Input appreciated - Steiner Predator 4 vs. Tract Toric UHD

[AstroVic]

I picked up a beautiful Sako 85 varmint in 6.5 Creedmoor from another member on this forum. I've gone back and forth on what type of scope I want based on my intended uses for it, so I'd appreciate your feedback. Most hunting will be done at short ranges ~100 yards -- yeah I know a Walmart Tasco will work at that distance -- but I'm thinking about shots at hogs and coyotes up to 400-500 yards. That happens on a regular basis. They don't give a lot of time for a clear shot, so I care more about quick holdover points versus dialing. I've narrowed it down to two likely candidates:

Steiner Predator 4 2.5-10x42 with the E3 (BDC style) reticle (~$750)
&
Tract Toric UHD 2.5-15x44 SFP with the BDC reticle (~$930)

Both are very comparable in a lot of ways.

I currently have the same Steiner on a Tikka T3x in .243 and I love it. It's glass is crips & clear, the eye box & eye relief are very forgiving, and I like the illumination on it. It compares to my Leupold VX5HD scopes.

The Tract has mostly stellar reviews, but since I can't go to a store to look through one, it's more of an unknown. I'm also taking into account resale value for these two scopes in the highly unlikely event I ever choose to sell one.

I'm leaning heavily toward the Steiner, but I'm open to your thoughts on the Tract Toric scope.

NOTE: I have NF ATACR, Schmidt & Bender, Leupold, Trijicon, etc., and they are great. But that's not where I'm going with this setup.

 

[vonb]

I have two Tracts and will consider more in the future. I have the 4-20x50 and the 4-25x50. Both have been great with glass and tracking being excellent. Customer service is second to none as well.

 

[BCDJR]

Tract…..I also have Khales, Revic, Zeiss, Swarovski

 

[Chris in TN]

Is there something in your criteria that would eliminate the Trijicon Huron in 2.5-10x or 3-12x form, with their BDC reticles?

https://www.eurooptic.com/trijicon-huron-25-10x40-bdc-hunter-holds-30mm-satin-black-riflescope-2700002

I'm not really a BDC person anymore but if I wanted a BDC scope, I think the Trijicon would do. There's also a 4x-16x model if you wanted that. I don't think you need 16x but I'll admit to being partial to the adjustable parallax.

https://www.eurooptic.com/trijicon-huron-4-16x50-riflescope-bdc-hunter-holds-30mm-tube-satin-black-capped-

Also - how successful are you in the past, on coyotes shot in a hurry at ~500 yards with a BDC reticle?

A coyote at ~500 yards isn't much more than a 1moa target elevation-wise, and if you're using a BDC for speed reasons, take a reliable 1moa rifle, from a hurried field rest, on a 1moa target, where you likely have ~1moa of error because you're trying to get a shoot off in a hurry.....man, that just seems like a recipe for near-misses to me.

 

[AstroVic]

Chris, I haven't looked at the Trijicon Huron, but I appreciate you pointing it out. That might be a great option.

The farthest I've shot a coyote at our hunting place was lasered at 325 yards with a 308, but at that time all of my hunting rifles had duplex reticles and I was just guessing at the drop. It was a DRT kill, but luck played a big role. I've had other opportunities, but never attempted a longer shot because the drop past 300 yards gets a lot harder to guess on a duplex scope. I realize longer shots, even with the help of a BDC reticle, would be challenging to say the least, but we never give coyotes or hogs a free pass if we can get a reasonable shot at one. Like I said, mostly it will be short range deer hunting, and a duplex works just fine for that...but ever since I got the BDC reticle on the Steiner Predator 4, I've liked the idea of having at least three known distance holds available.

Also, most of our hunting is from box blinds, so having a good rest is not an issue. We might be watching a feeder for deer and spot a hog or coyote in the distance in a hay pasture or wheat field.