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Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

C

commandernavi

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 20, 2012
123
15
42
Texas
Hi all. I recently got an SPS Tactical and took it out to shoot today. I couldn't help but feel that the things I have on it now don't do it justice. I have a UTG rail on it which is very cheap and not great and a Centerpoint 2-9 X 40 scope on it. While it shot alright and I could get about 1 in groups at 100 yards even though this is the first time I shot it (with Winchester hunting loads that have an unjacketed lead tip) off a bipod and sandbags and I am not the best shot, I am thinking ahead to the future and want to know what I should upgrade to once I get better.

I want to push it out to 800 yards when I am ready after months of practice, so what mount and scope would you guys recommend? I want something that lasts a long time but doesn't break the bank if possible. Is replacing the rail discouraged for any reason? Are there any military-style Leupold scopes (or similar quality) under 300 that would do the job well that go up to 14X?

Thank you!

The rail:

http://www.amazon.com/UTG-Model-Short-Ac...ington+700+rail
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

First off, you are posting Optics questions in a bolt action rifle section. Your question is better off in the Optics section. With that being said, don't post this question in that section, but read through all the threads in that section first. Your questions will be very throughly answered. Then when you want to see what you can do to improve your rifle, such as the stock, rail, bipod, barrel, some back to this sectin and read it all as well...
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

Hahahaha at least he was honest I would't waste any time with those products guy.
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: commandernavi</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi all. I recently got an SPS Tactical and took it out to shoot today. I couldn't help but feel that the things I have on it now don't do it justice. I have a UTG rail on it which is very cheap and not great and a Centerpoint 2-9 X 40 scope on it. While it shot alright and I could get about 1 in groups at 100 yards even though this is the first time I shot it (with Winchester hunting loads that have an unjacketed lead tip) off a bipod and sandbags and I am not the best shot, I am thinking ahead to the future and want to know what I should upgrade to once I get better.

I want to push it out to 800 yards when I am ready after months of practice, so what mount and scope would you guys recommend? I want something that lasts a long time but doesn't break the bank if possible. Is replacing the rail discouraged for any reason? Are there any military-style Leupold scopes (or similar quality) under 300 that would do the job well that go up to 14X?

Thank you!

The rail:

http://www.amazon.com/UTG-Model-Short-Ac...ington+700+rail </div></div>

Just alittle advice here for the OP:

"I just bought a rifle that is capable of 1000 meter shots, but I put airsoft quality shit on it, what do you think"?

Of course, you're going to get slammed. There are some very serious people here, what do you expect?

SH is a site that has a lot of skilled and knowledgeable folks as members. I have been on since 2010, and I think I have less than 50 posts. The one thing you can count on is that there isn't a lot of patience for these kind of questions and particularly, citing references to sub standard gear, etc.

Why? - because you didn't put forth any effort to educate yourself first.

My advice is this, don't ask others what kind of gear you should buy for your rifle. DO RESEARCH...most of those questions can be answered by doing a little work before blathering about the place. Once you understand the difference between a turd and a diamond, then ask for opinions based on others experiences.

Try to get socialized at the range with some like minded shooters. Get behind thier stuff and compare, etc....

Watch, be silent...and learn
whistle.gif
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

EGW would be a good option for a picatinny rail. Not too expensive and decent quality. I personally run a NF 25moa canted rail on my R700 but it is a bit more than I think you'd like to spend. The PX section has bases pop up from time to time for great deals.

For a scope you could look at Vortex. They have a number of options in a wide variety of price ranges as well as an excellent warranty service. Leupold also has some nice mid range offerings but I'm not as familiar. The PX section has these as well.

All that being said, read through the forums. I adhere to the buy once cry once philosophy and there are numerous features you need to decide on (ffp vs. sfp, parallax adjustment, illumination, etc.). Each option is helpful but also drives the price up. Anyway, good luck and shoot straight!
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

Visit you tube, search for budget precision build by lonewolf.

All of your questions will be answered.
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

I know the scope and the rail I have on it aren't worthy of the gun. The only reason I put them on there is that I purchased the rifle recently and wanted to try it out and make sure everything was okay before investing hundreds of dollars into a scope and mount (not to mention learning how to put them on properly). I mostly wanted to know whether replacing the rail is a bad idea for any reason (I didn't lock-tight it down or anything, but wanted to know if that is usually frown upon for whatever reason).

I got the scope for free when I bought my Marlin 795 and took it off of it and onto the SPS to try shooting it.

Yes, it is my fault for posting here instead of optics and yes, I still do and will put more time into researching, but there is honestly no reason for the negativity when I know what I have on it isn't good (which is why I posted here in the first place...) and this is my first precision rifle and I am not too familiar with things yet.

Though they aren't great, I will say, however, both the scope and rail worked fine. Didn't have any creep and most of the error was my fault so "shit" isn't really the right word if it is okay.

Thanks fdkay. These are nice videos.
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

Ok well you probably know this by now if youve taken the "research" advise from everybody on here but you will need a 20 moa base to reach out to those ranges. you said $300 for a scope? Well that's shooting pretty low. Now I'm not saying you need to drop night force coin but you'll need a decent scope with turrets to reach 800+ so your at least going to be at 500. Someone said vortex earlier and i totally agree i love vortex i have three of them lol. The vortex viper pst is a very high quality inexpensive scope for what you get ie: customizable turrets, high quality glass, parallax adjustment, illumination ect........ Those will run $700-1100 for 1100 you Ali get ffp which is nice but there is a lot of nice optics out there my advice is to get out there and look through some glass
Sorry for the long winded post lol

Boots
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

You're not going to find a scope for $300 or less that's going to do very well at 800 yards, you're going to have to bump that budget up a couple hundred dollars at least. If Midway still has them in stock, the 5-15 Vortex Viper is a great scope for the money @ $499 and will serve you well for a long time.

Replace that base with an EGW HD, but you haven't mentioned rings. From the UTG base and Centerpoint scope, I'd guess that the rings you have are of similar quality so they're going to need to be replaced as well.
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

A SWFA SS 10X will be 299 and it will work out to 800 with no problem. I had one on my starter rifle a fwe years and it worked well for me on steel out to 800. I would bet it would have worked well out to 1000, but did not have the time to

I have also used a EGW base, they work well for what they are. A SPS, SS 10x and EGW base with harris bipod comes under 1k total and will serve most shooters really well for the money.

This hobby is addictive, next thing you know you are spending 3k on an optic, 5k on a rifle and 2k on classes.
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

^^^^+1 on the swfa great scope for the money
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

Thanks guys. Yes. The scope rings came with the scope so aren't good. How much can I expect to pay for a great scope base and great rings that I won't need to replace? Do a good base and rings really make that much of a difference? Also what are people's opinions on Bushnell elites or the leupold 3-9x40 rifleman? I have seen it for 150 on sale. I was hoping to find something good that is 14X at least but haven't been successful anywhere near 300.

I knew making a long range gun was expensive but are all these items costing hundreds more really going to improve the performance that much (at long ranges like 600+) compared to cheap things?
 
Re: Replacing SPS Tactical Rail and Good Scope?

In short .....yes itll make a huge difference buy once cry once and youll never look back but those scopes are nice hunting scopes and for rings a weaver 20moa mount and lupy rings wkll do just fine and farely inexpensive
 
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