Vintage or modern..help pick a scope for my Tikka M55 in .308 I have 5 to choose from

kilohertz

kilohertz

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
7   0   0
Location
Planet Earth, left part of Canada, Brokenagan
I have this beautiful old Tikka M55 deluxe in 308, 22 in barrel and need to pick a scope for it. Mainly deer, but maybe moose, most shots I try to make less than 200 yards...sometimes open country but mostly in and around cut blocks.

The scopes I own are as follows and are all scopes I have picked up over the years on various rifles.

Weatherby Imperial Variable 2.75-10 (made in Germany)
Bushnell Scope Chief VI in 4X (Japan)
Leupold M8-4X
Bushnell Trophy 3-9X40 (Korea) duplex
Bushnell Trophy 3-9X40 (Korea) Mil Dot duplex

I also have Pecar 4X on my BLR in 308, which is a beautiful bright scope, and I like it on the BLR as that is my bush gun...but could pull it and replace with something in the above list.

I had them all outside today, set at 4X to try and figure out which one I liked best....seemed the newer ones were a bit brighter and better contrast, but it was twilight, which is also when a lot of shooting happens.

Other option is to buy something new but that is a separate topic.

Your thoughts and/or experience with any of these would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Thanks guys,

I had an interesting scenario this morning, sun just coming up over the mountain and 2 deer standing in my yard about 40 yards away, right below where the sun was coming up. Grabbed all the scopes and went out for a test, looking into the sun at the deer to see how the optics performed...was kind of surprised..all scopes set at 4X and both the Trophy and Weatherby were easier to make out the animals and see detail..the Leupold was pretty difficult to pick out anything as the glare was pretty obvious. When I spun around and looked away from the sun, the Leupold was great and bright and crisp. The exit pupil on the Leupold is smaller also, and for me is a little harder to find the sweet spot. It is the lightest scope and certainly the simplest...I'll do some more tests and thinking before mounting something.

Thanks guys!
 
Last edited:
kilohertz said:
Thanks guys,

I had an interesting scenario this morning, sun just coming up over the mountain and 2 deer standing in my yard about 40 yards away, right below where the sun was coming up. Grabbed all the scopes and went out for a test, looking into the sun at the deer to see how the optics performed...was kind of surprised..all scopes set at 4X and both the Trophy and Weatherby were easier to make out the animals and see detail..the Leupold was pretty difficult to pick out anything as the glare was pretty obvious. When I spun around and looked away from the sun, the Leupold was great and bright and crisp. The exit pupil on the Leupold is smaller also, and for me is a little harder to find the sweet spot. It is the lightest scope and certainly the simplest...I'll do some more tests and thinking before mounting something.

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

The Imperial was a VERY good scope .. although size is an issue. Personally I would go with the Scopechief or the Imperial ... I got rid of a Leupold Vari-X lll 1.5-5, 20 because of the flare and replaced it with a Zeiss 1.25-4.5 Diavari-C which was a completely different story. At the time anyone I told about my experience with Leupold implied that I was lying....after that I started to take a more critical view of Leupold and remain skeptical of the almost cult like following they have,
Incidentally I also got bad flare of the ocular of the Leupold when the sun was behind me and high ... I still have a few Leupold's and they perform ok .. and they are very light which is a big factor BUT I think Leupold also does a LOT of marketing to enhance their reputation --- there are other very good scope out there and for the money. I have always liked the Scopechief's ... I have no personal experience with the Weatherby Imperial scopes other than by reputation and the fact that Roy Weatherby told Bob Bell that he had to discontinue the Imperial because of high production costs ... Bell spoke very highly of the Imperial scopes he personally owned and used.
 
AP said:
The Imperial was a VERY good scope .. although size is an issue. Personally I would go with the Scopechief or the Imperial ... I got rid of a Leupold Vari-X lll 1.5-5, 20 because of the flare and replaced it with a Zeiss 1.25-4.5 Diavari-C which was a completely different story. At the time anyone I told about my experience with Leupold implied that I was lying....after that I started to take a more critical view of Leupold and remain skeptical of the almost cult like following they have,
Incidentally I also got bad flare of the ocular of the Leupold when the sun was behind me and high ... I still have a few Leupold's and they perform ok .. and they are very light which is a big factor BUT I think Leupold also does a LOT of marketing to enhance their reputation --- there are other very good scope out there and for the money. I have always liked the Scopechief's ... I have no personal experience with the Weatherby Imperial scopes other than by reputation and the fact that Roy Weatherby told Bob Bell that he had to discontinue the Imperial because of high production costs ... Bell spoke very highly of the Imperial scopes he personally owned and used.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I said glare, but you're right, it's flare, and it's not very easy to get around. I went out again just now and tried it again...pretty much the same results but less noticeable now the sun is higher. Since a lot (most) hunting is done near sun up/down, I feel this is an important criteria. So I decided on the Weatherby as it had the best image, and went to mount it, and bloody hell..the front bell is too big for the fancy pants mount on the Tikka. They are gorgeous dovetail shiny smooth bases with almost invisible rings, but not much vertical space to work with. It is drilled and tapped for standard bases but this is such a nice setup, I don't want to mess with it. The Trophies don't work either, but the Scopechief does, as does another I forgot about...and older Bushnell Banner 3-9X32 (Japan) with BDC. Not sure how to setup the BDC but it's optics are nice as well. I'm going into to town armed with the Leupold for a trade, see what I can scare up at the local gun shop. will report back later.

