Rimfire optics?

[Rlbol]

I am curious about the most ideal choice in optics for the different rimfire shooting disciplines.

I am building a couple of rifles and wanted to hear from the optics experts as to what they use or would recommend.

Other then clear visuals, short range parallax adjustments and good magnification what are other priorities for the perfect rimfire optics?

 

[slimJim2000]

A lot depends on the type of shooting you want to do there isn't one best answer for all types of rimfire, most people end up deciding based on price anyways especially for rimfire scopes.

 

[Snuby642]

Reticle that is not too thick and good tracking.
Possibly 1/8 moa for competition.

 

[Mech_eng]

Depends on the game you are playing. For NRL22 or "precision" type stuff, I have a S&B PMII Ultra Short 5-20(FFP). I love it! It is not too large, has great glass, a thin reticle(P4F) and has parallax down to 25yds. If I were shooting paper, I would probably want something with SFP, a thin reticle and very fine adjustments like .125 MOA or similar with higher magnification.

 

[brians13]

Athlon Midas Tac

 

[acudaowner]

was using a 3x9 pos could not see hits at 100 yards on paper and saw little to nothing at 200 yards or 300 , so switched in favor of my sightron s3 10x50x60 30mm now I see just about everything I shoot on paper , I will still find an occasional on the line shot that I cannot make out other than that no complaints .

 

[Jefe's Dope]

Beyond a shorter parallax setting, at least 50yds, with 25 being preferable, it's really about what you want in a scope. A lot of elevation helps because of the rapid drop. But that's dependent on the distances you're expecting to shoot at. Most scopes will be fine up to 300-400 yards and possibly more with a MOA rail. Mine's 35 MOA on my PRS .22lr. I think I can dial to 500 plus w/o moving into the lower holdovers. That's a LOOONG way for .22lr. 500 is like 2000 in .308.

I've found the Athlon's seem to be a very good value with many price options and good mechanics even at the lower end. I really like my Ares BTR 4.5-27. But I also got it at a very nice price in the PX. There's one with A LOT of extras in the $800 range currently. That said, I'd like to get behind a few "high end" scopes to see what exactly I'm missing. Other than tool less zero stop and dial adjustment, I'm not in need of much more. I will 2nd the smaller crosshairs or and open center type reticle.

 

[45cal4life]

Find a recticle you like then decide mil or moa

 

[scotchtape]

Parallax adjustment needs to be able to go down to 25 yards - that is going to be a limiting factor for a lot of scopes that would otherwise work well.

 

[Eoddave27]

It is really hard to suggest an optic without an idea about what you are willing or want to spend. With that said I personally think spending a lot of money on glass for a rimfire is a waste. If you are using the rifle for NRL matches you are only shooting to several hunded yards and you don’t exactly need a S&B for that. At the lower price point I think an Athlon Midas Tac is as close to a perfect optic as you will get. I honestly wonder if this scope was purpose built for NRL. It hads good glass, great turrets, a capped windage turret and parallax down to 10 yards. If you want to spend a little more I would either go with a 3-18 Gen2 Razor or a 3-18 Sig Tango 6. I have a 4-24 Sig Tango 6 on my NRL rifle but it’s because I got about the same price on it as the 3-18. My son used a Midas Tac for about a year and really liked it. We recently just upgraded him to a 4-20x50 Tract Toric HD which is another really nice optic for the price.