Which used, econo-Nikon for my nephew's .223 Varmint gun?

.22LRGUY

.22LRGUY

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Hey guys~looking for some input here. I volunteered to spend an afternoon with my nephew's Savage Axis .223...in an effort to figure-out the accuracy issues. Brought some of my own handloads I worked-up. Problem #1 is the incredibly heavy trigger, but the cheap Bushnell Legend 5-15x is toast I think. I could expand on that, but the windage/elevation adjustments are not working properly. (2 x 1/4 MOA clicks right moves the POI about 4" right, 1-1/2" high)

He's on a budget, but I don't want to steer him towards a new entry-level Bushnell, nor do I think sending this off his $150 scope for repair makes allot of sense. Correct me if I'm wrong if you think there is hope for it. I have some experience with Nikons, but not allot..and I've never bought one. Seems prices for used are reasonable. I think he wants more magnification than 3-9x.

Any recommendations? Nikon? I've looked through the Burris E1 in 3-9x and even though that's less magnification than he wants, it strikes me as being a nice scope for the $. Not sure what Burris CS is like, don't know anybody using Burris. AO or SF preferred.

Thanks for taking a moment to reply.
 
I have had the Nikon budget brand glass that comes with savage packages. Heads and tails better than the Bushnell cheap scopes. Also has bullet drop compensator built in. I would recommend you get the Bushnell warrantied and then sell it.
 
Sherlock Gnomes said:
I have had the Nikon budget brand glass that comes with savage packages. Heads and tails better than the Bushnell cheap scopes. Also has bullet drop compensator built in. I would recommend you get the Bushnell warrantied and then sell it.
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I've never dealt with Bushnell, but my nephew isn't the original owner...so no receipt. Scope is probably 4 years old.
 
Same here. Just print off the warranty form, fill it out and mail in the scope. Most likely a new scope, equal to or better than the damaged one, will ship to you in a few weeks.
 
I have been very pleased with my Nikon scopes thus far. Both of my hunting rifles have a Monarch 3 4-16x50mm BDC mounted on them, my K31 has a Prostaff 3-12x40mm BDC on it and I recetly picked up another Prostaff 5 4.5-18x40mm Mildot FFP scope that I don't have a rifle for....yet. Clear glass, great in low light, takes a good knock without losing zero - overall, great value with a bullet proof warranty.
 
My son has a Nikon buckmaster 4-12x40 BDC on his axis.223. It has held up very well this past coyote season. Clicks are positive and lense clarity is decent. Rifle prints cloverleafs we have tested the BDC reticle against the spot on app. And it has been extremely accurate out to 300yrds. If his budget allows I'd move him up to the prostaff series but the buckmaster seems like a good choice for a budget rifle scope.

Nikon has a no questions asked Lifetime Warranty on all of their rifle scopes including the buckmaster not sure how anyone could go wrong with Nikon.
 
I have a Nikon Prostaff 5 4.5-18x40 mildot scope that has worked great. Can't remembered exactly what I paid but I picked it up on sale for a good price a year or so ago. Reasonably nice glass for not a big cost.
That said I would send in your broken Bushnell and see if they will replace it, I suspect they probably will. I just sent in a old pair of Bushnell binoculars that die a few years back when I was out hunting on a nasty cold day. I had tossed them on a shelf and forgot about them for a few years and just recently decided to send them in and see what Bushnell would do for me and about a week later a brand new pair of Bushnell bino's was at my door step.
 
I'd look for a used Leupold 12X varmint scope. Some have target knobs. Fixed power scopes don't seem to be popular, compared with the variables. Keeps the price down a bit.
 
Ruger American .223 with a Nikon 4-12X BDC P-223. I love having both the military turret marked off in yards to adjust the POI of the crosshairs, as well as the BDC reticle. Best of both worlds, IMHO.
I have a Buckmaster II 4-12X on another rifle. Not quite as clear, but still fantastic for the $150 I paid.
Try the Bushnell warranty first. I'm not a Bushnell hater, some of their lower end scopes have held up really well for me.
 
Rossiter93 said:
As far as that trigger goes just take a coil and a half off of the trigger spring. Lightened mine up quite a bit
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^Update~after pricing an aftermarket trigger, taking the action out of the stock...inspecting..and watching a pile of YouTube videos/read a pile of web forum advice...I did just that. Cut 1 coil off the trigger spring, tested, took it out and cut about 1/4 of another coil off, the trigger has improved greatly. I tested numerous times between the two cuts to check that the sear was engaging, couldn't be made to discharge "accidentally". (banged it around a fair bit, more than probably required) Cleaned the dirty/sticky factory grease off of it (looks like they apply it generously to ease the trigger pull maybe..lol) and re-greased sparingly.

woofer2609 said:
Ruger American .223 with a Nikon 4-12X BDC P-223. I love having both the military turret marked off in yards to adjust the POI of the crosshairs, as well as the BDC reticle. Best of both worlds, IMHO.
I have a Buckmaster II 4-12X on another rifle. Not quite as clear, but still fantastic for the $150 I paid.
Try the Bushnell warranty first. I'm not a Bushnell hater, some of their lower end scopes have held up really well for me.
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^thanks, I ended-up sending the scope off to Bushnell on Tuesday of this week. We'll see what comes of it. Only scope warranty issues I've ever had to deal with were Vortex and it would be nice if Bushnell were 1/2 as accommodating. I'll update when I know what the outcome is. Hoping for a "good news" reply from them.
 
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