Long range scope help

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rifleman0311

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I am looking for a scope for my M1A and a 6.5 Grendel and looking to get 800-1000 yards out of it. ....I am familiar with vortex and can get their military discount, is their any other companies that have good scopes at a decent price or offer military discount?

**I am only interested in mil reticle and mil turrets and have only found a few options I like. As of now I am leaning towards the primary arms 4x14x44 FFP. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Athlon Optics if you are on a budget but for less than $600 the Vortex Viper HS-T 4-14x44 would be a great choice. I've been very pleased with my HS-T I have 3 of them.
 
Burris XTRII. They are the best bang for the buck on the market, and yes they have a great mil discount and lifetime warranty.
 
Magnification isn't the end all in long range shooting, and I generally recommend 1x magnification per 100 yards/meters for most "tactical" shooting. Too much magnification and you start getting mirage wash (good for wind calling, but hard for precise aiming).

So out to 1000, I think that a quality 10x is a great place to start.

Bushnell Elite 10x40 is offered mil/mil. It is almost a direct clone of the old Bausch and Lomb 10x40 that was put on M21 sniper rifles (M14 based) back in the 90s as the ARTs started getting replaced. These can be had for less than 300 dollars.

The Weaver 3-10x40 is also mil/mil. Often they'll go on sale at Midway for right at 300 dollars.

The SWFA 10x42 Super Sniper is a solid choice for tactical long range.

I wouldn't go any cheaper than the recommendations here, but you can always spend more to get more above these.

Jimro
 
rifleman0311 said:
I am looking for a scope for my M1A and a 6.5 Grendel and looking to get 800-1000 yards out of it. ....I am familiar with vortex and can get their military discount, is their any other companies that have good scopes at a decent price or offer military discount?

**I am only interested in mil reticle and mil turrets and have only found a few options I like. As of now I am leaning towards the primary arms 4x14x44 FFP. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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I've seen Viper HS-T 4-16x44mm mil/mil for right at $500 on sale with free shipping from a couple vendors. Do you really, REALLY need FFP? For me it's pretty easy to do the math on the fly with the scope set at 8x (for wind calls). And it DOES work. Don't let people tell you that it doesn't

Otherwise, why not an SWFA SS scope fixed power or 3-15x?

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the reply everyone, Ill check out all of these. FFP is not really needed, long as its mil/mil. FFP does sound like a good idea but I have yet to own one; if I found a decent one at a good price point I may try it out.
 
Does anyone else agree with doing it with a 10x? I think there is validity in that, I can shoot center mass all day at the 500 with an m4 and RCO which is a 4 power.......but that's the farthest I have ever attempted so I don't even know what a click out even looks like through a scope of any power
 
rifleman0311 said:
Does anyone else agree with doing it with a 10x? I think there is validity in that, I can shoot center mass all day at the 500 with an m4 and RCO which is a 4 power.......but that's the farthest I have ever attempted so I don't even know what a click out even looks like through a scope of any power
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I would say check out what guys put on tactical match rifles. I don't think you find many 10x fixed scopes.

That kinda sounds like what you're after. Shooting steel out at distance, am I wrong?
 
[QUOTEDoes anyone else agree with doing it with a 10x[/QUOTE]

Not in the least, unless maybe if a fixed is all you have.
Nowhere is mirage worse than here in FL, and that where a variable is helpful.
You can always dial a 24x down as far as 8 ( or 6 or whatever) but looking through a 10x at 1000 yards is insane. X-ring is FIVE INCHES at 1000 yards, good luck with a 10x.

Show me one top finisher in 1000 yard F-class that uses a measly 10x. 25x- 42x and more is the rule.

Look it up.
 
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Not in the least, unless maybe if a fixed is all you have.
Nowhere is mirage worse than here in FL, and that where a variable is helpful.
You can always dial a 24x down as far as 8 ( or 6 or whatever) but looking through a 10x at 1000 yards is insane. X-ring is FIVE INCHES at 1000 yards, good luck with a 10x.

Show me one top finisher in 1000 yard F-class that uses a measly 10x. 25x- 42x and more is the rule.
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I doubt you are going to find many F Class shooters not using custom built bolt action rifles for 1k shooting, and NONE of them using a 6.5 Grendel AR15 or an M1A like the OP is. Putting the F-Class dominant glass on an M1A isn't going to make the M1A competitive in F-Class, now is it? :rolleyes:

Just for comparison Palma shooters are using iron sights, without a bipod, at 1,000 yards. The Long Range High Power crowd has also used the M1A (and now AR10) at 1,000 yards with iron sights. And yes, High Power targets have a larger scoring area than F-Class, but that is because F-Class quickly outgrew shooting on High Power targets because it's all "belly benchrest" at this point. The last F-Class rifle I handled had to have the barrel fluted at the last minute to still make weight class, and it was right bolt, left port, single shot 308 for F-T/R class which is scored separately from the open category.