Thanks all!
 
You can get higher rings for the dovetailed tikka mount but I don't know how compatible they might be with your Imperial. Fwiw I had less than stellar experience with my cheap japanese scopes.... so then I tried Leupold...finally just moved over to Austrian and German scopes exclusively. Was sold a small Sako later that had a Scopechief variable on it..so I threw the Scopechief in a drawer until one day I needed a scope for a Rem 7600 35whelan...I remembered the Scopechief and mounted it. What a revelation! It was clear, bright with excellent contrast AND it held its zero despite the pretty heavy recoil from the 35 calibre... and held zero from one year to the next...since then I have acquired additional Scopechief's and I am not in the least reluctant about using them despite the options availableto me.
 
Well I took the Tikka into the gun shop today and they told me that my mounts are made by Buhler, very good, but very hard to find parts for. I could remove them and put conventional mounts on as it is drilled and tapped, and I may just do this. I am going to try find taller Buhler rings first...if not then either a small objective lens scope or new bases.

BTW, picked up an old Pecar today as well 3-7, but it has 26mm tube...but otherwise would fit the rifle. It's a nice old German scope, same fine x hairs as the Weatherby, bright and clear but lots of tube wear.

More later.
 
kilohertz said:
Well I took the Tikka into the gun shop today and they told me that my mounts are made by Buhler, very good, but very hard to find parts for. I could remove them and put conventional mounts on as it is drilled and tapped, and I may just do this. I am going to try find taller Buhler rings first...if not then either a small objective lens scope or new bases.

BTW, picked up an old Pecar today as well 3-7, but it has 26mm tube...but otherwise would fit the rifle. It's a nice old German scope, same fine x hairs as the Weatherby, bright and clear but lots of tube wear.

More later.
Click to expand...
You are probably aware that the Optiloc ring/bases made for the most recent Tikka's will fit your older m55...Also I believe BSquare makes a reasonably priced 26mm ring for many rifles....possibly also for your Tikka.
 
AP said:
You are probably aware that the Optiloc ring/bases made for the most recent Tikka's will fit your older m55...Also I believe BSquare makes a reasonably priced 26mm ring for many rifles....possibly also for your Tikka.
Click to expand...

No I wasn't aware, but thanks for letting me know..something I'll look into. Just looking at the Bushnell Elite 2-7X32 which would fit nicely and there are lots of used ones out there.

Kamlooky, probably sell or trade the Leupold...you have anything to trade? PM if interested.

Cheers
 
My M55 (308Win) sports 1-4x20 VXII for the bush, and a second 6x FX-II for the "range" or sitting at open cut-block areas. The scopes are mounted with good quality QD mounts that fit the factory dovetails. That also gives instant access, if needed, to the irons. At one point I wanted to mount a 4x12x40 Prostaff on it but I would have had to remove the rear iron sight. So that did not happen, and I "settled" to the 1-4 and 6x arrangement. I'm extremely happy with that. For what it's worth, the newer FX does seem to have better coatings and nicer "image." At the same time, I do prefer fixed optics for their simplicity and generally better optical quality. As to the rifle, M55s are very nice and accurate - treat yours well, and don't lose your mag!

 
Last edited:
TAP375 said:
As to the rifle, M55s are very nice and accurate - treat yours well, and don't lose your mag!
Click to expand...

Ohhh yes, I will treat her well. It's a beauty of a rifle and in such great shape...and yes, the magazine, I found out how rare they are, and I was lucky enough to get 2 with mine, one is in storage in a safe place...I do like the idea of 2 scopes...I had a H&K 770 that had a beautiful quick detach scope mount..it looked very expensive and they fetched $400+ by themselves...that rifle is gone now having dispensed with all semi autos...

I just need to figure out what I want each rifle to do, and get the correct scope on each. My hunting scenarios don't change much, mostly less than 200m cut block hunting, although I do want to expand my horizons as the 308 is capable of accuracy at great distances. Maybe I'll put together a chart of the scopes I have and the rifles and then see what makes sense.

Cheers
 
Well a big round of musical chairs with the scopes....here is where it landed.

I tried the new Tikka T3 bases as suggested and can confirm they do fit my older M55, but the rings I had for them were too high...so I just moved a few things around and am happy with everything...just need to sight in the two rifles now.

Tikka 308 got the Burris Fullfield 2-7X32 which was on the 7mm, with original Buehler rings and bases, looks nice and is close to the barrel
2.75x10 Weatherby landed on the Sako 7mm REM Mag, put on lower rings (Redfield type twist in rings) and it looks good as well, close to the barrel and comfy to look through.

Thanks for all the suggestions...need to confirm everything will site in properly and hold it, then onto the next project.

Cheers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom