I've been trying to absorb as much info as possible on this forum and I'm still having a tough time making a good decision.
I rarely hunt. I do like to pop a 'yote when they come around. Mostly though, I appreciate skills that require effort and discipline to obtain. I would like long range shooting to be one of those skills I have. A .25-06 may not be the optimal caliber for this quest, but I feel it's likely I can learn a lot with it (plus it's the only centerfire rifle I have). If I grow out of the gun, fine. If not, no harm done.
My understanding is that a .25-06 is a viable hunting gun out to 500 yards and can be a viable target gun even further. From what I've read, I don't ever see it being a 1000 yard gun for me.
My original thought was to purchase a scope that I won't have to replace should I switch guns and start pushing out past 1000 yards. I was thinking a USO SN-3 3.2-17x T-PAL. Now I'm not so sure. I'm not really afraid of the price tag, but I'm just not sure it's a prudent use of money for a .25-06. I'm trying to research scopes that are a little more reasonably priced and see if they can permanently meet the needs of a .25-06 at any range it's capable of. Things I really want:
1. FFP
2. MIL/MIL or MOA/MOA - (<span style="font-style: italic">not</span> IPHY. Really don't want to mess up and get a MOA/MOA scope that's actually S-MOA)
3. Variable power. 3 or so on the low end and 12+ on the high end (is 9 on the high end good enough?)
4. Really want it to track accurately/repeatably.
5. Really want zero stop on elevation.
As far as I can tell all of these things are pointing me towards a Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP or a Nightforce 3.5-15x50 F1 NXS.
Looks like the Vortex can be had for around $900 while the Nightforce is more like $2,300.
To me, for a new guy starting out with long range shooting and only using a .25-06, I think the Vortex would be OK. Am I overlooking some other good options given my requirements? There are a few things I don't like about the Vortex such as 50mm seems like mounting might need to be higher than I'd like and I'd really rather have a low end magnification of 3x (perhaps I don't need even 12x on the high end? Maybe 9x would be good?). If anyone else has any good suggestions that would meet all my requirements, I'd sure be open to them. Thanks.
I rarely hunt. I do like to pop a 'yote when they come around. Mostly though, I appreciate skills that require effort and discipline to obtain. I would like long range shooting to be one of those skills I have. A .25-06 may not be the optimal caliber for this quest, but I feel it's likely I can learn a lot with it (plus it's the only centerfire rifle I have). If I grow out of the gun, fine. If not, no harm done.
My understanding is that a .25-06 is a viable hunting gun out to 500 yards and can be a viable target gun even further. From what I've read, I don't ever see it being a 1000 yard gun for me.
My original thought was to purchase a scope that I won't have to replace should I switch guns and start pushing out past 1000 yards. I was thinking a USO SN-3 3.2-17x T-PAL. Now I'm not so sure. I'm not really afraid of the price tag, but I'm just not sure it's a prudent use of money for a .25-06. I'm trying to research scopes that are a little more reasonably priced and see if they can permanently meet the needs of a .25-06 at any range it's capable of. Things I really want:
1. FFP
2. MIL/MIL or MOA/MOA - (<span style="font-style: italic">not</span> IPHY. Really don't want to mess up and get a MOA/MOA scope that's actually S-MOA)
3. Variable power. 3 or so on the low end and 12+ on the high end (is 9 on the high end good enough?)
4. Really want it to track accurately/repeatably.
5. Really want zero stop on elevation.
As far as I can tell all of these things are pointing me towards a Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP or a Nightforce 3.5-15x50 F1 NXS.
Looks like the Vortex can be had for around $900 while the Nightforce is more like $2,300.
To me, for a new guy starting out with long range shooting and only using a .25-06, I think the Vortex would be OK. Am I overlooking some other good options given my requirements? There are a few things I don't like about the Vortex such as 50mm seems like mounting might need to be higher than I'd like and I'd really rather have a low end magnification of 3x (perhaps I don't need even 12x on the high end? Maybe 9x would be good?). If anyone else has any good suggestions that would meet all my requirements, I'd sure be open to them. Thanks.
