Scope for my Savage 220

D

DKJS

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Good afternoon CGN,

I have been having a tough time trying to decide which scope to buy for my Savage 220. As of right now I have narrowed down to a Leupold VX-Freedom 3x9x40 and the VX-Freedom 1.5x4x20.

The biggest thing for me is what power scope is going to be best for deer? Most of the shooting will be anywhere from 25yds up to 200yds as this will be my shotgun for the controlled deer hunt in my region. So given those distances is a 1.5x4 all I would need or is the 3x9 a better option?

My budget is anywhere around the $500-$600 mark but I have considered going higher and looking into a VX-3. So curious to peoples opinions on the VX-Freedom line in general, as well how good the CDS system is on them or am I just better off to go spend more money with the VX-3 line?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Daryl
 
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You dont seem to be getting much help so I will offer you my 2 cents. I would suggest that for hunting at close range (in the bush) a low powered scope with a wide field of view will make it much easier to get the crosshairs on target. In my opinion a 1.5-4x scope is just about perfect to put on a shotgun. Depending on the make and model of scope your field of view at 100 yds on 1.5 x will be between 50 and 60 ft. When you turn the magnification up to 4x your field of view is reduced to around 30 ft at 100 yds. A 3-9x is way to much magnification for a shotgun. Even at 3x you only have about a 30 ft field of view at 100 yds. Turn that up to 9x and your FOV drops to about 9 ft. When hunting carry that scope on its lowest power so you are ready for a close shot. If you have an animal standing at a greater distance you have lots of time to turn up the magnification. You dont have time to turn it down for a close shot. Hope that helps
 
The higher power scopes would be my recommendation. In my experience its the functionality over anything else on a gun like that. They aren't moa guns so if you can see more, you'll be more accurate. The 1.5-4 will leave you wanting more especially at 100+ yards. If you could find a Leupold 3-9 or 4-12 with the boone and crocket reticle, or a hash mark reticle, that would even be better. Having the mildots or hash marks help out big time for those fast dropping projectiles. Takes out a lot of guesswork on a bullet that drops 18'' out to 200.
There wouldn't be anything wrong with freedom line on a sav 220. Should hold up fine but the glass quality just would be there in low light conditions. If you can afford to go with a higher model do.

With that being said I have a Bushnell 3-9 DOA 250 on a traditions inline muzzleloader and have used it for deer for 10 years. It has served me well but the glass quality sucks!!!. Its zeroed for 100 and mil dots are right on at 150 and 200.
I'm also running a Bushnell 4-14 ultra HD on my Savage 220. Zeroed at 100 with the federal 3'' 275gn copper, the second mil gets skipped completely and the third mill is on at 200. 200 is my limit, It opens up to 6'' groups.
A Redfield 4-12 sits on my savage ML10. Its a different animal altogether, its a smokeless muzzleloader that shoots like a rifle. All have mildots or hashes that help with trajectory aiming.
 
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I used a 2-7x32 on my first slug gun, when I upgraded the gun I went with a 3-9x40. As I get older and my eyes get worse I like more light transmission from the bigger objective, but I hunt mostly open areas along fencelines during the controlled hunt, if you hunt in bush where shots are under 100yds its probably not needed. I'm interested in trying the scorpion red hot as it is now available with a 20 gauge ballistic turret. If it was in a 3-9 version instead of 3-12 I'd likely have one by now.
 
Either scope will work fine. For me, I'd lean to the 3x9 because of where I would be hunting mostly. Do yourself a favour and remove the factory installed base because 9 times out of 10 they came from the factory with the mounting screws just over hand tight and covered in oil without any Loctite. I would remove everything, degrease and use blue Loctite on the bases. I have seen more than one of these slug guns shake themselves apart after a handful of rounds, The 220 can be a tad brisk on the recoil.
 
I use a 3x9 burris full field multi plex on mine. I made two perfect shots last year 1 at 120 yards threw the woods at a big buck dropped him, then a doe came running at me stopped 30 yards away and I dropped her. I leave it on 3x for close shots and if a deer is further ill zoom in.
 
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