What are NRL .22 folks using for scopes?

[DFOOSKING]

The NRL has a club locator. Just type in your location and a search radius.

Addresses are supplied along the bottom.

The NRL22 has like 3 facebook groups that cover general info and match info. And there is usually local level facebook page/group for every club.

Clubs and Matches

Empower the Sport

nrl22.org

☝

Iowa clubs

 

[lash]

My understanding is NRL22 goes to 100yrds, not sure what you’d need much over 15x for, KYL .22” target is only shot at 50yrds as I recall

Many matches and venues have more than 100 yards and you will often see extra stages out to 300+ yards 18x is though, since 10-12x is the most used power for FOV advantages.

3-4 moa is really small at 300yds and is hard to hit

AMHIK

M

3-4 moa is plenty at 300 yards with calm or mild breezes/winds. When it gets gusty, scores tend to go down.

 

[MCSO1357]

Do they have a regular NRL schedule? I'll have to look at a map and figure out where Nevada, Iowa is.
Thanks for the info!

Nevada is approximately 1.5 hrs due west of Cedar Rapids on Hwy 30.

2022 Derecho Aftermatch 3 - Revenge of the Pew - NRL22

2022 Derecho Aftermatch 3 – Revenge of the Pew MD: Mike Gager, Cody Brink Location: Nevada, Iowa Date: November 19, 2022 Cost: $58 REGISTRATION OPEN 9/24 Date: November 19, 2022...

nrl22.org

 

[6gunner]

Have you had any issues with the 75yd min. parallax on that MK5? That's the only thing keeping me from buying one.

I thought i was going to have issues. I’ve shot at targets down to 30 yards, they’re a little fuzzy but I can still hit them.

 

[lash]

I thought i was going to have issues. I’ve shot at targets down to 30 yards, they’re a little fuzzy but I can still hit them.

Remember that, when shooting closer than normal parallax can be dialed, dial your power back to minimum and you’ll get better focus up close.

I was told that by someone many years ago and out has worked out well ever since.

 

[RFutch]

I used to use a 15x NXS with 50 yard parallax. I would dial back to 8x for the 25 yard targets and it was plenty and in focus.

 

[adubeau]

Burris XTR III 3.3-18x50 works great

 

[sarcasmn]

I have a B14R in a KRGBravo stock for NRL22 with an Athlon Midas Tac. I really like that scope and it keeps the rifle weight down for off hand stages.
Now for PRSRIMFIRE I shoot a Vudoo in a KRG X-RAY stock with an Athlon Cronus Gen II. That rifle is much heavier and is a bitch off hand but great on a barricade
I am not really a fan boy it’s just that I am 5’6” and most stocks have to long of a length of pull for me. KRG adjusts down to the 12.75 inches length of pull my short TRex arms require.
I chose Athlon because of the price and the reticle. I checked a lot of scopes and with the LEO discount the Cronus was only 1300. That meant I got to buy groceries too.
I have a Cronus on my 6.5 and in competition it’s not the scope that’s holding me back.
I see a lot of Athlon Ares at my local 22 competitions.

 

[Alabusa]

I am building g my rifle as we speak. I am going with an Athlon Midas Tac 6-24x50 on my CZ457 VPC.

 

[kbiss]

Tract toric elr is great scope for the money

 

[Kahrhart63]

I think the tract toric is the best scope for money! I have the zco, Nightforce atacr, and the kahles on rimfires. The Tract isn’t far behind any of them. Only complaint is center dot a little small for my older eyes! Glass is great!!

 

[beetroot]

On a budget I think the Vortex Strike Eagle or PST Gen2 are the best value for money.
I would say without a doubt the PST is the better option if it had a little more elevation available and capped windage, the glass is a definite improvement over the SE which in some cases helps.
Both have good reticles, dial well, really good glass (for the price) with optical qualities that you want (good depth of field, forgiving eyebox) and both have some of the widest FOVs of any scope on the market.

