Fast and Accurate .22 Scope

buffdog

buffdog

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I have always been an advocate of mounting big game style scopes on .22 rifles, instead of the usual medicore .22 scopes. While visiting SIR (now Cabelas) in Winnipeg, I contemplated putting a scope on my .50 calibre Traditions inline muzzle loader. They had a sale on the Traditions Silver Hunter 3.5-10x Riflescope with muzzleloader range finder reticle.

Upon looking through the scope, I found the usual duplex cross hairs but the vertical cross hair had a dot above the intersection of the cross, and two dots below the intersection. The first dot below was a small distance below the cross hair. The second one was about 2 times more distance between the first and second dots than the cross hair to the first dot. Not at all equal like mil-dots, but more proportional.

The cost at the time was $67.99, not a really expensive item. At once,the light went on. Not a shattering vision, but more a "WHAT IF?".

WHAT IF THIS COULD BE ADAPTED FOR USE ON A .22? Would it allow a quick range finding or target point for shooting Gophers?

Well, that was last year, and YES, it does! I mounted it on a Savage Mark II FVT and headed for the range ( a local cow pasture I have use of when not occupied by bovines. ) After zeroing the cross hairs at 40 yards, using Federal Champion 38 grain HPs, playing with the magnification at various yardages, a practical aiming point was established for 75 and 125 yards.

FOR MY RIFLE, set at approximately 4.5 power, the cross hairs are on at 40 yards, the first dot down at 75 yards and the second one down at 125 yards. I now have THREE instant aiming points for Prairie Dogs that are within the practical range of the .22 Long Rifle cartridge, and the percentage of hits using this scope and system are really amazing.

The nice thing about this cross hair is that it gives a precise aiming point. No guess work on hold over. Targets falling between the ranges of 75 to 125 yards can be estimated by bracketing them between the first dot down and the second one...for example a target 95 to 105 yards can be aimed at between the dots. We also use a laser rangefinder for longer shots, but the usual ones up to about 80 yards are quite easy.

You will probably have to work out your own ranges depending upon scope setting, ammunition used, mounting height, etc., but it has certainly been an asset to quite a few shooters here in South Western Manitoba. I bought a couple extra scopes just to have on hand, because once someone tries one, they usually want one on their rifle.

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Sweet deal! I was looking at some of the tactical scopes they now have (Cabela's products) for mounting on my 10/22. They are reasonably priced, and should be quite the addition atop my 10/22, they come with 5 turrets and compensate for bullet drop out to 300 yards! Your set up seems pretty cool, and at that cost, heck you'd have to be crazy to pass it up!
 
i was looking at the cabela scope(through their catalogue) and was pretty intrigued by the multi turret system. does anyone have a similar setup but works on AO? as in it adjusts the elevation of the reticle as you change the AO, so if you focus at 50 yards, itd change the elevation automatically for 50 yards. i think that would be a great help, though i assume it'd also be really hard to implement since it'd be load and bullet specific. i guess the multiturret system is the next best bet.
 
this does indeed sound like a nifty application! having a rifle setup for several ranges all at the same time (that's what you've done, if I've read this right) does seem to be a boon! :D
 
Further to Cheaper Scope

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Mr Friendly put it right. This is a system that you have multi range aiming points without adjusting any knobs, etc.

I have tried the "Bullet drop" type of scopes where you adjust the turret knobs to dial in the range. They work to a certain extent. Since I have a metal lathe and metal shaper, and am retired, I have the time to fool around, I have made up turret knobs with specific ranges marked on them. They work, but only if you have lots of time to move them. This way, I have an immediate aiming point for KNOWN ranges.

I use a tactical type scope on the .223, but the shooting with the .223 is at a much slower pace than with a .22 in a Prairie Dog town. At longer range, you generally have time.

The other problem I have with moving turret knobs, and especially continually adjusting the power of a scope is that there has to be wear on the mechanism. Also, when you move these adjustments, it has been found that the scope does not return to exactly the same position.

There was an article in the last issue of Precision Shooting dealing with this. In it, the author took several adjustable power scopes, including some expensive ones, and found the point of impact ON THE FIRST COUPLE OF SHOTS AFTER ADJUSTMENT was well off.

He found that moving the power from a low power (eg.4x) to a higher power (eg 6x) made for more accuracy than moving from a higher power to a lower power. ( eg. moving from 6x down to 4x). His conclusion was that if you wanted to move a scope from a higher power to a lower power, MOVE IT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE LOWEST POWER, THEN BACK UP TO THE HIGHER POWER THAT YOU WANT. This is apparently better because of the way the tension springs on the scope internal adjustments push better one way than another.

Although the Traditions scope I used is adjustable for power, I leave it set at approximately 4.5X. This is where the dots "line up" for me, for the ammunition I use, and the rifles I use it in. This may be different for someone else because of variables such as ammunition, eyesight, height of scope mounting and other things. You have to shoot them and see.

Of course, the 40, 75, 125 yard references I use could vary for someone else. It does not make too much of a difference if it works out to 40, 65, and 130 yards for example. What it does is give known REFERENCE RANGES that will give a greater percentage of hits.
 
Inexpensive .22 scope

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I just returned from a wedding in Winnipeg. While there, I stopped in WHS and SIR. I needed two more of these scopes, as I had used up my last ones. SIR had some in stock.

There was a price reduction on them. Instead of $69.95, they were reduced to $52.95, or a saving of $17 each. I bought three more.

I also wanted a pair of lightweight binoculars for Prairie Dog shooting, and general hunting. It cost me $250 for a set of Steiner --Military/Marine binoculars 8x30. I have only used them about 3 times now, but I will certainly make sure they are in my hunting pack in the fall. Lightweight, great optics, no fooling around with the focus after you have them set, and do not cost an arm and a leg. Best of all, they work well if you wear glasses like I do. Check them out!

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My BRNO #5 has a Burris compact 4-12 that has a similar recticle.

Its a duplex style with 2 lines below the center dot.

I use it the center for 50, then the next line 80, and finally 100 yd shots. Works great
 
Scopes from SIR

Mr. Friendly said:
what's the SKU for them buffdog? doing a search on SIR (gosh I hate their search engine, it's the pits!) doesn't pull anything up. thanks!
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SIRs catalog number is 629000
Traditions Silver Hunter 3.5-10x44mm Riflescope with Muzzleloader Rangefinder Reticle
SIR 2007-2008 Catalog on page 175 in the muzzleloading section
Catalog price was $67.99 When the salesman looked it up on the computer in the store, it was reduced to $52.99.

Two weeks ago I bought a used Savage Mk.II BTVS and had to put an older Tasco varmint mil-dot scope on it because I didn't have another Traditions on hand. We went the 200 miles to Winnipeg for a wedding, and I visited Wholesale and SIR. I would have bought a couple of these at the regular price, but the reduced price was a bonus, so I bought three.

I replaced the Tasco with one when I got home, zeroed it at 40 yards on the cross hair, then went to one of my prairie dog patches. I just sat in one place and shot over 40 in about an hour...ranges from about 25 yards out to 140 yards (measured with a laser rangefinder). I had about a box and a half of ammo with me, and I figure I fired maybe 55-60 rounds--I still had 10 rounds left (2 mags) for the trip home.

It may not be the scope for everyone, but I love it. It is simple and it works.
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i'd be nice if these had AO. if they did i think i would rethink my current scope(which is just a bushnell sportsman with AO). you could then mark the AO ring with maybe different colours to specify which dot to use(focus it and quickly glance at the AO ring).
 
SIR - service friendly?

curtmg said:
Mr. Friendly said:
(gosh I hate their search engine, it's the pits!)
Try going into the store, I was there tonight. After 20 minutes.............., I went down the block to Winnipeg's real gun store.
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Yeah, I know what you mean. There is quite a difference between the customer service attitude between SIR and Wholesale Sports. SIR's sucks. I am 200 miles from Winnipeg, so I try to maximumize my time when we are there. The ONLY reason I went into SIR was to buy the scopes for use on the .22s.

There seems to be a condesending attitude prevailing at the gun counter. Now, I have been shooting for over 55 years, spent many days on target ranges, hunted from New Brunswick to British Columbia, held a guide's license in Alberta, have fired lots of stuff from .17 calibre up to 105 mm howitzers, built my own rifles, and have a fairly good shop with metal lathe and metal shaper. To be told by someone 40 years younger than me WHAT I REALLY NEED and then act like I was interrupting HIS day when I insisted in getting what I REALLY WANTED: well, that kinds of turns you off.

The same thing happened at the Binocular counter. Guy and Girl having a chat with each other about Friday nights activities. After standing there close to a minute, they decided that I was not going to go away, so deemed it necessary to serve (if that is what you want to call it) me. I had only a limited time available as I had to pick up the wife at Polo Park where she was getting her hair done for her grand-daughters wedding.

It took another minute or so to get the guy to hand me a pair of Steiner Military/Marine binoculars that were in the showcase. A total distance of about 2 feet below his beltline. Then, it took another ELEVEN minutes for him to bring a set of them up to the front counter and cash register where I could pay for them.

The Steiners were a spur-of-the-moment purchase, as I went past the binocular booth on my way out from the gun counter. If I had more time, I would have went back to Wholesale and bought them there, but I was a bit short of time.

I thought that this attitude was only my perception. After all, I only get to Winnipeg about 6 times a year. Apparently I am not the only one who has noticed their Customer Service (or lack of it). Since you live in Winnipeg, you would be more familiar with this.

I spent over $1200 at Wholesale. The only things I would have bought at SIR if the time circumstances were different would have been about $150. If Wholesale had the scopes in stock, the SIR amount would have been $0.00.

Nuff said.
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I have the new leupold ballistic plex on a VX1 that is very similar. It has a couple dots under the crosshairs and came in quiet handy for my Savage 24F 223/12 guage combo gun. Left and right naturally lined up for me between the 2 barrels so I used the dots for points of impact from the 12 gauge slug at different ranges. The crosshair was zeroed in for the 223 and since it is fairly flat shooting I didn't need to use the dots so much for the 223.
 
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