Scope for a .22

[terryt]

Hi:

I bought a Simmons .22 Mag scope as it is called and find it is not as clear as I would like. Any thoughts on that or other brands of scope.

Several years back I was told that a scope had to be made for a .22 to work right. I was told that a scope for a center fire would not work.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Terryt

[cuzinbruce]

Centerfire scopes are usually adjusted for 100 or maybe 150 yards. I think it is parallax they are adjusted for. Rimfire scopes are set for a shorter distance, 50 yards, I believe. A scope with an adjustable objective allows you to adjust for whatever range you are shooting at. But they tend to be expensive. Good Luck!

[Houndog]

If you want a GOOD 22 scope you will have to go to Leupold, Burris, Redfield, Nikon, Weaver or some other top tier brand scope. Just be ready to pay, cause they aren't cheap! You can (and I do) use centerfire scopes WITH an adjustible objective on a 22, and in fact they work better than so called 22 scopes in most situations. Most adjustible objective scopes allow for parallex adjustment from 50 feet ( some are less) to infinity while fixed objective 22 scopes are usually parallex free at either 50 or 75 yards, depending on the brand.

My advice is to buy QUALITY, cry once at the price when you buy it
and smile every time you use it rather go cheap and cry every time you try to use it.

BTW: Simmons, Barska, NcStar, LOW END Tasco and Bushnell ARE junk in MY book! The top of the line Tasco and Bushnells are good medium priced scopes in MY opinion.

[BruceB]

Just a hint (which I'm also following these days):

"Blackpowder and shotgun" scopes have the desirable 1" tube, good eye relief, (usually) click-type adjustments..... and are parallax-free at 75 yards

All these are very useful features in a scope for a good .22 rifle. In addition, they are much more durable than 'normal' .22 scopes.

[tacklebury]

I like my BSA's . Super clear, actually better than several Nikon's I've sighted through, and at a moderate price. I got my 4-16x40 for $49 bucks. Works great and tracks correctly for a good price.

[bob208]

i like the old elpaso weavers with a.o. can not beat them. i shot .22 silhouette with a 10 power weaver.. sighted it in for each range just put a magic marker dot on the elevation ring. it repeated every time.

[pietro]

I've been mounting 1"-tubed riflescopes on my .22 rifles since 1969, when I put an El Paso Weaver K4 on a Winchester Model 69A for Squills, w/o issue.

Some manufacturer's scopes are brighter than others, all seem to look great inside a store - they are what they are.

I've learned to ask to take a scope outside the store for a peek through it before buying, to see just what the optics looked like under natural light.
If the store said "no", so did I, and walked.


I've also found that some brands, like Leupold, Trijicon, Nikon & Burris can be purchased in confidence of getting a good one, w/o looking (aka: online).

If someone doesn't want to, or can't, spend the $$$ for a better quality scope, then they're just as well off to go to WallyWorld or KrapMart & buy whatever *** they're selling for $29.95.


.

[Shiloh]

I'm convinced that whoever said "you get what you pay for" had optical glass in mind.

Shiloh

[fouronesix]

Several years ago I put a Leupold 4x28 rimfire scope on my most accurate 22 sporter, a Win 52. One of the best scope investments I ever made. I think they are parallax zero at about 60 yds.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Terryt,

I had about the same experience with a trashco scope, and indeed did get what I paid for.

When I bought my Clark Custom 77/22 I wanted a very good scope and bought the Leupold 3X9 EFR (Extended Focus Range) and have never been sorry.

This is a very good gun with groups in the 1/4" range at 50yds with it's favorite ammo, so a junk scope was not an option. Been there and done that.

Now, some cheaper scopes made for center fires have very bad paralax issues at .22 ranges. I ran into this situation with a Bushnell "Banner" which was on a used 77/22 I once bought.

However, putting a standard centerfire Leupold 2X7 - standard or compact, I used both - the paralax WAS NOT an issue for almost all shooting.

With the 3X9 EFR, it has an Adjustable Objective. Adjust the setting for the distance your shooting and paralax is zero and the scope is very sharply focused. Change distance and readjust and again paralax is gone and the scope image is sharp.

Some people eather luck out with cheap scopes or their requirements are not as high, but as was said above cry when you pay the price for quality but enjoy it each and every time you take the gun to the field.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Artful]

your getting good advise - one that I will ad to the mix

http://muelleroptics.com/

[bobthenailer]

My 22 rifles currently have AO scopes on them so parralex is not a problem ! in years past i did send a few scopes back to Leupold to have the parralex changed from 150 yards to 50 yards or 75 yards at no charge from Leupold , i just paid shipping. so if you can find a nice used one made for a centerfire send it back for a parralex setting change.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Bobthenailer,

Yes, you are correct, Leupold can and will make changes to paralax setting.

But as I recall (ol'coot???) there was some slight charge to reset the paralax on my 2X handgun scope a few years back. Might have been as you indicate mostly postage and handling. Wasn't a big cost.

Also as I indicated earlier, with the Leupold scopes I have had experience with on a .22, paralax was a minor issue at worse even with Centerfire scopes.

Oooooh so much BETTER then with a scope such as a Bushnell, "Banner" I have experienced.

We are not talking competition shooting here, just casual and fun or hunting.

In my most recent experience, with the Clark Custom and it's high level of ability, I did find the Leupold "EFR" to be a very good solution to focus and paralax, no matter what the distance.

However, If as is the case with my 2X handgun scope which is now set for 25yds - It is mounted on a RUGER Mark II "Slabside" - I desire to shoot at other yardages, while the Leupold would still be quite good, it would have some slight paralax.

