Under $500, lightweight, 300m shots, with a mil reticle?

G

gorby

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Greetings all,

Need some recomendations!

I am looking for a lightish weight hunting scope with the following criteria:

  • Under $500cdn.
  • Mounted on either 6.5cm, 308, or 6.5 PRC.
  • Used for hunting, no shots over 300m.
  • Lightish weight.
  • Want to use with holdovers rather than dialing, so cap turrets OK.
  • Want a mil reticle for holdovers... would be great to have a christmas tree, but not sure if light weight hunting scopes have this as an option? Mils is a must, as this is what I already have and practice with on my other rifles.
  • My current scopes for PRS all have parallax... open to opinions on if I need parallax for an under 300m hunting scope, as I have never used a scope without except on my plinking rimfire.
  • Will be using a 100y zero. This is to stay consistant with my PRS set-up and stay simple for my brain.

Open to any opinions and suggestions!

Thanks,

Matt
 
gorby said:
Greetings all,

Need some recomendations!

I am looking for a lightish weight hunting scope with the following criteria:

  • Under $500cdn.
  • Mounted on either 6.5cm, 308, or 6.5 PRC.
  • Used for hunting, no shots over 300m.
  • Lightish weight.
  • Want to use with holdovers rather than dialing, so cap turrets OK.
  • Want a mil reticle for holdovers... would be great to have a christmas tree, but not sure if light weight hunting scopes have this as an option? Mils is a must, as this is what I already have and practice with on my other rifles.
  • My current scopes for PRS all have parallax... open to opinions on if I need parallax for an under 300m hunting scope, as I have never used a scope without except on my plinking rimfire.
  • Will be using a 100y zero. This is to stay consistant with my PRS set-up and stay simple for my brain.

Open to any opinions and suggestions!

Thanks,

Matt
Click to expand...
Sounds like a race to the bottom of the barrel.
 
FLHTCUI said:
Sounds like a race to the bottom of the barrel.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, I take that answer as being that there are no basic hunting scopes with a mil reticle worth buying for under $500? The scopes I currently own are in the $800 - $1000 range (EP5 and Match Pro) and work just fine for what I use them for, I was hoping that there would be some decent lower priced options without that level of magnification, lower weight, decent reticle, same quality of glass, and capped turrets - but I could totally be wrong.

What would you suggest I need to spend and what models?
 
Athlon HERAS 2-12 is a nice hunting range of power
I haven't bought one yet but have been pondering
I have confidence in their Talos genII and Midas Tac so why not a Heras

there are other options in 1-8x that may be light-ish, but most are moa
 
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boxhitch said:
Athlon HERAS 2-12 is a nice hunting range of power
I haven't bought one yet but have been pondering
I have confidence in their Talos genII and Midas Tac so why not a Heras

there are other options in 1-8x that may be light-ish, but most are moa
Click to expand...

I have heard good things about the Midas Tac as well, I will check out the Heras. Seems to be right in my price range with a decent reticle. Thanks!
 
So I’ve played this game before myself. I have bought scopes under $500 under $1000 and since then proceeded to under $3000. All have differences and they did all work for the purposes I had.

For a hunting scope and hold over you’re better off looking for a BDC type reticle. Having a specific MIL hold over reticle is going to be difficult in a hunting style scope. (They exist but few and far between.) A with the hold over it doesn’t matter what units of measurement it’s in so long as you know the hold distances. (Tract optics does a good version of this with a ballistics calculator on their website. However they don’t meet the budget.)

Parallax adjustment is more common on scopes with longer magnification ranges. A 2-10 might not even have adjustment. I wouldn’t worry about that as much unless you want to run high mag ?

For shots in the 500 range max I use a 2-12. (Although that is getting upgraded to a little more magnification soon.) I have used a 3-9 for 300 and in without issue.

The Christmas tree reticle is great for target shooting but can hinder you while hunting as it will cover up the animal and can make it difficult to see depending on the lighting conditions.

You don’t mention if you want ffp or sfp as this would affect both the hold over sight picture.

You might find what you’re looking for in European optics as they tend to hold strong to the mil side of things however they tend to also be $1000 plus.

This likely creates more questions than answers but just trying to provide the info I can.

B
 
bdb.hunting said:
So I’ve played this game before myself. I have bought scopes under $500 under $1000 and since then proceeded to under $3000. All have differences and they did all work for the purposes I had.

For a hunting scope and hold over you’re better off looking for a BDC type reticle. Having a specific MIL hold over reticle is going to be difficult in a hunting style scope. (They exist but few and far between.) A with the hold over it doesn’t matter what units of measurement it’s in so long as you know the hold distances. (Tract optics does a good version of this with a ballistics calculator on their website. However they don’t meet the budget.)

Parallax adjustment is more common on scopes with longer magnification ranges. A 2-10 might not even have adjustment. I wouldn’t worry about that as much unless you want to run high mag ?

For shots in the 500 range max I use a 2-12. (Although that is getting upgraded to a little more magnification soon.) I have used a 3-9 for 300 and in without issue.

