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Scope recommendation for PRS & 1,000 yard steel

Vpit

Private
Minuteman
May 26, 2022
3
1
Deep Blue Sea
I have a new goal to hit steel at 1,000 plus yards. I mainly shoot 3 Gun matches out to 500 yards. I've shot a couple PRS matches and my furthest first round hit was 715 yards.

I had a Leupold Mark 4 4.5-14x50 on my Remington 700 LTR 308 with a 20" fluted barrel. The Leupold is now on a different rifle and I don't really want to be switching it back and forth.

I bought the Leupold new from a buddy for $600 years ago. I'm looking for another scope in that price range to shoot a couple of PRS matches per year and steel just for fun. I have access to a 1,500 yard range a couple times a year.

I see that I can buy the same discontinued Leupold Mk4 4.5-14x50 for $750 delivered online. I like the idea of the same scope on different rifles that way I'm really familiar with it but I also like the idea of a new toy and one with more zoom.
I want a 30mm tube.

I see Vortex makes some inexpensive scopes in the Viper, Viper HS, and Viper HST lines 6-24x50. Anyone with experience with those?

Does anyone have this?

I've heard most people shoot PRS at about 12-18x because it takes too long to find targets at 20+x. So do I even need a scope over 14x?

What are your $500-$750 scope recommendations? I can go up to $1,000 if it's really worth it.
 
$600 price range…

Arken SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 VPR or EP5 5-25x56 VPR

Or

Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25x56 EBR-7C

I have all 3 of these scopes and spend lots of time behind them (nearly every weekend at the range)…They’re worth their price. The Arken EP5 has actual Japanese ED glass, and it’s VERY clear.

The glass between the SH4 Gen2 and Strike Eagle are pretty much a wash through y eyes, but are still excellent for their price point.

Turrets are great on all the scopes, and the zero-stops are solid on all of them. All have 34mm tubes, are FFP, and lifetime warranties. The Arken VPR reticle is really nice, as well as the Vortex EBR-7C. Both companies have excellent customer service.
 
In that price range the Viper PST Gen 2 is a really popular recommendation. I liked mine a lot when I had it. I've heard really good things about the Match Pro, the Strike Eagle has a lot of features and elevation travel in that range.
I also like the Viper PST II 5-25x50 with the EBR-7C reticle.
 
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$600 price range…

Arken SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 VPR or EP5 5-25x56 VPR

Or

Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25x56 EBR-7C

I have all 3 of these scopes and spend lots of time behind them (nearly every weekend at the range)…They’re worth their price. The Arken EP5 has actual Japanese ED glass, and it’s VERY clear.

The glass between the SH4 Gen2 and Strike Eagle are pretty much a wash through y eyes, but are still excellent for their price point.

Turrets are great on all the scopes, and the zero-stops are solid on all of them. All have 34mm tubes, are FFP, and lifetime warranties. The Arken VPR reticle is really nice, as well as the Vortex EBR-7C. Both companies have excellent customer service.
Any of these recommendations. I personally prefer the EP5 over SH4. These are going to be as good as anything $1000 or less. Only reason to have 25x is possibly seeing splash marks further out while practicing. Also, often a 20x scope will perform better at 15x than a 15x scope at its max mag.
 
My favourite low end scope is the Midas Tac. 6-24 if you want to go 30mm and save some coin. 5-25 if you want the extra travel on the 34mm tube.
To me it has the best glass and turrets of the Chinesium. Turrets internals are stainless, I like their zero stop and loud turret clicks, Cuts through mirage surprisingly well. I also like capped windage but that’s a personal choice. I also like their reticle better than the Vortex EBR7. Mine sits on a RimX 22lr and with Burris bushing rings I get the full 25 mil elevation which is enough to get me to 450m without hold-overs.

I’d rank the Midas 6-24 a tiny notch higher than the Bushnell Match Pro and the Arken SH4 but I haven’t seen the new EP5 yet which apparently has great glass too.
 
