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mil169
Optics Journeyman Joined: February/28/2012 Location: Nebraska Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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Posted: February/29/2012 at 19:20 |
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Hi, all- new here and searched alot before deciding to post. So here goes.
I ordered a new rifle, a Winchester Model 70 in 7mm Rem Mag. But I need a scope, and have thought about it long enough that I don't know what I want and the search has ceased to be fun.
While at the end of the day it will be primarily a hunting rifle, I would like to dabble in shooting out to 500 yrds or so. Maybe longer if I can get the hang of the longer shots. I've thought about so many scopes I don't remember what they all were, and have gotten advice that covers the gammot.
So my question is, to all of you way more knowledgible, what is the best value for this task in the $300 to $500 range. Do I need a mil-dot, or just a BDC, or should I stay with the Duplex. My local dealer carries Sightron almost exclusivsley, and have been told about the Ziess Conquest, Minox ZA5, Lieca, Kahles, which all seem to be great, but out of my cap. I've almost settled on the Vortex Viper HS in the 4-16x44 BDC, but read some people like the 50 better, and others have had issues with the rubber by the magnification ring, others have said the crosshairs are too light. I don't have anywhere to look at one of these before ordering. PERPLEXING!!
So what do I need for zoom, parallax adjustment (and how do I set this for hunting), and what size of objective do I need. Is a 40 adequate, or do I find a 42,44, or 50?
HELP PLEASE and thank you.
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mil169
Optics Journeyman Joined: February/28/2012 Location: Nebraska Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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Alright forgot this. I found a Minox ZA5 4-20x50 with a BDC reticle on the sample list for $599.95. This is my absoulute limit.
Thanks again.
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Sapper524
Optics Apprentice Joined: January/25/2010 Status: Offline Points: 218 |
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Im personally not a fan of BDCs in non dedicated systems (IE=ACOG and 62grain ammo) as being on the wrong power and snapping a quick hold for that shot at a 6 point bull and missing can really ruin your day. With that said, if you become proficent with the system its very effective. This does require a decent amount of range time to gather data and build a good drop chart for the different scope powers.
- Optics offerings in the past 5 years have come a long way and about any configuration is available. First thing I would do is narrow down the features you want. Then put them in order of most important to least important ... include your rings and rail in the budget ... then go shopping Things to consider ... FFP or SFP Exposed target style or capped hunting style MOA or MIL Illum or No Illum Weight BDC / Duplex / MOA / Mil reticles Side Focus / Adjustable Objective / Fixed Parallax Zero Stops 500 yards isn't something that will require a 6-24x56 monster so you can get more bang for your buck in the 3-9x42 working fine, up to 3-15x50 range on the top end.
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hokiehunter
Optics GrassHopper Joined: June/13/2011 Location: Amherst, VA Status: Offline Points: 3 |
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If your dealer has sightrons then look at the s2 series and check them out in person to see what reticle you like. Lots of options to look at. They have a good reputation for repeatable adjustments if you end up doing a little longer range shooting and go with a plex style reticle. |
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mil169
Optics Journeyman Joined: February/28/2012 Location: Nebraska Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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I should have mentioned this earlier, but the post looks more like a book. I have a SII 3-9x42 in a duplex on a muzzle loader, and it has worked well. I do like the scope, but don't have anything to compare it to, other than an SI 3-9x40 which is not a very expensive scope.
I do like the looks of a Minox ZA5 3-15x42 or maybe the 3-15x50. Any body have any experience with them or know the history?
