Scopes input please

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ShawnRich

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Super GunNutz
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Hi All

I am starting to look at rifle and scope for venturing into bench rest rimfire. The information available on scopes is overwhelming but some things I have come down to are

First Focal Plane
5ish to 24 ish magnification
MRAD

Other than that, I don't know what I don't know. This scope may get moved to a 223 in the future for an experience in longer shooting

Scopes I am lookig at are

Vortex Viper ~$1000
Vortex Strike Eagle ~1000
Vortex Venom ~$600

Still looking but with that info, does anyone have any input for me? I know there are several other makes out there and I am not opposed to any. Just the Vortex is a name I am more familiar with as I have a Vortex Diamondback on a 223 now

Thanks
 
Benchrest rimfire.
36x and up
Fine cross hair.
1/8 moa graduations on turrets
Bausch & Lomb/Bushnell, Sightron, Weaver, Leupold.(all are in your price range)
Rimfire benchrest is at a known distance, so no ranging is required.
Shooting a .223 at unknown distances is a different ball game and will require different optics.
JMHO
 
I'm finding with rimfire that you should be really fussy about reticle selection and glass quality.reasons why,I just feel I spend longer periods of time behind the scope of fimfire then center fire.when I go to the range with a center fire I shoot 3 or 5 depending on temperature,rimfire i can sit through 2 ten round mags without changing position.so your eyes get fatigue when looking through a reticle your not comfortable with or squinty glass.moa made they both work.a rimfire scope I'm impressed with for the money is the bushnell match pro,the center dot might be to big for some situations,I have the non illumination and like it alot.i do also have the vortex viper gen 2 5x25x56 and it comes close to it but the vortex wins.i say glass is equal to the athlon ares btr but not all the bells and whistles,which I also have.
 
First Focal plane is not something you would want for rimfire benchrest.

A good fixed 36x or 45x like the Sightron S3 , or a variable power with 32x or higher. You also want 1/8 or finer adjustments on the turrets and a fine/small reticle.
 
If strictly benchrest there is a 5x50x56 delta stryker for $1700 used at hirsh and a used golden eagle on ee.and used sightron 8x32 on ee.if your not totally sure what you want I would get a used scope in the benchrest class,they tend to be treated a little better then a field gun scope.right now I have 2 scopes on ee which has alot more sellers then buyers.and being out of season you should be able to negotiate a decent deal.if you don't have alot of money to spend and few guns you use I would get in the 5x25 as you first mentioned, it has a wider range of uses.
 
Thanks everyone for the input. After I posted, I went out to the range to try some things with the setup I have. I have a thread on the rimfire forum about figuring why I am having such poor groups.

While there, I had a chance to speak to several older club members and they all swear by Sightron. Said it was the best bang for buck thing. Although I did see them mentioned on some websites, not knowing them, I did not pursue too much but will now. As for the magnification, they all swear by the fixed at 32. (36?) I did get a peak through one....yea, quite a different look than what I am used to!

So great information! Thank you.

Cheers,
Shawn
 
I was looking at the fixed sightron 45x with hd glass.if I had the resources I would do it,but I mess around from gun to gun and shooting situation.fixed power became less appealing.i did alot of googlin and found some good options of variables that had a very functioning image quality at 40x with the option of changing to lower mag when needed.the golden eagle fit that criteria as well as the Delta stryker and the sightron hd( about a $1000 more but better)all 3 that you can find used right now.like I said earlier br scopes don't tend to be used bushwacking.
 
Oldly said:
I was looking at the fixed sightron 45x with hd glass.if I had the resources I would do it,but I mess around from gun to gun and shooting situation.fixed power became less appealing.i did alot of googlin and found some good options of variables that had a very functioning image quality at 40x with the option of changing to lower mag when needed.the golden eagle fit that criteria as well as the Delta stryker and the sightron hd( about a $1000 more but better)all 3 that you can find used right now.like I said earlier br scopes don't tend to be used bushwacking.
Click to expand...

Thanks. All good info. Will keep looking and learning.
Cheers,
 
Oldly said:
What where your complaints. Thanks
Click to expand...

