6.5 06 Night Force?

Denny2277

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Aug 7, 2010
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94
Hello everyone, a friend of mine just got his 6.5 06 wildcat Rem 700 built by John Whidden in and he had to deploy to Afganistan. We're thinking 140 bullets at about 2800 to 3000 fps. What would be some good choices in optics. He will be doing mostly long range target shooting and maybe some long range hunting. Thanks for all the help.
 
Denny,

You didn't give us a price range but here are some options. If you go under $500, durability and repeatability usually suffer, but Leupold Mark AR and Vortex Viper HS are solid in that price range. The Vortex Viper pst, Nikon Tactical, Leupold VX3 LR with knobs, SWFA Super Sniper (new models), and the fixed power I.O.R are all great scopes in the $600-$850ish area. A budget above that and I am no help at all. I have used a U.S. Optics 10x which is very good but has weaker glass than my I.O.R 10x. My I.O.R is straight 10x ($800)on a 6.5-284 with 140 VLDs going 2940; with a 200 yd zero I have enough elevation to get to 1500 yds and make 800 to 1000 seem pretty simple. I have a 2.5-10 I.O.R and love it also, the only real drawback is you can't get custom engraved knobs for them. Keep in mind that you will need a high end range finder to keep up with your rig, and that is where the real cost will be. Hope i was of some help.

Shag
 
Thanks Shaggy, I think his price range is pretty high. He's saving up for this scope and will be buying it when he get's back. I'm thinking maybe keep it under 3 grand. He's just looking for some good combo's to go with his new toy.
 
Guess perhaps the NightForce NXS would be high on the list....but the list could include the Vortex Razor, Sightron SIII, MKIV Leupy etc. Just depends on what features he's looking for...ie zero stop or not.

All in all....I'd probably say the NightForce.

Good Luck,

Wayne
 
If you're looking at that range (3k & under), look hard at NightForce & USO, the latter preferably (IMHO). Both are great, no, fantastic optics, but I like the fact that the USO can be custom ordered to you specific instructions. Although, the NightForce can usually be found in stock somewhere substantially reducing lead time.
 
I won't help on the scope but running RL22 or H1000 is the ticket with 140s. Mine runs a mild load of RL22 to 2870 out of a 24" barrel. Good luck on the scope.
 
I also have a 6.5-06 AI and I put a Viper PST 4-16 on it.
It tracks perfectly and weighs less than the Nightforce by about a pound.


For the money, they are a great scope. I would also look at the Sightron S3 as they have great glass.
Heard rumors about Sightron coming out with an MOA/MOA setup, hope that is true.
 
Thanks Shaggy, I think his price range is pretty high. He's saving up for this scope and will be buying it when he get's back. I'm thinking maybe keep it under 3 grand. He's just looking for some good combo's to go with his new toy.

Since he is going toward $2 to $3 k I recommend TWO tracks. Yesterday I read a post that stressed start at (my words) the bullet hole and reverse engineer HIS application back to the trigger pull. Now thats defined what is required and all that is left to do is go to a dealer that has all the scopes he has narrowed his choice to and arrange a look through them all outside as the last 30 min of shooting time passes. You can look at my post as I did this and picked the ZEISS

Re: NF, Swaro, or Zeiss scopes, WWYB?
I did purchase in Dec 2010 and this is why. The only 5 ELK I saw in Oct. 2010 on my CO hunt came single file across in front of me with 10 min left on the shooting clock, on a NE slope at 9kft on a bluebird day. At 100 yds., they fed across 50 Yds into the next woods, in 5 min. First 4 I could tell were cows....time passed and # 5 eased on out and I could not make out what headgear he was wearing! Looked like at least 2.5' of vertical and that is all I could get out of my scope (CO is a No Spike state). I made a management decision on the way back to camp in the dark that I would trade the FINAL ELK hunt of my life for some glass NOW, that would not let me down in the last 5 min of shooting time on a bluebird day. My eyes are almost 70 so I ain't far from that Final hunt....lol

Did my homework in Nov. then drove 200 miles and took my T-3 338WM with a 2008_VX III LR, 4.5-14x50_30mm tube B & C on it to a store that had the Z6 and Diavari's. Got there at Sun set and for 30 min. looked through all 3 every 5 min. at a horse and fence on a hill about 150yds out. Went with the Zeiss Victory FL Diavari 4-16x50T* with Rapid Z 800 Ret.

Cost! I'm one hunt $hort now-$2,228! You get what you pay for in GLASS and coatings. It's an investment in my Grandchildren! Mileage may vary!
Good Luck.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f18/nf-swaro-zeiss-scopes-wwyb-69398/



Denny, also pass on to your BUD that we appreciate him "standing on that wall".
GOD Bless and good luck to you both.
 
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Swarovski brx 3.5-18x44. The brx calculator online is bang on. I used Bryan Litz info on the bc of the 140 Berger hunting vld and chronied my load at 2840. I then sighted in at 200 yards and was hitting 8 inch gongs out to 600 yards right away. The reticle will take you to 746 yards where the bullet iis going about 1850 fps. So the reticle takes you out to where you want to stop hunting because of the slow fps.
 
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