High end rimfire rifles? What scopes do you use?

MackForce

MackForce

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Ive been down the long rifle scope road. Ive had pretty much every low end, to medium priced scope. I have a couple high end scopes I use for precision or hunting on my larger caliber rifles.
I am interested in knowing what type of scopes the rimfire precision and rimfire hunters are using. The CZ guys, the modified 10/22 guys, the Anschutz guys, etc.
Help lead me in the right direction so I don't over or under spend!

Thanks in advance.

EDIT- made the title more clear. Am interested in any scopes you are using or prefer. I am looking at best bang for the buck for nice rimfires.
 
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The only thing I have to fit the bill here is an Anschutz 1727F with a Swarovski Z5 5-25x52.

Initially I bought the scope because it has a super fine, plain crosshair with no extra dots or crosses on it. Of course, being as bright and clear as Swarovski glass is, didn't hurt my feelings at all. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Swarovski scope. For the amount and type of shooting I even do, it's probably way overkill, but it sure is nice to have. The only drawback I found is that the fine crosshair is a bit tough in certain backgrounds, like dark bushes or shadows. I suppose illumination or a wider crosshair would solve that, but it affects me so infrequently that I just don't care.

I should mention that this rifle sees a good mixture of target shooting, whether it's paper or steel, as well as pests around the yard and field.
 
SigWig said:
Type of shooting? benchrest, silhouette...

distance?

I'd say Sightron, need more info
Click to expand...

All my rifles make their way to the field in some way. So even my target rifles may find their way to a tree stand or easy truck hunt.

That being said, I guess I would like to hear from the target guys and the hunting guys. I am very inclined to have rifles that I can do both with, which is what I do.
My current .22s have Nikon rimfire 4-12x40s on them. Love the things for the price. But ive been looking at CZs and possibly a true target rifle Anschutz. So I am going to try to budget for a nice target scope as well as a duel purpose. If that helps.

This is a thread I hoping to hear more about what other guys are using in their set ups, not so much about my needs.
 
I mean, I haven't really found the need for a "high end scope" on my 22...

I have a new Trophy Extreme with the side focus parallax. 6-24x50 ...

Works great. Cost me $350. Wouldn't use it on a center fire rifle trying to shoot past 500 yards but it is clear enough to see my holes of a 22 at 100 on the paper no problem.

Can slam out .100-.200 groups with it at 50.

View attachment 120047
 
That's what I was wondering CK.
Want to get a feel of what you "premium round" guys are using.
ssapach - I found I enjoy the more busy reticles on the 22 scopes. I am looking at all options though. Do you employ turrets while ranging or do you hold over for the longer shots?
 
i havnt picked up any of what i would call 'high end' scopes for any of my 22's but one scope that i am thinking about picking up and trying and i see the odd fella on here running is the Hawke Sidewinder.

i think ill try one of those before i take the plunge into a $1000 scope for one of my 22's.

that said, im starting to think i should pick up a Anny and if i do im gonna drop a wad on a high end optic to dress it out right.
 
For silhouette on an Anschütz 64 MSR I have a Sightron SIII 8-32x. This scope is also suitable to target shooting from a bench, but would be a poor choice for hunting.

For a custom CZ that is mainly a bench rifle, Leupold competition 45x.

Sighttron SII 6-24x on my Hunter class silhouette rifle, Weatherby XXII.

Sightron SIII is great glass if you want to keep the price tag reasonable, but if you find yourself wanting for "the finest" glass, then I think you know you need to look at Nightforce and the like at 3x the cost.
 
I edited the title to be more clear. I would rather spend less if you guys are getting great results with less expensive optics on your higher end 22s.
Ive never purchased a high end scope for a 22. But have tried many.
Thanks for the replys so far
 
MackForce said:
ssapach - I found I enjoy the more busy reticles on the 22 scopes. I am looking at all options though. Do you employ turrets while ranging or do you hold over for the longer shots?
Click to expand...

I have it zeroed for 100 yards and most of what I shoot is around the 50-100 yards with this rifle, so I haven't had a need for using turrets or even holdover yet.
 
I've got a Vortex Crossfire II 4-12*40 AO on my Savage MK II FV. Makes it easy to see 22 holes at 100 yards. Most retailers have them for about $300+tax. The Vortex Crossfire II 4-12*50 AO is only 20 bucks more.
 
I shoot off the bench with my rifles. For that I like fine crosshairs with a .125 target dot. Some of my scopes just have fine crosshairs. I have a couple of Sightron SIII 10-50 scopes as well as a number of SII's. They are good glass for the money, although the SIII's are not inexpensive. But as Rabid notes above, to get better scopes such as Nightforce (or March) a much higher price must be paid.

I found a Weaver T36, which has fine crosshairs and target dot. I like it a great deal for its build and ease of use and it was much less than a Sightron SII 36X but I was only able to get the one. It is surprising that Weaver does not make more successful effort to sell the T36 scopes in Canada as they are a good product and are priced comparably to the Sightron SII 36X. I also use a couple of older Bausch and Lomb 36X scopes that I was able to get at a reasonable price. There's very little to go wrong with a fixed power scope.
 
Scopes and Rifles at Benchrest shoot at Beachburg sept 2017

View attachment 120055
Sightron 10 to 50x dot and cross hairs CZ 455

View attachment 120056
Full custom Stiller 2500 action 36x Weaver

View attachment 120057
Mueller 8 to 32 Side parlex 30mm tube eye relief is very small on this scope but works okay on Rem 540

View attachment 120058
Another 540 rem with another 10 to 50x sightron

View attachment 120059
Anshutz 54 with 24x leupold very fine dot, nice rifle and it is a tack driver

View attachment 120060
Bausch & Lomb
Remington 40x 1956, Old 24x fine dot and cross hair
Bausch & Lomb

View attachment 120061

Savage not sure make of scope but this 16 year old won the shoot with highest scores at 50 and 100 y
 
That's great, a kid wins the match using a Savage and an equally cheapo bipod. Doesn't take a million bucks if you're good behind the trigger. And you can save a few pesos for a Cabelas hat.
 
One thing about scoping a CZ. It has a high bolt throw,so high rings and a large bell,50mm will mean even higher rings. If you don’t build up the stock , there will be a lot of tiring neck strain
 
If we didn't pull it off the shelf at Walmart on a bubble card it's high end for a .22 as far as we are concerned.
For us that's mid range bushnells (tropy or legend) for our heavy barrel 10/22.
It has a timney trigger in it and will punch a ragged hole (10 shot group) at 50 yds off the bench.
We tried several brands of ammo and our most accurate groups were with cci solids (forgot the moniker & bullet weight).

The weakest link in the accuracy chain for us is our old eyes.
If the gun/scope combo is more accurate than we are what's the point?

We don't have swarovski bragging rights but we can live with that and seriously doubt that ragged hole at 50 yds would be any smaller if we mortgaged our house and bought a swarovski or GASP!!!!! schmidt & bender to sit on our 10/22.
 
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