Thread: What Scope are People Using for Medium Range

Greetings All,
I have been thinking of buying a new scope for one of my rifles. This would be for a maximum range of 500 metres or a bit less. Being a simple type of chap I would prefer a mil based holdover reticle in a FFP scope. Talking to a friend last night he was wondering about the same thing. Any thoughts?
Regards and thanks Grandpamac.

What are you shooting at?

Originally Posted by vulcannz

What are you shooting at?

These are deer rifles so it will be sika and the odd red.

2-8 vx3i boone and crocket
Tried the whole high magnification / dial up thing....im just not clever enough!
Just get closer now and learn reticle.

is the question what mil ffp peiple use or specifically medium range? for my part i cannot see the significance of medium range since you are going for ffp. Isn't the whole point of ffp is that you have accurate hold at any magnification implying for any distance?

a 2-10 or 2 or 3 -12 or 3-15x - plenty to choose from. What's the budget ?

Originally Posted by chainsaw

a 2-10 or 2 or 3 -12 or 3-15x - plenty to choose from. What's the budget ?

Have not thought about budget but thanks for your input on scope power. My bolt action hunting rifles all have fixed power scopes currently.
Regards GPM.

A 2 1/2-8*36 leupold with b&c reticle is ideal out to 600. However, if you intend shooting in near dark dawn dusk then you tend toward 44-56 front lens with good coatings. 2-10*50 good for that but bulky.

Originally Posted by Woody

A 2 1/2-8*36 leupold with b&c reticle is ideal out to 600. However, if you intend shooting in near dark dawn dusk then you tend toward 44-56 front lens with good coatings. 2-10*50 good for that but bulky.

Good info, Thanks for that @Woody.
GPM.

Each to their own i guess, but for me when shooting deer at 500 yards or more i like to have every bit of precision I can, that means a reasonable amount of magnification, and I like to dial the elevation turret to allow for the drop.

Trying to use holdover subtentions at 500 yards is just too vague for me. You are always guessing trying to hold halfway between two hash marks etc, then you have the confusion in the heat of the moment about which hash mark you are supposed to be holding on, it's just too messy for my liking. Dialing for distance really isnt that hard to setup and perform, when shooting at that distance you normally have well enough time to range, check dope chart or Ballistic app and dial the correction onto the turret and then hold the cross hair where you want to hit, either holding or dialing on a wind correction as well.

Trying to hold over for elevation and hold off for wind at the same time is just double messy.

The red yearling I shot at 597 yards on Friday evening, i had my scope wound up to the max of 20x and even thou the ret has a lovely little fine floating dot in the centre, i tell ya what the animal is still fairly small in the scope. I use to use a 16x scope on the 7mm Saum, and that extra mag up to 20x sure helps place that crosshair where you want it when out around 500 yd plus.

This is what I have found to work very well for me anyway.

I quite like the Sightron S-Tac 4-20 that im running on my 7mm SAUM, fantastic value/performance for the money. So much so that i have another two of them in transit. CameraLand NY have them on special currently for USD $299.99 each. Crazy cheap.

My father inlaw runs a couple of these on his rifles that he's competing in 1000 Target shooting with and hes right up there with the top shooters with gear that's worth WAY more.

If you think 4-20x50 is too much scope, they are also doing the 4-16x42 S-tac at the same price. It has the MOA-3 ret, so subtentions in moa which you can use to hold over with on the closer stuff and maybe dial for the longer stuff. These scope dial rock solid.

https://cameralandny.com/shop/sightr...iation=3072538

They also do a FFP S-Tac in 4-16 with mil ret, but its a little more $, but not much more.

[QUOTE=GWH;1251869]Each to their own i guess, but for me when shooting deer at 500 yards or more i like to have every bit of precision I can


I personally think any hunter (if I can use that term)
That makes a decision to take an animal needs to consider the animal also

To attempt a "clean Kill" shot at 400 - 500m + meters is not called for - IMO
Yes - it appears to be the fad of late on U-Tuber's etc
But they will never show the F - ups
Even if a slight back in gut shot is retrieved and dispatched - what timeframe to get to it and find it ???

No
Just walk a bit closer ah
Want to be a Sniper - go join that brigade in Middle East

[QUOTE=Sarvo;1251953]

Originally Posted by GWH

Each to their own i guess, but for me when shooting deer at 500 yards or more i like to have every bit of precision I can


I personally think any hunter (if I can use that term)
That makes a decision to take an animal needs to consider the animal also

To attempt a "clean Kill" shot at 400 - 500m + meters is not called for - IMO
Yes - it appears to be the fad of late on U-Tuber's etc
But they will never show the F - ups
Even if a slight back in gut shot is retrieved and dispatched - what timeframe to get to it and find it ???

