Rifle Scopes S&B 3-27 worth the difference over 5-25? 1.45" rings ok?

[fairdebtlawyer]

(note--need to change my SN, not doing law anymore, thank the Lord)

Prices on both these scopes are way down and I might be able to pick one or the other before long. Right now the only long rifle I have is a DPMS LR-308, Geissele trigger, 16" barrel, very accurate. Its immediate job is hunting whitetails, feral hogs, coyotes, well anything that shows up really, anywhere from bayonet range to 700. At some point I'll get a better bolt rifle and add competition to the task list.

We all know the 5-25 is the gold standard except at the low end, since I understand the FOV is narrow beneath about 8x. How much of an advantage is the 3-27 up close? And is it any better at seeing things far away, maybe even bullet holes in paper? Used 5-25s are below $2,300, new 3-27s are $3,000, at least the 26 mil CW version with P4F reticle is.

Schmidt says the bell diameter is 62mm, so radius 31mm = 1.22". I like to get as low as possible but 1.25" rings seem to be pushing it. How about 1.45" rings? I don't want the extra weight and cost of a one-piece mount if I can help it.

 

[diverdon]

For PRS or range shooting the 5-25 is fine. The FOV on the 3-27, and the eyebox put it in a different class.

 

[19Scout77]

I have a 3-27 mounted in 1” rings, HTG and MTU. Unless you have some funky cheeks or a jacked up cheekweld, since it is an AR, you are going to need a mount around 1.5” just because it’s an AR. The scope objective size is not determinative.
Also, how do you plan on mounting in rings on an AR? Unless you have a monolithic upper you will have to bridge the receiver/Handguard gap in order to have proper eye relief...which is a really bad idea. You will need a cantilever mount of some sort.

 

[fairdebtlawyer]

Here's the current setup, Bushnell 3200 10x42 in 1" random gun store rings. Eye relief is 3.5", same as the 3-27 and 5-25 S&Bs. The factory standard stock, one or two notches out, has me looking in the right direction and sets my cheekbone right on the comb. I can live with 1.5" but cheekweld with the 1" rings is much more satisfactory to my funny face.

ETA: whoops, looking at pictures of the S&B, the illume turret is right where my rear ring is, so rings might not get it done.

Anything you really like or dislike about your 3-27?

 

[19Scout77]

In order to have the SB mounted in such a way that the occular will be in the same place as the occular on you Bushnell, you will have you rear ring about 2 inches forward and the other ring 3-4 inches into your Handguard.