I am currently shooting a savage 30-06 with a blazer 8-32x44 scope. I am working up to the 500 yard mark slowly, but I am wondering if that blazer scope is causing me problems. Anyone have thoughts on that?

I was looking at this
Leapers 8-32x56

But I have no experience with it. Please leave any thoughts on it or suggestions on what I should be looking at or trying. Thanks.

One last thought, any experience with Hammers scopes?

Work on sneaking up closer rather than shooting 500 Yd. . I wouldn't use Leapers anything , a friend has a couple he likes them . Then again He's Cheaper than Dirt when it comes to Optics !.

Never understood why someone would spend what ever on a Weapon , only to buy junk for optics ?

Kind of like buying a Ferrari then putting retreads bias belted tires on it !.

No substitute for quality optics IMO !.

Purchase the BEST you can afford .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

Any suggestions there? $230 is more than I've spent on a scope in the past, but then again I haven't been trying to do 500yards in the past.

no no no leapers - POS - for a decent low priced scope try mueller - their 8-25 without a illuminated but with a mill dot is less than 200. i've a couple of them and while they're not the equal to spending 500 they do well.

Nikon Prostaff or Buckmasters would be a much better choice than either of those. www.samplelist.com has some good deals on used or refurbed ones, and the new ones aren't really expensive for what you get.

You will be quite surprised at how good the view is at lower magnification when the quality of the optic is better. In other words, with quality glass you need less magnification than you think.

A bad scope is much worse than a bad rifle for many reasons.

LWD

Where do you buy Mueller? I looked around a bit and none of the stores around here carry them, nor do the online places I normally shop.

Near your price range and a helluva lot better in quality that the junk you're talking about is the Leupold Golden Anniversary 3x9x40 on sale at Midway for $299, which is the normal price for a 3x9, but with this one you get the LR reticle and a free knife, not to mention a forever warranty with real service backing it up. No big deal but the LR reticle will get you out to 500 yards with its 4 aiming points, which are crosshair center, two dots, and the top of the duplex post.

I'm not nearly as crazy about Leupies as some in here, but for that kind of money, it is one of the best deals available. I just bought 3 of them to mount of various rifles I don't use all that much.

If you are basically doing this for target shooting or possibly long range deer, then you might consider a Weaver T-10 or T-15, they are fairly cheap, Natchez SS has them on sale now, I believe (without checking), and they have good repeatable clicks.

Do you think the Buckmaster 6-18x44 is enough magnification? I see it going for under $300.

I know the price jumps quite a bit to this but what about the Nikon Monarch 6-24x50. Looks like I can pick that up for under $500.

If your on a budget the cheapest I would suggest would be a leupold MK 4 maybe a straight fixed 16x good repeatable turrets.

If you have a little more get an IOR once again straight 16x or if you have the $$ a 6-24x50 Glass is amazing.

Then there is NF though the glass is not up to German Quality. and if y9ou shop around a 6-24x56 Zeiss would be amazing as well.

Cheap Optics are just that cheap.

Ok, so lets say $500 is the goal to stay under. I know I can get the 6-24x50 Monarch for that price. I haven't seen a Zeiss that falls into that price range. I'm looking at Leupold now but haven't found what I need yet for that price. Suggestions ?

Looks like I am starting to spend my tax return and I haven't even gotten it yet.

quote:

Do you think the Buckmaster 6-18x44 is enough magnification? I see it going for under $300.

Quite obsessing about high magnification!!!

The 6-18x Buckmaster is more than enough magnification. I have one. It is a good scope. Only complaint is the eyebox is a little touchy about 14X and its, IIRC, 1/8 adjustments rather than 1/4.

But for 500 yards (assuming no further), over 14x is too much anyway. Get a better quality, lower power scope and see the world in a whole nother light.

I'm not a Leupie guy either, but Gatogordo is right on with his recommendations.

LWD

Ok, I can take that recommendation and back off the power. What is a reasonable number for objective lens. I've always chose bigger, but I see a lot of these are 40mm.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Near your price range and a helluva lot better in quality that the junk you're talking about is the Leupold Golden Anniversary 3x9x40 on sale at Midway for $299, which is the normal price for a 3x9, but with this one you get the LR reticle and a free knife, not to mention a forever warranty with real service backing it up. No big deal but the LR reticle will get you out to 500 yards with its 4 aiming points, which are crosshair center, two dots, and the top of the duplex post.

