Well, for the first time ever, I won a raffle from a site sponsor, Cameraland NY. Thanks @gr8fuldoug !! I never win anything, so I was surprised and psyched--really appreciate you guys! They had a giveaway for a sightron scope in November, and I got the notification while at deer camp. Called, had a long conversation with Neil there, and they sent me a giant sightron 8-32x SFP scope. Since that wasnt really a scope I'd use, I felt bad letting it sit or selling it, so I contacted Doug here and he was super easy and traded it out for one of the S-TAC 1-6 scopes (Forms eval here). Also the scope is on sale now for $375 if anyone is interested! Seems like a screamer of a deal for a scope that passed the drop eval here. link (@Q_Sertorius you were looking for something similar recently?)
I already have an accupoint 1-6 that I really like mounted on a 7600 carbine, but I was also kind of toying with putting together another lighter-weight rifle for the same purpose: tracking and still hunting whitetails here in the mountains of Northern New England. I figured this scope would be a decent fit for that purpose. My first impressions of the scope is below....but I'm curious what rifle folks think this should go on? I'd like to end up around 7.5 lb or less, with a short barrel. The scope is a tad on the chunky side,1.25lb, so that leaves 6.25 or a tad less for the rifle, which seems pretty doable without too much trouble. My default will be building out a stainless tikka in a short-action cartridge in a lightweight carbon sporter stock, but I'm open to other ideas in that cost and weight ballpark so I'd love to hear other ideas people have for a rifle like that.
As far as the scope, forms eval linked above has most of the relevant info, and it held zero there so that's the first and biggest hurdle IMO. The scope is a bit on the heavy side, but I'm ok with that if it holds zero. This'll be a set-it-and-forget-it scope only, so holding zero is really the most important thing I care about . The reticle is a bit "tacticool" to me on first impression, but will try it out and see. It is visible, question will be if the little half-donut and tree are an asset or a liability...TBD. The controls and footprint seem reasonable, glass seems very useable, so I see no reason this wont be a good scope for the purpose. Curious to hear thoughts from anyone that has one on how you like it and what you put it on.
Pic to inspire your tracking rifle ideas...

I already have an accupoint 1-6 that I really like mounted on a 7600 carbine, but I was also kind of toying with putting together another lighter-weight rifle for the same purpose: tracking and still hunting whitetails here in the mountains of Northern New England. I figured this scope would be a decent fit for that purpose. My first impressions of the scope is below....but I'm curious what rifle folks think this should go on? I'd like to end up around 7.5 lb or less, with a short barrel. The scope is a tad on the chunky side,1.25lb, so that leaves 6.25 or a tad less for the rifle, which seems pretty doable without too much trouble. My default will be building out a stainless tikka in a short-action cartridge in a lightweight carbon sporter stock, but I'm open to other ideas in that cost and weight ballpark so I'd love to hear other ideas people have for a rifle like that.
As far as the scope, forms eval linked above has most of the relevant info, and it held zero there so that's the first and biggest hurdle IMO. The scope is a bit on the heavy side, but I'm ok with that if it holds zero. This'll be a set-it-and-forget-it scope only, so holding zero is really the most important thing I care about . The reticle is a bit "tacticool" to me on first impression, but will try it out and see. It is visible, question will be if the little half-donut and tree are an asset or a liability...TBD. The controls and footprint seem reasonable, glass seems very useable, so I see no reason this wont be a good scope for the purpose. Curious to hear thoughts from anyone that has one on how you like it and what you put it on.
Pic to inspire your tracking rifle ideas...
