Rifle Scopes Optic for 18" 5.56 with Clip On 600-800 Yards

[CuddlyCat]

Hi all, currently trying to narrow the field for a lightweight optic for a gas gun that's suitable for pest control and will be paired up with my TIGIR until I upgrade. Right now I'm between the options in the poll, I've owned the 3-24x42 more than a decade ago and I liked it a lot but ended up selling it when I went overseas. I've never handled the other 3 options but I have owned other schmidts and premiers. I've never used anything other than an LPVO with a clip on so that's also new territory for me. The smaller objective size of the march options doesn't concern me, and ZCO isn't of interest to me as I'd really like to keep this around 30 ounces or less. I don't necessiarily need the 24x top end, but it is the lightest of the bunch which is appealing. Right now I'm leaning towards the 1.5-15 or the 3-15. If there's something else out there that I should be looking at that I'm missing please let me know.

And to clarify, obviously not taking shots at 600-800, but I want to be able to identify that far without coming off the scope.

 

[white_rushin]

Have you considered the Steiner H6xi 2-12x42? It would really thrive in the criteria you laid out

 

[CuddlyCat]

Have you considered the Steiner H6xi 2-12x42? It would really thrive in the criteria you laid out

Hadn't looked at it, was hoping to get at least 15x on the top end.

 

[NHPiper]

Mk5 3-18 works wonders and is much cheaper than some of those options. Not that I wouldn't take any of them.

 

[Franko]

Maven makes a 2.5-15x44 that might be nice behind a clip on. I was considering it for a DMR style gas gun but then S&B announced a 3-18 due late in the year and Vortex has a 4-24 on the way as well so I'm sitting and saving my cash for a bit.

 

[ggmanning]

I use both the 3-24 and 1.5-15 with a 640 clip on. While doable with the 3-24 the base mag of 1.5 works better. FOV is much better down at 1.5 than at 3 and I never go above 6-8x most all of the time.

 

[rlsmith1]

You need less mag than you think at night and to get above 10x mag support you'll need to spend some real $. I like 2-3x at a minimum on the bottom end with a good FOV design. 600y is a long ways at night but getting easier with units like the MARS and Voodoo M paired together.

Having said that, the MK5 3.6-18 is a really good option too and I run that one on my bolt gun right now

 

[CuddlyCat]

You need less mag than you think at night and to get above 10x mag support you'll need to spend some real $. I like 2-3x at a minimum on the bottom end with a good FOV design. 600y is a long ways at night but getting easier with units like the MARS and Voodoo M paired together.

Having said that, the MK5 3.6-18 is a really good option too and I run that one on my bolt gun right now

I'm running a razor 1-10x right now with the TIGIR and I've been pretty happy with it but I'd like to be able to get a little more detail when I'm looking at the far edge of the fields from my house which is a little over 800 yards, down to 600 in some areas before the treeline. I'm not taking shots at that distance with this setup but it's really helpful for me to be able to tell if it's a dog/deer/person at that distance. I've been pretty happy with the TIG but I'm looking at stepping up to the voodoo-M, I was just waiting to see what the specs on the new nvision look like before I drop the coin. I hadn't really considered the MK5 because I was worried about the 3.6 being too high for the menu but it sounds like that hasn't been an issue so I'll have a look at that as well.

 

[rlsmith1]

I'm running a razor 1-10x right now with the TIGIR and I've been pretty happy with it but I'd like to be able to get a little more detail when I'm looking at the far edge of the fields from my house which is a little over 800 yards, down to 600 in some areas before the treeline. I'm not taking shots at that distance with this setup but it's really helpful for me to be able to tell if it's a dog/deer/person at that distance. I've been pretty happy with the TIG but I'm looking at stepping up to the voodoo-M, I was just waiting to see what the specs on the new nvision look like before I drop the coin. I hadn't really considered the MK5 because I was worried about the 3.6 being too high for the menu but it sounds like that hasn't been an issue so I'll have a look at that as well.

Very nice, I think you'll find that the additional mag on the TIG won't gain you anything though because it doesn't have a manual focus (it's only downside from what I've heard).

When pairing optics and clip ons, I look at the FOV in degrees of the clip on and FOV in degrees of the optic at it's lowest magnification. Conversion from feet to degrees is FOV in feet / 5.25 = FOV in degrees (approximately).

In the case of the MK5 3.6-18 the max FOV is 28.3ft at 100y which is ~5.4 deg (28.3 / 5.25). Leupold shows 5.4 degrees on their website so there is some wiggle room there but this is a good approximation. The Voodoo M has an FOV 6.4x4.8 deg so the MK5 would fit well (you'd see all of the vertical screen and most of the horizontal screen)

ETA: I have the MK5 2-10 as well and it is a perfect match to any 50mm clip on with ~8.8 deg FOV