I'm not nearly as crazy about Leupies as some in here, but for that kind of money, it is one of the best deals available. I just bought 3 of them to mount of various rifles I don't use all that much.

GATO! You're actually a closet Leupold admirer !

You're right about the Anniversary model. It's a helluva bargain (and the currently out-of-vogue gloss finish goes well with a lot of high-end rifles' blue jobs.) I've replaced a couple of old Vari-X II's with them and it only cost me pocket change after reselling the old scopes. I haven't really had occasion to utilize the LR reticle, but it does allow you to zero for 200 yards which keeps your rise above line-of-sight to a minimum. This is of some value in that I've missed high (or hit high) on a few mid-range shots down through the years when I was zeroed for 275 yards.

Besides, the Chinese-made knife is actually a surprisingly good knife, and I'm sure that the coin which comes in the set, plus $6 or a valid credit card, will get you a cup of coffee Starbucks.

Production supposedly ceased at the end of 2007, so the stock on hand is all that will be available.

Kirker, I hope I haven't offended you. I certainly didn't mean to do that. But I sincerely think you will be much better off with a higher quality, lower power scope for a variety of reasons.

High magnification seriously restricts field of view, which is very bad if you are hunting.

Many cheaper higher magnification scopes are virtually worthless optically. I.e. the quality of the view just isn't very good; they especially aren't very useable at the higher powers; they aren't as mechanically sound; and the eyebox is small---eye alignment isn't very forgiving.

Higher magnification will cause you tremendous mirage problems in temperature. Have you ever looked through a 20x scope in 100 degree heat? You may or may not be able to discern the target.

Remember, USMC snipers have been using the same 10x fixed power Unertl scopes to shoot at 1000 yards for 40 years. They are now finally replacing them with 3-12x variable Schmidt und Benders.

At the magnifications you should be buying a 40-50mm objective is plenty. Don't worry about that. Trade off is larger exit pupil for higher mounting on the gun. Quality of optic is far more important than a few mm of objective size.

LWD

For a little more cash you could buy a Leupold 4.5-14 Im in the same boat as you and recently purchased a Weatherby Accumark in 30-06 and I figure 500yds will be about my limit. Im still scope shopping but so far Im leaning towards the leupold but in their long range model. $600 is my budget for a scope. Mike

I think it's mueller .com. there's a couple distributors around too but i can't remember who they are.

I used to shoot a 30-06 and have since upgraded to a 300wsm. I have a 5.5-16.5 Nikon Monarch on it. I just purchased a buckmasters 6-18 for my 22-250. If I was going to replace my Monarch for the big game rifle, I would probably get a 4 or 4.5 for the low end and at least 14 for the high. The 5.5 is a little too much for quick close shots and 16.5 is plenty to shoot at game at 800 yet. You will be supprised at the picture quality in the nikon. I had a Tasco spotter 18-30 Power and my 16.5 power Monarch allowed you to see better!

Here is the other thing, If you are shooting at 500-1000, you need repeatable adjustment. The Super Sniper, Buckmasters, and Elite 3200 are probably the cheapest scopes that will do that.

Also, you will need at least 32 MOA of adjustment which means that you will have to either use Burris sigh ring inserts or have 20 MOA rail put on your rifle. The 3200 only has about 40 MOA (20 each way), The Buckmaster has 50 (25 each way) and I'm not sure about the SS. Whenever you get into the high magnification, you will loose adjustment. In order to get enough adjustment w/ high magnification and w/o using additional rails you need to get into the $700 dollar and up range (sightron, Leupald, Nightforce...)

I am defiantly not offended by anyone here. I am here to learn all I can. I started coming here to learn about more about reloading and I have learned a lot from all of you. Now I am starting to realize the other factors that influence my shooting.

I've looked at a lot of scopes today but I know I have more research and looking to do which you are all really helping me with.

I never thought about the amount of adjustment that will be needed to shoot 500 yards. I want to plan ahead so i don't run into these kind of problems in the future. I would really like this scope to serve me for a long time to come.

Hey kirk

I would recommend this Zeiss Conquest 3x9x40 with the RapidZ 600 reticle. It has a wide field of view and is very top-notch for an excellent price. E-mail Jon at The Optic Zone for the best price and service, he probably will be able to get under your budget number.

