Thoughts men on scope for varmint rifle

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Al Nyhus said:
Too bad Canadians can't have scopes shipped in from here. There are some very good deals on optics right now.

Just scooped up a couple, for rifles yet to be built. ;)

Good shootin'. :) -Al
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right Al. A optic is not like a rifle or handgun.

But I can buy a range finder or binoculars or spotting scope. Yet no rifle scope because it is labelled a rifle scope which is bad. It is a danger to the American people........LOL

Calvin
 
alinwa said:
I'm curious as to Calvin's experiences.......



Since Homeland inSincerity went into effect my Canuck buddies and rellies have found it ridiculously hard to get stuff into the states and even harder to get stuff out! It's not the Canadian side that's a problem it's our US laws!! Canada charges a token import fee based solely on value but the US has stacked all sorts of junk in the road.

Since DHS and their partner in crime TSA have zero oversight they just make up laws as they go along and they've instituted an "Export Tax" for which you need an "Export Permit" before you can legally send Calvin a scope..... and normal Americans just set back and smirk and think "well, sucks to be them"

and guys like me get kicked off forums for badmouthing and fighting our "government" LOL
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And then you have to poke around the ITAR rules from the State Department.

Most of our sporting scopes are not 'Defense Items.'
But it takes a decent amount of reading and review of the 'Munitions List' and other regulations.
And from a bunch of bureaucrats that often seem to not have all that much understanding of what they are trying to regulate.
 
I have or had most scopes mentioned here, all great.
The single best varmint scope I have ever had , if you can locate one, is the Leupold 8.5X25 with their varmint hunter reticle. Zero unnecessary crap on the reticle but great for wind/hold over. Sits on a TAC 20.
 
Decided to

give a Vortex PST 6-24 X50.... a try. Price was too good to pass up. If it does not work out I will be able to sell it in short order.

Helps when you have a great gun shop that if you treat them well, they give you a GREAT deal.
 
I have been using a Leupold 6.5 X 20 Vari-X III with a Leupold Dot on my old Remington 788 in .222 Remington and it just keeps working there. I bought this one used from when I had still been working at Sinclair International and it had been a "mule scope" for a long time at the retail sales counter until it had been offered to me for a price that I could not refuse. The only other thing that it does have is a set of the old Stoney Pointe add on target turrets on it. Money well spent in my opinion. It had to go back to Leupold once for what appeared to be fine bubbles in the outer edges of some of the larger optics up front and they wanted it back to look at it. In typical Leupold fashion they apologized for the issue and took care of other issues that they had found and I had it back in a week and back on the rifle.

Bob
 
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Scope makers and users have in the past 40 or so years adopted the MSMD motto.

Not to long ago a K4 or K6 was a wonderful scope. Now we need all the variables and goofy reticles as several noted. Just try to buy a 4 or 6 straight power scope.




MSMD= monkey see, monkey do!!
 
langenc said:
Scope makers and users have in the past 40 or so years adopted the MSMD motto.

Not to long ago a K4 or K6 was a wonderful scope. Now we need all the variables and goofy reticles as several noted. Just try to buy a 4 or 6 straight power scope.

MSMD= monkey see, monkey do!!
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4x to 6x is a little low for longer range varmints.

I have it down to a lot of setup, one shot, one dead varmint.
Maybe wait a few hours to see of any more come back up.
 
I would think that the scope power you need will vary depending upon size of varmints and the average distances being shot. Here in the east we shoot woodchucks (groundhogs)and the average distance is only 150-200 yards, so you don't need as much power as you would need out west on prairie dogs at 300-400 yards.
 
MilGunsmith said:
I would think that the scope power you need will vary depending upon size of varmints and the average distances being shot. Here in the east we shoot woodchucks (groundhogs)and the average distance is only 150-200 yards, so you don't need as much power as you would need out west on prairie dogs at 300-400 yards.
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Well, try 300-"to infinity and beyond!!"

IMO anything inside 300 is best left for the kids to plink at offhand. Or save it for video clips.

Most everybody I know spends most time shooting stuff you can't see with the nekkid eye be it rockchucks, marmots, flickertails, dawgs or squeerrells. In other words you take two people, one spotting and the other shooting and you quarter along together with a running verbal commentary then when one or the other finds a target they walk it together using "that shadowed rock that looks like a frog" and "down a few degrees left of that angled green strip" and just above the third post from the corner" until both are settled on the same animal.

I, personally, would be bored stiff shooting varmints at 100-200...... I'd have to use a pistol or a 22RF

And I've never hunted varmints with less than 20X

I have dialed down for moving coyotes and badgers but that's incidental pest control, not hunting.
 
Nothing better than taking someone prairie dog shooting and watching them on those 300 yard "...best left for the kids to plink at offhand" shots. ;)

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." -Yogi Berra
 
Al Nyhus said:
Nothing better than taking someone prairie dog shooting and watching them on those 300 yard "...best left for the kids to plink at offhand" shots. ;)

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." -Yogi Berra
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"Taking someone shooting" being the key there hey... it's ALL righteous for the guy who's never fired hiss gunn under thee Big Sky

but for me and mine it's short stuff.... or "driveby's"

I don't think I own a rig that doesn't have 22 casings inside the dash.....

And after hours of one-handed (weak hand in my case) pistol-out-the-window one gains a certain sufficiency otherwise unattainable...
 
Al...........and Al.......

You guys cause me to recall old memories of my first PD trips to the Texas high plains, in the early 1990's.

My old hunting/fishing/gun show pal and I would, in the early years, "spot" for one another. Talk about FUN!!!......between truths, half-truths, and outright LIES......about what was happening downrange......we had a great time afield.

Sadly....Larry passed about 8 years ago......but those great times will always stay with me.

Kevin
 
Kevin Gullette said:
You guys cause me to recall old memories of my first PD trips to the Texas high plains, in the early 1990's.

My old hunting/fishing/gun show pal and I would, in the early years, "spot" for one another. Talk about FUN!!!......between truths, half-truths, and outright LIES......about what was happening downrange......we had a great time afield.

Sadly....Larry passed about 8 years ago......but those great times will always stay with me.

Kevin
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Good stuff, Kevin. Memories like that are what life's all about. :)

I don't want to derail the thread, but since the question about the abilities of my hunting/shooting pards was raised, I'll hang a couple of pics:

Randy Robinett (l), 'Humble' Henry Rivers (m), myself (r):

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Randy (l), Henry (r) overlooking a decent 'dog town. Vista included for those contemplating a 300 yard drive-by:

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Henry (l), Randy (r):

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Being from the Deep South, Henry wasn't buying my line of crap about how you need to turn the scope windage the other way once you got West of the Missouri River!

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The infamous winner-take-all 'Death Valley Shoot 'Em Up.. Randy and Henry each took one shot at a time to see who could connect on a v-e-r-y far 'out 'dog:

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Randy and his 20BR with the winners prize, a crisp piece of folding money:

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Triceratops dig. There were three of them:

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