A few weeks ago I purchased a new Remington 700 sps varmint 22-250. I got a package deal with the generic scope and aluminum rings I thought I could use it for a little while. After shooting about 40 rounds through it one of the screws for the rings stripped itself out. I replaced the rings with a set of steel rings I had on another gun. When I put the new rings on I put on a Simmons Whitetail classic 4x12x50mm. This works fine but I feel it limits my guns potential. I want to just strip it down and put new rings and a new scope that is optimal for groundhog hunting. I will also do a little bit of coyote hunting too. I would like some suggestions to see what everyone thinks would be good scope ring combo. I would like to stay in the $300 to $400 range but any suggestions will help. Thank you, JASON

Take a look at the Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14X x 42mm with the Ballistic Plex. I put one on a Remington 700 VTR in .223. I haven't shot it a whole lot yet but so far I like it.

I use a 6x18-40 Bushnell Banner with vernier scale target turrets (old model, Japan made, good scope) for varmints. The new Banners don't appear to be as good a scope, and they don't have target turrets either.

Target turrets:
These allows you to preset and quickly access multiple zeroes while on the hunt. Nice to know exactly how much to dial up/down once you've lased the varmint. Preset zeroes for 100-200-300-400 and so on are handy. Dial turret up to your 400 setting for a 450 yard PD, then hold over by 6" as indicated by PointBlank for my particular setup, and theoretically that's a dead varmint.

Magnification:
18x is pretty sweet and gets the job done. I imagine 20x or 24x would be better, but you mentioned a $300-400 budget.

More depth of field at lower x settings:
Beware of too much magnification and too high a low range. Big azz scopes can be a handicap. For example, for the life of me, I can't 'find' a prairie dog at 18x so I have to dial down to increase my field of view and depth of field. I find that 6x allows quick scans, with much more depth of field (area in front of and behind target that remains in focus).

The magnification suggested by Pumpkinslinger's Burris address the magnification and field of view issues I raised. Dunno if that scope has target turrets though.

Good luck Jason and have fun.

An outstanding scope in that price range is the Leupold VXII, 4-12X40 AO. Made in America, lifetime super warranty and great optics.

12X is about the maximum any of us use for prairie dogs out to 600 yards, especially when the mirage is up. More important is clarity of image and that is where the Leupold distinguishes itself.

I bought one one of the Burris 4.5-14X ballistic plex scopes, that pumpkinslinger recommended, last winter and mounted it on a contender pistol with 17 Mach IV barrel. Used it in WY for prairie dogs out to 250 yds. It works well and the ballistic plex reticle is useful if you practice with it and find what range all those reticle marks line up at.

Throw in my .02 for the Nikon Buckmaster. I have a 6-18x-40 Side Focus that is the berrys for my coyote rig. It is in your price range too.

Leopold . Can't go wrong with one


































































can't go wrong with one

Whittling...What happened? Your brain went blank?

I have been looking at scopes for a few days now and I found one I might get. Just want to know if anyone knows about the Konus 6.5-25x44 m-30 and if this would be an alright scope to get. I found one for $239.99 and one for $320.00 Would this be a good price for this scope and should I get it? Also I bumped my budget to about $550 Thank You, JASON

Never heard of them. Where are they made?? Wouldn't buy one until I found a fellow shooter that would recommend it.

KONUS...Imported into the USA by KONUS USA Corporation.

Made by, as best I can workout, :

YUNNAN MACHINERY IMPORT & EXPORT CO.,LTD.
175 BEIJING ROAD,KUNMING,YUNNAN CHINA

I think I would be waiting until I can get some sort of a recommendation on one before I outlaid $320 for one.

For that sort of money you should be able to get a decent Leopold scope that has a Lifetime Warranty..

Scopesnmore

Cheers, Vince

I agree with Vince on this one...Look at the prices on more domestic or better recognized imports...

An observation: scopes sourced from Thailand, the Phillipines or China often have inferior optics and/or reliability and often, when warranties are needed, are a long time in fixing. Usually the country of manufacture can be found on the bottom of the adjustment turrets.

Scopes sourced from Japan, the USofA and, selectively, European countries often offer superior performance than their Asian counterparts. And, sometimes, they don't cost significantly more.

Few things are more frustrating than finally getting to hunt and then finding there is a problem with the optics. If one spends a tad more to get good optics, the price difference is quickly or eventually justified in the field.

Resolution of image and clarity is far more critical than magnification. For smaller targets, like prairie dogs, parallax adjustment via side focus or objective focus is beneficial.

Scopes don't gather light, they transmit light. Light transmission is not as critical, at least to the point that it is a sole criteria of choice. Power (magnification) divided by objective size equals exit pupil. Most adult eyes dialate in the dark to 6.5mm, some less. An exit pupil on the scope larger than the dialated pupil of the eye is not useable. High quality lense coatings determine the light transmission rate, not objective lense size per se.

A 1-4X20mm scope @ 3X gives an exit pupil mm of slightly under 7mm.
Given good coatings and superb resolution, it would be far superior to a 4-12X40mm @ 10X (4mm exit pupil). Pay more attention to lense coatings, light baffling and resolution and less to magnification if you want crisp and precise images. Regretably, there are no short cuts to good optics, good coatings and lead free glass, etc which is simply more expensive.

In the long run good quality will pay for itself in longevity and performance far more than initial savings on lesser optics.

This is probably one of the most highly debated subjects in shooting. Ask the question to 10 people and you will get 10 different opinions. Handloader makes good points on the choice of optics. Even the scopes made in the USA will have problems (law of probability) and some of the manufactures have better customer service department then others. I personally don't know who is better or worse because I haven't had to deal with any.......YET!!!!!
I have a Nikon on one of my guns and really like it....clear and sharp and I really like the side focus feature. But that's just me..I am looking to buy a new scope soon for my Rem 308 and been searching to find one scope with all the features I want at a price I can afford.....That tends to be the driving force for most of us.......PRICE!!!

Make a list of features you want and those you don't. That will help narrow down the selections and then you can research the ones left. Good luck

I have a Nikon 6.5x20x44 on my .22-250 and love it. But the price is high. I also have numerous leupolds on other rifles ranging from vx1 to vx3. I have to tell you that the leupold is very clear and bright on all of those scopes. I seldom turn my Nikon up to 20x unless trying to shoot paper and impress my buddies. For a hunting rifle I'd would lean towards a leupold in the price range you can afford, they are all good. I'd probably give the 4.5-14x40 leupold vx3 a real look.