Starting the journey

[CharlieWill]

I'm dipping my toes into long range shooting and don't want my wife to kick my backside. I've ordered a Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor with the MagPul stock and a 22 inch barrel. Looking for a scope that can get me going at 300 to 500 yards. Wouldn't upset me if it enabled me to stretch out further. My end goal is to work my way into competitions at 1000 yards (mostly to improve my skills). I know I'll need to upgrade my gear, but wondering about optics that can get me going. I've been eyeing the Vortex Strike Eagle as a starting point. Does this seem like a decent starting point? FFP and zero stop. Not the best, but has enough magnification to stretch further. Or is this overkill?

I'm mostly a pistol shooter. Been shooting 45acp for a very long time. Yea, I'm kind of old school.

 

[dirthead1]

It’s good enough to start. Mount it and start shooting. When you “outgrow” that rifle and scope, you can go big. That’s plenty to get you started though. If you don’t already have a supply of ammo, spend your time and money on that. The practice practice practice.

 

[MTB doc]

1. Look at whatever Athlon scope is equally priced to the Strike Eagle.

2. Call Doug at Cameraland. He will give you both solid advice and an excellent price.

3. "and don't want my wife to kick my backside"- I'd suggest checking your testosterone level (both total and free) as a start.

 

[MTB doc]

You can pm him: @gr8fuldoug

 

[GreenMushroom]

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

FREE SHIPPING on Vortex Viper PST 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

www.eurooptic.com

I don't know how big of a concern weight is but I got one of these for a starter scope. I've only had it out a couple times but I'm very impressed for the price. They also have a 5-25 but I really like the eyebox and fov on the 3-15. Philippine made instead of China if that matters to you. On the downside It's big and heavy and compared to my LHT its a pig. I figure at that price I can get my $ back out of it if I want to upgrade later.

 

[CharlieWill]

Thank you for the quick feedback. I'll peruse the Athlon offerings as I wasn't terribly familiar with them before.

 

[Primary Arms]

We have some optics in our assortment that would fit your needs as well. They are calibrated for the 6.5 Creedmoor round. Simply sight in at 100 yards and you are ready to engage at any range out to 1,000 yards with crosswinds up to 20 mph, all without requiring any math or touching a single turret. They have a lifetime warranty as well.

Shop Primary Arms Branded Line | Primary Arms

Primary Arms features our own line of AR 15 and AK 47 parts, accessories, scopes, optics and red dot sights.

www.primaryarms.com

 

[MTB doc]

We have some optics in our assortment that would fit your needs as well. They are calibrated for the 6.5 Creedmoor round. Simply sight in at 100 yards and you are ready to engage at any range out to 1,000 yards with crosswinds up to 20 mph, all without requiring any math or touching a single turret. They have a lifetime warranty as well.

Shop Primary Arms Branded Line | Primary Arms

Primary Arms features our own line of AR 15 and AK 47 parts, accessories, scopes, optics and red dot sights.

www.primaryarms.com

With all due respect, with his end goal being competitions at 1000, he would be far better served not using a BDC scope and instead "touching" the turrets many times as he learns.

 

[RTV]

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

FREE SHIPPING on Vortex Viper PST 3-15x44 EBR-2D MRAD (FFP) PST-3157

www.eurooptic.com

this is just too good of a deal to pass up especially for your uses.
forget the strike eagle it will work but with the closeout sale on the PST Gii its simply unbeatable at that price.


i was recently looking to pickup a new scope for my new bergara B14 with the intention of running the piss out of it and upgrading to a ZCO or an ATACR in a few years and i was interested since i have always been a bit of an elitist how the cheaper options hold up just for the casual "weekend warrior" type thing as well as to kind of compare and contrast and justify the money i am spending on high dollar scopes by seeing firsthand what i get with them lol

with that being said i picked up a vortex diamondback tactical 4-16x44 FFP from liberty optics for like 320$ and it is worth every penny!
shouldn't have been stupid with my experiment however and just purchased the damn PST Gii from eurooptic lol

the diamondbacks glass is OK and yes i can shoot 1000 with it... is it an ATACR? hell no.... the turrets are a bit less clicky and tactile than the better offerings but still serviceable and if this was my budget i wouldn't be complaining too much however what is a real killer for me is how hard it is to see what mil mark i am on. i twist the turret and look at it and its sitting in between two marks. or i try to bring it back to zero and cant tell if its on target or one to the left because the turrets have so much play that it will "wobble" in between the lines and i would anticipate the Strike Eagle to be much closer to the Diamondback Tactical in overall quality than the PST Gii. The last thing you want to be doing when learning this sport is to be fighting your gear.

Long story short as i said above get the PST Gii on the clearance deal at eurooptic... its honestly a killer deal and the PST Gii would have no problems taking down a local PRS match as long as the indian knows what he is doing.

 

[CharlieWill]

Lol, this Indian doesn't know what he's doing yet. I hope to after a lot of practice . Thanks for the tip on the scope. I hadn't see the Europtic clearance area before.

 

[CSTactical]

I'm dipping my toes into long range shooting and don't want my wife to kick my backside. I've ordered a Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor with the MagPul stock and a 22 inch barrel. Looking for a scope that can get me going at 300 to 500 yards. Wouldn't upset me if it enabled me to stretch out further. My end goal is to work my way into competitions at 1000 yards (mostly to improve my skills). I know I'll need to upgrade my gear, but wondering about optics that can get me going. I've been eyeing the Vortex Strike Eagle as a starting point. Does this seem like a decent starting point? FFP and zero stop. Not the best, but has enough magnification to stretch further. Or is this overkill?

I'm mostly a pistol shooter. Been shooting 45acp for a very long time. Yea, I'm kind of old school.

Give us a call at 916-670-1103 and we can hook you up with some Vortex options

 

[CharlieWill]

Wow, I knew there were a lot of options, but sheesh. I have been looking at the Athlon scopes like MTB Doc suggested. The Ares BTR Gen II 4.5-27 is a little more but gets good reviews. Does this one stack up?

 

[CharlieWill]

Optics Planet had a 10% off coupon for using their app this evening and the MIL version was marked down, so I "pulled the trigger" on the Athlon. I really appreciate all the feedback from you guys. Thanks so much for all your help!