New LTR - scope and rings advice please

J

jfrancis

New member
I picked up a new Remington 700 LTR in .308 this morning having heard lots of good things about their accuracy on this forum.

This is my first bolt gun so I need some advice on rings and scope choice. I will be shooting mainly paper at ranges up to 300 yards. I'm leaning towards a Leupold scope as they seem to have consistantly good reviews, but the benefits of the collective wisdom on this list would be appreciated.

Many thanks

John Francis
 
You're headed in the right direction.
My rifles wear Leupold scopes. I've got a couple Burris scopes and have had no complaints there either but if ANYTHING should ever go wrong with a Leupold scope (even operator error, abuse, neglect) they stand behind them and fix them.
I like the Leupold bases and rings also.
Personally, I would probably mount a 3X-9X vari-x II for about $225. If you have extra cash the vari-x III is a fine scope also. My rifles are more likely to be used for hunting but they'll hold their own on a target range.
I'm also very opinionated when it comes to mounting a scope. I mount them once, rock solid and forever unless something goes terribly wrong.
 
jf, glad you asked about rings and mounts.

I too am a Leupold advocate. The 3-9x is a great suggestion, but for long range work I would seriously consider the 6-18x. Besides twice the magnification, it comes with Adjustable Objective.

Also, on rings: I use the Leupold Dual-Dovetail system on every rifle I own for which it is available. Check it out, I think you'll agree it's superior---strong and sure like the Weaver setup, but appealing to the eye also!
 
I too use and like Leupold scope and base but I use two piece base since it gives me a little extra room to the chamber. With my fat fingers that little extra room is big help at times. Oh, Bass Proshop is having special on Leupold 3-9x40 VariX-II for $209 including shipping.
 
IOR VALDADA

Check out the scopes from IOR Valdada. They are made in Romania. The scope bodies are all steel, the lenses are made by Schott in Germany and use Zeiss's T3 lens coating. The reticles are laser engraved glass, not wires. They are of the same qualiy as Zeiss and Schmidt and Bender at half the price. Although Leupold is excellant optic IOR is a cut above. I would suggest their 2.5-10X42 tactical scope. They also make top quality rings and bases. They are all steel and hand finished.

http://www.valdada.com
 
Congrat's jfrancis,
Sweet little rifle. 600-800yards is going to be your max
so scope accordingly, Leupold is the way to go, stay with the VXIII glass 3.5/10 or 4.5/14 should fill the bill.
"Badger" rings and bases is the way to go, as they will add
20 moa lift to your rig and are tough.
 
Thanks to everyone for their advice. Leupold definitely seems to be the way to go. Now some specifically Leupold-related questions....

What is the benefit of an Adjustable Objective?

or a Side Focus?

Any downsides to the higher magnification (4-5-14) compared to the 3.5-10? I don't have great vision in my right eye, so I'm wondering if this might help (too late to become a lefty). Most shooting will be 300 yards and under.

Choice of reticle. Is Mil-Dot any advantage for sub-300 yard shooting? Which reticle is easiest to see, bearing in mind my relatively weak right eye?
 
JF, adjustable objective scopes allow you to basically focus your target into the same plane as your reticle.

If you take a scoped rifle and lay it on sandbags, and look into the scope, you will be able to see the crosshairs move on whatver target you're on when you move your head slightly up or down or side to side. So, unless you hold your head EXACTLY the same from shot to shot, you will be off a little each time, except at the one particular range for which the scope is set up to be parallax free.

If you set up an Adjustable Objective scoped rifle and do the same thing, and adjust the objective properly for range, you can move your head slightly but the crosshairs will remain exactly where you aimed them initially. So, the AO scope has eliminated any "parallax error" by allowing you to focus the image of your target in the same plane as your crosshairs, at any range you need.

I use 6-18x Leupolds (they are AO) on my varmint rifles and a VariX II 3-9x AO on my rimfire rifle. My big game rig only wears a VariX II 3-9x. Why so much scope on a rimfire? I like good scopes, and the AO is more important on my .22 because I shoot at MUCH smaller targets, and the AO lets me shoot very precisely over ranges that a fixed-objective scope will not. I believe most big game scopes are parallax adjusted at about 150 yards---no good for a rimfire!

Once again, I suggest the Leupold VariX II 6-18x for your rifle. Plenty of magnification, and the AO is definitely an advantage when it comes to precision shooting over a variety of ranges.
 
Target turrets!!!

If you are planning on shooting beyond 300 yards, at unknown ranges, I would recommend the mil dot reticle, it is used as a rangefinding device and for holdover help(check the leupold or SWFA sites to see how it works); if you are shooting only at known ranges, it's not worth it. The 30mm tubes will get you more adjustment space to shoot at very long ranges (beyond 500 yards), if you are not going to shoot at these ranges they won't add anything. The larger objectives (50mm and up) will get you a bit more light, but that's only useful if you'll be hunting at dawn or dusk. The side parallax adjustment (same fuction as an AO) is convenient if you are a "tactical" shooter and don't want to move your hand to the objective, but it is of no advantage to the target shooter.
Much more important than all of the above for the target shooter, get a good quality scope with target turrets, to be able to quickly change the scope settings at the different ranges.
On scope magnification, if you want to hunt with the rifle you'll need a lower setting of about 4X (3X even better), and for target shooting you'll need at least 10X (and 20X is better). The leupold VariX II 6-18X RRider suggested it's a good option, not very expensive.
On mounts and rings, I'll pick a good quality cross slot system (weaver) or a dual dovetail. If you want to go the extra mile, lap the rings or use the burris rings with self-aligning inserts. I don't think you'll need the very expensive badger or leupold MkIV rings, and equally expensive super rugged "tactical" mounts for target shooting or casual hunting. Don't worry about the sloped bases if you are not going to shoot at very long ranges.
If you are only going to shoot at the range you could just buy an inexpensive redfield base and rings, properly adjusted they will hold very well.
 
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