So if the OP wants to get a custom rifle and start shooting F class, I'll definitely change my recommendation to a Leoupold VX-3 8.5-25x50, Bushnell 6500, or top end Vortex. If the OP just wants to start shooting long range, a quality 10x scope is going to be fine for the rifles he has.

Jimro
 
^^
Why are you bringing open sights into this discussion?

First, the OP did not mention budget. But even if it's only a few hundred, I'd take more magnification at that range- even over glass clarity and tracking accuracy (to a point).

IMO, it's just plain wrong to recommend a fixed 10x over anything else (the OP did not place any restrictions on recommendations) for 1K yard "generic" target shooting. I also do not understand your tying the scope recommendation, to the chambering. Either the .308, or the Grendel, is 1000 yard capable though neither is my choice at 1K- but they are capable; especially the Grendel in a quality AR with a match barrel as compared to the M1A.

"F Class" was merely an example of what every target shooter strives for- which is hitting point of aim. With the reticle on a 10x obscuring the target completely at 1000 yards the words "aim small, miss small" become a joke. It's irrelevant whether one's shooting comp, or out for a day of fun. The objective, is the same.

Anyway- back to the OP.

You mentioned Primary Arms. Stick with the Vortex Viper series.
Also mentioned FFP. FFP's advantage is it's ability to range- and it's disadvantage is obscuring more of the target at longer ranges/higher magnifications. Unless you need the ranging capability, stay with SFP. You'll get a higher quality scope for the same money- or the same quality for less.
 
Does anyone else agree with doing it with a 10x? I think there is validity in that.
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Apples and Walnuts...both come from a tree, very different.

10x is fine for the square range with targets at fixed distances and plenty of DOPE on generously sized targets. I have no problem shooting from the 600, 800 and 1000 yards lines with my 10x optic on the 6 foot square targets. It is less expensive, less fiddling and more concentration on the shooting instead of the gear.

In F-Class, the targets are smaller, in PRS and tactical rifle matches, the targets are smaller. When you go from centering up large targets, or man sized targets to needing actual precision, then having more magnification is helpful. I agree that clarity is more important than a few X more magnification. There have been times in tactical rifle matches where 10x was WAY too much magnification and I was glad to have the 2, 3, or 4x on the bottom. Other times when 10x was not enough, and I was glad to have the 15-20x at the top.

All comes down to what you want to do with the two rifles. In my experience with the two platforms you have now, magnification over 10x is only going to be marginally useful, if at all. But when you get inside 200, 10x may be frustrating if you are doing anything other than square range work.

My 6.5PCC wears a 2-10x XTRII and my .308 wears a 1-8x XTRII.
 
tobnpr,

I brought up iron sights because you wrote that it was it was "just plain wrong" to recommend a 10x and then went on a tangent about F Class. I brought up Palma and LR High Power to illustrate that F Class isn't the only way to shoot long range. As it is right now, a plain Jane M1A with iron sights is already good to go to 1000 yards.

Secondly, I recommended those scopes as a BASE for a budget consideration. I have no idea what the OP has for an optic budget, so I recommended some solid scopes that meet his mil/mil requirement, and I specifically said you can pay more to get more from going up in price from there. Go back and read my original reply again until you understand that.

Lastly, as far as square ranges go, don't tell our snipers that. I've got enough time behind an M24 topped with a 10x Mk4 to know that estimating range using mil dots then knocking down a 10" steel circle at 800 isn't limited by the 10x magnification.

Now don't get me wrong, if you can buy better than a solid fixed 10x or 3-10x40 variable, by all means do so. But given the details of the original post, nothing I wrote was "just wrong" and I stand by my advice. Any details in your head about F Class or competition were put there by you, not the OP and certainly not me.

Jimro
 
I have 3 vortex hst. For the money they are phenomenal scopes. They track perfectly, zero stops, great glass. Backed by great customer service.

I had a primary arms, great scope for the money but can't track worth a spit. It's gone now and that gun in wearing an hst:D
 
Jimro you are right to bring up the open sites being some do not think they cant use a 10X at that range only feel right with a scope that looks like they took it off a space observatory. I watch the Alaskan series life below zero where a inuit woman with an open site Mosin makes shots on game out to 200 yds and those sites aren't good at all
 
In my view (no pun intended), a fixed 10 isn't the right answer. I'd go with a Vortex Viper 6-24x50 PST ffp. That and the comparable new Burris scopes would be excellent choices.
 
what I don't understand is with a dedicated rifle to shoot from 800-1000 yds why would you need a variable with 3x - 4x- or 6x would rifle be used for squirrels? on a hunting rifle yes I can see a variable. but for fixed distance to me a fixed scope from 10x -16x like the SS series would better and there would be no shift of impact wheeling away between the powers. at 1000 yds just a tiny shift in impact would mean a lot
 
He never said it was dedicated to any distance, just the distance he would like to get to.

Adjust parallax and magnification...almost 2nd nature once you have been doing it for a while. Most of the Practical/Tactical Precision matches have you shooting at variable distances on the clock. Many you have to find, range and shoot the targets out in the rocks and trees. Variable power is a must there.
 
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