If you want to jump up to the next price bracket I think the Burris XTR3 is the best option, although I've not used one yet it has the best combination of features and specs of anything in the $1000-$2000 range. Capped windage, reticle that makes sense, plenty of elevation, super wide FOV, race turret (a very cool option to have), and optical qualities that (are widely reported) to be just what you want (good enough resolution, forgivable eyebox, good depth of field, not too much CA).
I would say the Razor Gen 2 is another good option but I prefer the idea of the Burris over the Razor due to super wide FOV.
I'm not as keen on the Tract/Cronus/Delta Stryker (despite owning one) due to the narrow FOV.

Above $2000 all bets are off, choose a reticle that makes sense to you and make sure the scope has the features you need/like.
If the XTR3 is in your budget then that's what I'd be doing.

NOTE: I'm a real stickler for FOV and make it one of the highest priorities when looking at optics, you may not care as much as I do.

 

[BigDaddy0381]

element optics titan. its a great all around for the 22NRL matches.

 

[J-Hon]

On a budget I think the Vortex Strike Eagle or PST Gen2 are the best value for money.

If you want to jump up to the next price bracket I think the Burris XTR3 is the best option,

NOTE: I'm a real stickler for FOV and make it one of the highest priorities when looking at optics, you may not care as much as I do.

Hugely agree with everything said in this post. Host a monthly 22 match, and ran the XTRIII 3-18 for over a year (just recently moved to the XTR Pro). I think FoV / Depth of Field / Eyebox are what really help from a competitive standpoint, and those are sorta the Burris' highlights. The Vortex scopes mentioned also are worthy of recognition.

I see more and more people shooting the Arkens, but I haven't spent enough time behind one to have a strong opinion.

 

[adubeau]

Hugely agree with everything said in this post. Host a monthly 22 match, and ran the XTRIII 3-18 for over a year (just recently moved to the XTR Pro). I think FoV / Depth of Field / Eyebox are what really help from a competitive standpoint, and those are sorta the Burris' highlights. The Vortex scopes mentioned also are worthy of recognition.

I see more and more people shooting the Arkens, but I haven't spent enough time behind one to have a strong opinion.

I have the same scope you have and it replaced an Arken sh4 GenII 6-24x50 - biggest reason for ditching it has very tight eye box, wasted too much time getting a sight picture. There are other things I had issues with not bad enough I would replace it with something else, if the eye box was like the Burris I would still be using it..

 

[King_beardsly]

I have the same scope you have and it replaced an Arken sh4 GenII 6-24x50 - biggest reason for ditching it has very tight eye box, wasted too much time getting a sight picture. There are other things I had issues with not bad enough I would replace it with something else, if the eye box was like the Burris I would still be using it..

How tight is the eyebox on the SH4 and does the EP5 share the same issue? I’m looking for a replacement for my Ares BTR since I find it’s eyebox unforgiving at times but if the Arken is tight I’ll just save the coin for another piece of glass.

 

[adubeau]

How tight is the eyebox on the SH4 and does the EP5 share the same issue? I’m looking for a replacement for my Ares BTR since I find it’s eyebox unforgiving at times but if the Arken is tight I’ll just save the coin for another piece of glass.

I can't speak to the EP5 personally, but was told it was it was a little better than than the SH4.

 

[King_beardsly]

Maybe I’ll risk it and see what’s up with one, worst case scenario I throw it on something else that needs glass

 

[acudaowner]

and of course some bubble gum to keep it all in place .

 

[adubeau]

Maybe I’ll risk it and see what’s up with one, worst case scenario I throw it on something else that needs glass

If you do let us know how it is.

 

[takedeadaim]

I am building g my rifle as we speak. I am going with an Athlon Midas Tac 6-24x50 on my CZ457 VPC.

You will do fine with that set up. I started with a 457 and Midas Tac and build them for people pretty often.

 

[SoftCookie]

Purchased an Arken EP-5 after my first NRL22 match and I've been pretty happy with it. I've done about 4 matches with it so far.

 

[Dobermann]

Nightforce ATAC-R 7-35x56 on my Vudoo because it parallaxes down to 11 yards and because it was my "Holy shit! I survived a half a century!" present to myself!

That's f*uck'n genius! Never thought of it like that.

