18 power scopes

doug b

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Joined
Mar 22, 2012
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327
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Lodi Ohio
Hi, How many of you run 18 powered scopes on your 300-600 yard setups (like 22-250's, 270's 243's & such)??????? Odiously at the end of the day, its everybody's personal choice of power. But am I asking to much out of a 3-18x44 scope to perform for me out to those ranges I used to run
24 power on that setup like I do on my 1000 yard+ setups. But will I regret dropping to 18???? Thank for any input.
 
Yes! Sounds like you already have the 24 power set up. Keep it. The better you can see your target the more accurate your shot.
Unfortunately, I have already sold the 24 so my platform is naked and wants to be dressed again. I forgot to mention I shoot groundhogs so essentially I have a 3 x 3 window I hit out to 600 yards. So there pretty small targets. With that said, I was contemplating the sig tango6 in the 18 power. (Price conscience being one of the decisions)
 
I've been content with 18x. I have 24x and 15X also.

I find the 15X a bit underpowered.

The biggest advantage of 24x over the others is shooting groups on targets during load development, IMO.
 
Dopends on what scope your buying I think. If your looking at top notch glass like a vx6hd or zeiss v6 type of glass I don't think you would have a problem out to 1000 yards. Yes more power might be nice further but seems to be a good hunting mag range to me. Specially if your only going out to 600 yards as long as you are buying great glass.
 
I switched this year to a 25X from 20X on my .22/250. My groundhog kill % has increased greatly with the switch. My old eyes needed the extra 5X.
 
The higher power is better for small items like Prairie dogs and bullseyes on targets. So if you're goal is to shoot .3 moa on paper targets, get good glass and higher power.

I've dropped down to 3-18x, for the benefit of the lower end power during bear attacks. 18x is acceptable for anything long range for coyote-sized - on up to elephant. :)
 
Dopends on what scope your buying I think. If your looking at top notch glass like a vx6hd or zeiss v6 type of glass I don't think you would have a problem out to 1000 yards. Yes more power might be nice further but seems to be a good hunting mag range to me. Specially if your only going out to 600 yards as long as you are buying great glass.
Looking at the SAG tango6 4 x 18×44
 
Your choice in reticles should factor in as well.
Absolutely! one of several reasons I had (focused) in on the Tango6 was that center dot. I also run a Burris XTR ii in SCR mils for the same reason. ( it doesn't have a dot, the subs are just stupid small)

sig tango6

SIG-MRAD-and-MOA-reticles.jpg


Burris XTR ii SCR

Burris-SCR-Mil-reticle.png
 
I think that it all depends on your target, the smaller the target the more likely you will want to run a higher power. I have used 15x scopes to harvest elk up to 800 yds but if I were shooting squirrels I think that I would look at 24x. I currently run a lighter weight 6.5 -20x on all of my long range hunting rifles and have no issues with most game animals at 1000yds.
 
I would go with higher power for those yardages. But, as someone else noted, glass quality is definitely a major factor. You could probably get away with 18x with a swaro or zeiss, but they're not exactly budget-friendly. 15x would be insufficient imo. Let us know what you end up choosing!
 
For myself with what ur describing I would consider a sfp scope. I find reticles like the scr on 25x gets quite thick for pin point aiming, but that's my preference.
I like the tmr style reticle as a preference.
In this scenario I'd also look at the sightron s3 6-24x
 
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