thanks
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Brad4213
Optics Apprentice Joined: January/26/2012 Location: Las Vegas, NV Status: Offline Points: 188 |
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I would suggest a 3-9x40 3-9x50 3,5-10x50 4-12x40 4,5-14x44 4,5-14x50 4-16x44 or 4-16x50 max, i have come to find out that you do not need extreme magnification for the 500 yd range. Getting a high magnification scope IE 20x, 24x,32x of lower quality can do more harm than good, especially hunting harder target aquisition and low light situations. The reticle is gonna be a personal preference, i have never used, nor do i know how to use a mil dot, so i cannot say anything about them altho i would love to learn how to use them, I have a standard plex on my current rifle and have had ballistic plex reticle too, altho my error using the ballistic plex cost me the deer of a life time, used the wrong hash mark. Every one is different but the more familiar you become with your optics the better you will be able to use them. Which ever one you choose to get, you will just need time behind it. If you get the ballistic plex practice at every range. Find out where your gun is hitting at 200-500yds as most likely your gun will not hit exactly where the hash marks are. I would recommend staying away from the nikon bdc as it has circles for the hash marks and can make the longer distance aiming difficult. or atleast the ones i have used were. Hope that helps.... |
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mil169
Optics Journeyman Joined: February/28/2012 Location: Nebraska Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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Last thing, do I really need an adjustable parallax? Like I said before, this is going to be primarily a hunting rifle with a little longer range practice use as well. Is the SF hard to keep set so it is clear at a variety of ranges?
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Sapper524
Optics Apprentice Joined: January/25/2010 Status: Offline Points: 218 |
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If 500 to 600 yards is max range ... a fixed parallax scope will work fine.
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Brad4213
Optics Apprentice Joined: January/26/2012 Location: Las Vegas, NV Status: Offline Points: 188 |
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I agree.
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mil169
Optics Journeyman Joined: February/28/2012 Location: Nebraska Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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thanks guys, anyone have an experience with a Minox ZA5 3-15x42 then? I am a believer in the KISS system.
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atblis
Optics GrassHopper Joined: February/01/2012 Status: Offline Points: 21 |
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If KISS stands for Keep it Super Sucky, then yeah.
I would stay away from Minox. The glass is okay, above average even, but IMO the rest of the scope is of very questionable quality and not that well designed. The eye relief is absurdly long. I started out with a 3-15x42mm. It never seemed quite right. The ocular eventually came loose. Okay, some teething problems on a new scope line. Hopefully all my noted shortcomings were due to the loose ocular. The optics seemed decent, I just couldn't get it to focus at longer ranges. Minox CS was just fine, got my scope fixed at no cost to me. When working "correctly", it was still a dog of a scope IMO. I couldn't get it to focus on targets at long ranges. The parralax past a couple hundred yards is just too much (like a foot worth of cross hair movement at 300 yards). The eye relief is way way too long. So I called Minox, and for $100 they let me upgrade to a 4-20x50mm SF. I figured the 3-15x42's problem were mostly due to the lack of a sidefocus. Wrong. The european style focus was very lose. Unfortunately, the cross hair moves when that rear focus piece moves. The adjustments were not positive, plasticy even, and occaisonally it would skip some clicks. The side focus adjustment was not graduated even remotely close and had excessive slop in it. The only redeeming quality of this scope was that optically it did seem to equal the Zeiss Conquest. The whole time I was comparing them side by side with my trusty Zeiss Conquests. The Conquest is far and away a better scope. This really drove home the eye relief thing. Even though the Minox had a bigger obj and more magnification, the Conquest always seemed to have a larger brighter image that was easier to get behind. 3.5" of eye relief versus 6". Yes the eye relief is really that long. The eye relief on the Conquest is about perfect IMO. Did I mention they have way way too much eye relief. So much so, that it detracts from the image quality. I just picked up a Sightron SIII. Fantastic scope. Adjusmtents are rock solid. The fast focus eye piece has almost no play it. The side focus is tight. If you can fit an SIII in your budget, do it. A Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x44 SF would also be a good bet. For hungting (deer I assume), a 4-16ish scope is the best crossover between hunting and target shooting. I've been happy with all my Vx3s, Conquests, Sightron SIII, Weavers/Nitrex, etc. etc. The Minox ZA5 experience has left a bad taste in my mouth. |
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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Urimaginaryfrnd
MODERATOR Resident Redneck Joined: June/20/2005 Location: Iowa Status: Offline Points: 14964 |
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I listed four scopes that are all very solid choices and would all work well for you. Three of the scopes require that you dial in correction to shoot long range known distance targets. The Zeiss is the only one with a Balistic Reticle. Using the Zeiss with balistic reticle you use the calculator program on the Zeiss web site to try to determine what power to have the scope on so that the marks most accurately represent the desired distance. I had one in a 4.5-14x44 that I had to set on 10x for a 300 WSM. Since the Zeiss is a second focal plane scope the balistic reticle lines relpresent a different distance at each different power setting so long as one understands this it is a workable system. The center X is always zeroed at either 100 or 200 yds and that is true at any power but the field of fiew changes as you change the power and in similar manner what the lines of the reticle represent change.
