Ar15 Scope advice

K

Kwikvette

New member
Hey guys, new to the forum as a poster but not a reader;

this topic has been beaten to death but I'm hoping to get some advice on current scopes in today's market.

About me; former OIF marine so I have plenty of experience with using iron sights and an Acog. Currently I own a few AR's and have found myself wanting to use my Noveske as a precision AR so that means I need a scope.

I broke my barrel in (1 shot, clean, another shot, clean) on my Noveske and was averaging 2.5 +/- MOA@100yards with my TA11E. This will translate to bigger groups once I take it out to 200 yards. Really I was getting smaller groups but I don't consider 5 shots as a group for measuring accuracy/precision so I go by 10-shot groups :p

I want advice on a scope for a benchrest rifle to help achieve sub-MOA. I know there are more variables that come to play but a precision scope will help.

Everyone likes pics of course :D

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I forgot to add, the scope will be used at 100 yards and from time to time at 200 and 300 when time permits.

Wanting to keep it under $500 which I'm sure will be difficult but maybe a deal might pop up.
 
call me silly, I have extensive experience with the Nikon m-223 4-16x42 and it is a crisp reticle wit bright glass and does a fantastic job, Running in the 400's on sale here and there. I have recently switched around from a Nikon 4-12x M-series and was happy with the scope, then I switched to the Bushnell Elite 10x to see if a fixed power had any advantages over the variables, then switched to the 14x Bushnell AR optic and have now settled on the Bushnell AR Optic 4.5-18x. I understand from your post that these options may be too cheap for your tastes, but I just need to add that I have NEVER shot a subMOA group from my 16" carbine until two weeks ago when I mounted the Bushnell 18X with a Nikon M-series one-piece mount. I was always hitting a wall right above 1.1MOA and just thought that was the limits of my Nato AR 16" barrel. First sub group of my life with my first shots with the Bushy 18x(1.1 all the way down to .78 in one session) an was able to bang out the 600's with every shot and back to one hundred with e proper cllicks. It's not as crystal clear as the leopolds, but it was the highest mag I could afford that had great reviews and felt like a quality piece. the turrets are great and although a bit heavy, the eye relief is perfect just in front of the charging handle. the Nikon is clearer with slight better relief at the 600+ mark, but even then I couldn't miss with the Bushy. as long as you mount is solid and your scope is able to hold up, sub groups with 18x will have no probs with the affordable Bushnell (Nikon clone)

the only scope I would probably recommend for value over the Bushnell AR optic 18x is the Mueller 25x "Eradicator", although I have not owned this particular scope, but have a few buddies that do for highpower and they are sweet with a slight difficult eye relief though, and the you just won't believe that finest of the reticle for ranged shots, they seem unbelievably low priced, but they don't have bad reviews that I have heard.http://muelleroptics.com/mu852550igr I am just saying that between the Vortex', Leopold's, Nikon's and Bushnell's, I have not seen any difference in my accuracy except that a higher magnification allows me to shoot smaller groups so long as it's adequately clear and the turrets are tough, audible and repeatable. I wont be giving up on the Bushy 4.5-18x AR optic for a long time, especially seeing how dramatically my groups have tightened up with a clear and fine reticle with a higher magnification....aim small and shoot small is what I have learned the hard way over the last three years of getting serious about my groups, and at 1-300 yards you wont tell the difference at all. The Bushnell AR optics are a perfect fit with the uber solid m-series Nikon mounts and I can't wait to get it out there again
http://www.opticsplanet.com/bushnell-ar-optics-4-5-18x40-riflescope-w-bdc-reticle-matte-black.html

so that's my recommendation's....the Bushnell AR 4.5-18x for a hair over 200
the Vortex Cross-fire II 6-18 AO for 229-ish??
the Mueller eradicator 8-32x44 target 250-ish(need to do your homework first)
and compliment them all with a solid M-series Nikon Mount unless your just dying to spend more for a mount that does most things worse(except fit custom billet uppers of course)please don't buy a PEPR mount.....


first sub MOA group of my life after striving for it from this particular AR for 4 years on the first three tries, all under .80 when previous best never beat 1.1
good luck
 
I like my Nikon P223 in 4-12. Great image/sight picture for the price. It did the box test perfectly. I have not used the hold over dialing or the BDC.
 
Skizzums, I appreciate the thorough response and will give the bushnell a look at.

