No worries then, I am a sling'n'irons shooter and even with the a 55 grain, .223 a hit can be heard at 500 yards . The problem is seeing the 1MOA steel plate- the day has to be bright and the steel has to be clean otherwise it disappears as soon as I look through the irons!
With even a low powered 4x scope it's not an issue however .
Cat
ic, a lot depends on the age of the shooter's eyes, or the natural distortion within his eyes, and whether or not his prescription lenses will coincide with the definition levels of the scope, and if the shooter is tedious/knowledgeable with AO, and wind/mirage drift.
OP, ic is knowledgeable and willing to help out if you reach out to him.
If possible, go to a local business that sells scopes and check them out against each other, for such things as sharpness and clarity at short range. That's about all you can really check in most stores because they are too small to get a good idea of how well they can be focused for reticle stability.
If you're lucky and they trust you, they might let you take the scope you're interested in outside to fiddle with AO adjustment and other focus corrections.
Here's the real kicker, depending on the level of the scope, which also coincides with cost, just because the scope you looked through at the store met your requirements, the scope they give you, new in box, may or may not be.
Optics are quirky, especially at the lower price ranges.
If you want excellent sharpness, clarity, light transmission, repeatable adjustment for elevation, windage, and reticle stability, for precision work out to or past 500 yards, it's going to cost a lot of money, and bargain type scopes just won't do the heavy lifting when needed.
Tiny groups and minute or gopher are two different things.
Shooting steel plates to make them ring, or knock over, are different venues, and it can be a chore to find a scope/rifle combination that will be suitable for both, depending on the competitive level you're shooting.
For me, repeatability of adjustments and reticle stability come first. Usually, clarity and sharpness are not issues with high quality scopes.
You've got a very good off the shelf rifle, and it hasn't seen to many rounds down the bore, it deserves to wear the best quality scope you can afford.
I can't count how often I've seen rifles capable of half moa accuracy, with loads they like, get turned into 1.5 moa rifles when a crappy scope was mounted or even a good quality scope not mounted properly.
The next thing you need to take into consideration is "does the rifle fit you properly" for the venues you intend to shoot.
For my hunting rifles, I like 13 7/8 length of trigger pull stocks, but for bench rest type shooting, 12.5-13 inches works better, and I can handle felt recoil a bit better. Shooting from the bench is where you feel the most recoil. Not that it will be much of an issue with the 223rem.
The thing is, you don't want to be searching for or stretching to reach the trigger, which will give you self induced windage/elevation stringing.
