Scope???

S

Smokey Joe

New member
WOO HOO! Just got word from my LGS that my Ruger Precision Rifle, 6.5 Creedmoor, I had on order, is IN!! (Happy dance!!) Can't pick it up immediately, so I thought I'd ask the collective wisdom for a recommendation as to a 'scope for the RPR.

Hope for a 'scope that I can use for 100-yd-ish distances, as well as one for distance shooting, out to 1k yds if I can get that good myself. Does such a 'scope exist?

The Picatinny rail on the rifle is elevated 20 mils--exactly what does that mean anyhow??? And how does it affect the 'scope, or my shooting?

Sorry if these Q's are sort of uninformed. Never had a rifle anything like this'n, and I'm kind of beginning all over again, having only shot rifles for the last 50+ years.
 
A good wide range zoom scope is probably what you're looking for. HOWEVER the inclined rail is biased for long range work by tilting the angle of the scope up 20mils from alignment with the rifle's bore!
Its quite possible that the incline will make it difficult to get the scope to zero at the shorter distance as its set to be 72" "off" from the bore.

Milliradians (Mils)

The mil dot reticle gets a lot of attention these days. “Mil” has nothing to do with “military.” It is an abbreviation for milliradian, 1/6400 of a degree in angular measure. That’s 3.6 inches at 100 yards, or 3 feet at l,000 yards.

In a scope reticle, a mil is the space between (typically) 3/4-minute dots strung on a crosswire. To use this reticle as a rangefinder, you divide target height in mils at 100 yards by the number of vertical spaces subtending it. The result is range in hundreds of yards.

Example: A deer standing 3 feet at the shoulder (10 mils at 100 yards) appears in your scope to stand two dots high. Divide 2 into 10, and you come up with 5; the deer is 500 yards away.

You can also divide target size in yards (1, in this case) by the number of mils subtended (2) and multiply by 1,000 to get range in yards.

A mil dot reticle must be calibrated for a single magnification in a scope. For variable scopes, that’s typically the top magnification; some high-power sights are calibrated at other settings.

With a little practice, mil dots become easy to use. A mil dot reticle gives you a rangefinder and a way to compensate for holdover and wind drift, all in one image. For short shots, you can ignore the dots and use the reticle as a crosswire.
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Budget...

Good question, SQV! I WILL NOT spend the bucks for a Swarovski nor a Nightforce. I also don't drive a Beemer nor a Jag.

About $5 or 6 hundred is my top-end; possibly a LITTLE more.

Wogpotter--I have a rifle now that I thought there was something wrong with: At 200 yd. I couldn't get the crosshairs adjusted down to within 3' of the POI. Must be the same sort of elevation arrangement. Is there a fix of some sort, or do I just have a rifle for long distance only? Or do I need a Picatinny rail that is NOT elevated, and switch 'em back and forth?

Anyhow, thanks both of you for the responses!
 
With that price range, you've got limited options that I would recommend. In fact, the only thing I could get excited about at all for long range use would be the SWFA SS 3-15. It's MIL/MIL, first focal plane, 30mm tube, and side parallax. It's a Japanese made scope. The glass is OK. They're repeatable and tough in my experience. I think the on-sale price is right at $600.

The 20MOA down rail has very little practical impact. You just bore sight and zero the rifle normally. It does NOT mean your rifle is for long distance only. You will have no trouble achieving a 100y zero. The only thing you don't want to do is use a mount that itself has an angle built in (SPHUR mount, etc.). Just use normal rings. All it does is help preserve vertical adjustment range for when shooting at long distances.
 
just looked at swfa sample list several used that would meet your needs burris xtr 4-16 x50 599. bush elite 6-24 x50 699. nikon prostaff5 4.5-18 429 sightron sii 4-16 x42 379. i dont know how to set up links but check them out may be judt your ticket.
 
I'd take a look at the Vortex Viper HS-T or PST. You can usually get deals that put them in or just under your price range.
 
Your best bet is a non offset picatinny permanently mounted & a scope with the (very large) amount of adjustment needed.
Second choice would be a non offset picatinny & 2 scopes with mounts shimmed for short (& with a 2~8 scope) range, & one for long range that had a higher magnification too & shimmed for the +20 mils.
3rd choice would be a 100~600yd rifle (no offset) & a way out there rifle (with the offset).
 
