How much is too much for a varmint scope

Jafo67

Jafo67

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I find myself at a crossroads. I have reduced my collection to one hunting rifle, Sako A7 .243, and want a quality varmint scope. I have looked, and looked and looked. I like the Nightforce NXS 3.5-15x56. It has everything I want, except the price. What other options do I have. Tax refund time approaches and I want to have a decision made.
 
Both of my go to varmint rifles have Zeiss Conquests which I think the best bang for your buck. My .204 has a 6.5-20x50 Rapid Z Varmint and my .243 has a 3.5-10x44 Rapid Z 600. Zeiss has proven themselves selling excellent optics, my Conquests are very bright, extremely clear and the reticle options ares some of the best to match your cal. When you get into the 1200 plus scopes the law of diminishing returns comes to play. Not to say that Nightforce, Swarovski, Leica ect... aren't awesome scopes...they are but you're really gonna pay big $$.
 
Have a look at the Sightron III, 6-24x56 LRMOA .... it's half the price of a Nightforce and most people say it's just as good glass wise!
 
I was in the same boat as you.

Started my Tikka Varmint in .223 with a Mueller 'Eradicator'.

Then went to a Falcon 4.5-18x56.

Sold that and went to a Viper PST 6-24x50.

Sold that, and now running a NF 5.5-22x56.

Buy once, cry once. :)

THat being said, if it's not an option for you to go NF, i'd try out the Sightron SIII line as suggested above. My love for Vortex has waned - I'd be trying a sightron if I had to make a choice today!
 
canucklehead said:
I was in the same boat as you.

Started my Tikka Varmint in .223 with a Mueller 'Eradicator'.

Then went to a Falcon 4.5-18x56.

Sold that and went to a Viper PST 6-24x50.

Sold that, and now running a NF 5.5-22x56.

Buy once, cry once. :)

THat being said, if it's not an option for you to go NF, i'd try out the Sightron SIII line as suggested above. My love for Vortex has waned - I'd be trying a sightron if I had to make a choice today!
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I've written a bunch of reviews over on the precision rifle forum that deal with optics. My take away message is buy the best you can afford - buy once, cry once etc. Sightron Siii is the best value and the 8-32x56 is the best of that line but, if you can make it work for you finacially I still recommend you get a NF or better.
 
Jordan Smith said:
Is it just the erector characteristics that you didn't like about the PST?
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No - turns out BOTH Vortex scopes I've owned have needed warranty work. A Razor 1-4x and the PST 6-24. Sold the PST to some guy and said the reticle 'moves', which is something i didn't notice in the brief time I owned it. It's in the process of being replaced/repaired by Vortex! :(

My Viper binoculars are sweet, but I've lost a bit of faith in the scopes. I don't regret the extra spend to get into the NF... it's a much nicer scope overall than the Vortex was. But, at almost 2x the price, it should be better!
 
Is 8-32x56 going to be too much for walking, sometimes in the woods? That is why I haven't decided on the Sightron, which looks fantastic.
 
Jafo67 said:
Is 8-32x56 going to be too much for walking, sometimes in the woods? That is why I haven't decided on the Sightron, which looks fantastic.
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In my opinion - HELL yes.

If you're using it in anything other than bald ass prairie (like me), there is no need for 24, let alone 32. I shoot from prone exclusively at long distance gophers, and I rarely use over 16x mag. 32x freehand would be silly.

Personally - I'd go with a Nightforce 3.5-15x50. :) Barring that, one of the lower powered sightrons. I think you wouldn't be happy with the size/weight of the higher powers... and you'd find less than 8x more desireable.
 
Arrrrgggghhhh! That's the decision I keep coming back to. A member here has a NF 5.5-22x56 available, but I think that might be too much as well.
 
Does anyone know about Steiner Predator scopes? I'm sure it's not in the same class as NF or Sightron, but is is the 3-12x56 that I like, and a decent price.
 
NF scopes come up on here ALL the time. If your patient, you could score a 3.5-15x50 NF for around (or sometimes less than) $1500.

Actually - another option you might consider is the Trijicon Accupoint TR23 5-20x50. That was actually what i was going to buy until I found a decent price on a NF.

Should have a couple vendors with them in stock. For $1000, I've never heard any complaints from ANYONE about the Accupoint line. Had a TR24G that was awesome... I suspect this optic is very similar!
 
The 8-32x56 or 6-24x50 sightrons are not too much scope IMO, you will really appreciate the extra mag for precision varmint or long range shooting...you own it to yourself to have a hands on look at these scopes.
 
Jafo67 said:
Good points. I seem to be stuck on x56mm scopes. Trijicon 2.5-10x56 was my #1 choice, but I might want better magnification.
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x56 gives you almost NOTHING over a 50mm. Unless you're doing very high magnification during darker times of day, you'd never see the difference. Even then, it would be MINUTE.

I'd prefer the x50 on my Tikka, but got a good trade on the x56. Definately NOT something to pay or wait extra for!
 
I looked at the sightron scopes and the cost difference between the 6-24 and the 8-32 is only $15.00 so when you are paying $1000 it would seem to make sense to get the 8 power but what is the real difference between them whether hunting or target shooting?
 
Jafo67 said:
Good points. I seem to be stuck on x56mm scopes. Trijicon 2.5-10x56 was my #1 choice, but I might want better magnification.
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That is a good choice in magnification if you want to walk through a woods periodically and expect to be able to find through the glass, even an animal large as a deer: The lowest setting would be most appropriate and is "better" magnification for that condition. I remember a column by the late Jeff Cooper in Guns and Ammo magazine years ago where he approached numerous issues in each column. One issue was telescope magnification and he criticized the "more is always better" mentality. He didn't deny this was unacceptable for open country and target shooting, but for hunting and he illustrated the point from an occurence in the Yom Kippur war where an Israeli tank was engaging a Syrian tank: As it turns out, the magnifaction on the sighting system was so great, they didn't know what part of the Syrian tank they were aiming at.

Not that this is a spectacular accomplishment, but I was using a Leopold mk4 3.5-10x riflescope last year shooting 5.5" black dots over half a kilometer: I have a picture of a 500m group of five shots grouped less than 4" in that black dot using that telescope set on 10x. Yes, I wish I had more magnification for even a 5.5" black dot looks like a speck that far even at 10x magnification.

Even if you are strong, a larger telescope will make the rifle less desirable to carry at the ready as the distance walked increases. I'm not a small man, and I have walked about with a varmint weight rifle, with a Zeiss 6.5-20... and before long a light 12-15 lbs detracts from th enjoyment of rambling through the woods.
 
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