PST Gen 2.
Euro Optic has the EBR 2c and 2d reticle on sale frequently for less than $700.
 
Really like the Midas tac 5-25x56, I just acquired one 2 weeks ago from a vendor on here for 700$. Pm for his info.
 
this is what I'm using and I hit 1000 yd steel pretty easily on my first few attempts. eurooptic and botach usually have them for around $600-660
Just checked Europtic, their price for the Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50 EBR-7C MRAD FFP Riflescope PST-5259 is 1099.99. Iv've never sen this scope form them in the $600-660. Maybe I just missed a great sale day.
 
Just checked Europtic, their price for the Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50 EBR-7C MRAD FFP Riflescope PST-5259 is 1099.99. Iv've never sen this scope form them in the $600-660. Maybe I just missed a great sale day.
They used to have the Viper Gen2 EBR-2C models that cheap, after Vortex discontinued them, so everybody put them on closeout pricing for $600-700 just to get rid of them. The EBR-7C is a better reticle, IMO.

They DO however, offer the Strike Eagle 5-25x56 with the EBR-7C reticle for like $699, and it has a FFP reticle, a 34mm tube, the RevStop zero stop, and locking turrets. I've had one since last year, and it's been a great scope for the money.
 
The PST Gen 2 5-25 would be my choice, in your situation. We have several of the scopes you have mentioned, for good prices, that might interest you.
 
At your budget I would recommend the Midas Tac. At 1000 you can find a Cronus BTR Gen2 occasionally and that would be my pick.
 
I've got a Athlon5-25x50 Midas Tac on a CZ/Lilja "precision" .22 and I'm quite pleased with it. Solid turrets (accurate & repeatable), FFP, nice simple reticle, and great price. The glass isn't great, but certainly good enough. The eye box seems a little small at full magnification, but I usually run it at 18x or so. Not quite enough elevation to dial 400 yards with the .22 without using the reticle, but I don't shoot at that range enough to worry about it. Plenty of elevation for 1000 yards and centerfire rifles. I wouldn't go any lower in the Athlon line.
 
I have a new goal to hit steel at 1,000 plus yards. I mainly shoot 3 Gun matches out to 500 yards. I've shot a couple PRS matches and my furthest first round hit was 715 yards.

I had a Leupold Mark 4 4.5-14x50 on my Remington 700 LTR 308 with a 20" fluted barrel. The Leupold is now on a different rifle and I don't really want to be switching it back and forth.

I bought the Leupold new from a buddy for $600 years ago. I'm looking for another scope in that price range to shoot a couple of PRS matches per year and steel just for fun. I have access to a 1,500 yard range a couple times a year.

I see that I can buy the same discontinued Leupold Mk4 4.5-14x50 for $750 delivered online. I like the idea of the same scope on different rifles that way I'm really familiar with it but I also like the idea of a new toy and one with more zoom.
I want a 30mm tube.

I see Vortex makes some inexpensive scopes in the Viper, Viper HS, and Viper HST lines 6-24x50. Anyone with experience with those?

Does anyone have this?

I've heard most people shoot PRS at about 12-18x because it takes too long to find targets at 20+x. So do I even need a scope over 14x?

What are your $500-$750 scope recommendations? I can go up to $1,000 if it's really worth it.

Those are SFP
 
I ended up with the Bushnell Match Pro. So far I'm happy with it. They have 2-3 rimfire matches a month in my area so if I get the itch, this might end up on a 22 and I'll upgrade this later.
Thanks all for the suggestions.
 
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Look for used here on the classifieds. Since you only want 30mm you will be limited.
Bushnell LRHS/LRTS 4.5-18x44
Vortex PST II 3-15x44
Vortex PST II 5-25x50
Tract Toric 4-20x50

You can find all of these for under $1k used. I prefer to stay away from the Chinese stuff (though I just picked up an Athlon Helos BTR2 2-12x42 and have been super impressed with it for the price, punches way above its class optically)