Budget Night Hunting 22lr Scope

Hi all. Im in the market for a sub US$180 scope to go on top of my Krico Deluxe 22lr. The rifle will be almost totally dedicated to night work, illuminated with a Logun Gun Lamp (which is good to about 60m), and shooting subs which are good to about the same range....so...the scope i am looking for will be under 18oz and will be bright and clear at around 6x-9x magnification.

Here are my considerations:

Bushnell Banner D&D 4-12x40AO

Bushnell Banner D&D 6-18x50AO

Mueller 4.5-14x40 APV

Simmons 44Mag 4-12x44

Swift Premier 4-12x40 (Gloss)

Weaver 40/44 4-12x44 (Ballistic X)

Your opinions are much appreciated.

PS. I realise all these are AOs, but ive chosen them for their 10yd-infinity parallex....if anyone has non AO suggestions that will allow me easy target acquisition and focus, between 10 and 70 yards, with no fiddling, id be happy to hear them!

I think a big step up in optical quality would be a Weaver RV7 2.5-7x28. These use fully multicoated lenses to maximize the amount of light passing though the scope - Weaver claims 95% light transmission. The 28mm objective will give you an exit pupil of 4mm at 7x, about all that a 40y/o can use, and 5.6mm at 5x. It's also set to be parallax free at 50yds. If you need more magnification than that then honestly I'd save up a little longer for an RV9.

I have never used their entry priced 40/44 line but the 849507 3-9x40 shotgun scope might work. It's set to be parallax free at 50yds. But I have no idea what the light transmission level is.

BTW, scopes with AO have a very narrow depth of field (area in focus), side focus can sometimes be even worse. Fixed focus scopes have a very long depth of field. The focus will be softer at most distances but you can make out your target.


Edited by sholling - January/27/2010 at 00:13

I also would want something with a lower "front end" say 1.5x or 2x, it's pretty hard to get on target in low light without a wide field of view.

I already have a V16 on my .222 and love it so i am happy to stay with Weaver as their customer service is also outstanding (sent me free turret caps for my V16, to Australia from US, postage paid, without even asking...well...i enquired about purchasing the caps through their webpage, and 2 months later they just turned up....awesome!)....i will probably put a V24 on a .22-250 down the track as well....so keeping it Weaver may be on the cards.