I'm a gonna do that myself ... thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

[Dobermann]

So a few things that I looked for when shopping for a scope for NRL22 and PRS22 (little different requirements than centerfire):

1. Parallax down to 20 yds, 10 is gooder
2. At least 10MILS per rotation on the turrets bc dialing to 300 yds when you only have 6MILS per rotation sucks and you’re cranking and cranking (and cranking). That shit leads to carpel tunnel….
3. As much internal elevation adjustment as possible (24+ MILS at least) so when you zero @ 50 yds you can still dial enough up to get you to 400-450 yds before you have to resort to holding over.
4. Reticle that you can see a 1/4” KYL @ 25-35 yds
5. Xmas tree reticle for those stages where you can’t dial and also have to hold wind
6. if you’ve got old eyes like me, turret with big honking numbers or get one of those MK Machine magnifiers
7. About 50MOA of cant in your scope rail or rings (or combo of the two)

Sounds like a good base.

What scopes did you come up with that check all those boxes?

 

[ECK]

Sounds like a good base.

What scopes did you come up with that check all those boxes?

Burris XTR Pro

 

[Rob01]

The Tract Toric ELR is close to checking them all too. 25 yard parallax is about the only place it doesn't.

TORIC UHD 4.5-30X56 34mm MRAD ELR FFP Rifle Scope

This extreme long range rifle scope is specifically designed for the shooter looking to maximize the performance of his cartridge.

tractoptics.com

 

[mmlook]

tangent theta 525p

 

[Dobermann]

The Tract Toric ELR is close to checking them all too. 25 yard parallax is about the only place it doesn't.

TORIC UHD 4.5-30X56 34mm MRAD ELR FFP Rifle Scope

This extreme long range rifle scope is specifically designed for the shooter looking to maximize the performance of his cartridge.

tractoptics.com

And possibly reliability ... but I forgot that wasn't on the list: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/tract-toric-ultra-hd-3-15x50mm-field-eval.287271/

Tract Toric UltraHD 3-15x50mm Q&A

This is the Q&A for the Tract Toric Ultra HD scope. Eval here

rokslide.com

 

[Rob01]

And possibly reliability ... but I forgot that wasn't on the list: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/tract-toric-ultra-hd-3-15x50mm-field-eval.287271/

Tract Toric UltraHD 3-15x50mm Q&A

This is the Q&A for the Tract Toric Ultra HD scope. Eval here

rokslide.com

Not the same scope I linked.

 

[Dobermann]

Not the same scope I linked.

Yep, understood - which is why I said "possibly".

My main point is that most of the scopes recommended in this thread are for reasons of various features, "value for money", glass, and so on ... but not demonstrably tested reliability.

 

[Rob01]

Yep, understood - which is why I said "possibly".

My main point is that most of the scopes recommended in this thread are for reasons of various features, "value for money", glass, and so on ... but not demonstrably tested reliability.

Reliability is a given for any scope I would use but showing a test on a less expensive hunting scope versus their top of the line optic is like comparing a Vortex HS and saying a Razor Gen II might not be reliable because the cheaper hunting scope failed a test on some site. It’s not close to an apple to apple comparison and trying to find a connection is really stretching it.

 

[FuhQ]

I have seen tons of people on forums running the Arken EP5 and are really impressed with it, and happy for the swap.

I’ve enjoyed my EP5 so far. Arken’s QC needs some improvement, and they seem to now be getting better, but it’s still a bit hit or miss. That said, if you end up getting a good one, you end up getting a really good one.

 

[aagifford]

In our NRL-22 match we have a ZCO, Nightforce ATACR, Vortex Gen III, VORTEX Strikefire, Diamondback and other Vortex models, Burris, Arken, Minox, Ares Athlon and some others all show up depending on which mix of shooter attends that month. Pretty much everything shows up at some point with new shooters at every match in attendance. People run what they bring. The COF often brings the KYL to between 25 yards and 50 yards and the smallest target on it is 1/4”. I’ve helped dozens of shooters get up to speed, we typically have 2 to 5 new shooters every month.

The match director runs the ZCO and I’m the other match director and I run an ATACR 7-35 and a Vortex Gen III Razor 6-36.

You just need parallax to 20 yards and first focal plane and about 16X top end with a reticle with hash marks. Mil is much easier to communicate with others but MOA works too.

