Scope for 204R varmint rifle

000shock

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Looking at a scope for a howa 1500 classic laminate varminter 204 ruger. Im setting this up for longer range prairie dogs. 300-500 yards or so, but if i can see em ill prob take a shot at whatever range after some familiarization. Might get used occasionally for yotes, but not often as shes a pig to pack around!

Ive decided on the athlon argos btr, but cant decide on the 6-24x50 or 8-34x56. Rifle has a #6 contour bbl and pretty high monte carlo stock, and i want to keep a good cheek weld while shooting. Id like the 8-34 since its from static locations and small critters mostly, but not sure if the 56mm bell would require crazy high rings or not. What do you guys think?
 
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Figure out how much elevation adjustments you need for your load and see if the 8-34 has enough adjustment for you. Sometimes better glass will trump power. I think the 6-24 has more adjustment the the 8-34. So take that into consideration too.
 
Originally Posted By: zr600Figure out how much elevation adjustments you need for your load and see if the 8-34 has enough adjustment for you. Sometimes better glass will trump power. I think the 6-24 has more adjustment the the 8-34. So take that into consideration too.

Hmmm...good call. You are right. The 8-34 has 45 moa elevation/windage adjustment and the 6-24 has 60 moa. I dont really understand why since they are both 30mm tubes, but i dont design the things either. Ive done some math homework with the balistics calc and can zero for mpbr to almost 300 yards. Thats going to cover most of my shots im sure. Beyond that im not sure how much adjustment i need to get to, say 500. Ill play with some more numbers and see, unless someone with more experience can chime in on that too!
 
My .223 AR-15 varminter, my .223 AI, my .17 Remington, my .204, my .22/250, and my .220 Swift all have scopes on them with no more than 24X on the top end. I have killed prairie dogs as far as 700 yards with a 6.5-20X (Zeiss Conquest) scope on my gun. They were small and hard to see but not impossible to see obviously.

For my .243 AI it does have a bit more glass on it, an 8-32X Sightron, but its primary goal will be to take critters and 500 yards and beyond. If all my shooting was 500 yards or less I would never feel the need for more than 20X. And I'm 65 years old too.
 
Magnification isn't much use if the optical quality is chit. I'd say focus on optical quality first and magnification second. With that said, I'd have to agree with Rustydust: 20-24x is plenty for most varmint rigs. Sightron S3's are hard to beat at their price point, especially if you aren't looking to sell a kidney to put a scope on your gun. Good luck and let us know where you end up.
 
I have a Burris Veracity 4-20x50 on my CZ 527 Varmint 204 and I mostly only use the middle of the power range.
 
I just spent some time looking at some sightron scopes. Very nice. The s3’s are a bit out of my price range right now, but one of the s tac’s very well might make its way to my next rifle (243 or 6.5 cm for deer/coyotes). I think my want for a ffp scope is going to win over right now. Including rings and poss a sunshade, either of the argos models fit the budget at this time.
 
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I like my 24 powers on my .204's and 20 Prac's. I'm happy with the Vortex HS-T, Bushnell Elite 4200, Nikon Monarch and Leupold VXIII. None of them broke the bank and all have had no issues. I did have Leupold put in a 1/16th Target Dot for $70.00.
 
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Thanks all for the input. I made a call to doug at camera land the other day and spoke with him for a bit. I really cant recomend those guys enough! Family company, really helpful and personable. First 5 mins of the call was about baseball and opening day being delayed because of the freakin snow on the field! I didnt feel at all like he was in a hurry to get a sale done and move to the next guy! All about the customer at hand!

I ended up getting the 8-34x56 after all, with rings and shade. The shade was backordered, and he was more than willing to send out the scope and rings right away, but im not in a big hurry so i said send them all together and save some shipping cost. Im sure the 6-24 would have been enough, but a point he brought up is the minimum distance ill be shooting. Outside of grouping/zeroing, I wont be shooting less than 150 yds or so with this rifle, so i decided the added magnification would be benificial to have if i desired. I likely wont be shooting at 34x all the time, but it will be there if i want a closer look at things without transitioning to binos. I did get a look thru the 8-34 at a gunshow a few months ago and was happy with the quality and clarity of the glass so im not too worried about that being much of a problem. Ill post back up after i get it with some opinions of how it is also!

Thanks again everyone, and camera land especially!
 
Originally Posted By: ironworkerI have several high mag scopes. I can never go out into the field without my binoculars. I totally agree with you. I didnt get this scope with the intent of replacing my binos. Those will be out with me every time also and used often for locating. I mostly meant after a shot, if i need to determint if i need a follow up shot or have a second target right away, the additional magnification would be handy. Binos seem to have so much larger field of view than a scope and the benifit of looking with both eyes vs one. Definately worth it to pack them along with every time.
 
I use a 6.5X 20 Vortex Viper on my Ruger 204, 223 and 22-250. I sight them in a 200 yards and the next hash mark is good for 300 yards etc. for these calibers. I use this scope for coyotes and P.D. Coyotes I usually never get above the 6.5 and on P.D. I always seem to crank it up. It works very good for me. That is why I have 3 and 1 more on the way for another rifle. Rudy
 
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