Im having trouble picking a scope

J

Jboogie6669

Inactive
Ok so here's the situation. I have a mosin nagant I got for $80. My plan is to turn it into a fun long range rifle for the desert. I won't ever use this gun for hunting, just target shooting and I need a scope for it. I have read a bunch of forums and I'm finding that the sweet spot for up to 1000 yards is 10x- 15x and you don't really seem to need to go huger than 18x. Also brand seems to be a pretty big topic of discussion. Well I have narrowed my selection to 3 scopes, a nikon buck masters 4-12x, a bushnell banner 4-16x, and a simmons prosport 6-18x. The Nikon seems to be the better of the brands but it doesn't quite hit the sweet spot with zoom. The other two have the zoom I'm looking for but not quite the brand. Any suggestions as to what I should do here?
 
For shooting at distance no mater what scope you purchase must have either an adjustable objective or a side parallax adjustment which all of those 3 scopes have.
I notice you are looking at a Nikon Buckmasters in 4-12 while you're looking at a Simmons ProSport in 6x18. The ProSport is also available in 4-12 like the Nikon and the Buckmasters is also available in 6-18 like the ProSport.

My opinion is that none of the scopes mentioned above are good for long distance shooting. It is not that the quality of the glass is not good enough or the magnification is too weak. It is that none of the above scopes have tactical turrets.
When you are shooting long distances you will need to either use a holdover for your bullet drop or you will need to adjust your elevation.
For example my .308 has 14.5 moa drop at 600y and 29.1 moa drop at 900y.
that would mean 30 clicks for 600y or 116 clicks for 900y.
You would never be able to reliably dial in that amount of elevation with the type of scope that requires a coin for adjustment and you would never find your zero again.
Go look at some youtube videos which show how tactical turrets work and You will understand that for varying distances the fun is in being able to dial in your dope and hitting your target on the first shot.

I have a Bushnell Banner 4-12x40 which I use on one of my .22LR rifles.
It is zeroed at 50Y and it never moves from there.
 
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Thank you for your reply. I have not yet looked into tactical turrets but I will check them out. Also the reason for these choices is price. The buckmasters does go higher magnification but it's a pretty big price jump. All of these are about $120 and jump up close to $200, which is just a bit too high. I'm just looking for the best quality that can still be used for long distance. But I also don't want to put a 2 or 3 hundred dollar scope on an $80 rifle.
 
Just don't forget that a good scope will last you a lifetime.
I have many rifles but only a few "good" scopes which can be switched from one to another.
 
I like the Bushnell Banner series and I advocate them for cheap scopes. I've done a review of their 4x scope here: http://www.goodgamehunting.com/bushnell-banner-review/

They're pretty decent and they have a good warranty. I like mine for what it is but I'm not attached to it and would have a nicer one if I could have afforded it.

How are you mounting the scope? I've gone the cheapo UTG mount and hated it. Couldn't hold zero for anything. Now I just have a peep sight instead. You can probably figure $100 for a good scope mount that will do it justice.

If you're shooting 1000 yards, you may be disappointed with an $80 Mosin. Surplus ammo usually shoots 3-4 MOA which means you'll be painting a 40 inch group at 1,000 yards even with good technique. So you'll need more accurate ammo, which is usually gained through handloading. Depending on the bore size, many people end up having to cast their own ammo to get a bullet that matches the bore well enough. If you're not handloading, you'll probably pay 80 cents to a dollar a shot for decent ammunition.

Given all of that, I'd see if you can try going up a little bit. For instance, maybe a Vortex. For instance the Vortex 4-12 runs $169 while the 6-18 runs $219. They will last forever and have a nearly bullet proof warranty.

The Mosin Nagant is a very capable firearm, but you're going to end up putting a lot of money into it to get it to shoot where you want to. You may be better of enjoying it as a 300 yd rifle with cheap ammunition to learn the basics and building a Savage or a Remington for 1,000 yard shooting.
 
I am mounting a rail to the reciever and I handload .40 cal and 30/06. I haven't started 7.62 but plan on it. I also have in mind the konus konuspro 6-24 and weaver kaspa 4-16, if that helps any.
 
scope

Agree with thump. that having a parallax adjustment for longrange shooting is a heck of a nice feature to have. That being said, maybe look at Nikon's PROSTAFF 5 3.5-14x40 BDC, this bumps the price up to $299 but should bump your accuracy and distance considerably. Using Nikon's BDC reticle you can dial in your ammo,cal and scope to get accurate holdover distances for your scope. I have personally used this optic to hit soda cans at 600 yards.
You can absolutely use Spot On and the BDC reticle on the PROSTAFF 4-12 too. You just give up parallax and some optical quality.
It should be a lot of fun getting that rifle dialed and then airing it out. Which ever scope you choose I hope you will supply us with pics and a range report?
 
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