If that is your desired purpose the .243 will suit your perfectly. It is one of my favorite rounds, and I believe it's the best cartridge to start out with and a rifle chambered in it is the perfect practice tool and it's excellent for smaller game. Get a 1:8 twist barrel, shoot 87gr V-MAXs for varmints and shots under 500 yards, then load up the high BC 105-107s for deer and anything past 500. There are many good loads and powders that work in the .243, and components are cheap and available everywhere.
Caliber of choice?
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If that is your desired purpose the .243 will suit your perfectly. It is one of my favorite rounds, and I believe it's the best cartridge to start out with and a rifle chambered in it is the perfect practice tool and it's excellent for smaller game. Get a 1:8 twist barrel, shoot 87gr V-MAXs for varmints and shots under 500 yards, then load up the high BC 105-107s for deer and anything past 500. There are many good loads and powders that work in the .243, and components are cheap and available everywhere.
ruby76
Well-Known Member
Since I already have a 280 AI that does all I need, if I were to get another rifle for playing at the range with and I can take out hunting it would be a 6.5 creedmoor. I'd like a smaller caliber, but not too small that is not useful to me.
engineer40
Well-Known Member
Yes, I'm Quoting myself. But only because I just really get the feeling like it will help.
Please take a few minutes and watch this video on scopes, even though your question has nothing to do with scopes. I just don't want you to buy one of the common scopes in the big box store thinking it will serve your purpose. Only posting to help.
[ame]https://youtu.be/TRpBxLbxhAo[/ame]
Rich Coyle
Well-Known Member
I think I would go with a 7 - .300 Weatherby.
engineer, my scope situation is I want to put a Vortex viper pst with the ffp in the 6-24x I believe is what the power was. I have also looked at a nightforce but I don't remember the model off the top of my head. I don't have time to watch that video right now but I will watch it tonight. Any recommendations?
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
Vortex are great optics. I have a bunch of them. However, FFP is not always what it's cracked up to be on the interwebz. I prefer SFP scopes, myself. Be sure you are 100% that's what you want before you jump into a $1000 scope and end-up hating the end result, and taking a big hit trying to sell it as used.
I prefer to buy the HS-T scopes over the PST scopes. Mainly because I prefer SFP, and also because illuminated reticle is highly overrated, and virtually never used by anyone who has it...So, what's the point in paying for it. Tactical is not always practical...Especially when it comes to hunting.
What he said! The HS-T I have is just as clear as any other, and is half the price of a FFP PST.
engineer40
Well-Known Member
You'll get a lot of differing opinions on FFP vs SFP; and Milliradian (Mils) vs MOA. Not everyone will agree on those things. What I think everyone will agree on is that the Reticle needs to match the Turrets. So many scopes are sold with MOA turrets and Mil reticle. I'm still not sure why.
Before you go to buy a scope, you'll need to decide if you want to use Mils or MOA. And whatever you decide, will probably be the system you stick with going forward.
Clear glass is important, but not as important as accurate turret tracking. But in the price range of the examples you posted, most scopes should have accurate turret tracking.
I personally am a fan of Milliradian scopes in second focal plane. But like I said, those 2 things aren't that big of a deal. You'll for sure want a scope that has matching reticle and turrets and has turrets that track accurately.
Hope that makes sense. There are a ton of REALLY knowledgeable people on this forum.
I don't use hold over so having hash marks that are the same value from 4x to 16x is not something I need. I usually dial for windage as well, but if I hold off I know that on 16x one hash mark is 2 MOA and on 8x they are 4 MOA. I also prefer the reticle to stay the same size so it is as fine and crisp at all power levels and doesn't grow in size as I turn the zoom up. This is just my personal opinion, I feel this is what is easiest and works best for me. The guys that prefer FFP like the ability to use the same hold off and hold over whether they are on 4x or 16x or whatever power level their scope is. I have always shot SFP scopes, so this is just my preference.
Creedmoor shooter
Well-Known Member
+1 i feel the same way
Could you please lead me to where I may purchase one of those 1/2 the cost HS-T SFP 6-24 scopes, I want one for that price....seeing how most places are getting $900.00-$950.00 for the PST 6-24 FFP. I figure at $450.00 it is an excellent bargain....
Don Dunlap
The scope world just opened up a little for me. The video had some interesting takes on scopes, I really hadn't considered getting a fixed power scope. I have always hunted and used SFP scopes, but I guess I just assumed that the FFP was the better way to always go and that SFP was just a cheaper way that still worked. But It makes sense, most of the time with my scopes I just leave them on max power anyway since they are not high powered scopes so why spend the money when I will most likely never change it anyway? All I know for sure is that I want something with good clarity. I really like Vortex for that and Leupold as well. My brother recently bought a Primary Arms scope, I haven't had a chance to look through it yet but he says it's nice and he loves it.
A 4-16x50 PST FFP is $900 and a 4-16x44 HST is $560. My math was a little off but $440 extra is not worth it for me. If you are patient you can buy an HST from cabelas for $400 like I did lol
