I need help with good long range glass

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Hi all,
I'm a complete noob wrt long range rifle and precision shooting. I'm mainly a handgun and tac rifle guy and am looking at trying my hand at long range stuff.
I have a 26" Rem700 in .308, in a Bell & Carlson stock, Timney trigger, bipod with some cheap Falcon FFP glass on it.
I figure I have the platform, now I need some good optics.
I know all the names: Leupold, Zeiss, Nightforce, S&B but I don't know what's good and what's not.
I don't even know what magnification I'm looking for. My budget is $1000-1500 tax in.
Can you pros school me on exact specs I need? ?-?x??
I want to have the option of reaching out to 500 and beyond.
Thanks for your help!
 
budget is just barely in the range for those scopes.

But you gotta decide what features you want:
magnification range? -24, -30 etc
features? zero stop, matching mils/moa, sfp/ffp, illum, reticle choice?

dont forget the sightrons, well within your budget for great glass, although not as many features as other scopes
 
LeftFootOfDoom said:
budget is just barely in the range for those scopes.

But you gotta decide what features you want:
magnification range? -24, -30 etc
features? zero stop, matching mils/moa, sfp/ffp, illum, reticle choice?

dont forget the sightrons, well within your budget for great glass, although not as many features as other scopes
Click to expand...
This is exactly the advice I need! The thing is I really don't know what I need and what is enough and what is too much. I would like illum reticles but I don't know what else is important.
I was at my LGS and they had a Zeiss Conquest HD, I think 2.5-10x50 with drop to 800m. It was around $1350. Is it good enough?
It's not a tactical rifle scope though.
What model of Sightron should I look at? I have not seen these at my LGS. What makes them so good?
Thanks!
 
Thanks Aprilia Man,
How do I decide if I want to start at a 6, 8,or 10x?
My min. sight in range would be 100m and most shooting would be 100- 250m but I would like to get out past 500 if the opportunity arises. Of the 3 Sightrons listed, which would fit my criteria the best? What is the durability and warranty on these scopes?
So everyone agrees that for this price range, nothing beats a Sightron?
 
I have 2 of the SIII 10-50x60 so far they haven't failed me yet and very happy with them.

I cannot say much about the other 2 but I bet you can't go wrong with any of the 3 listed.

I also have an SI and an SII Big Sky

Jerry at Mystic Precision have used his for competition and have gone thru a few thousand rounds and he is saying it's still got tons of life left.

Sightron warranty is lifetime and make sure you keep your receipt when buying from an authorized Sightron dealer in Canada.

Send a PM to the following folks and they have tons of experience with Sightron

Peter Dobson (Hirsh Precision)

Jerry (Mystic Precision)

Bob (Tomochan)

For sure they will be happy to help you out.
 
Burris also just announced their lineup. Seem to be very competitively priced and feature packed. Can't go wrong with the Sightron though or a used Nightforce. Don't need illumination. Never used mine. From 100-1900 never seen a use for it. 6-24 is a good all around magnification and will get you the most elevation adjustment in the scope. Once you start at 500, you will really want to see how far you can go. Running out of up is annoying. 24x has been enough for most guys. Unless your punching paper and want to see holes.
 
Aprilia Man said:
I have 2 of the SIII 10-50x60 so far they haven't failed me yet and very happy with them.

I cannot say much about the other 2 but I bet you can't go wrong with any of the 3 listed.

I also have an SI and an SII Big Sky

Jerry at Mystic Precision have used his for competition and have gone thru a few thousand rounds and he is saying it's still got tons of life left.

Sightron warranty is lifetime and make sure you keep your receipt when buying from an authorized Sightron dealer in Canada.

Send a PM to the following folks and they have tons of experience with Sightron

Peter Dobson (Hirsh Precision)

Jerry (Mystic Precision)

Bob (Tomochan)

For sure they will be happy to help you out.
Click to expand...


I was reading somewhere that the lifetime warranty is only in the US. International sales have a 10 year warranty. I don't know if it is a true statement though.
 
"I'm mainly a handgun and tac rifle guy and am looking at trying my hand at long range stuff."

Decide on the long-range discipline you'd like to get into. Once you've figured that out, you can more accurately select which scope fits best.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...training-!?p=10950819&viewfull=1#post10950819

Then do some reading.
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/501124-Optics-terms-and-information

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...Optics-Review-for-the-newer-Precision-Shooter
 
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I'd assume since you're a pistol/tac rifle kind of person you would probably enjoy a tactical/practical type of long range shooting.

More than likely you would appreciate the extra options packed into scopes like Vortex's Viper PST series or Leupold's Mark 4 series.

The Sightron's are great scopes, better glass I'd say overall than the Vortex, but are a little more plain-Jane when it comes to features and reticles. Sightron would be my choice in the price range for a bench only precision rifle. The other two I mentioned would be my choices for multi-range, multi-position shooting or competition (in your price range)

Another option could be to use the heck out of that Falcon and see what you can achieve with it while learning what you do and don't like about it. Meanwhile you can save up your money for a total package that might put you into the Nightforce series of scopes.

Also, not sure what you have for a scope base but most of us shooting long range also invest in a 20 MOA base, anti-cant device and higher end rings that all add to the budget.
 
Thanks Kane and dusticles,
Great advice.
I took the plunge and bought a Sightron SII 6.5-20x50 Big Sky from a fellow CGNer. Like you said, not a tactical scope per se. Should arrive in a week.
I looked at NF but she who must be obeyed ixnayed the $$.
You read me right, dusticles. I would prefer a tactical look so I know the Sightron is a compromise but, for the price, I could not refuse!
The Falcon sits in Millet mounts right now. Shot it yesterday with sausage lover,a CGN buddy. We were using AE Blue Box 150gr and MFS 140gr JSP. At 100m, I was averaging 2" with flyers. Nothing to write home about!! My buddy did put 3 consecutive shots into one hole with the AE ammo. He actually liked the Falcon. It has the FFP feature. The reticles are very faint to me but sausage lover said that was good esp. for long range use since you don't want to cover up your targets with the lines. We are planning on a visit to the Kamloops range soon for some longer range shoots. I may keep the Falcon on longer just to learn the fundamentals of the game and quietly buy a really good scope later...shhhh!!
And Kane, great info! I'm leaning towards F Class! My rifle is already set up with a bipod and I think I would like taking my time and working on breathing.
 
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