Ruger American ranch rifle optics choices
- Thread starter rhino62
- Start date
good info for the ruger american ranch's and likely other american models also, i ran 1" weaver lows on the factory rail and was able to clear 40mm trijicon 3-9x40 accupoint, but i ditched the rings and the factory rail in favor of Talley Lightweights in 1" low and saved 3 oz, scope height identical with both set ups
as for scopes, was diehard leupold forever, now liking illuminate dot for aging eyes and intuitive hunting aiming, tried out a trijicon 3-9x40 accupoint green dot duplex and it's amazing, have started the migration to these, this scope is only 13.4 oz and does quite a bit, these are a level above your typical vx3 level of leupold scopes, glass/adjustments all nicer, you can get kenton speed dial turret for dial ups, the downside is there's only 12 moa per revolution vs the 15 moa per revolution you get from leupold, even still on a slow 6.5 Grendel with 200 yard zero you can still dial to just over 500 yards in one rotation, my kenton speed dial turret the last mark is a 5 (for 500 yards) as it comes about about the 45 click mark of the 48 clicks in a rotation...hornady black is the ammo i run
leupold vx3hd lineup is amazing for non-illuminated, the cds-zl turret is best on the market for the dial up, if they could add the fire dot to those 1" tube scopes then that would be awful tough to beat, i love the green on the trijcon though, it's brighter and more visible to me than red, just like bowsights...green best, red second best, yellow a distant 3rd for fiber optic pin visibility
i have a leupold fxII 6x36 that weighs less than rated, mine only goes 9.5 oz on my scale and that's including having Korth put a cds-zl elevation turret on it...otherwise the 2.5-8x36 in vx3hd would be a top pick in talley lightweight 1" low rings for these ruger american ranch rifles...2 oz for rings, about 11.5 oz for scope, as it is with my 3-9x40 trijicon my rings/scope combo is only 15.5 oz but have to say i really like that magnifcation range, the scope on 9x makes the dot about 1.2 to 1.3 moa, at 425 yards on my 15" gong the dot covers what appears to be 4-5" of the gong, it will center on a coyote out to 500 pretty easily, big game not an issue at all, i was worried about dot size and precision for what i do so i had to field this scope in sunny winter snow conditions calling coyotes to see, as well as some gong work at distance and it's won me over, my kid ended up shooting a black bear facing him at 10 yards and the green dot helped him place it for sure as that would have been a lot of black in the scope!
so, i've tried to find leupold that can compete with the 3-9x40 accupoint in weight with illumination and i can't...when they can then i would consider coming back to leupold but that green dot is hard to give up, get it right leupold, don't just always offer red dot models, the green is awesome, add some fire dots to that vx3hd line up with 1" tubes and we will be looking at you again, until then trijicon accupoint, it's the most you can do for under 1 lb scope options
as for scopes, was diehard leupold forever, now liking illuminate dot for aging eyes and intuitive hunting aiming, tried out a trijicon 3-9x40 accupoint green dot duplex and it's amazing, have started the migration to these, this scope is only 13.4 oz and does quite a bit, these are a level above your typical vx3 level of leupold scopes, glass/adjustments all nicer, you can get kenton speed dial turret for dial ups, the downside is there's only 12 moa per revolution vs the 15 moa per revolution you get from leupold, even still on a slow 6.5 Grendel with 200 yard zero you can still dial to just over 500 yards in one rotation, my kenton speed dial turret the last mark is a 5 (for 500 yards) as it comes about about the 45 click mark of the 48 clicks in a rotation...hornady black is the ammo i run
leupold vx3hd lineup is amazing for non-illuminated, the cds-zl turret is best on the market for the dial up, if they could add the fire dot to those 1" tube scopes then that would be awful tough to beat, i love the green on the trijcon though, it's brighter and more visible to me than red, just like bowsights...green best, red second best, yellow a distant 3rd for fiber optic pin visibility
i have a leupold fxII 6x36 that weighs less than rated, mine only goes 9.5 oz on my scale and that's including having Korth put a cds-zl elevation turret on it...otherwise the 2.5-8x36 in vx3hd would be a top pick in talley lightweight 1" low rings for these ruger american ranch rifles...2 oz for rings, about 11.5 oz for scope, as it is with my 3-9x40 trijicon my rings/scope combo is only 15.5 oz but have to say i really like that magnifcation range, the scope on 9x makes the dot about 1.2 to 1.3 moa, at 425 yards on my 15" gong the dot covers what appears to be 4-5" of the gong, it will center on a coyote out to 500 pretty easily, big game not an issue at all, i was worried about dot size and precision for what i do so i had to field this scope in sunny winter snow conditions calling coyotes to see, as well as some gong work at distance and it's won me over, my kid ended up shooting a black bear facing him at 10 yards and the green dot helped him place it for sure as that would have been a lot of black in the scope!
so, i've tried to find leupold that can compete with the 3-9x40 accupoint in weight with illumination and i can't...when they can then i would consider coming back to leupold but that green dot is hard to give up, get it right leupold, don't just always offer red dot models, the green is awesome, add some fire dots to that vx3hd line up with 1" tubes and we will be looking at you again, until then trijicon accupoint, it's the most you can do for under 1 lb scope options
I ended up with a a Trijicon 3-9x40mm Accupower on mine. The total weight of the rifle and scope is 7.425 lbs with mag. I tend to obsess about weight and OAL, also I like illuminated Reticles, however the Accupower weighs a bit more at 17 ozs. I have Leupold VX-R 1.25-4x20mm on a synthetic stocked Ruger GSR which weighs 7.374 lbs.
