A friend of mine, who is a casual shooter at best surprised me the other day. He said that he just bought a long range rifle and wanted to know what kind of scope he should get to shoot targets at 1,000 meters.

I was expecting to hear him say he picked up a .300 Win Mag, or a .338 Lapua or something along those lines. I almost choked when he started telling me about this fantastic Remington 700 .30-06 that he picked up for $350!

He got pissed at me when I told him that he probably bought the wrong rifle, and got even madder when I said that he had a LOT to learn about shooting before he thought about clanging steel at over 1/2 mile.

So all he wants to know is what kind of scope he should get. I'm sure he's thinking of some magical "ballistic compensating scope" or perhaps something with a drop compensating reticle. And I don't know of a thing!

Thoughts?

If he paid $350 for the rifle, is he prepared for >$1K scope? Ha ha he might want to look at the BSA line.

What is his budget?

Good long range scopes are >$2,000.00- $4,000.00.

quote:

Originally posted by swampshooter:
Good long range scopes are >$2,000.00- $4,000.00.

Absolutely. Or more. If he's really interested in shooting 1000 meter and his .30-06 is as good as he thinks it is, he shouldn't handicap himself and his rifle by buying a less-than-superb scope.

It should be an easy case to make: the best optics and absolutely precise and reproducible adjustments.

Tell him to look for a bushnell elite target 10X40. Not exactly recommended for 1000 yds, but that is about as inexpensive as they get with reliable, repeatable turret adjustments and it will be capable of anything his rifle is capable of.

Shot NRA Long Range(600-1000yds,) matches, prone, sling, both "irons" and scope for number of years. A quality 10X optic will do quite nicely for such ranges and highly suggest a fixed power one at that. Use a Leupold MK4 10X and have done so for long time, good scope. U.S.Optics offers a straight 10X that is top of the line for optics and durability as well, but unless your friend is going to go to war, over engineered. Lot of scope for some $1200.00
The rifle you describe will not hold up for competition, but it and the caliber will certainly shoot at the range you mention. 1000yds is an easy distance for the '06 with the right loads. The lowly Rem. 700 action is the basis for many a fine long range rifle, competitors and military use them everyday.
Best budget level scope I would suggest is the Weaver T series but don't think they any longer offer a 10X, instead the 16x. Comes with appropriate elevation/wind drums, extended objective tube, etc. and they are pretty tough as well. Just a suggestion.

The NRA Long Range matches that Instructor is referring to have a two MOA 10 ring, and another two MOA for the 9 ring. That's 20" and 40" at 1,000 or as frequently shot 16" and 32" at 800 yds. 600 yds. is mid-range, not long range. Although most sling shooters erroneously refer to 600 yds. as long range because it is the longest range shot in a normal sling High Power Match.
Today most new LR Shooters are interested in tactical matches. A 2-4 moa rifle-scope combo won't cut it. One moa groups at 100 yds. does not equate to a 10" group at 1,000 yds. Although a good 10X or 12X would be a sufficient "entry level" scope and quite sufficient for the "entry level" rifle that is being discussed.
I put together a Savage 30/06AI just to play with and to test the performance of the 30/06AI. Heavy barrel and tactical stock. I have Nightforce scopes on my good match rifles but just mounted a Sightmark 8-25X on this rifle as I can't afford a Nightforce on every rifle that I shoot. I'm very happy with it considering the price of around $350.00 when I bought it. Target knobs, side focus, 34mm tube, lots of vertical adjustment. So far it has been repeatable. An F-Class shooter that I recently read about won a state F-Class championship with this scope. IIRC, Wisconsin.

