Scope for new gun

loosefur

loosefur

Active Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2013
Messages
29
Location
milton freewater, or
Hello all,

I've been a long-time lurker on this forum, taking advantage of hundreds of threads, but haven't posted until now. I bought my first bolt-action rifle in 2014 -a Savage Weather Warrior in 270 Win- and this forum helped with issues such as: properly mounting a scope, selecting reloading equipment, developing loads, shooting technique, and countless other issues. The wealth of knowledge here is without parallel. From the bench, the gun would regularly shoot inside 1 MOA out to 600 yards with 150 grain ABLRs and Partitions.

I'm currently in the process of rebuilding the Savage to a 35 Whelen. I just got the gun rebarreled and now it's off to McMillan for a new stock. It'll be fitted with an Elite Iron suppressor and used as my hunting rig. I like shooting at extended distance but my hunting technique leans toward still hunting and spot-and-stalk. Thus the 35 Whelen. I'll start load development with Norma brass and the 220 grain Hammer Hunters.



My only other rifle is a 17 HMR. The 17 is fun out to about 200-300 yards but I really want to get back to punching paper and ringing steel at 600+ yards. I've been contemplating a new rifle for the last several weeks and something in 6.5 seemed the best option. I looked at rifles from Bergara, Fierce, Christensen, Browning and others, in 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 260 Rem and 6.5 Creed. I ultimately found a used Browning X-Bolt in 6.5 Creed. It has a 28" barrel and thumb hole stock. I got it for a good price and now I'm in the market for a good optic.

I've looked at lots of options but I'm having difficulty deciding on a scope. Since I spent relatively little on the rifle, I feel better about spending a good chunk on a scope. The gun came with 30mm Seekins rings which I may or may not use. I found a used Nikon Monarch 6-24x50 for relatively little money but I really think I should go with something like a NF NX8 2.5-20x50. I have very little experience with optics. The Savage is fitted with a Leupold 3-9x40 (VX2 or VX3?). What advice can you give me for choosing a good optic? For the moment, I want it to be able to take advantage of this rifle's range (~1400 yards?). Repeatability, precision, glass clarity, and intuitive ease of use are top priorities. Down the road I can see myself swapping out the 6.5 Creed for something like a 338 Lapua Improved (possibly using the 35 cal suppressor?) and I'd like this scope to be a good fit for that cartridge also. What should I consider? What should I look at?

Thanks
 
You are going to get a ton of suggestions on brand so I won't go there. However, you are on the right track about spending your money on good glass. Too many folks opt to spend most of their money on the rifle and skimp on the optics, which to me the optics are equally as important.

Keep in mind too, that the clarity of the glass is really nice in a quality scope, but it also has to be able to return to zero when dialed up, down and left to right.

Do a search since there has been many recent post on this very subject lately for folks looking for scopes for a new build and etc.
 
+1 for what Rick Richard said. Clarity in the glass is a plus but what you pay for in high end scopes is also the mechanics. So the way it tracks and returns to zero is what I personally look for first. I use a wide variety of scopes from ATACR's, Leupold VX-6's and March scopes. I am personally a bit more biased for my March's however. The 2.5-25x52's and 42's have become my favorites.
 
loosefur said:
Hello all,

I've been a long-time lurker on this forum, taking advantage of hundreds of threads, but haven't posted until now. I bought my first bolt-action rifle in 2014 -a Savage Weather Warrior in 270 Win- and this forum helped with issues such as: properly mounting a scope, selecting reloading equipment, developing loads, shooting technique, and countless other issues. The wealth of knowledge here is without parallel. From the bench, the gun would regularly shoot inside 1 MOA out to 600 yards with 150 grain ABLRs and Partitions.

I'm currently in the process of rebuilding the Savage to a 35 Whelen. I just got the gun rebarreled and now it's off to McMillan for a new stock. It'll be fitted with an Elite Iron suppressor and used as my hunting rig. I like shooting at extended distance but my hunting technique leans toward still hunting and spot-and-stalk. Thus the 35 Whelen. I'll start load development with Norma brass and the 220 grain Hammer Hunters.



My only other rifle is a 17 HMR. The 17 is fun out to about 200-300 yards but I really want to get back to punching paper and ringing steel at 600+ yards. I've been contemplating a new rifle for the last several weeks and something in 6.5 seemed the best option. I looked at rifles from Bergara, Fierce, Christensen, Browning and others, in 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 260 Rem and 6.5 Creed. I ultimately found a used Browning X-Bolt in 6.5 Creed. It has a 28" barrel and thumb hole stock. I got it for a good price and now I'm in the market for a good optic.

I've looked at lots of options but I'm having difficulty deciding on a scope. Since I spent relatively little on the rifle, I feel better about spending a good chunk on a scope. The gun came with 30mm Seekins rings which I may or may not use. I found a used Nikon Monarch 6-24x50 for relatively little money but I really think I should go with something like a NF NX8 2.5-20x50. I have very little experience with optics. The Savage is fitted with a Leupold 3-9x40 (VX2 or VX3?). What advice can you give me for choosing a good optic? For the moment, I want it to be able to take advantage of this rifle's range (~1400 yards?). Repeatability, precision, glass clarity, and intuitive ease of use are top priorities. Down the road I can see myself swapping out the 6.5 Creed for something like a 338 Lapua Improved (possibly using the 35 cal suppressor?) and I'd like this scope to be a good fit for that cartridge also. What should I consider? What should I look at?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Since you said you'd like to shoot out to 1400 yards I'd recommend a Vortex Razor AMG.
Go to Liberty Optic and put one in your cart, the price will absolutely blow away anything in that range.
 
loosefur said:
Hello all,

I've been a long-time lurker on this forum, taking advantage of hundreds of threads, but haven't posted until now. I bought my first bolt-action rifle in 2014 -a Savage Weather Warrior in 270 Win- and this forum helped with issues such as: properly mounting a scope, selecting reloading equipment, developing loads, shooting technique, and countless other issues. The wealth of knowledge here is without parallel. From the bench, the gun would regularly shoot inside 1 MOA out to 600 yards with 150 grain ABLRs and Partitions.

