Rifle Scopes About to lose my mind searching for a varmint scope

[zlman]

Looking for a scope to put on my back-up AR when prairie doggin'. Current scope is a Vortex Crossfire and for what it cost its killed a lot of dogs but it seems like a good time for an upgrade.

Main Ar, I'm running a Zeiss w/ the varmint reticle. Absolutely love the scope, picked it from Cameraland as a demo unit and a great price. Have looked again but it seems as far as demo's go all they have are the HD 5's at about $900, a great price but almost double what I'm looking to spend.

What I'm looking for,

- no more then $500
- BDC recticle
- high magnification

Cabelas and Midway and probably others, currently have the Nikon line on sale. Giving some serious thought to the M-223 4-16x42. $400/shipped to my door. Not sure I would be happy with a 16 power max. I've owned other Nikons and the glass is pretty good. My reason for selling them was the BDC on the Monarchs and the Buckmasters were so large they obscured the dogs I was aiming at at distance. The BDC rings on the M-223 appear smaller.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

By the way, I look daily at this for sale board and other sites, looking for some deals but no luck so far.

 

[Icewater]

I can't speak of quality or features of any scopes you mentioned but as far as being happy with a 16x zoom I could tell you that many people always tell they rarely use anything over 16 power because of the mirage effect. I personally don't have experience with anything over 9x. I just purchased a 6-24, I'll see for myself soon

 

[zlman]

My Zeiss is 6.5-20. I find I use 20x very often once I've located a target.

 

[maverick2]

Looking for a scope to put on my back-up AR when prairie doggin'. Current scope is a Vortex Crossfire and for what it cost its killed a lot of dogs but it seems like a good time for an upgrade.

Main Ar, I'm running a Zeiss w/ the varmint reticle. Absolutely love the scope, picked it from Cameraland as a demo unit and a great price. Have looked again but it seems as far as demo's go all they have are the HD 5's at about $900, a great price but almost double what I'm looking to spend.

What I'm looking for,

- no more then $500
- BDC recticle
- high magnification

Cabelas and Midway and probably others, currently have the Nikon line on sale. Giving some serious thought to the M-223 4-16x42. $400/shipped to my door. Not sure I would be happy with a 16 power max. I've owned other Nikons and the glass is pretty good. My reason for selling them was the BDC on the Monarchs and the Buckmasters were so large they obscured the dogs I was aiming at at distance. The BDC rings on the M-223 appear smaller.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

By the way, I look daily at this for sale board and other sites, looking for some deals but no luck so far.

Hey, if you were able to come up off your price a bit, I'd sell you my Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 w/ Varmint Z reticle. It's sat atop my .204 Ruger from the time I bought it 6 yrs ago. I inherited a few varmint rifles shortly thereafter, so the .204 went pretty much unused (less than 60 rds thru it). I got tired of it taking up space in the gun safe, so I split up the rifle and scope 2 days ago, sold the rifle, and was going to list the scope this week. Was going to advertise it at $625. Scope is pretty much indistinguishable from new -- I'm not sure that you could tell it's ever been mounted by looking at it. (Like you, for the little I have shot that scope, I love it and the reticle -- perfect for varmints and target shooting.)

 

[Crosshair]

This would be my choice for what you are looking for, budget considered... Hands down (on demo price, too) :
6.5-20x50 BDC Vortex - Camera Land NY

 

[zlman]

This would be my choice for what you are looking for, budget considered... Hands down (on demo price, too) :
6.5-20x50 BDC Vortex - Camera Land NY

Holy balls!!!
I must have looked at C L demo list a hundred times in the last month. That Vortex was missed every time.

It's been ordered now!

Thank you VERY much!

 

[diggler1833]

Vortex Vipers for your price range are hard to beat.

 

[djskit]

I just put a Leupold Mark AR 6-18 on my Prarie Dog AR...mil dot reticle, combo mil turret and BDC turret for 55 grain bullets. I'm just wokring up a load 55 grain varmingeddons to match the dial. Under $600.

 

[tylerw02]

BDC reticles suck and rarely work all that good anyway. I'd get something with a fine duplex for varmint hunting, or a TMR/Mil-dot style reticle. I've had the best luck with Leupole VX-II 6-18x40AO with fine duplex reticles in the price range you're after. I dial 90% of the time though.

 

[zlman]

BDC reticles suck and rarely work all that good anyway. I'd get something with a fine duplex for varmint hunting, or a TMR/Mil-dot style reticle. I've had the best luck with Leupole VX-II 6-18x40AO with fine duplex reticles in the price range you're after. I dial 90% of the time though.

I love BDC ret. I think dogs move and hussle too much to try and dial. It works for me. Hope the Vortex is here by the weekend!

 

[ATC]

I can't speak of quality or features of any scopes you mentioned but as far as being happy with a 16x zoom I could tell you that many people always tell they rarely use anything over 16 power because of the mirage effect. I personally don't have experience with anything over 9x. I just purchased a 6-24, I'll see for myself soon

I don't see how people shoot long distance with 16x or less
I have a 8-32x on my .22, and I find myself using the 24-30 range A LOT...and at 50yds no less!

 

[Icewater]

I don't see how people shoot long distance with 16x or less
I have a 8-32x on my .22, and I find myself using the 24-30 range A LOT...and at 50yds no less!

I had a few people try to get me to buy a 16 or 20 power fixed scope. My thoughts were I wanted much more zoom and at times maybe less. Even shooting paper at 100 yds I feel I have a hard time finding that exact target placement. I'm sure the mirage effect depends on the day also. Like I said I'll see for myself when I get out using it

 

[zlman]

Scope arrived Fri, I went with the "damaged box" option, saved myself another $50.

If that box is damaged it must be a mental thing cause I can't find a single thing wrong.

Fabulous company to order from!

This is my second optic in so many years from them but it won't be the last!