Perhaps complaints was the wrong word.

Low light could be better, but I also hunt with a VX5HD x56 that lets in a ton of light, so I might be biased on that.
The parallax is very sensitive, took a bit to get used to.
I wish it had more elevation adjustment (55 moa)

The price is right, the glass is crisp, it tracks perfect, and generally is a pleasure to use. Remember I'm using it on a rimfire so I've never looked past 400 yards in the thing.
 
Another vote for the 36X Sightron. Had one on my benchrest 22. It is great and not that expensive at around $700 new. Great starting point.
Current benchrest 22 has a 10-50x60 Sightron SIII with the target dot. That is around $1600 new and is also a great scope.
My benchrest 308 is running the Delta Stryker 5-50x56 with the DLS-3 target dot. Absolutely brilliant glass but now you are at $2300. Had a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x50 before and it was nice but the Delta blows it away for clarity.
Someone mentioned looking on EE and I agree. The 36X comes up sometime as do the SIII 10-50 scopes. Usually a great deal and that is good advice.
 
I have a Sightron 6-24 w/ target dot on my single shot Anshutz, it works but could use more magnification. there also some old Weaver fixed 32x that come up on the EE for cheap, people swear by them.
 
OP: as everyone above has mentioned, if the use is for rimfire benchrest, go with the second focal plane scope with a fine reticle. You don't need any reticle hash marks for rimfire benchrest. The target itself provides hold points for windage, and elevation is first dialed in, unless you find your barrel changes mid way through a match and you change to holding up or down on the X or 10 ring. The fine reticle allows for those very subtle holds that make all the difference in rimfire matches.

For rimfire 50m benchrest for several years I have been using the Sightron 45x45 ED fine crosshair (1/10th MOA clicks) with the target dot. I really really like that target dot!. My ageing eyes can see it without strain. The fine crosshairs are really fine and with mirage I don't know if my eyes would like to strain to see that ultrafine crosshair intersection without that satisfying target dot to focus on. I have done quite well in my local Range's matches with the target dot reticle. The target dot is fine enough that it can be wind held or clicked in fractions of the bullet diameter at 50m, so it provides excellent precision for aiming and holding for the slightest of wind drift, or shift in trajectory.

The 1/10th clicks on the 45x45 (and the new 36x45) are fantastically fine, which allows for fine adjustment much less than the diameter of the bullet, and without fear of missing the 10 ring entirely. (I think 1/8th clicks are fine and totally adequate for rimfire BR, but I will certainly take the 1/10th clicks as a bonus).

Note that the reticle is so fine on this scope that it will disappear on a black background target. My club's targets are white background with black ring outlines, and alternating white and transparent gray fill rings. The reticle works very very well on these light background targets.

I have looked through buddy's new Sightron 36x45 ED and it was really sharp and bright. At the time I purchased my 45x45 years ago, I think only the 45's had the ED glass. Now that the 36's have the ED glass and 1/10th clicks, this 36x looks like a great option. I see from Sightron's website that the price is the same for both models.

If I was going to do it again, I might go with the 36x45 target dot. When the mirage is intense the 36 is maybe a little better? But I have not done a side by side comparison.

Edit: Almost forgot: For whatever scope you decide on, make sure the parallax focus is well less than the range you are shooting. Some long-range scopes start at 50 yards, which is no good for rimfire 50m BR. The Sightron 45 and 36 focus minimum is 10 yards, and goes to infinity.
 
Last edited:
Again, Thanks for all of the input. The Sightron SII 36x42 kept coming up from shooters at the club and here so I went with that. I have also ordered an Anschutz 1903 MS R Silouette so down the rabbit hole I goooo.....:)

Cheers all and Merry Christmas to all. Hoping you all have a good holiday/special day/s.

Regards,
Shawn
 
Again, Thank you for all of the input.

The Sightron SII 36x42 kept coming up from shooters at the club and here so I went with that. I have also ordered an Anschutz 1903 MS R Silouette so down the rabbit hole I goooo.....:)

Cheers all and Merry Christmas to all. Hoping you all have a good holiday/special day/s.

Regards,
Shawn
 
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