Rifle Scopes Scope Recommendations

[fords4life]

Looking for 2 suggestions. Currently running an Athlon Midas HMR 2.5-15 on my 6.5cm bolt gun and currently building a 6.5 Grendel gas gun for the wife for deer hunting and some steel plinking. Trying to decide if I should put the Midas HMR on the gas gun and upgrade the scope on my bolt gun or buy a new scope for the gas gun. Have a local range that I've shot steel out to 700 and working on pushing it farther. If I replace the scope on the bolt gun, I would prefer to stick with a 3x or 4x magnification on the low end so it's still usable for hunting.

Gas Gun Must Haves:

• Low magnification on the bottom end, no more than 3x
• MOA
• SFP
• Simple reticle, similar to the Athlon AHMR reticle
• Must have capped or locking turrets, prefer zero stop, but glass is more important than fancy features
• Trying to stay around the $500 mark

Bolt Gun Must Haves:

• Prefer to stay at 4x or below on the low end
• Open on MOA or Mil and SFP or FFP
• Trying to stay under $700 if I replace the scope on the bolt gun
• Parallax adjustment is a must have on this one

There are some US Optics TS series scopes in the price range for the bolt gun, but reviews seem iffy. I do not like any of the Meopta reticles. Thanks in advance.

 

[hafejd30]

A Burris XTRII 3-15 with MOA would fit the bill in the px section. Bulletproof

 

[FuhQ]

Rifle Scopes - Arken SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 VPR MIL

*** Alright... Let's try this one more time... Maybe they have gotten it out of their system, and this time folks can be mature about this and act civil, and not accuse people of "shilling", and start hating on what other people spend their own personal money on. *** *** I am not sponsored...

www.snipershide.com

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Explore our extensive range of Arken optics, scopes, mounts, rings, and accessories, all designed to perform with rugged precision.

www.arkenopticsusa.com

 

[Gohring65]

Find a DMR2.
The Midas is just about perfect for the gas gun.
If anyone is looking for a rock solid scope under 1k I always recommend the DMR2. I’ve been around the world on 1k scopes and I haven’t found anything that touches its track record. You can usually find them around 700$ up to 8-900$ for a illuminated version, you can usually talk them down to 700-750$ or so for illumination.
If you want to spend under 1k on a optic you probably won’t have to warranty, find a DMR2 or LRHS.

 

[fords4life]

A Burris XTRII 3-15 with MOA would fit the bill in the px section. Bulletproof

I tried looking last night and could only find an XTRIII which is out of my price range.

 

[fords4life]

Rifle Scopes - Arken SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 VPR MIL

*** Alright... Let's try this one more time... Maybe they have gotten it out of their system, and this time folks can be mature about this and act civil, and not accuse people of "shilling", and start hating on what other people spend their own personal money on. *** *** I am not sponsored...

www.snipershide.com

Home Page

Explore our extensive range of Arken optics, scopes, mounts, rings, and accessories, all designed to perform with rugged precision.

www.arkenopticsusa.com

What would you compare the glass quality too? When i was looking a year ago, these were impossible to get your hands on and reviews seemed to be good, but there were some bad apples out there too.

 

[fords4life]

Find a DMR2.
The Midas is just about perfect for the gas gun.
If anyone is looking for a rock solid scope under 1k I always recommend the DMR2. I’ve been around the world on 1k scopes and I haven’t found anything that touches its track record. You can usually find them around 700$ up to 8-900$ for a illuminated version, you can usually talk them down to 700-750$ or so for illumination.
If you want to spend under 1k on a optic you probably won’t have to warranty, find a DMR2 or LRHS.

I will take a look around again. The DMR2 was on my list when I bought the Midas HMR, but it was out of my price range at the time.

 

[hafejd30]

I tried looking last night and could only find an XTRIII which is out of my price range.

Check Natchez

 

[Screwgunner]

I like vortex

 

[FuhQ]

What would you compare the glass quality too? When i was looking a year ago, these were impossible to get your hands on and reviews seemed to be good, but there were some bad apples out there too.

Anything man-made can (and will) have lemons. Both of mine are phenomenal for the money. At retail of $449 for the 6-24x50 it's the best scope under $500 on the market, IMO. And with the $100 off coupon code right now, it's simply unbeatable for $350.

Glass quality is very subjective because everyone's eyes are different. To me, the Arken HD glass is pretty much equal to my new Strike Eagle 5-25x56 EBR-7C scope...Which costs twice what the Arken does after the coupon code ($699 vs. $350). You can literally buy 2 Arkens for 1 Strike Eagle.