Should have mentioned when I was competing those shooting High Power matches, 2,3 & 600yds. they could not include the 600yd. score for classification purposes in Long Range for then that was the beginning range for NRA Long Range and to attain ratings you needed a series of 240 rounds of NRA Registered Match scores at 600 or beyond. Either straight 600yds. counted or 1000yd and of course Palma Matches 8,9,& 1000yds. If you are to be competitive in Long Range highly advise you have something near 50% of your score being X's. I made High Master(97.5% or higher over 240 match rounds) in Long Range and did so the old fashion way, iron sights/sling/mat. Now the brutal truth is that it took me nearly 40yrs. of shooting and wore out couple pick up trucks doing it and when permitted tried using optics and scores suffered?? The 600yd. matches were considered more or less practice runs for the real deal and if you could not come close to clean or actually clean the match(score of 600) you needed to practice more. Never "cleaned" the 600 but scored 597 and above numerous times and in those days pumped up my percentage of registered scores.

Based on his budget, experience and cartridge choice you might steer him toward the Leatherwood ART Hi-Lux M-1000. It's only $330, 2.5 x 10 and reasonably fool proof once it's set up. The glass is very good for that class of scope. At least he will think it so. The more expensive M-1200 6.5 x 24 also may work for him but it's another $350-$400 more than the M-1000.

Well I developed a severe neck issue before I made High Master and had to quit shooting competition. But I did make Master and did shoot clean at 600 yds. several times (45 consecutive 10's) That's 45 shots in a 6" centered on the target group at 600 yds. I shot numerous High Master scores but couldn't put together the necessary 120 consecutive rds. necessary for High Master. At our range that required 2 or 3 matches. I live and shoot on the coast, our normal winds are gusty and 20 mph or so. 25-30 not unusual at all.

PS. I'm not positive but I believe that the Sightmark 8-25X w/ 34mm tube would have enough adjustment range to get to 1,000 yds. for a 30/06 without a 10 or 20 MOA mount base.

Shof,

Your friend is in for some humbling times ahead. That being said, this might be a start, (not mine or in any way attached.
http://forums.accuratereloadin...2711043/m/5791047422

Once he finds out how hard it is to CONSISTANTLY hit 2MOA at 600+ yards he won't loose so much of his $ when he sells it.

A personal observation "When a Master or High Master speaks, you shut up and LISTEN"!
Make a copy of this thread for your friend and give it to him, you don't have to say a thing.
Doug

I am not a Master or High Master, but I am not sure we should be so hard on Shof's friend. He just wants to try it out and see what it is like. If he likes it and wants to spend the money, then he can get serious and spend the time and effort necessary to educate himself and get the right equipment. To me, the important issue is: Does he have a place to shoot with the necessary support structure to see where his bullets are going/hitting, and the coaching to make sight adjustments? A $350 rifle with a $3-400 scope might be a good way to find all this out. Is he interested in shooting paper targets or steel at various ranges. In the first case he would presumably dial in the correct scope adjustment, in the latter, he might want a scope with a more complex reticule.
Just some random thoughts. Take them for what they are worth. Once he experiences mirage for the first time he might rethink the whole enterprise!
To answer the question, I have used the Weaver T series in 36X on my benchrest rifles, and have had good luck with Vortex scopes out to 850 yards on my Rem 308 HB.
Peter

Optics Planet has some Leatherwood scopes on sale at good prices. May not hold up as long as a higher price scope but should last longer enough to get into it or decide not to.

I guess my Savage and scope for a grand won't cut it. It's only a Model 112 in .308 with an old Tasco World-class scope. Shoots the same scores at 1K that I shoot at 600 with an NMAR, 170's low X count.

My first bolt math was at 500 yards with a Savage Walmart combo 110 in .30-06, took my first 10 rounds to realize I was twisting the stock into the barrel. I shoot an a Ross the course match two years ago at Butner next to two guys from Colorado who ordered a case of green tip and bad it sent to their friends house in North Carolina and shot one of his rifles for the match. They did well at 200 and 300, not so much at 600 but they enjoyed their match. Point is has fun and give it a go.

I really like the fixed power SWFA scopes for cheap but reliable setups.

The answer is: It depends. It depends on if he is shooting at "only" 1,000 yards. If so, there is no need for BDC cams, since he can sight the rifle for 1,000 yards and be done with it. Extreme adjustment is also not necessary because he can get mounts that add a few minutes to the scope angle. With that in mind, and if he is not limited by competitive rules, I'd consider a 24 or 36x Leupold to be highly desirable.