On a rifle, the Extended Focus Range scope, gives the best at any distance.

Just as a side light and one of the reasons I so like and enjoy Loupolds, some 25 or 30 years back I scoped a varmit rifle with a Weaver 10X and soon found it to be a problem. Not that the scope was not clear and sharp, it generaly was, but that for close in targets the image was troublesome and not focused. I changed out to a Leupold of equal power and no more problem. I could clearly see critters which were up close and personal equally well as those which were at the extended distances.

It was just something about the internal design and the way Leupold does things.

Yep, I like Leupold and never had a bad one.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[olafhardt]

I did get a bad Luepold and I had a good Simmons 22 Magnum. For my purposes I don't see that any scope above $200 is necessary, that also goes for binoculars. Bushnell makes a great 4X 22 scope in the $60 range. Nikon and Pentax both make some good less than $150 binoculars.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Yep olafhardt, it's kind of what floats your boat.

I bought a set of Cabela's binos some years back, something under a 100 $$ never were clear or sharp.

Bought a set of Nikons, and while much better then the Cabela's, the best set I've ever had are a set of Leupolds. Old ones like they first brought out. The ones with no focus (other then the eye pieces), just bring them up and they are in focus.

I'd buy some old and used glasses just like them if I could find some good clean sets. They were made in 7 & 9 power.

Then as per the .22 scopes, it again is what floats your boat.

My Clark Custom RUGER 77/22 is a VERY sweet shooter, and considering what I have invested in the rifle. it would be very poor economy to buy a scope which is not able to take advantage of the abilities of that Walther barrel.

The low end Bushnells are not up to the task, been there and done that, and even the centerfire Leupolds, while very good do not give the critical adjustment which allows for the shooting of those tiny little 50yd groups the CRuger is able to produce.

AS far as a Leupold being bad I'm sure it happens, but if it was sent back for correction/repair it would very likely come back a Leupold in A-1 condition while send in a trashco, low end Bushnell, Simmons or some of those of equal quality and the best I can expect to be sent back is a trashco, a low end Bushnell, or a Simmons etc.

It is great that we have the broad range of quality and price to suit people's tastes, but being the old coot that I am, I have learned my lesson and the lower quality products, just don't float my boat.

Been there and done that, and it always cost me the price of two scopes, a cheap one and the one I should have bought in the first place.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[Jack Stanley]

I may be looking for another scope in the near future also . I have a pair of the Leupold rimfire scopes and love 'em . I had another rifle that needed a scope and I was tight on cash so I bought a Nikon Prostaff rimfire . It's OK and I don't feel I got taken advantage of . Yet another rifle fell into my lap and needed a scope and a fella I know talked me into a Simmons 22 Mag. scope . This scopes adjustable objective is a saving grace for it but I don't think I'll buy another .

I like the smaller reticle the Leupolds have and their clarity I'd buy another if I could find a good sale . I have been wondering about the new Weaver rimfire line . They are about the same money as a Leupold but I don't know if the quality is the same .

I bought a twenty-two that someone fitted with an old steel tube Weaver three power years ago . Oddly enough I really like this scope too , the reticle is smaller than most big game scopes .


Where are the best prices in the country for scopes ? I got some very good binoculars years ago but I forgot the name of the place . They had great scope prices too .

Jack

[olafhardt]

I worked at a sportsman's store for a while. I noticed that if a customer wanted a Weatherby, he or she would not be happy with a Savage. If you think you have to have a loophole get you a loophole, put it on your whatever customized by whoever and go shoot tiny groups off a bench. Take this outfit out in the squirrel woods, take aim right on a cat squirrel's eye about 10 feet away and miss completely because the bullet was 1 1/2 below the line of sight. Happened to me. Went back to hunting with a peep sight which I now mount on a 20 ga shotgun. It shoots a nice group at 30 yards with an ounce of 5's. There was more than one time that I got several with a 22. BTW old farts like me lie a lot and sometimes.....

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Funny olafhardt

For me, having a very good shoot'in .22 was an itch that just needed to be scratched.

You have likely read the quote, "only accerate guns are interesting" ----

Well, I don't go quite that far, but those rifles that shoot nice little groups are well favored at my house, and they do provide a big measure of confidence when I take them into the woods.

For me, a .22 rifle that will shoot very well is kind of like the the teenager who has the fastest car in town, in reality maybe not much use but the COOL FACTOR is out of sight!

As per my likes and dis-likes of such things as firearms, scopes an binocs etc., well being the Ol'Coot that I am, I have come to the place where products from and companies who produce "stuff" like that commonly found at a Harbor Freight level of business, seldom find their way to my home/shop.

Just don't have time for junk/throw away stuff, or the companies which produce it.

Far from being rich, but have found that almost always, quality is the cheapest way to go in the long run.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[colt1960]

I just bought 2 new scopes for a couple of 22lr that I have. midway has the Weaver RV-9 3-9X32 AO rimfire scopes on sale for 197.00 . They have crystal clear glass and are a great scope for the money. I originally planed on a leupold but decieded on these. very pleased with the purchase. Rick!

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Rick,

Have you spent enough time with the Weaver scopes to get a feel for how well the A.O. is working?

With the trashco I once had - learning experience - the A.O. was kind of nice gadget, but in reality seemed questionable at best. It really was questionable if it made any real difference.

The Leupold "EFR" on the other hand, is great! When you adjust for the distance your shooting, the focus is right on and the paralax is gone.

Hope your Weavers are equally useful. Let us know your findings.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot