• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

Cheapest acceptable prs22/nrl22 optic

DeathBeforeDismount

DeathBeforeDismount

Hey, give your balls a tug.
Banned !
Minuteman
Nov 20, 2021
4,602
6,119
IN YOUR HEAD
Let me start off by saying I shoot a couple ZCO including on my vudoo.

I am building a backup 10/22 based rimfire gun to use as a loaner. Already dumped a bunch into this so need to pinch some pennies here.

What are my bare minimums:

Mil based reticle, preferably with .2 hashes
FFP
Zero stop

No idea what the current best poor scope is. Strike eagle? Burris? Swfa 12x?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Having recently shot an Arken SH4 gen 2 side by side with a strike eagle, I preferred the vortex. Buddy felt the sh4 has less going on in the reticle, which he preferred. I prefer the SE reticle and overall the scope as well. We both agreed the SE the winner out of the two and felt it was worth paying an extra $200 for. But at the price points I would call neither a really bad choice.. just depends on how poor you’re trying to be. I’m leaning towards the SE or maybe that new bushnell now for my own 22 build. I’m just gonna dodge the EP5 from Arken, but I hear good things.
 
I’ve got a vortex venom on my 10/22 NRLish gun. I have a Strike Eagle on a tikka and wanted to see how the cheaper option was. Honestly I love it. Tracks fine, plenty clear and I don’t miss the illum or locking turrets of the strike eagle. I think for the money it’s perfect for what you want.

Edit to add: I know my username makes me seem like a shill but it’s actually for vortex broadheads, I’ve been using them for a lot longer 🙂
 
Last edited:
FFP
zero at 50 and never touch the turrets, shoot off the reticle for everything.
Superpoor. I have one, it works.
Also the Athlon Helos is sweet, I have one of these too, but way more expensive.

 
  • Haha
Reactions: FuhQ
Athlon Midas tac 5-25 has all your boxes checked. I think the 5-25 is newer than the 6-24s, so has some better features.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JKW70
I am looking at that Atholon Helos. Less than $500 with discount. Digging the reticle as well.

Would not be against a strike eagle either, now i regret not snagging one off the prize table earlier this year.
 
I run a few strike eagles, glass isnt great but the scope is very serviceable for what it is. The reticle is good, eye box is pretty forgiving, control are smooth. I had a arken SH4, and it was big and clunky, i feel the fit and finish on the strike eagle is better. The strike eagles also come up for sale on here pretty often at $550-$650.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TrevK
Doesn't the strike eagle lose a bunch of elevation after the zero stop is installed? Like it goes to 10 mil dialable max? Or is that the diamondback tactical?
 
  • Like
Reactions: FuhQ and LR1845
My b14r has 18.9mils of elevation with the zero stop in my strike eagle which would get me to 375 yards.

my 6arc has the same 18.9mils elevation with zerostop, which would get me to 1275yards
 
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Let me start off by saying I shoot a couple ZCO including on my vudoo.

I am building a backup 10/22 based rimfire gun to use as a loaner. Already dumped a bunch into this so need to pinch some pennies here.

What are my bare minimums:

Mil based reticle, preferably with .2 hashes
FFP
Zero stop

No idea what the current best poor scope is. Strike eagle? Burris? Swfa 12x?

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity, what is your build? I have a donor sitting here gathering dust and am looking for ideas. SWMBO (memsa) made off with my very accurate 77/22 and I’m left with the 10/22 and a single stack Browning T-bolt. Not sure if I will be able to find any NRL matches near by, this is just for fun right now.
 
Right now its a 1st year production 10/22 sitting in a Bravo with a heavy butler creek bull barrel I put on it like 15 years ago.

Here is what I am planning to buy:
KRG tooless LOP adjustment
KRG Arca Rail
KRG Minimalist spigot with arca rail added.

Kidd 2 stage trigger
Kidd Bolt
Kidd recoil spring kit
Kidd V Block
Kidd Action screw
Kidd Buffer
Kidd bolt handle

Depending how it shoots, a new barrel and tuner.

Larue or A419 30 MOA rail.