The RapdidZ 600 is made for the slower caliber like the 30-06. On that Zeiss webpage if you use the calculator it says for a 180 gr Accubond at 2800 fps (good hunting bullet and just under max velocity) you just set the power range on 7.55 and the bars will be set for the following when zeroed at 200 yards:

bar 1 - 298 yards
bar 2 - 394 yards
bar 3 - 499 yards
bar 4 - 600 yards

Takes a lot of the guess work out of it. For a few extra bucks you could get the 4.5x14x44 with the RapidZ 800 if you need more magnification.

I'm with some of the others, in a hunting situation the larger field of view will be more beneficial than a large zoom. Have you ever tried to pick out a target on a monochromatic background while on 8x or tried to scope in on a running deer at 40 yards with it on 8x?

JMHO

Hello,
Below are the come ups, elevation, required to reach targets out to 600 yards for the 308/06 cartridges. First off, obtain a 100 yard zero.
For 600 yards you would need to come up some 15 minutes of angle, but since you are wanting to shoot at 500 yards, back off some three minutes of angle and should put you on target. At 12 moa and your scope w/ say, 1/4 moa adjustments, you would need to come up 48 clicks. Most scopes, even lesser cost ones will work out to the 600 yard line, but not much more. Rule of thumb, 3 moa per 100 yards out to the 700 mark. Not exact, but will "make him jump..."
If you can find one, the Weaver T6 w/ very positive click adjustments is an excellent set of optics to do some very fine shooting at extreme ranges. As a suggestion only, would not depend on the various range finding scopes for they are somewhat confusing and better off to learn the come ups, and for actual range find, go with the tried and true mil dot system.
It is not caliber specific and once practiced can be extremely accurate on ranging. Check out www.shooterready.com and might find that intersting. Good luck.

If you are serious about long range hunting than you should take a good hard look at www.longrangehunting.com

The forum is excellent with several top notch guys - some are police snipers, military snipers, custom target rifle builders, and custom cartidge designers like Kirby Alan. These guys really know what they are talking about. I have learned a lot from the site in the past year.

ONe thing that almost all will agree on is that none of the rapid reticles or BDC's are accurate enough to take big game at long range. YOU NEED TO DIAL IT IN Period. You need a good range finder and you need a good balistics calculater. I use http://www.eskimo.com/~jbm/calculations/traj/traj.html and it works. I am not claiming to be an expert in the sport, but I am learning.

Punch in your load that you are shooting over the chrony into JBM calc and set the ranges to register every 25 yards (borrow a friends chrony if you don't have one). You will see how quickly the bullet drops after 500 yards. There just isn't much room for guessing at these ranges.

I really dont see any reason to use more than a 3 X 9 X 40.I have shot a lot of Deer and Antelope out to 450 yds with a Luepold VX2 2X7.The higher power the scope the more mirage and distortion you have to deal with.That was with a underpowered 308 Win.in a featherweight!!!!

Have you considered going to a good gun show and picking up a used Leupold? They still come with the lifetime warranty......... You might find one there for a great price and have great optics.

If you can't see then you sure can't shoot at 500! Stay with good glass!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

Originally posted by Gatogordo:
Near your price range and a helluva lot better in quality that the junk you're talking about is the Leupold Golden Anniversary 3x9x40 on sale at Midway for $299, which is the normal price for a 3x9, but with this one you get the LR reticle and a free knife, not to mention a forever warranty with real service backing it up. No big deal but the LR reticle will get you out to 500 yards with its 4 aiming points, which are crosshair center, two dots, and the top of the duplex post.

I'm not nearly as crazy about Leupies as some in here, but for that kind of money, it is one of the best deals available. I just bought 3 of them to mount of various rifles I don't use all that much.

GATO! You're actually a closet Leupold admirer !

You're right about the Anniversary model. It's a helluva bargain (and the currently out-of-vogue gloss finish goes well with a lot of high-end rifles' blue jobs.) I've replaced a couple of old Vari-X II's with them and it only cost me pocket change after reselling the old scopes. I haven't really had occasion to utilize the LR reticle, but it does allow you to zero for 200 yards which keeps your rise above line-of-sight to a minimum. This is of some value in that I've missed high (or hit high) on a few mid-range shots down through the years when I was zeroed for 275 yards.

