Hello all,
I am looking for a low end scope for my ruger 10-22 and was wondering if there was any particular ones out there that stand out or that I should avoid. I'd like to keep the price pretty close to the bottom of the range if possible. Thank you
-Josh

I would not skimp to much on a scope for a 22lr as with the price of ammo you will be shooting it a lot more then the center fire's. I just put a Barska SWAT 3.5-10X40mmSF 30mm tube, mil dot scope on my brother's Kimber 22lr. If you sight a 22lr at 100yds it drops approxemently 29-34" at 200yds, or 14.5-17 min of angle. The mil dot's at 10x = 3.6" dot to dot at 100yds.At 200yds they are 7.2", so with a 100 yd zero you hold 4 mil dots over(= 28.8")and with out touching your elevation knob you are close enough to hit say a 9oz water bottle. You can also use the mil dots above the cross hair's to hit at 50yds. Also the the side focus allows you to focus closer then 100yds which is where non focusing scopes are focused for,in other words the picture at 25-50yds at 10x will not be blurry. The Barska will focus down to under 30 feet. Cabela's sells it for $169.00

Thank you for your reply. That price is a little high for me but i will consider it.
-Josh

How much magnification do you want?

I have a Nikon ProStaff 2-7x32 on a Ruger 10/22 and like it pretty well. It isn't a target scope, but for general plinking it does the job if I do mine. Ruger 10/22s are hard on scopes and will shake a cheap scope apart in pretty short order.

Jeff

Wow, I thought a .22LR would be somthing any scope could handle. I know the semi-auto action would create more stress but it's still just a .22....
-Josh

The bolt slamming forward as well as backward makes the Ruger 10/22 a well known shredder of cheap scopes. Pump style air rifles, like a Sheridan, are also cheap scope killers. I recently saw a new FM scope fail on a 10/22 after less than 4 boxes of ammo. The reticle came loose and was sort of "floating" around and the intersection of the cross-hairs had no relation to the places where the bullets were hitting the target.

I have a Pentax 4-12x40 on a Ruger 10/22 that I rebarreled to 17 HM2 and it seems to be holding up after around 1K rounds, despite the extra hard bolt cycling caused by the higher pressures of the 17 HM2.

Jeff

As far as, in opctics, you get what you payed for, take a look at Mueller scopes, as a less expensive alternative. Lots of good reports on them !

Cheers,

Reiter.

After breaking a cheap scope on my 10/22 I bought a bolt dampener [buffer] all it is is a rubber coated pin at the back of the receiver. The rifle no longer makes the clackety-clack noise .A quick search found one for came up with www.gunkings.com for $5.95

As for scopes I have been using Bushnell Trophy 4 X 12 and 6 X 18 on my .22s. Natchez shooters supply .com had them on sale recently.

Thanks everyone for the information. Right now it's looking like a scope from Tasco or Simmons would fit the bill.
-Josh

FWIW, Natchez Shooter Supply recently had the discontinued Simmons Whitetail Classics in 3.5-10x40 and 3.5-10x50 on sale for around $60. I've mounted a few of them on light recoiling rifles, 260 and smaller, with good results. It would to a good, but not great, buy for twice the price. I bought 1 and intend to install it on a 25-06 Marlin XR-7, figuring that 10x plenty of magnification within 400+/- yards.

Jeff

I have synthetic TKO brand buffer pins in all of my 10/22s and 10/22 to 17 HM2 conversions. They do eliminated some of the noise of the action cycling, but they don't do anything to eliminate or minimize the sudden stop when the bolt slams forward.

Jeff

If you want to go cheap.......try an air rifle scope. They're inexpensive and tough!
Gamo makes a nice 4X that's a little shorter then most and looks good on a 22RF.
That's my two cents............

Buy the best quality scope you can. Quality is far more important than reticle or magnification

My sons & I compete in small bore sihouette. In this game we make broad swings in elevation changes; 40m to 100m with std velocity loads. We do this 4 times in each match. In practice & warm-up we do this many times each week. I'd guess the scopes go through this cycle; 40m-100m-40m...., 60-80+ time each month. Lots of clicking up & down.

In this sport many start with the lower priced scopes but almost none stick with Simmons, Barska, Tasco, etc. This means just about any sub $250 scope. The 'deal' is none of the cheaper scopes stay 'repeatable' for long. Sure you can send 'em back for repair/replacement. However do you want to shoot or wait for UPS?

Almost all competitors use Leupolds, Nikon Monarch, Weaver T series, Bushnell 4200 series.

We have four rimfires set for this sport and our scopes are 2 - Weaver T-24, 1 - Leupold 36x BR, 1 - Bushnell 6-18x Trophy. My rifle I have set up for High Power Sihouette is a Nikon Monarch 6.5-20X. All but the Bushnell Trophy stay zeroed well and are totally repeatable. the Tropphy is on my youngest son' gun. It is scheduled to be replaced as the budget allows.

Our 2 hunting 22lr's; win 320 & Rem 541T both have leupolds. The Win has the leupold 4x RFSP which is crsip clear and rugged little scope. My 541T has the Leuopld Compact 3-9xAO, it loves Eley Subsonic HP's and would be the last gun i would sell.

For me once I buy good optics I keep 'em. Several of the scopes above have been on guns that didn't make the cut but the scope remains.

Buy the best you can afford and keep the scope even when the gun goes.

Pete A.

Thank you for the information.
-Josh

I'll have to second the comments about .22 automatics (any of them) and wear and tear on scopes. Bought my first 10/.22 in 1968 and have had a number of them (children and grandchildren do reduce the gun inventory around here) since then. Currently am using Leupold 3-9x compacts with AO. Each has lasted through cases, not cartons, of ammunition. Can't say much more than that.

I have a Leupold 3-9 on my Kimber; 3-9 Bushnell on daughter's Remington; 3-9 Simmons on my Ruger; 4-12 Simmons on my Ruger Hornet; Burris 6x on my .22 Mag. They all work very well, with the Leupold being a bit clearer. My favorite....the Simmons 4-12

I have used several BSA scopes (everyone says they are dreck, but the they have worked fine for me) with the mil dot systems. You can catch them on sale for under $100, and you can get Tasco, Simmons and BSA "hunting" scopes in the 50-70USD range. If you are shooting at 50 and 100yds, you need something that will give you no less than 16 power. I have run over a 1,000 rounds through most of my rifles and the scopes are holding up, although I do have buffers in all of them. Kudude

If you are interested I have a simmons 8pt I'd sell ya for $10 plus shipping. Shipping probably would'nt be much. Just a thought.

I ended up buying a $16 BSA 3-7x20 from wally-world. It's not glamorous and the instructions have misspellings but it works fine for what I'm doing. It's hard to focus and not too clear around the edges but for someone who is just starting an has to drive 4 hours to go shooting it's a good enough start. Thank you all for your help.