The Leupold has the "CDS" custom dial system you tell Leupold what rifle caliber and bullet and your elevation and temp etc and they engrave numbers on the top knob. 1 for 100 yds 2 for 200 yds 3 for 300 yds etc This is idiot proof but is really what is going on with tactical / target knobs like the elevation knob of the Vortex HS LR and the SS scope. The SS is the only one of the scopes that is FFP First Focal Plane which means that one can run a balistic chart http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj_drift-5.1.cgi with the bullet drop in MIL and since the scope is in MIL and the adjustments - clicks are 1/10 MIL per click one can use the mil marks on the reticle for known hold over AT ANY POWER or one can dial in correction using the tactical knobs or have blank knobs custom engraved 1 for 100 2 for 200 yds 3 for 300 yds etc. http://www.kentonindustries.com/pics/ttctypes/ So pick one of these scopes and you should be able to be quite deadly out to at least 500 or 600 yds providing you do your part and use a solid rest and squeeze the trigger gently.
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"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do". Bobby Paul Doherty Texas Ranger |
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mil169
Optics Journeyman Joined: February/28/2012 Location: Nebraska Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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Thanks for the info on the Minox, I've found similiar posts on here regarding quality and the solidness of the turrets.
I think I've boiled down my choices to these:
Sightron SII Big Sky 4.5-14x44 SF Mil Dot - can be had for about$535
Vortex Viper HS 4-16x44 SF dead hold BDC- about $500
Was considering the Minox until recent developments. My question with the Vortex was how durable the rubber ring on the eye focus is, some have posted about that ring coming loose and falling off. Any thoughts.
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mil169
Optics Journeyman Joined: February/28/2012 Location: Nebraska Status: Offline Points: 378 |
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Oh ya, I really like the Ziess Conquest in the 4.5-14x44 SF, but at nearly $800 it is above the limit. I guess if someone knows the best place to buy one, send me a P.M.
Thanks
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koshkin
MODERATOR Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13182 |
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A few comments:
1) Minox scopes: I have seen quite a few Minox scopes and there are some in my safe. I have been quite happy with them and they offer a lot for the money. The only dog in Minox line-up, IMO, is the 3-15x42. 3-15x50, on the other hand is pretty nice and if you are looking for lightweight scopes with a 50mm objective, it should b eon your list. 2) For shooting out to 500yards at targets the size of a big game animal, you really do not need all that much magnification. 3) For trajectory compensation, you can use either the turrets or the reticle. If you plan to get a scope with a SFP reticle, I strongly suggest using the turrets (I think holdover reticles in SFP scopes are an idiotic idea, but I seem to be alone on that). 4) If you want to use holdover with the reticle, look at FFP scopes, with SWFA SS 3-9x42 being the one in your price range. 5) Between your final choices, I would suggest getting one of the LR scopes from Vortex' Viper HS line-up, with 4-16x44 likely being the most versatile option. ILya
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Bitterroot Bulls
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: May/07/2009 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 3416 |
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ILya,
You aren't alone on that. I like the idea of a well made FFP ballistic reticle that is useable at all powers. However, there are a few considerations when using FFP scopes for holdover:
1. Some reticles are so thin on low powers that they are unuseable for holdover in even moderately challenging lighting conditions.
2. Some reticles are so heavy on high powers they obstruct smaller targets.
3. You have only one subtension to use on a FFP reticle.
On a SFP reticle subtended in MOA or MIL you can half the magnification to double the subtensions. On my Swaro BRH reticle I have my drops in 1/2 mil (for max power) and full mil (at half power). That way I have drops for most situations at max, and drops for low light at half power. All with a nice even reticle thickness.
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-Matt
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