Ruger Hawkeye Predator in 204

Depends upon budget: High magnif. scopes exponentially more expensive as you go up both the quality and magnif. scales.

So getting more quality and less magnif is the better route if budget is limited. So it's a complicated choice depending on budget, which is?

But generally, get the best one you can afford in the 4-16, 6-24, 5-20, or similar ranges. But the cheaper the quality, the "more bad" the scope is, the higher the magnif. So it becomes counterproductive to go higher magnif on a low budget (which I think is another way of saying what I already said above).

Get a 5-25x50 Nightforce or better if you can. But as always, it's all about budget. And...new or used?
 
I have a Burris Fullfield II, 6.5-20X, 50 mm obj. on my .204 ruger KVT. It works fine and is almost always more than I need. It does have a rather short mounting length which can make it problematic on long actions, but mounts OK on the ruger short action.

Midwayusa.com has them for 399$.

If you want a smaller scope, I just mounted a burris timberline, 4.5-14X, 32mm obj. on my Remington 700, .221 fireball. The scope cost was 280$.
 
I'd look at a Burris C4 4.5-14x42AO. Lightweight, good glass and good price.
I had a 3-9x40 FF2 on my 17hmr but have just replaced it with a 3-9x40 C4, in that price bracket, I think the C4 can't be beat in term's of quality and features.
You can find them for less than $300

A Nikon Monarch 4-16x42 can be had found for about $400, and are pretty darn good value for money. I have one and found it has as good glass as my mate Vortex Viper PST 4-16 and was a heap lighter and smaller.

For a varminter you want a decent amount of zoom on the top end, but for walking you don't want too much on bottom end in case you need to make a quick shot. I'd say limit yourself to 4-5x as maximum minimum magnification if you know what I mean.

I'd look at getting Aluminium rings, I got steel rings and bases for my rifle and it added quite a bit of weight.
 
And I'm thinking a Leupold 4.5-14x40AO with the Varmint Hunter reticle. My newest scope is that one and I am delighted with it. For less money, I agree that the Burris is a good choice. I have two of the FFII in 4.5-14, and they have been great - bright and clear.
 
@chipchip & 603country: The leupold is hard to beat and perfect choice.

Didn't Col. Townsend Whelen say, "Only accurate scopes are interesting and a leupold is never a mistake." (er...uh...or something like that)

@Dremel: You're right. The 600$ budget gives us a pretty wide field. If you can settle for 12 X maximum, you can get into a zeiss or meopta. I recently bought a zeiss terra, 2-7x for my .30-06 and I've been impressed with the scope.
 
Last edited:
Though I recommended a 4.5-14, both of my 'pure' varmint rifles have more magnification. The 223 has a 6-18 VX2 Leupold and the 220 Swift carries a 6.5-20 VariXIII. For what we'll call fine work, I much prefer the finer crosshairs on the 6.5-20. Since my shooting varmints is done on the edges of pasture, the 6.5 minimum magnification is not an issue. I have decided that I like to hunt with all my scopes on 8 power. Works for me, even on moving critters, as long as they aren't real close. Had it on 20 power the other day (forgot to change down to 8) and had a coyote come trotting out of the woods at 75ish yards. I got him in the scope, but I can't tell you which patch of fur I was looking at. He got away. Dang.
 
@603country: I understand the need for high magnification when shooting small bullets at small targets at long ranges, and my .204 ruger has a 6-20x, although my swift stops at 14x.

For me, at 14X or above, the moving sight picture gets distracting - even from a bench. When the cross hairs are bouncing in synchronization with my heartbeats, then I figure that, maybe, it is too much. I guess I could stop my heart with drugs, take my shot before unconsciousness sets in, and then have a friend revive me. But that method seems at best impractical and at worst dangerous.
 
Shooting at high magnification (off a bench or from the window of a box blind) doesn't give me any trouble. Could be that a former GF was right in that I don't have a heart.:D

I don't shoot much at max power unless it's paper, though I have shot few coyotes at past 300 when I did use the scope at 20 power.
 
Some laughs and good times here.

Let's hope that when chipchip gets the new scope mounted on his .204, he will share some pictures.
 
OK. Also thinking maybe a Leupold VX2 6x18x40AO with CDS. Have one on my RugerVT 6.5 Creedmoor but it has target turrets. What do ya think.
 
or maybe a plain old VX3 3.5x10. Remember this a walking varmiter. This was my origanal thought and I'm still considering it. Why shouldn't this work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top