Reasonable Practice rifle scope

[DFWshooter]

So I’m setting up a practice rifle in 6.5CM. What’s a decent/good scope I can use to shoot steel out past 500 yds? Ideally out to 1,000. I prefer a more precision reticle in mils. Budget around $500. Thanks.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Swfa 3-9 or 10x or 3-15 if you bump your budget some

 

[DFWshooter]

Thanks. My buddy is steering me towards those too. He suggested the 12x. I think the 3x15 is $750 new. Is that a good deal?

 

[Ajsomp]

Don’t get the 12x. I’d suggest a second hand 3-15 or a 10x Milquad if you want something available now and works great. I have two of them

 

[DFWshooter]

Why not the 12x

 

[Ajsomp]

Why not the 12x

Above 10x is pretty much only useful on the range. So if you never plan to use it off the range, 12 could be fine. 10x for range and hunting use is what I would recommend.

Also, if you’re setting up a dedicated practice gun, 223 is going to be a better option. But that’s a whole other thread.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Thanks. My buddy is steering me towards those too. He suggested the 12x. I think the 3x15 is $750 new. Is that a good deal?

The 10x is the best deal that is currently available. It will also do everything you need it to do.

I had the 12x mounted on a varmint rifle and it was great in that role. But the more magnification you have, the less well-suited the scope becomes for “general use.” I can hunt in the woods with a 10x without ever feeling like I have too much magnification and too small a FOV, but that gets harder the more you go up.

I don’t own the SWFA 3-15x, but I have handled it and think it’s a great scope.

The SWFA 3-9x are currently sold out, but come up on the classifieds here about once a week. If you watch like a hawk, you can snag one.

No one else has suggested another brand of scope that I would even look at twice in this thread. There’s a lot of scopes in the $800 and below range that don’t compare favorably with an SWFA (and some scopes above that price point too). But if you stretch your budget a lot, the Trijicon AccuPoint 4-16x, Trijicon TenMile, and Nightforce options start to take over.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

For exactly what you are trying to do, swfa 10x. If you'll ever hunt with it, the swfa 6x or 3-9 are better. The 3-15 also works.

To the chat gpt fng who posted, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

We have some excellent specials at the moment on Athlon Riflescopes. As a long standing supporting vendor of this forum it is our pleasure to assist you with different options, special pricing as well as answer any questions for may have.
Please give us a call, 516-217-1000, to discuss this.
Thank you
Doug

 

[DFWshooter]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Looks like SWFA is the way to go. I’ll see what the best deal I can find is. I don’t plan on hunting with this rifle but you never know.

As far as 6.5, yeah, my original plan was to buy a .223 but I’m planning to start reloading so the price shouldn’t hit me too hard. My buddy is setting me up with some parts. We felt like the 6.5 matched up better ballistically with a 300WM or 7mm that I would like to use for hunting down the road.

 

[DFWshooter]

On a related note. Thinking about all the scope options and what I might want down the road. I see Leupold gets a lot of love. But it looks like most of the Leupold scopes I see have reticles with duplex, or the fire dot. Is that primarily a hunting type reticle? Do they make any scopes with more of a Mil- long range type reticle? Under $2500. Thx.

For you guys that hunt out west, what reticle do you prefer.

 

[Ajsomp]

Leupold makes all kids of scopes. I wouldn’t ever put one back on my gun. I had a mk5 a few years back and it lost zero after 60 rounds of 300 wm. I still took it on the hunt with me because I thought it was the rings. Lost zero on my elk hunt and I only knew that because I checked it mid hunt during a lull.

But your local influencer may tell you different

 

[Q_Sertorius]

On a related note. Thinking about all the scope options and what I might want down the road. I see Leupold gets a lot of love. But it looks like most of the Leupold scopes I see have reticles with duplex, or the fire dot. Is that primarily a hunting type reticle? Do they make any scopes with more of a Mil- long range type reticle? Under $2500. Thx.

For you guys that hunt out west, what reticle do you prefer.

Leupold doesn’t get much love on RokSlide.

 

[Ajsomp]

On a related note. Thinking about all the scope options and what I might want down the road. I see Leupold gets a lot of love. But it looks like most of the Leupold scopes I see have reticles with duplex, or the fire dot. Is that primarily a hunting type reticle? Do they make any scopes with more of a Mil- long range type reticle? Under $2500. Thx.

For you guys that hunt out west, what reticle do you prefer.

You mention a lot of “down the road” type options between a primary hunting gun and scopes etc. shooing a 223 isn’t just about lower practice cost- you can shoot it all day without feeling beat up.

Let me save you thousands of dollars and wasted hours:

50 state legal “hunting” rifle
Tikka t3x stainless 6.5 creed 18”
SWFA scope
Sportsmatch/UM Rings
Suppressor

Practice/hunting rifle
Tikka t3x stainless 223 18”
SWFA scope
Sportsmatch/UM Rings
Suppressor

 

[DFWshooter]

Interesting. So maybe it’s all the money they pump in the “Backcountry Podcast” etc.

 

[eric1115]

Interesting. So maybe it’s all the money they pump in the “Backcountry Podcast” etc.

Some social media personalities fall somewhere between prostitutes and lobbyists in the way they'll say whatever the people paying them want them to say.