Still need to decide on a scope, leaning towards a 5-25 strike eagle
 
I have the SE on my 22 setup and it does great. Got it specifically to match the Razor HD reticle on my centerfire setup. For specifically rimfire based, the Strike Eagle is better than the PST. More elevation and closer parallax for rimfire out weigh the better glass in the PST. I would add the ability to dial to at least 350yds to your list of requirements maybe. Both matches I have shot recently had targets past 300 on at least one stage, with average between 45-150. That said the Athlon or SE seem like pretty great scopes, and if you can find one used for a good price that would be an awesome deal. Good luck and awesome of you to build a loaner for others to try out.

edit: Arken SH4 6-24x50 is on a pretty good sale right now and may be worth checking out.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 338dude
I would recommend the strike Eagle. I had one on my Bergara and sold that setup and absolutely thought the scope was a great value for the money spent. The glass wasn’t the greatest but it was good enough.
 
sam4886 said:
Doesn't the strike eagle lose a bunch of elevation after the zero stop is installed? Like it goes to 10 mil dialable max? Or is that the diamondback tactical?
Click to expand...
I have 3 Strike Eagle's on my match 22lr's. Throw the zero stop in the trash. I have mine in Burris XTR Signature rings. On a 20 MOA rail. With the inserts, I am 1 mil from the bottom with 30 mils to dial up. I can dial to 500yds with 50yds zero.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Emerson0311 and beetroot
sam4886 said:
Doesn't the strike eagle lose a bunch of elevation after the zero stop is installed? Like it goes to 10 mil dialable max? Or is that the diamondback tactical?
Click to expand...
Any Vortex that has the RevStop system. Which includes the SE, Venom, PST, etc…
 
  • Like
Reactions: LR1845
I’ve had to venoms and they both worked very well. To my eyes they were better than the SE.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Appalachian
sam4886 said:
Doesn't the strike eagle lose a bunch of elevation after the zero stop is installed? Like it goes to 10 mil dialable max? Or is that the diamondback tactical?
Click to expand...
The Rev Stop limits you to two revolutions, so 20mils.
If you get enough cant in the mount/rail you can get away without the zero stop and be able to use the whole range.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Emerson0311
BLJ said:
I’ve had to venoms and they both worked very well. To my eyes they were better than the SE.
Click to expand...
The Venom is literally an inferior optic to the Strike Eagle in every single way…Including glass. Why do you think it’s $300 cheaper?
 
mikeshaw2 said:
I don't own anything higher end than a pair Venoms in Vortex's line, but I can tell you that it isn't the scope holding me back.

M
Click to expand...
I've got 3 Venoms and like them allot myself. Some might find this comparison an interesting view. No affiliation.
 
Last edited:
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Right now its a 1st year production 10/22 sitting in a Bravo with a heavy butler creek bull barrel I put on it like 15 years ago.

Here is what I am planning to buy:
KRG tooless LOP adjustment
KRG Arca Rail
KRG Minimalist spigot with arca rail added.

Kidd 2 stage trigger
Kidd Bolt
Kidd recoil spring kit
Kidd V Block
Kidd Action screw
Kidd Buffer
Kidd bolt handle

Depending how it shoots, a new barrel and tuner.

Larue or A419 30 MOA rail.

Still need to decide on a scope, leaning towards a 5-25 strike eagle
Click to expand...

I'd just get the Kidd trigger and a rear anchor, none of the others are going to make much difference.
 
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Right now its a 1st year production 10/22 sitting in a Bravo with a heavy butler creek bull barrel I put on it like 15 years ago.

Here is what I am planning to buy:
KRG tooless LOP adjustment
KRG Arca Rail
KRG Minimalist spigot with arca rail added.

Kidd 2 stage trigger
Kidd Bolt
Kidd recoil spring kit
Kidd V Block
Kidd Action screw
Kidd Buffer
Kidd bolt handle

Depending how it shoots, a new barrel and tuner.

Larue or A419 30 MOA rail.

Still need to decide on a scope, leaning towards a 5-25 strike eagle
Click to expand...
at this point id suggest you just go full kidd super grade...badass rifles!!
 
