300/600 Scopes

B

badbulldog

Inactive
I would like to purchase a scope to shoot 300/600. I have a DPMS RFLR-308 and would like to but a Leupold scope to go on it. I was thinking 3.5-10x40 or 6.5-20x40. I know that my eyes are way to old to just use the irons so I need some help. I would like to stay in the $500-$600 range and I'm not stuck on Leupold they just make a good product and I don't want to "test out" a $600 product. Thanks in advance for the answers.
 
Hmm, don't see how much help TV schedules are, so a couple questions first:

What will you be shooting AT?
What position will you be shooting FROM?

Zak Smith says a 10X is ample for ringing plates at such ranges, but a bullseye shooter usually wants more magnification.

A bench, bipod, or prone with sling shooter can handle and usually wants more magnification than for offhand or "field" positions.

My F-class bipod rifles for 600 - 1000 yards have 8.5-25s and are seldom dialed below 20X.
 
I have to agree with Zak Smith. I've been shooting 1000 yard matches for over 30 years and never saw the need for anything over 10X. (if you ever saw him shoot, you'd realize he knows what he's talking about).

With too much power your target gets washed out with mirage, and you loose your field of view.

300 to 600 you dont need much power at all, I do most of my shooting at those ranges with iron sights.

If your eyes are too old (like mine) to shoot irons, go to the drug store and buy a pair of reading glasses that allow to focus on your front sight.

You dont want to shoot without glasses anyway (whether scope or not).

I'm 61, my eyes suck. When I get glasses to focus on the front sight, I can't see to use the score (data) book, or chech the readings on my sights. So I get two pair of reading glasses, on my shooting eye I use the lense that focuses on the front sight, and for the none shootng eye, I put in the lense that allows me to focus on my score book and rear sight. You dont notices the differance when your shooting, even leaving both eyes open.

Nothing wrong with using scopes if thats the way you want to shoot, but dont let old eyes be an excuse for giving up iron sights.
 
Optical quality/clarity does make quite a big difference. With great glass, I prefer using no more than 12 or 14x, shooting plates (usually not smaller than 1 MOA) against natural backgrounds out to 1200 yards. With poor quality glass, this may be somewhat more difficult.

If you have great target/background contrast and a big enough aiming point, you may be able to get by without magnification. The NRA High-Power, Match Rifle, and Palma guys do!

Regarding the Leupolds, the 3.5-10x40mm Mark 4 is a well-proven scope. The 4.5-14x50mm is also a good choice.

I own a very nice S&B 5-25x56 mm, but I have relegated it to the least-shot ultra-long-range rifle I own, and even so, I rarely shoot it over about 16x.
 
Thank you very much for thr suggestions. Any reticle preferences, I like the mil-dot or the varmint style. I have been told that the varmint style may not work well with a .308. I find this a little hard to believe. Any thoughts.
 
Weaver makes a 36x with 1/8MOA turrets for ~400$.

Burris has several models in 6.5-24x and 8.5-32x. But their top of the line Black Diamond will run $800.
 
Adjustible parallax/ power scope

I do agree that you don't need to have a very high power scope. However you may want to consider a parallax adjustible scope. Most non adjustible scopes are set "parallax free" at 100 yards. If you plan on taking shots that are fairly long over 500 or 600 yards the adjustible parallax would come in handy. If you use this scope to hunt with you may want to make sure you get an adjustible power scope. When you are in the woods you can keep the scope set as low as possible. It will give you a larger FOV and you will pick up close targets (and moving targets) easier. If the animal is far away you should have times to make the necessisary adjustments (turn the power up and make the parallax adjustment.
I hope this helps.
Good luck!
 
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