Besides, the Chinese-made knife is actually a surprisingly good knife, and I'm sure that the coin which comes in the set, plus $6 or a valid credit card, will get you a cup of coffee Starbucks.

Production supposedly ceased at the end of 2007, so the stock on hand is all that will be available.

Stoney:

Nothing wrong with Leupies for back up guns. No one argues that they are good glass, just not nearly the best. I've got a dozen or so Conquests on the front line stuff, not to mention a few more expensive Euro scopes. Hell, I'm so busy I can't even find time to mount them, much less whisper sweet nothings in their ears.....

Zeiss Nikon Leupold in that order .

If we're speaking of $700.00 and under for quality optics with magnification !.

I like Woods approach !.Sounds feasible !.

I liked the NEW Nikons some much I bought 2 in 5X20X44SF Monarch . Crisp available light extremely clean and clear without a bunch of dots and bars with a nice cross hair great FOV.

Hell they should be paying me for an endorsement like that .
The only scopes I own better are my Zeiss , IOR and they were twice the price , so they should be better . My Leupold's VX111 's are very nice also but the edge goes to the NEW Nikon's !. IMO

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

Check out the Bushnell 6500 or 4200s. The 4200s have very limited adjustment in the higher powers, but they are spot on when they are adjusted, and have great glass. Sometimes you can get a good deal on other stuff too, look for used. I recently got a Burris Sig. Select 8-32x for just $100, it was barely used. More power than I need, but couldn't pass it up. If you plan on hunting out to 500, better get a rangefinder too.

Kirker-

Gotten a screenful from us? We're not short on opinions here at AR. Take what you want and leave the rest. Hopefully, we've given you a lot to think about.

I had a chance this afternoon to handle a couple of the new Nikon Monarchs, and these are very fine scopes. The images were excellent, the eye relief pretty consistent, the eyebox not touchy, and the price was right. Local guy is selling the 4-16x with BDC reticle for $399. That's a lot of scope for the money. $300 less than a similar Conquest.

LWD

I have definitely gotten a lot. I am still sorting through all the options and doing my research on each of them. I'm ready to buy something but I want to make the right choice so I'm holding off on my purchase for a couple more days until I have looked everything over.

I would also consider a Leupold Vari-X III in 3.5x10x40, you can get them with shipping for under $500. I have one on a model 70 270 win and love it and their guarantee is hard to beat.

According to this guys post, he is on a budget. I was pushing it with a $299 scope recommendation, now inflation has set in and he's up to the $500 to $700 level.

Get the Simmons WTC mil-dot from Midway. I totally forgot about the one I have, but it has been spot on, even after slamming it down directly on a large rock when I fell while hunting. The scope handled it but my MCL didn't. The adjustments are still dead on even though the AO had to be beat back straight and the scope has a large gouge taken out of it.

A straight 20 power super sniper from SWFA.com should do what you want and the price is under $300.

You can't spend nothing on scopes and get quality.

I think good scopes start at $200 in 3-9. A high power varmint scope like that should be well over $500.

OK, so I'm hoping for a nice tax return next week and I'm really thinking about the Zeiss, and then I won't have to ever worry about upgrading it.

In the mean time I'm going to finish up the trigger and stock.

When spring gets a little closer and I've got a few more rounds down range I am planning on chucking up the action in the lathe and blueprinting and sleeving it.

Whatever you purchase, even a zeiss, don't forget to check out how much adjustemnt it has. My Brother inlaw just purchased a Zeiss that only had 40 MOA adjustment.

quote:

Originally posted by Kirker912:
OK, so I'm hoping for a nice tax return next week and I'm really thinking about the Zeiss, and then I won't have to ever worry about upgrading it.

In the mean time I'm going to finish up the trigger and stock.

When spring gets a little closer and I've got a few more rounds down range I am planning on chucking up the action in the lathe and blueprinting and sleeving it.

I hate to be repetitive but I suggest you read my first post again before you spend your funds. The reason is, you can probably find a T-10 or T-15 on ebay or on sale somewhere pretty cheap(and this is a very good choice for 500 meter and less TARGET shooting) and if you buy the 3-9x40 Leupold from Midway and decide later to upgrade or change scopes you'll be able to get all your money back minus about $75 bucks. Any other choices (and there are better optical choices, no doubt) will cost you a lot more to change out. Just something to consider.....