Scope Recommendations Please- Long range

[Lloyd Smale]

no expert but heres my take on it. a 1000 yards isn't 10x territory and not even 4x12 territory. You can buy a decent 4x12 for 500 bucks or so but to buy something that has good resolution at over 20x (and that's what you need) you are going to pay good money for it. If you cant afford it stick with a 4x12 and the handicap it brings. Some just don't understand that a 1000 yards is A LONG WAYS AWAY and isn't like shooting deer sized game at 300 yards. It takes specialized equipment (ie expensive) if you want to actually score out that far.

[Love Life]

Lowest I recommend for 1,000 yards is 16X. The more mag the better, but mag gets handicapped by mirage. A 6-24 is about perfect for most things. I prefer a 4-16 power scope.

[Larry Gibson]

As to magnification; back in the not to far distant past 10X was the "standard" for sniper work out to 1000m (1100 yards). I did a lot of 1000 yard shooting with .308W/7.62 NATO rifles with 3x9 scopes on 9X and 10X Leupolds on M24s. I also shot a lot of small squirrels and other sundry varmints out to 600 yards with a T-10. However, I also used a T-16 for long range rock chuck shooting and thought it was the cats meow. Of course the higher the magnification, with quality lens, the better. Some years back I moved up to a couple Leupold 6.5x20 target scopes and a B&L 6x24 Elite and thought they were great. I still use all mentioned but this last year I sold 3 rifles to buy a Nightforce NXS 8x32......and now am totally spoiled...........and am stretching my LR shooting well past 1000 yards........

Truthfully, excellent scopes with the necessary lens quality, elevation adjustment MOA range, tracking repeatability and other bells and whistles are available with top end powers of 16 - 24X in the $900 to $1500 price range. The Vortex PST gen II and the Athlon Aries series are a couple I've worked with than perform well and hold up. By "hold up" I mean the elevation tracking does not appreciably wear, get soft and not track after a lot of usage. The more inexpensive scopes may do well at first, especially if just zeroed and left there, but do not hold up tracking well after much use.

With optics for long range precision shooting you get what you pay for. Same as with the rings and base which should be a 1 piece base with 20 or 30 degree slant built in to maximize elevation adjustment in the scope.

[Larry Gibson]

I see Midway has the Leupold Mark 4 Long Range Tactical M1 scope [8.5x25x50mm] on sale for $1,099.00. That's an excellent price for that scope. It's a TMR reticle and probably in the 1st focal plain. While I'm not a fan of either it certain is a good choice for those who do like that reticle and 1st focal plain and certainly has all the other attributes for an excellent long range scope.

[Iowa Fox]

This is my favorite for what you describe. Its kind of a middle of the road optic price wise. Sightron and Burris have some nice ones also for just a little more money. My suggestion is attend a few matches, most of the guys will let you shoot their equipment. That's what I did and found price isn't necessarily an indicator of the glass and features you need. Just like mil vs moa, I must have taken to much shop class is High School as I'm an moa guy.

https://vortexoptics.com/vortex-vipe...iflescope.html


Vortex really takes good care of veterans.

[btrapr1]

I am no expert but I did shoot 100,200, 300 yds benchrest (early 90's w/6ppc sleeved xp-100), 600 yds Benchrest (Rem 700 trued- 29" Brux 6br in McMillan MBR w/ Sightron SIII 8-32), as well as shooting F/TR at Camp Butner- Rem 700 trued- 28" Brux in customized H-S again 8-32 Sightron SIII...

Great Glass and very capable- can be found on Ebay used under $900...
My first 600-1000yds matched were shot with a REAL early TASCO 24x target (Japanese-GREAT glass).

In the last 5 years I have developed a bad astigmatism and longer compete.

[Duckiller]

#2 son is going to put a leopold series 5 3x15 x56 scope on his Tika 6.5 Creedmore. Probably won't shoot 1000 yds but will be shooting long diatance. 56 objective will bring in lots of light.