I'm currently in the process of rebuilding the Savage to a 35 Whelen. I just got the gun rebarreled and now it's off to McMillan for a new stock. It'll be fitted with an Elite Iron suppressor and used as my hunting rig. I like shooting at extended distance but my hunting technique leans toward still hunting and spot-and-stalk. Thus the 35 Whelen. I'll start load development with Norma brass and the 220 grain Hammer Hunters.



My only other rifle is a 17 HMR. The 17 is fun out to about 200-300 yards but I really want to get back to punching paper and ringing steel at 600+ yards. I've been contemplating a new rifle for the last several weeks and something in 6.5 seemed the best option. I looked at rifles from Bergara, Fierce, Christensen, Browning and others, in 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 260 Rem and 6.5 Creed. I ultimately found a used Browning X-Bolt in 6.5 Creed. It has a 28" barrel and thumb hole stock. I got it for a good price and now I'm in the market for a good optic.

I've looked at lots of options but I'm having difficulty deciding on a scope. Since I spent relatively little on the rifle, I feel better about spending a good chunk on a scope. The gun came with 30mm Seekins rings which I may or may not use. I found a used Nikon Monarch 6-24x50 for relatively little money but I really think I should go with something like a NF NX8 2.5-20x50. I have very little experience with optics. The Savage is fitted with a Leupold 3-9x40 (VX2 or VX3?). What advice can you give me for choosing a good optic? For the moment, I want it to be able to take advantage of this rifle's range (~1400 yards?). Repeatability, precision, glass clarity, and intuitive ease of use are top priorities. Down the road I can see myself swapping out the 6.5 Creed for something like a 338 Lapua Improved (possibly using the 35 cal suppressor?) and I'd like this scope to be a good fit for that cartridge also. What should I consider? What should I look at?

Thanks
Click to expand...
FFP or 2FP?
 
loosefur said:
Hello all,

I've been a long-time lurker on this forum, taking advantage of hundreds of threads, but haven't posted until now. I bought my first bolt-action rifle in 2014 -a Savage Weather Warrior in 270 Win- and this forum helped with issues such as: properly mounting a scope, selecting reloading equipment, developing loads, shooting technique, and countless other issues. The wealth of knowledge here is without parallel. From the bench, the gun would regularly shoot inside 1 MOA out to 600 yards with 150 grain ABLRs and Partitions.

I'm currently in the process of rebuilding the Savage to a 35 Whelen. I just got the gun rebarreled and now it's off to McMillan for a new stock. It'll be fitted with an Elite Iron suppressor and used as my hunting rig. I like shooting at extended distance but my hunting technique leans toward still hunting and spot-and-stalk. Thus the 35 Whelen. I'll start load development with Norma brass and the 220 grain Hammer Hunters.



My only other rifle is a 17 HMR. The 17 is fun out to about 200-300 yards but I really want to get back to punching paper and ringing steel at 600+ yards. I've been contemplating a new rifle for the last several weeks and something in 6.5 seemed the best option. I looked at rifles from Bergara, Fierce, Christensen, Browning and others, in 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 260 Rem and 6.5 Creed. I ultimately found a used Browning X-Bolt in 6.5 Creed. It has a 28" barrel and thumb hole stock. I got it for a good price and now I'm in the market for a good optic.

I've looked at lots of options but I'm having difficulty deciding on a scope. Since I spent relatively little on the rifle, I feel better about spending a good chunk on a scope. The gun came with 30mm Seekins rings which I may or may not use. I found a used Nikon Monarch 6-24x50 for relatively little money but I really think I should go with something like a NF NX8 2.5-20x50. I have very little experience with optics. The Savage is fitted with a Leupold 3-9x40 (VX2 or VX3?). What advice can you give me for choosing a good optic? For the moment, I want it to be able to take advantage of this rifle's range (~1400 yards?). Repeatability, precision, glass clarity, and intuitive ease of use are top priorities. Down the road I can see myself swapping out the 6.5 Creed for something like a 338 Lapua Improved (possibly using the 35 cal suppressor?) and I'd like this scope to be a good fit for that cartridge also. What should I consider? What should I look at?

Thanks
Click to expand...


Nightforce SHV all the way.
 
Yesterday I went to a local dealer and put hands on a number of scopes. I ended up fiddling with the NF ATACR 5-25x56 F1 for about an hour. It taught me a lot about what I want in a scope.

I had looked through a few FFP optics in the past but this was my first significant experience with one. I had a good understanding of FFP, and even thought it's what I wanted, before handling this one. It wasn't long before confirming FFP is for me. All of the measurement advantages are too good to pass up. This scope had a MOAR reticle but I'd rather go mil and get the mil-C, although one wasn't available to look at. Digillum was easy enough to use and it mitigated a FFP con: a thin reticle at low power on a dark background. ZeroStop and the Power Throw Lever are handy features.

After doing more research last night, I've pretty much settled on the NX8 2.5-20x50 F1 with Mil-C. I didn't get to put hands on one but I see little reason to not be satisfied. However, I wonder what the reticle will look like considering the extreme magnification range. I realize it's not the ATACR, but I don't anticipate any disappointments. A couple key benefits of the NX8 are price and the ability to use my 30mm Seekins rings (assuming they're an appropriate height). I can use the difference in cost to cover dies, brass, powder, etc.

Thanks for all of the input. I'll sit with this decision for a little while before pulling the trigger. There's no sense rushing.
 
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