The Christmas tree reticle is great for target shooting but can hinder you while hunting as it will cover up the animal and can make it difficult to see depending on the lighting conditions.

You don’t mention if you want ffp or sfp as this would affect both the hold over sight picture.

You might find what you’re looking for in European optics as they tend to hold strong to the mil side of things however they tend to also be $1000 plus.

This likely creates more questions than answers but just trying to provide the info I can.

B
Click to expand...

Really appreciate the detailed response.

- Ya, the mil reticles do seem to be few and far between... my reason for wanting this is that I already use mils on my prs rimfire and centrefire rifles... so wanted consistancy. That being said, I can work out the holds on a BDC reticle, so I will not make this a deal breaker.

- A 2X12ish would suit me just fine. I find that is about where I run my more powerful scopes when I need to aquire a target quickly. I really only use the higher magnifications when shooting groups and wanting to see bullet holes in paper.

- Thanks for the perspective on the christmas tree reticle... it makes sense that I will not really need this and it could hinder things.

- I am torn on the FFP or SFP. I see the value on the FFP as I want use the reticle for holdovers and that is what I am used to, but I figure I may need to bump up my price range to do this.

Matt
 
gorby said:
Really appreciate the detailed response.

- Ya, the mil reticles do seem to be few and far between... my reason for wanting this is that I already use mils on my prs rimfire and centrefire rifles... so wanted consistancy. That being said, I can work out the holds on a BDC reticle, so I will not make this a deal breaker.

- A 2X12ish would suit me just fine. I find that is about where I run my more powerful scopes when I need to aquire a target quickly. I really only use the higher magnifications when shooting groups and wanting to see bullet holes in paper.

- Thanks for the perspective on the christmas tree reticle... it makes sense that I will not really need this and it could hinder things.

- I am torn on the FFP or SFP. I see the value on the FFP as I want use the reticle for holdovers and that is what I am used to, but I figure I may need to bump up my price range to do this.

Matt
Click to expand...

It is hard. I know I tried to do the whole Mil for everything and it just doesn't pan out unless you got deep pockets.

I have an Athlon Helos Btr Gen 2 2-12 that is a good mix of the ideas but not perfect for hunting. However that is what I use it for because its what I currently have. I plan to switch it out for a cleaner reticle optic for next year and maybe run it on my 22lr for plinking.

My long range optic on order is a T style reticle with mil hash as I typically dial for elevation and hold for wind. My next hunting optic is likely to be in MOA. With the same style of reticle seeing as I build dope charts.

With you looking for the drop and not dialing that BDC style stuff once you have it calibrated and doped will make your life easy. Similar to people who do MPBR and with a 6.5 PRC I read that if its a 12" vital zone you can use a MPBR of like 400 yards when zeroed at 340 yards. ( https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/the-hornady-6-5-precision-hunter/99419#replay )

Lots of ways to skin this cat. Just find the one that works for you. You are on the right path and have things you want and things you will sacrifice if needed.

B
 
gorby said:
Greetings all,

Need some recomendations!

I am looking for a lightish weight hunting scope with the following criteria:

  • Under $500cdn.
  • Mounted on either 6.5cm, 308, or 6.5 PRC.
  • Used for hunting, no shots over 300m.
  • Lightish weight.
  • Want to use with holdovers rather than dialing, so cap turrets OK.
  • Want a mil reticle for holdovers... would be great to have a christmas tree, but not sure if light weight hunting scopes have this as an option? Mils is a must, as this is what I already have and practice with on my other rifles.
  • My current scopes for PRS all have parallax... open to opinions on if I need parallax for an under 300m hunting scope, as I have never used a scope without except on my plinking rimfire.
  • Will be using a 100y zero. This is to stay consistant with my PRS set-up and stay simple for my brain.

Open to any opinions and suggestions!

Thanks,

Matt
Click to expand...
Check out Riton; you don't need to use adjustable turrets just because a scope has them... but why not? Last one i bought had zero stop for elevation and centre zero for windage. Thought I did not need it, but so glad I do. Tracking is 100% and holds zero... always. I have two, a 4 -18 and a 6-24. Shockingly clear even at the highest magnifications.
 
You can find a vortex diamondback around that price range.

I wouldn't dare to cheap out any more on something that's going to shoot live game and possibly cost me a lot of time money and effort if there is an issue.
 
FarmerDanz said:
You can find a vortex diamondback around that price range.

I wouldn't dare to cheap out any more on something that's going to shoot live game and possibly cost me a lot of time money and effort if there is an issue.
Click to expand...

I agree... looking at all the recommendations and my budget I think I will be spending $400 - $550 for the scope. The Diamond Back will be on my list for sure - next step will be to go to my local stores and try and get hands on them.
 
Meroh said:
Check out Riton; you don't need to use adjustable turrets just because a scope has them... but why not? Last one i bought had zero stop for elevation and centre zero for windage. Thought I did not need it, but so glad I do. Tracking is 100% and holds zero... always. I have two, a 4 -18 and a 6-24. Shockingly clear even at the highest magnifications.
Click to expand...

Riton wasn't on my list, but I will check them out. Thanks!
 
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