The glass is superb for the money, and I've only noticed some slight degradation at maximum magnification. But if you back it down a notch or 2, it clears right up. The degradation is NOT anything severe. I use mine at max mag pretty much all the time, and have zero issues seeing hits, impacts, targets, and distinguishing things in the FOV at range. Some folks are a bit more eccentric about optics, so to them, that might be a deal-breaker, but to each, his own. FOV is amazing with it. The 34mm tube really lets in tons of light and has 32 MILs (or 108.8 MOA) of adjustment, which is unheard of for a $500 scope. After setting my ZS on my .260 Rem, I still have like 23.5 MILs of elevation left, which is enough to get my to nearly 1 mile without using the reticle to compensate.

For a target scope, and even a hunting scope, it would be just fine for 1,000 yards and in. I haven't really ranged anything farther than that with it yet, so I have no personal thoughts or opinions on any beyond-1K image quality. But there's lots of guys on YT shooting them at 1,500+. One guy does a 2,643 yard cold-bore shot with his, and nails it. So, obviously, it's more than capable of LR. I think a lot of people just need to get out of their head that it's a $450 scope, and just look through one, and they will be impressed.

The range I go to closes at 5pm. The lasts time I was there, was a couple weeks ago (daylight savings time), and a long-time buddy of mine went with me. It was dark at 4:55pm, and he was still shooting 5" gongs on a challenge tree at 200 yards with it. He went home and ordered one.

Honestly, just get one and give it a try. Especially with the $100 off right now. You can almost guaranteed get your money back + some, selling it to a friend locally for retail $450, if you don't like it. They're a pretty hot item right now.

 

[drewthebrave]

I own a Bushnell DMR2 and can confirm it's a solid recommendation under $1k. I was shopping for a ~$500 optic initially, but stretched my budget a bit to get one on clearance and am glad I did. Mine is mounted to my 6.5 Creedmoor AR and I love the reticle, glass quality, and features for the price. I'd compare it very favorably to my hunting partner's SWFA SS 5-20x HD.

I also have an Athlon Ares BTR 2.5-15x (which is very comparable to your Midas) on my 5.56 SPR, and it's one of my favorite scopes for the money. Based on my experience with the Athlon, I think you should migrate yours to the Grendel and put the Bushnell DMR2 on the bolt gun - since the extra magnification will be more helpful with the longer range cartridge. Or take a look at the Helos BTR 2-12x or 4-20x.

While I haven't personally used a Burris XTR2, I have read a ton of great reviews and had it on my shortlist when I bought the DMR2. If you can find a deal on a used XTR2, it would be another solid choice for either rifle. There are lots of variants (1-8x, 2-10x, 3-15x, 4-20x, 5-25x) so depending on what you find available, you may or may not need to swap scopes from your bolt gun.

 

[hafejd30]

I will say this in regards to the Burris XTRII I recommended above,

At 3-15 this optic shines

I also owned a 4-20 and at the high end it was noticeably grainy and dark. The 5-25 is supposedly worse. Just FYI

 

[fords4life]

I will say this in regards to the Burris XTRII I recommended above,

At 3-15 this optic shines

I also owned a 4-20 and at the high end it was noticeably grainy and dark. The 5-25 is supposedly worse. Just FYI

Appreciate that feedback. I was looking at the 4-20 if I go this route. Now that you mention it, I think I remember reading the same when looking at this one back when I picked up my Midas HMR.

 

[lou400a]

Find a DMR2.
The Midas is just about perfect for the gas gun.
If anyone is looking for a rock solid scope under 1k I always recommend the DMR2. I’ve been around the world on 1k scopes and I haven’t found anything that touches its track record. You can usually find them around 700$ up to 8-900$ for a illuminated version, you can usually talk them down to 700-750$ or so for illumination.
If you want to spend under 1k on a optic you probably won’t have to warranty, find a DMR2 or LRHS.

Great scope for the $$, but find it too heavy for a hunting/ar rig. I would look for used LRHS 3-12 or 4.5-18

 

[fords4life]

Update.

Definitely moving the Midas HMR over to the gas gun.

I think I'm down to the following and I know some of these aren't necessarily apples to apples.

Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16x50 $850 on closeout
Athlon Midas BTR Gen2 4.5-27
Athlon Ares BTR Gen2 4.5-27

Still open to the Bushnell options, but I haven't seen any used for less than $1k. Anything I'm missing in the higher range? Especially on closeout.

 

[Twistid]

I have a like new in box Bushnell Forge 4.5-27 FFP I'm selling for $500.

 

[drewthebrave]

I think the Ares BTR is a solid choice that trades blows with the Viper PST Gen2. But there are some deals available on some very good optics that are worth consideration:

Sightron SIII 6-24x50 FFP $700

Product Description

Product Description | Camera Land NY

cameralandny.com

I believe these Vortexes have older reticles, but are still very great optics:
Viper PST Gen2 5-25x50 $650

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50 EBR-2C MRAD Scope PST-5258

Vortex Viper PST 5-25x50 EBR-2C MRAD Scope PST-5258 | Only at EuroOptic.com!

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Viper PST Gen2 3-15x44 $550

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

FREE SHIPPING on Vortex Viper PST 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

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