Mschroeder40
Well-Known Member
Nightforce ATACR, Steiner T6Xi
Scope selection
- Thread starter Benellijake
- Start date
You behave!
SCVOJTA
Well-Known Member
Wow, 3K?!? I'm of the opinion you dont need to spend anywhere near that on a good scope. Many many good scopes for your needs out there under $1K or close to that. Sightron, Athlon, Arken, Leupold, Vortex, Zeiss, etc.
Save a little of the scope money and buy ammo or reloading components!
Save a little of the scope money and buy ammo or reloading components!
akmtnhnt
Well-Known Member
Go take the course first. Use their rifle and scope. Use a few of them.
You won't need to ask an internet forum afterwards. You'll know what you like, what you need.
ncwg2boatguy
Well-Known Member
Question, will it be dual purpose ? Target and hunting? If its strictly for target and weights not an issues that gives you alot more options. If you want to pack it around to hunt without taking up crossfit the quality light weight options are fewer.
ncwg2boatguy
Well-Known Member
Nx8 4-32 and your set for target or hunting
jjmp
Well-Known Member
While the big names always get the ink, I'll throw my 2 cents in saying try Meopta twice the scope for half the money . Not easy to get in your hands but Worth it when your eyes act like they're teenagers again.Cheers 
John,
Congrats on your retirement. I, too, am working on my second retirement. I retired from the USAF in 2007, and my goal is retire from civil service in 04/2027, unless they **** me off, then it would be sooner.
It has been at least two decades since I first explored the 1KY range. Transitioning from 400Y to 1000Y does not happen overnight—it takes practice, practice, practice. At the time, I worked on what I had and just added 20 MOA cant for most of my rifles. This forced me to re-establish better shooting fundamentals and a better reloading process to achieve it. What scopes do you have now? It might just surprise you that what you have in your inventory is a good starter kit.
A $3K budget will give you plenty of choices, and the LRH community has already started you on the right track. Good luck with your retirement and scope choice.
Ed
buckbrush
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I didn't like the eye box on that Schmidt...at all. Do you ?One of these might be a touch over your budget, but worth every penny.
For Sale - Kahles 328i DLR SKMR+ LSW
scope will come with a sunshade as well $3350 for scope, mkm level and sunshade only. Also have mag throw lever, brand new. $3600 with arc mbrace and $3500 with arc m10 36mm low rings. Excellent conditionwww.longrangehunting.com
For Sale - Schmidt-Bender 3-20x50 PMII Ultra Short FFP
Schmidt-Bender 3-20x50 PMII Ultra Short FFP DTII+ Elevation turret MRAD CW (installed 2021), capped windage turret Police P3L Reticle, Illuminated "Shark fin" installed on magnification Tenebraex lense covers Overall, Very good condition! Sent scope in for removal of debris (internal grease...
6.5x300 WBY
Well-Known Member
March FX 4.5x28x52 High Master absolutely amazing scope. Even Len likes it for a TT guy :)
clark33
Well-Known Member
You're suggesting he get a less than reliable scope to buy more ammo? Ammo won't do you much good if you're always chasing your zero. Get a Night Force.
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Usually these 'What should I get' threads go way off the rails and I see this one is headed there now. You do already see a trend and NightForce will get recommended 5 to 1 over everything else and for a good reason. See if there is a reticle you like and run with the NF. NX8 if you intend to carry it alot hunting, ATACR if weight is not a concern. Either way, you should be under 3K and still have budget left for powder and primers. They also re-sell well so if you want to move into a bouji, pinky out, Alpha 1 scope if you stick with the LR shooting, they are pretty painless to re-sell.