 

[aagifford]

The issue with long term scope reliability is tracking, which my understanding is due to design of the adjustment mechanism. That many Asian scopes use a rubber ring inside the adjustment mechanism that holds one end of the erector for the turrets to work against which eventually hardens and causes the tracking issues that many users eventually mysteriously experience at some point in the scopes life. This can be found by performing a box test. For best long term reliability metal supports or points to align the erector assembly. The high end scopes use this type of design for long term reliability. This info was given at a shooting clinic where a scope designer gave a talk on scope design considerations. He said the issue of rubber part hardening would start to show up in the 5 to 10 year timeframe on average.

I think that by the time this issue shows up in many scopes, the user has moved on, or isn’t capable of shooting well enough to even diagnose a tracking issue in the first place. Also, if a shooter normally walks their shots in for zeroing, then they wouldn’t notice. Only precision shooters who dial regularly and are truly capable can even figure out they have a subtle tracking issue because the scope will track, it just won’t track perfectly.

I had an old scope that I sold off that had this tracking issue, it was a Tasco world class 8-32X rimfire benchrest scope. After adjusting the turret in any direction it would settle into the adjustment. Took from 1 to 3 shots to settle.

For short term reliability I don’t have any direct experience with any of them failing. I haven’t seen any scope go down in a rimfire match. I see them nearly every month, but all or nearly all are or were new or not very old. So any if using a design that might have long term tracking issues wouldn’t be exhibiting those issues now anyway. They just don’t get beat on that hard unless dropped or banged into a barricade.

The scopes I have personally seen go down in centerfire matches include Bushnell DMR (loose reticle), Schmidt Bender(unresponsive turret), Vortex (not sure model-unresponsive parallax).

 

[MCGILLA]

I just pulled the trigger on a Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25. Ammo Bros has them on sale for $460. It’s apparently not the best glass, but good enough for rimfire ranges and provides a ton of elevation for longer range

I’m shooting an Athlon Ares I really like it on my 457, I will say I have an Arken in the box that was cheaper that I plan on setting up on a base class rifle for my wife the optic seems solid, but I don’t have enough time with it yet to give a decent review

 

[darth_ritis]

So a few things that I looked for when shopping for a scope for NRL22 and PRS22 (little different requirements than centerfire):

1. Parallax down to 20 yds, 10 is gooder
2. At least 10MILS per rotation on the turrets bc dialing to 300 yds when you only have 6MILS per rotation sucks and you’re cranking and cranking (and cranking). That shit leads to carpel tunnel….
3. As much internal elevation adjustment as possible (24+ MILS at least) so when you zero @ 50 yds you can still dial enough up to get you to 400-450 yds before you have to resort to holding over.
4. Reticle that you can see a 1/4” KYL @ 25-35 yds
5. Xmas tree reticle for those stages where you can’t dial and also have to hold wind
6. if you’ve got old eyes like me, turret with big honking numbers or get one of those MK Machine magnifiers
7. About 50MOA of cant in your scope rail or rings (or combo of the two)

This is a great list to work with. A few additions/notes:

1. Combining your 6 and 2 is where I'm at, so I can't use turrets with more than 10 mils per revolution. I literally sold my ZCO for this reason, even after trying the MKM magnifier.
2. Reticle needs to be pleasing to your eye and not be so busy that you have trouble spotting your hits
3. Glass resolution is important. A 1/4" KYL @ 50y or a well-used 1" @ 100y when the sun is behind them and the berm is in shade is an amazing test of glass. Super-expensive scopes are diminishing returns on glass quality these days, but inadequate resolution will cost you points.

I run a Kahles DLR on one rifle and an Athlon Cronus on another. I used a nice Element scope last month and won my match, but it gave me trouble on a paint-less 1" @ 100y in the shade where I literally could not make out the target. When funds allow, I truly do think higher-end glass is an advantage, although it sucks to pay so much when scopes like the Bushnell Match Pro ED exist for just $699. I'm tempted to get one and replace the Cronus, moving that to a centerfire rifle.

 

[6gunner]

I mounted a Zeiss S3 on my Vudoo, I have an Ares BTR Gen 2 on my Bergara, and Arken EP5 on my Tikka T1x.

 

[Ruff 364]

Get the best scope you can buy, borrow or steal.