looking into optics...

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Hey, I'm looking into getting a rifle this summer (remington 700 vtr in .223) and I am wondering what sort of magnification, and objective lens size is best suited for 75 to 200 yards-ish shooting. I am damn new at this, I just finished reading the definitions of scope parts etc. I was looking at the bushnell 3200 or the 4200 series.. am I on the right track?

Also, any recomendations for rail and rings? Im trying to be as close to $1200 as i can. Hopefully this is a realistic thing to ask.

Thanks
 
The old rule is the optics should be of approx. equal value of the rifle.

Buy good now or wish you had and spend again later.IMO you are on the right track in your choices , Weaver , Sightron, Burris and others are worth looking at also.

Personally I like magnification and high light gathering of a 50mm objective.No reason for a 40mm objective not to work for you either.As for magnification, 4.5 to 14 would be my personal choice for the ranges you specified.

Go look through as many as you can and play with the power settings and get a feel for them, your eyes will tell you which one to get.
 
Thanks to both of you. Do i have to figure out what scope will fit the rifle? Or do all scopes mount the same, other than ring height? (I hope you understsnd what i'm getting at..)
 
I use quite a few optics and just picked up a bushnell elite 6500 2.5-16x50 and find it to be the perfect optic for 223 gophers 50 yards to 300 yards. For the money it's pretty hard to beat in my opinion. I also use kaps, hensholdt, nf s&b,swaro, and others. Bushnell is absolutely adequate for what you need.


Best rings for the money are talley. You can order them direct.
 
Ring height is the main factor, pick the scope you want and there is enough selection in rings and bases to make almost anything work.

I like Burris Zee Signature rings, go check em out. ;)


Thanks to both of you. Do i have to figure out what scope will fit the rifle? Or do all scopes mount the same, other than ring height? (I hope you understsnd what i'm getting at..)
 
good info above, ive got a 4-12x40 and looking at 200 yards i feel like it could be a little better, 14x would likely be sufficient.

I use 4x at 500 yards. Magnification isn't as important as the glass quality and mechanical quality of the scope. I'd also consider a Vortex Viper.
 
I have a Millet 4-16 X 50 on my .223 rig. I wish that I had spent more than $400 on optics. I as well am interested in a Vortex PST 6-24 FFP and have one on back-order but its going to run me about $1000. If you are interested in learning about using Mil-dots for range estimation or hold over than a .223 is a good rifle to invest some money as it starts to drop signifiganly around the 500 yard mark making it useful to practise hold-overs at most local ranges. If you are spending around $800 on a scope try to find a scope that has mil-mil or moa-moa. I think that the 6500 bushnell scopes have matching turrets and reticles, maybe some other CGNers no better. Wicked choice for gophers. If you reload try the 55grn nosler balistic tip. It literally makes them explode.

Evan
 
The reason 3-9x40mm has been the most common configuration for a long time is that the range of magnification is appropriate for most of the shooting that most shooters do, and the overall size is enough without being too much. Quality-wise, a Bushnell Elite 3200 or one of the new Redfield Revolutions (made under Leupold's ownership) in 3-9x40mm will do very well for you and not cost too much. If you have more money and you know how to judge what's better, you can certainly get a better scope, and you should if you want to, but you don't need a better scope than that to do justice to that rifle.
 
The reason 3-9x40mm has been the most common configuration for a long time is that the range of magnification is appropriate for most of the shooting that most shooters do, and the overall size is enough without being too much. Quality-wise, a Bushnell Elite 3200 or one of the new Redfield Revolutions (made under Leupold's ownership) in 3-9x40mm will do very well for you and not cost too much. If you have more money and you know how to judge what's better, you can certainly get a better scope, and you should if you want to, but you don't need a better scope than that to do justice to that rifle.

Okay cool thanks, i was looking at the bushnell 3200 and 4200 series.. i dont want to drop over $400 or so on optics... not when i am just trying it out anyways. So you said 3-9x for my sort of ranges of shooting, but earlier people said everything from 2.5-16 and 4-12... that seems like quite the variety of magnifications for my range. So is magnification just about preference or is mag. relative to range?
 
IMHO I feel it depends on what you are going to be using it for...target shooting or hunting .I wanted mine for mainly hunting and wont be taking long shots and the lower power scopes gather light a bit better ...
I have a 3200 elite 3x9x40 and going on a different rifle a Burris Fullfield 3x9x40 . I havn,t mounted the Burris yet but I hear it is comparable to the Elite (maybe a bit better optics).
The higher priced Bushnell Elite ( my friend has a 5200 I think) comes with the reticle pattern that will glow for a few hours after shining a flashlight on it which is a nice feature .

If you want to use it mainly on the range the greater magnification scopes would be an asset.
 
People like to get more magnification because it's there. As I said, for most of the shooting most of us do, 9x is enough. If you were going to be doing anything that needed more than that, you'd know. 9x means the target looks 9x bigger than it is, and 12x or 24x means it looks even bigger than that, but regardless, the actual size of the target remains 1x, and whether you can hit it or not depends on whether it's close enough for the .223 to reach and whether you have practised enough. The Bushnell Elite models are good quality and if you find you eventually need something else, they will sell secondhand. (Or by that time you'll probably have another gun for something or other and it may want that scope.)
 
Ring height is the main factor, pick the scope you want and there is enough selection in rings and bases to make almost anything work.

I like Burris Zee Signature rings, go check em out. ;)
I'm also looking for a new set of rings and mounts for my 243, these Burris Zee Signature rings you mentioned, where would the best place be to order them from, I need mounts and rings and is this the name I look for (Burris Zee Signature) there's not much in my area so I have to order this stuff.
 
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