18x vs 25x+ for 5.56 competition rifle

[warrantchief]

Hi folks, I shoot a mk12ish ar in long range gas gun competitions. Previously I had a leupold mark 6 3-18 on it, but I moved that to a lightweight bolt gun as I am not weight sensitive on the comp gun. I'm strongly considering the Steiner T6xi 3-18x56 as it's a pretty amazing value with the le/fr discount, but I wanted to see if anyone wanted to advocate for more magnification. I have a 25x on my .308 comp gun that I think is great and a 30x on my 6.5cm comp gun, but I shoot both of those futher distances.

With the 5.56 the stages are 300-700y with 1 moa targets, for the most part. 18x is definitely enough, but the recoil is so low I don't think I would have any issues spotting my misses, etc using a zoomed in 25x.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Birddog6424]

18x is more than enough.

I ran a 20x in PRS for 4 years without issue. I've ran my 8x on my 3 Gun rifle and engaged plenty of targets at distances of 500 plus. I have no problem engaging our mile plate with my 18x Burris XTRIII that I have on a 6.5 Creedmoor.

It'll be a perfect match for that platform.

 

[warrantchief]

I went with the Steiner 3-18x56! I feel like the turrets are not as nice as my zeiss or leica, in particular the locking mechanism, but with the discount it's impossible to beat.