To say that a 20 MOA base will make it hard to get a zero at closer ranges i.e. 100yds is not accurate at all. OP if your rifle has a 20 MOA base zero it at 100yds and get yourself a ballistic app input all your rifle and ammo data and then use turrets to dial in your elevation. All a "canted" base does is cant your scope up slightly allowing you to dial your scope lower in its adjustment range to zero it at 100yds to give more adjustment range to use for elevation at longer distances. I have 20 MOA bases on 3 different rifles and none of them had issues getting a 100yd zero.

In your price range for scopes I can't reccomend the Vortex Viper HS-T 4-16x44 enough I have 2 of them and they have been flawless for range use and hunting use. I regularly use them for 100yd targets all they way out to 1000.
 
I know you don't want to spend it but, the Nightforce SHV 4X14X50 F1 was designed specifically to pair with that gun and entry level precision rifle series type guns. Generous zoom, FFP, MOAR 30 or Mil-Rad reticle, center only illumination, exposed elevation turret, Zeroset and great glass. Got mine last week and mounted it on my 7mm08 since I'm moving my NXS to my project rifle. Costs more than your budget but it's a helluva piece of glass. It puts a PST to shame.
 
The Burris XTRII 4-20 is about the perfect scope for the RPR. Feature rich on a par with the $2k+ optics are a working mans price point.
 
With the right scope that has sufficient elevation adjustment, the 20 MOA integral rail will not matter when shooting at 100 yards. You will have plenty of room to zero at 100 yards.

My scope recommendation would be something with a 30mm tube (to get the extra elevation adjustment), and at least 18 power (preferably more, like 24X).

Most 30mm body scopes have elevation adjustment of 60-65 MOA available. Assuming you buy a reputable scope, your 100 yard zero setting will usually be within 5ish MOA of the mechanical center of the elevation range, leaving you with 30ish MOA in either direction to adjust. So you will have room to adjust down 20 MOA to offset the integral rail and zero at 100 yards.

My personal recommendation would be to look at the Vortex Viper HS-T 6-24X50. It is a great scope (I have one on my 6.5CM), and has all the features you could want to shoot at long range except maybe the Christmas tree reticle that is popular now, but that only really helps in tactical type matches where hold overs are quicker in timed stages. If you will be dialing up for shots, the regular reticle is fine.
 
More info...

Well! things are looking up! Did have a $600 limit for the scope--Now I find that I can go up to about $1k. :)

My rule of thumb in the past has been to spend about as much on the optics as I did on the rifle; this has worked well for me up to now...

And a big THANX! to all the responders so far! I knew I could count on the community's wisdom!
 
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I like the Vortex Viper line of scopes too. They are clear, have a lot of range for sighting in, and have very repeatable adjustments.
 
The Picatinny rail on the rifle is elevated 20 mils
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I think there's a slight misunderstanding its not 20MOA, but 20 MIls.
1 MOA = (roughly) 1" @ 100 yds. so 20 MOA would be 20" high @ 100yds.

The mil is an abbreviation for milliradian, 1/6400 of a degree in angular measure. That’s 3.6 inches at 100 yards (per mil), or 3 feet at l,000 yards.
So in mils 20 mils is 20 X 3.6 or 72"!

That's a LOT of adjustment, way way more than 20":eek:
 
I too like SWFA scopes--got several of them on my longer-range rifles. My budget doesn't allow for spending much on scopes--so I go with their fixed magnification mil-mil scopes for around $300 a pop--but at that price, as the saying goes, nothing else comes close. : )
 
Per Ruger's website it's 20 MOA, not 20 Mils. 20 Mils would be too much and would be non-functional with nearly all scopes.

For some reason rails with MOA built in cause lots of confusion, but I don't really understand why. It's not hard - just buy a scope with an elevation adjustment range well in excess of twice the amount built into the rail, and bore site and zero normally at 100y. Life is good, and your ability to shoot out a long ways without the need for very large tube scopes is improved. You don't lose anything at close range except the ability to dial in shooting very low.
 
Good post Llama Bob. :D

If you are not shooting past 600 yards, you certainly do not need a 20MOA rail.

If you are shooting past 600 yards, depending on your optic and your load, it might help, or even be necessary. Some optics run out of elevation, or push you into the edge where the repeatability might suffer.
 
Me I'd just put a SWFA SS fixed 10X on it and call it a day. 10X is plenty of power to get you from 100-1000 yards. I wouldn't go any higher power as the 16X and 20X are a little dark because of the same size objective lense as the 10X.
 
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