I'm not overly concerned on zoom/lit reticles/etc. I want something that will hold zero well, has crisp and clear glass and isn't fragile; acog has spoiled me as you can tell. My only complaint is that the acog isn't meant for precision shooting. It's for quick target acquisition of man-sized targets up to as far as 600 yards.

I will be running Winchester match 69 grain as it seems to be my rifles favorite ammo. Tried Hornady, SSA, black hills and then some.
 
Anyone here have experience with Trijicon's Accupower/accupoint?

I'd consider the accupower simply due to its lower cost (battery versus tritium) and use it without batteries because let's be real....I don't need to light up my reticle during the day shooting at the range.
 
If variable and illumination and such do not matter. get a SWFA Super Sniper 10x. They are around $300 and they beat most of the more expensive optics.

Don't get frustrated when your Noveske barrel does not go sub-MOA. Some do, but most don't. Not what they are best at.
 
What I meant to say in regards to zoom is, I'm not looking for anything extreme.

Edit: I went ahead and ordered the SWFA 10x to give it a try. Took the free gift card option and credit card through Amazon for the hell of it. If this scope doesn't suit the Noveske well, it'll go on the Savage 10. :cool:

Would still like to hear some more recommendations for my specific needs; fiancé will need a scope for her AR as well.
 
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Hard to beat the tried and true Burris MTAC 1-4. Very good glass, less parallax than most of the others under $500.
 
What ammo are you using? I'd bet that's going to be a bigger factor than the glass in this case. You've got a well built optic (maybe lacking in magnification) and a darn good rifle, but you gotta put some good ammo through it to really ring out the accuracy. Which maybe you did, I didn't see it mentioned what ammo you used, but if you were just using ball ammo I'd say you're doing pretty good.

That said I've used several SWFA 10x scopes and loved all of them. They're only gone because I upgraded to Mark 4 scopes.
 
I put an SWFA/SS fixed 6 power on my AR , with that scope I found out my rifle is a 1/2 MOA rifle at 100 yards.

I have a 10 power SWFA/SS on a bull barrel 243, this rifle is a tack driver.

SWFA/SS scopes are not expensive, from my experience I sure highly recommend them.
 
Good to hear about others also using a fixed scope by swfa.

The ammo I'm using is Winchester match 69grain open tip; my barrel sports a 1:7 twist and it seems to like winchester the most out of all the ammo I've tried. Going to hit the range today with several more boxes as well as aguila ammunition on iron sights for the MP15T.

Scope arrives next week, can't wait :)
 
SS scopes are highly rated. My buddy has the 16x on his bolt gun...I can put 3 factory rounds under .5" more than I should be able to at 100 yds.
 
Thanks for the extra reassurance lol I'll definitely report back once I I get the new scope mounted up and zeroed.

After today's range date, my fiancé decided she wants my harris bipod. That meant another trip to the store so I picked up;

Harris bipod and picatinny mount (for her) and a Geissele 2-stage trigger (3.5lb total pull weight, for me).

Hoping I like this trigger better than the JP I have in my DD.

As for todays session, consistent 1.6-2MOA with 5 shot groups of winchester and aguila ammunition so now I'm rethinking ammunition. AA is ball ammo and the results are similar to that of the open tip match.
 
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You used the word benchrest. That means you HAVE to make your own ammo!;)

I would do that next.

Also, I would go check out a barrel from compass lake and smooth free float fore end.
 
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You're right about that.

Fortunately my colleague is a gun-smith and reloads as well so I'll look to him for advice.

Tracking says my scope and mount have been delivered; another 7 hours until I can get out of work :D
 
Vortex StrikeEagle lighted an etched reticle 1-6 scope.You will be happy.Runs well up close on 1× when you want red dot-ish speed.And you can crank it and get some magnification when you wanna reach out.Find one in stock and buy it.
 
I had a scope on my AR very similar to the Vortex Strike Eagle.

It was a 1x4 power, had a dot with a circle that was lighted, even though the dot seemed small I could not shoot better then 1 MOA and most of the time 1-1/2 MOA with that scope on my AR at 100 yards.

With the SWFA/SS and the same AR I could shoot 1/2 MOA groups at 100 yards

Another thing I did not care for was the 1/2 MOA adjustments of that scope, the same adjustments the Strike eagle has.

The adjustments on my SWFA/SS are 1/10 of a mill, you can really dial and fine tune those adjustments in, plus the fine mil-dot crosshair really lets me place my shots well.

I like my SWFA/SS scopes so much I'm thinking about scoping two of my other rifles with them.
 
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