No
Just walk a bit closer ah
Want to be a Sniper - go join that brigade in Middle East

The original poster asked about scopes for shooting deer to a max range of 500m, and was talking about using holdover marks on a reticle to do that - Hence my reply talking about shooting deer at that kind of distance.

He didn't ask for info on scopes for shooting deer at short ranges in the bush, yet most of the answers/recommendations he's getting are more suited to that in my opinion.

Too many people 'talk' about shooting animals at these types of extended ranges, when in reality they cannot even hit a 500mm x 500mm steel plate at 300 yards. I've lost count of the number of times I've witnessed guys trying to shoot my gongs at the range.

Once you go beyond the PBR of any centrefire, so many people have no idea what the trajectory/drop is doing. Accurately hitting something at 400 to 500 yards is a lot harder than many 'normal hunters' think it is. In reality, if you have a good understanding of trajectory and how to use even average gear, the elevation drop side of it really isn't that hard.

LR hunting may not be for you, thats fine. We all have our choice. I spent plenty of time in the bush shooting deer up close inside 30 yards when i first started. Nowadays, i prefer to sit on a vantage point, let my eyes do the walking so to speak, and I enjoy the science and challenge of making a shot that the average hunter cannot.

Over the last few years, I've been doing this, I've seen an awful lot more animals and been able to shoot them in places that you would normally struggle too if you had tried to stalk in close to them, ie when you are down in the scrub with them you wouldn't see them, or they would have heard or smelt you coming long before you laid eyes on them. So basically im shooting them in places that you cannot walk closer too.

As i said eariler 'each to their own'.

Originally Posted by GWH

Each to their own i guess, but for me when shooting deer at 500 yards or more i like to have every bit of precision I can, that means a reasonable amount of magnification, and I like to dial the elevation turret to allow for the drop.

Trying to use holdover subtentions at 500 yards is just too vague for me. You are always guessing trying to hold halfway between two hash marks etc, then you have the confusion in the heat of the moment about which hash mark you are supposed to be holding on, it's just too messy for my liking. Dialing for distance really isnt that hard to setup and perform, when shooting at that distance you normally have well enough time to range, check dope chart or Ballistic app and dial the correction onto the turret and then hold the cross hair where you want to hit, either holding or dialing on a wind correction as well.

Trying to hold over for elevation and hold off for wind at the same time is just double messy.

The red yearling I shot at 597 yards on Friday evening, i had my scope wound up to the max of 20x and even thou the ret has a lovely little fine floating dot in the centre, i tell ya what the animal is still fairly small in the scope. I use to use a 16x scope on the 7mm Saum, and that extra mag up to 20x sure helps place that crosshair where you want it when out around 500 yd plus.

This is what I have found to work very well for me anyway.

I quite like the Sightron S-Tac 4-20 that im running on my 7mm SAUM, fantastic value/performance for the money. So much so that i have another two of them in transit. CameraLand NY have them on special currently for USD $299.99 each. Crazy cheap.

My father inlaw runs a couple of these on his rifles that he's competing in 1000 Target shooting with and hes right up there with the top shooters with gear that's worth WAY more.

If you think 4-20x50 is too much scope, they are also doing the 4-16x42 S-tac at the same price. It has the MOA-3 ret, so subtentions in moa which you can use to hold over with on the closer stuff and maybe dial for the longer stuff. These scope dial rock solid.

https://cameralandny.com/shop/sightr...iation=3072538

They also do a FFP S-Tac in 4-16 with mil ret, but its a little more $, but not much more.

Trying to order from camerlandny at the moment but having issues with their website and getting it to accept my card. Any clues appreciated!

Not mil or FFP, but my favorite scope is my Leupold VX3i 2.5-8x36 with S1 dial.
It's zeroed at 200m, and iirc the single turn dial limits out at 500-550m for my standard load (308win, 178 ELD-X leaving at 2560fps).

@grandpamac A lot of the selection will come down to how good your eyes are ,I hate over scoped top heavy guns, my current 2 favorite scopes on my all round guns are the Loopy VX3i 2.5-8x36 with S1 & one l have kept for years & swapped on to various rifles l like that much is my old NF 2.5-10 32 compact ,that now sits on the 284W l just had built, on the rifles maiden hunts it took a Chammy at 635mtrs after a mate thought his shot had passed through & hit it & a Red Stag at 45mts running at us through the bush during the roar.

There is one for a good price on the forum now -

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....-scopes-77866/