DeathBeforeDismount said:
The problem is, once you go above say $4-500, you might as well buy a used PST Gen 2 or other similar optic. I am not paying over $500 for something made in china when I can get a PST for $100 more.
Click to expand...
70C3A9E7-3632-45BB-9059-EBB7F9BF7CE7.png
F67D0E0B-9636-4265-9371-09516CEFB8DB.png
 
The clarity of the venoms I had (2) were better than the (2) SE’s that I looked through. I didn’t need illumination on them and the I couldn’t see the $300 difference. To my eyes. IMO.
Both of the venoms I had were better than the SH4 as far as glass goes. To me.
Also the SH4 I had didn’t have enough windage adjustment at 50 to get a 22 zeroed. So I think on the lower end scopes sometimes you get good ones and sometimes you get bad ones.
I will say that I’ve had very good luck I. The first try with all the Athlons I have.
Hope that helps you out.
 
BLJ said:
The clarity of the venoms I had (2) were better than the (2) SE’s that I looked through. I didn’t need illumination on them and the I couldn’t see the $300 difference. To my eyes. IMO.
Both of the venoms I had were better than the SH4 as far as glass goes. To me.
Also the SH4 I had didn’t have enough windage adjustment at 50 to get a 22 zeroed. So I think on the lower end scopes sometimes you get good ones and sometimes you get bad ones.
I will say that I’ve had very good luck I. The first try with all the Athlons I have.
Hope that helps you out.
Click to expand...
That sounds pretty weird, not enough windage to zero? Was the elevation bottomed out and then would not let the windage move?
Or the scope pointed a little sideways somehow?
 
BLJ said:
The clarity of the venoms I had (2) were better than the (2) SE’s that I looked through. I didn’t need illumination on them and the I couldn’t see the $300 difference. To my eyes. IMO.
Both of the venoms I had were better than the SH4 as far as glass goes. To me.
Also the SH4 I had didn’t have enough windage adjustment at 50 to get a 22 zeroed. So I think on the lower end scopes sometimes you get good ones and sometimes you get bad ones.
I will say that I’ve had very good luck I. The first try with all the Athlons I have.
Hope that helps you out.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a rifle problem... The SH4 6-24x50 has 10 MILs (34.4 MOA) of windage... And the 4-16x50 has 14 MILs (50 MOA). That's a shit ton of adjustment. Sounds like you had some sort of shitty base or rings on there that was crooked, or your base holes weren't drilled straight on your rifle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Simonsza1, 338dude, LR1845 and 1 other person
It was on a Ruger American Precision. Factory 30 MOA rail and Arken Halo rings. I put a 6-24 Midas Tac on it with the same rail and Vortex Pro rings and it was fine. I think it was just a bad one. I know of 2 other SH4's and one EP5 that have been fine. And all 3 of those scopes have been dialed a lot.

Sorry for the hijack OP.
 
I don't compete .22LR.

When I was looking into a Vudoo 2 years ago, I remember asking people about glass and being told ZCO was the best scope for .22 comps with the PST Gen 2 5-25x being the best low end option.
 
DeathBeforeDismount said:
I already have a zco on my vudoo.

If you read the OP. This is for a loaner gun, mostly for kids so they can shoot.
Click to expand...
For kids the 12X SS Swfa is a simple scope to operate and is $209 right now. 40 mils of adjustment. .5 mil hash. 5 mils per rotation. I have 2 20X SS, great scopes for the money.
 
Yea i really want something with traditional paralax adjustment , zero stop and .2 mil hashes. That way when they move up it will not be foreign.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Glassaholic
Rifle Scopes Alpha Class Long Range Scope Review - TT, ZCO, Schmidt, March, Vortex
Replies
206
Views
26K
Dutch308
D
Glassaholic
Rifle Scopes Steiner T6Xi 3-18x56 Review and comparison with NF ATACR 4-16x42, S&B US 3-20x50 and March 4.5-28x52
Replies
115
Views
6K
TheBigCountry
TheBigCountry
Glassaholic
Rifle Scopes Nightforce NX8 2.5-20x50 vs March 3-24x52 vs Schmidt 3-27x56 - battle of midrange magnification juggernauts
Replies
32
Views
5K
Glassaholic
Glassaholic
Glassaholic
Rifle Scopes Vortex Razor HD LHT FFP 4.5-22x50 Review and Comparison to Bushnell ET LRHSi 4.5-18x44
Replies
100
Views
32K
beetroot
beetroot
C
Rifle Scopes Steiner MX5i 5-25x56 MSR and Burris Customer Service - Disappointing
Replies
84
Views
9K
orkan
orkan
Top Bottom
Back