10x magnification enough?

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Skeet Mcgee

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I hear the marines and others use a fixed 10x often. I've only used a 1-4x so far. Is it easy to make out a target about the size of an ISPC silhouette at 800m or 1000m on 10x?
 
Not really. Mirage often limits use of the top end of a scope's magnification. Higher is better if the glass is good quality (expensive). Higher quality lower mag is better than high mag cheap junk. My rule of thumb is decent long range optics start at $1K. $3K optics can be wonderful, if you can stomach the price. Rarely is such an expense actually required unless you have an expensive rifle system an quite a bit of practice. For hunting high mag is usually not required, but low often is in tight, brushy spots.
 
As a side note, having been a Marine, I can tell you they can make the RCMP or the fire service look progressive sometimes. Marines often make inapplicable gear work for them, rather than get the right stuff in the beginning.
 
Skeet Mcgee said:
Do you have any recommendations for a sub $400 scope for silhouettes out to 8-900m? preferably with a MIL reticle
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I wouldn't expect a sub-$400 scope to see clearly at that range....I'm certainly not aware of any. I think for a clear picture out to that range you're looking at least $750+
 
Its no problem to aim at a clay bird at 600 yards at 8 or 10 power with good glass.
The issue isn't the magnification but the parallax.
If your fixed 10X has a fixed 100 yards parallax, good luck to hit small targets at long range even if you can see them
 
Bushnell 10X40 is okay for the task. Great for the money but not a wonder scope. Fixed parralax, heavy mildot reticle and 1/4 moa clicks. $200 used all day, a little more for brand new. 80 moa of internal adjustment should get most flatter .308 loads to 1000 but a canted base would be a good investment. A bit above your budget is the Sightron Siii 10x42 MMD (modified mildot) with hash marks inbetween the dots for finer ranging and holdovers. Moa clicks and adjustable parralax. 150 moa internal adjustment wont even need a canted base to get to 1000 with a .308. $620 at Mystic Precision. If you can up your budget to about $1000 then take a good look at Sightron Siii 6-24 or 8-32 with your choice of reticle and turrets. More magnification is nice but only if clarity is there. A cheap high mag scope is going to give you grief. Poor glass, inconsistent internals, tiny eyebox, poor light transmission etc will have you wishing you'd spent more.
 
It wasn't the best aimpoint at 880 yards but I still managed to squeeze off a pretty decent group with this SHR970 and the Bushnell 3100 10X.
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My intro scope to long range was a Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44pa.
It was actually a really decent scope, clarity was challenging past 1000y, a 20"x20" target at 1120y was a bit blurry but I still got rounds on it.
Anything up to 1000y was clear.

But, I've since traded it for a Sightron s3 and won't go back.

$550 vs $1100.
 
The 10X part isn't a huge problem; though it's not optimum. Even clarity is a small thing compared to tracking that is repeatable and parallax that is manageable. If you can up the ante to one that the adjustments actually correspond with whatever fantasy is marked on the turret its a real bonus. Basically if it doesn't track it's junk.

Scopes cost money. Sighting in costs money. Confirming tracking and drop charts costs money but at least it's sort of fun. Taking them off, sending them back and starting over isn't fun at all. You can cheap yourself right into the poorhouse.
 
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