with APMR I tried, was a bit soft at max and the reticle a bit to thick at max as well (paper stage in NRL22).. If the APLR2, or similar was in the 6-24 BTR that be great~
View attachment 6906797

I'm glad you mentioned this.

I realize there are plenty of guys out there that prefer .5 mil hashes and probably at least an equal number of guys that like .2 mil hashes. I'd rather have .2's round about like the APLR2 has but in the Argos BTR 6-24x50 and a hair thinner, I also think a .5 mil specific reticle should be offered in this scope too for those that are accustomed to .5's. I'd also like to see a number for each line instead of skipping the odd number.

Plus if Athlon offered the Talos BTR 4-14x44 in moa it'd fill a gap, it's offered in mil only right now, and yes if the turrets were better....

I mentioned this before but you guys really need to check out the turrets on the new Midas TAC series, they turned out so good it surprised me. That 4-16, well the 6-24 too, only lacks a tree reticle in .2's for me to sell a bunch of my scopes to replace with both of them.
 
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I have the Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 on my CZ 455. I've been happy so far. I use it for practice and teaching friends and family the fundamentals of shooting and calling wind. For the price, this scope is packed with features. I wish it had a zero stop, but other than that I like it.
Have you tried the zero stop shim kit on the Argos BTR? It gets close, but not precise like one of our true precision zero stop scopes. If you need a set of shims, shoot me an email at [email protected] and I will send you a set.