I’m a Bushnell fan
This is what I put on mine
https://www.gotenda.com/product/bus...8x40mm-rifle-scope-drop-zone-223-bdc-reticle/
This is what I put on mine
https://www.gotenda.com/product/bus...8x40mm-rifle-scope-drop-zone-223-bdc-reticle/
I put the same on mine, the reticle is a bit thick, but the BDC works good.
Depends on intent and purpose... fast off hand shooting and medium sized targets i favour a lightweight 1-4 or 1-6x.
Mine is the most accurate rifle i own... currently wears a 3-9x and i know it wouldn't hurt with more somedays... being thinking a lightweight 4-12 with illuminated reticle for yotes... maybe i need to pick up a second one... and scope each accordingly.
I think the weight on my optic is around 16oz. Bought it used but BNIB for a deal back in the day... Honestly these rifles are accurate enough you could justify any optic within reason.
Mine is the most accurate rifle i own... currently wears a 3-9x and i know it wouldn't hurt with more somedays... being thinking a lightweight 4-12 with illuminated reticle for yotes... maybe i need to pick up a second one... and scope each accordingly.
I think the weight on my optic is around 16oz. Bought it used but BNIB for a deal back in the day... Honestly these rifles are accurate enough you could justify any optic within reason.
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try to find an accupoint and some talley 1" low rings, pull the factory rail off, it's the lightest way to fly, if i were to go back to my leupold 6x36 in the talleys the total would only be 11.5 oz...under 3/4 lb for both rings/scope and delete 2-3 oz from rifle when you pull the factory rail off, as it is, i like the 3-9x magnification range for hunting, the 6 is good and versatile but 3-9 is more versatile so i'm ok with a total rings/scope package under 1 lb (15.5 oz)....these days it's tough to find scopes under 1 lb and lots of ring sets/rails can add up to half a pound combined...
Rifle: Ruger American Predator in 308
Rings: Vortex Pro Medium 30mm (gunsmith said bolt handle wouldn't clear Lows)
Optic: Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24x50 FFP in MRAD
Pros: Great magnification, good glass quality, got the optic off CGN for about 60% retail.
Cons: Eye box shrinks hard as magnification goes up. I probably could have survived finding an optic maxing at 18x to get a better high end eyebox, but I do tend to sit the Diamondback between 18-20x anyways.
If I ever feel like there needs to be an upgrade, it'll be to a better quality optic with a shorter magnification band. MRAD was chosen simply by virtue of the price on the EE, but I enjoy my multiples of 10. Wouldn't list MRAD or MOA as a pro or con unless you really hate one. Brother and father shot it, neither liked it that much and both claimed they felt they needed a cheek riser. But Dad is shooting with bifocals and brother stands at 6'6". So outliers in both respects. We each took turns shooting 3rnd groups and mine were the tightest, and I felt most comfortable on the rifle. So your mileage will vary depending on your eyes/size. The Predator is a short rifle, and it's length of pull is short with its OEM stock. Larger brother might have liked it more if it was in a Magpul Hunter stock, and pops just needs to learn to shoot optics with bad eyes.
Rings: Vortex Pro Medium 30mm (gunsmith said bolt handle wouldn't clear Lows)
Optic: Vortex Diamondback Tactical 6-24x50 FFP in MRAD
Pros: Great magnification, good glass quality, got the optic off CGN for about 60% retail.
Cons: Eye box shrinks hard as magnification goes up. I probably could have survived finding an optic maxing at 18x to get a better high end eyebox, but I do tend to sit the Diamondback between 18-20x anyways.
If I ever feel like there needs to be an upgrade, it'll be to a better quality optic with a shorter magnification band. MRAD was chosen simply by virtue of the price on the EE, but I enjoy my multiples of 10. Wouldn't list MRAD or MOA as a pro or con unless you really hate one. Brother and father shot it, neither liked it that much and both claimed they felt they needed a cheek riser. But Dad is shooting with bifocals and brother stands at 6'6". So outliers in both respects. We each took turns shooting 3rnd groups and mine were the tightest, and I felt most comfortable on the rifle. So your mileage will vary depending on your eyes/size. The Predator is a short rifle, and it's length of pull is short with its OEM stock. Larger brother might have liked it more if it was in a Magpul Hunter stock, and pops just needs to learn to shoot optics with bad eyes.