Optics visuals are very subjective.....the true "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Everyone's eyes see the world differently, have own preferences. Invest the time and effort into finding actual scopes in the actual wild...not stores...to look through at different times of the day, lighting conditions. Local gun clubs, friends, shooting events are great places to do that. Other shooters are commonly very eager to help others, but be prepared as most shooters are strong in their opinions of what they bought. Be your own judge, it's your money. Beyond the visuals, adjustment precision, repeatability, consistency, tactical feel and range of adjustment are critical to successful long range shooting. There are many niceties and gimmicks available which may or probably don't actually deliver better performance on target.....again, it's your money. In your price range, there are many brands that will deliver those critical attributes.....NF, Leupold, top end Vortex (Razor HD), NCO, Tangent Theta, and others which I have no personal experience with. Depending on how you will actually use the system.....pack all day, shoot once......stationary own the whole **** place overwatch....will determine the importance of weight attribute. You don't want to put at 40+oz scope on a 5lb Barrett Fieldcraft mountain rifle, but it doesn't matter on a 14lb Barrett MRAD MK22. You can rush out and plunk your money down for others' suggested optic. But, it's the hunt rather than the kill that puts the long term satisfaction in the trophy. Starting out, one typically doesn't appreciate what they don't know, should ask. That can be expensive. Take your time, enjoy the learning curve along the journey. As we always said in the Harley world..."It's the journey, not the destination."
Another critical point to ponder in your journey is....anyone can dial the drop, but the wind separates the shooters from the trigger tuggers. I see "shooters" drop big bucks on the latest, greatest gear and don't understand why they cannot hit their target at distance. Wind is fickle, variable, constantly changing.... even while the round is in flight. You have to learn both the art and the science of wind. Emilo Praselch is one of the absolute premier wind whispers ever. Catch a seminar with him. God gives us wind flags in this beautiful world. Learn what they are telling the shooter, only then will you realize the value in the hardware you drop your money on. Enjoy the journey, it's a great ride.
Is it for a dedicated LR rifle or something that you will be packing around a few miles? What cartridge will it be going on? At $3K you have nearly every option available. Everything has its nuance. At the end of the day you're going to want something that tracks perfectly every time, has good to great glass with minimal to no CA, and ideally has customer service in America. For hunting scopes, the 4-16x42 ATACR and Schmidt 3-20 are great (Schmidt customer service in America used to be great but the guy running it recently left so it remains to be seen how that will turn out).
Skip the 5-25 ATACR (tunneling, glass, size).
You can also oftentimes find the TT315M under $3K.
For dedicated dedicated LR scopes the 7-35 ATACR and Schmidt 6-36 are awesome options. I've had both and my vote is for the 7-35 ATACR. You can oftentimes find ZCOs (4-20 and 5-27) at just over $3K. Optically they are phenomenal but depending on who you talk to they can be mount sensitive (No Spuhrs) and can have issues with higher recoiling cartridges (>7mm PRC/7mm Rem mag level). I've also had several ZCOs and now only have 4-16/7-35 ATACRs and Schmidt's and have been very happy.
I'm also intrigued by the Steiner 2.9-20 M7xi but the M5 series I've had all had significant CA, but otherwise optomechanically they were great. For whatever reason, CA is very apparent to me and I don't like it so the less the better…but I still might try one.
Skip the 5-25 ATACR (tunneling, glass, size).
You can also oftentimes find the TT315M under $3K.
For dedicated dedicated LR scopes the 7-35 ATACR and Schmidt 6-36 are awesome options. I've had both and my vote is for the 7-35 ATACR. You can oftentimes find ZCOs (4-20 and 5-27) at just over $3K. Optically they are phenomenal but depending on who you talk to they can be mount sensitive (No Spuhrs) and can have issues with higher recoiling cartridges (>7mm PRC/7mm Rem mag level). I've also had several ZCOs and now only have 4-16/7-35 ATACRs and Schmidt's and have been very happy.
I'm also intrigued by the Steiner 2.9-20 M7xi but the M5 series I've had all had significant CA, but otherwise optomechanically they were great. For whatever reason, CA is very apparent to me and I don't like it so the less the better…but I still might try one.
