The perfect barret fieldcraft scope?

[sickles107]

Like the title says, I'm looking at building a lightweight alpine rig.

Barret fieldcraft in 6.5 cm
Talley rings
Open elevation, capped windage, 1 in scope with decent zoom and a duplex or simple moa reticle

Current scopes on my list include:
Razor lh 15x with elevation cap off
Leopold vx3i cds 14x

I feel like the fieldcraft deserves more.. but I'm not familiar with high end optics brands and their offerings

Any other ideas that are similar?

 

[wgood]

I feel that the Leupold will fit your needs. I know that I ran a vortex, granted it was the diamondback, on my 300 WSM for awhile and was not a fan. Scoped myself twice in as many shots shooting at cows down in a canyon. I’ve looked through other vortex scopes and find the eye relief is too short for me. Since then I’ve been running all Leupolds and have been more than happy with them


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[GPATTI]

Bump. Interested as well!

 

[alexanderg23]

I’ve got that Leupold on mine.

 

[sickles107]

I'm in love with my viper hst 16x but t
dont like the weight and and windage turret sticking outfor this application.

Hoping someone is familiar with a 1 in open elevation offering by zeiss, NF, or similar higher end optics brand offerings that fit the bill. Also not apposed to a compact 30mm I guess but open elevation is a must for me personally.

 

[JeffRaines]

I'm in love with my viper hst 16x but t
dont like the weight and and windage turret sticking outfor this application.

Hoping someone is familiar with a 1 in open elevation offering by zeiss, NF, or similar higher end optics brand offerings that fit the bill. Also not apposed to a compact 30mm I guess but open elevation is a must for me personally.

I don’t think any manufacturer makes a reliable dialer in a 1” tube.

You’re looking at at least 20oz and 30mm tube. NF SHV, NXS. The SWFA is 24oz.

I think if a manufacturer made a repeatable dialer lightweight in a 1” tube they’d probably dominate the market. I don’t know if it’s a function of component size or what, but none of the reliable ones are lightweight or in 1” tubes.

 

[6.5x284]

I wanted something similar for my 6.5CM Fieldcraft, but couldn't find what I ultimately wanted. I decided to go with weight savings over dialing reliability and went with the VX3i 2.5-8x36. I had them put Zero Lock turrets on, and change to an Impact 32 reticle so I can hold over and not dial as I don't completely trust dialing yet on a VX3i. Windage turret stays capped. I did the same factory changes with the 4.5-14x40 CDS, but the FOV seemed small to me, so have been running the 2.5-8x36 and been pleased. Overall, it's great for what I need it for. I have the Razor LH 3-15 you mentioned on my Kimber Montana in .280 AI and really like it. The FOV seems really big to me, and it doesn't tunnel at the low end like the 2.5-8 and 4.5-14 do. It's just heavy at 16.5 oz I think it was. It's great on the Montana though.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

I’ve had 6 scopes on my fieldcraft the last few months. there isn’t a goldilocks scope for the platform.

Leupold 6x42 duplex.
Sightron 3-9 mil dot
Swfa 3-9
Swfa 6x
Bushnell 1-6.5
Bushnell 3-12 lrhs

If the swfa was 19oz that they state it is I could live with the real world 4-9x it really is, mushy turrets and not ideal hunting reticle

but ultimately I’m thinking the fieldcraft with rails and good rings, and flip caps plus 21oz of scope starts to get it into another class of rifle that takes away from its greatest strength. A flyweight built right.

Luke probably has it right with a swfa ultralight bdc in talleys on his welterweights.

 

[JeffRaines]

I’ve had 6 scopes on my fieldcraft the last few months. there isn’t a goldilocks scope for the platform.

Leupold 6x42 duplex.
Sightron 3-9 mil dot
Swfa 3-9
Swfa 6x
Bushnell 1-6.5
Bushnell 3-12 lrhs

If the swfa was 19oz that they state it is I could live with the real world 4-9x it really is, mushy turrets and not ideal hunting reticle

but ultimately I’m thinking the fieldcraft with rails and good rings, and flip caps plus 21oz of scope starts to get it into another class of rifle that takes away from its greatest strength. A flyweight built right.

Luke probably has it right with a swfa ultralight bdc in talleys on his welterweights.

One of my Kimbers wears a Leupold, the other a Swaro. I don’t dial either one - both have BDC that I’m confident to 600 with.

Unfortunately, if you want to remain truly lightweight you have to give up something.

Like I said, if a manufacturer could make a repeatable lightweight 1” dialer they’d absolutely dominate the market.

Until then it’s BDC or heavy scope.

 

[handwerk]

So that begs the question, where does the extra weight get used on the " dialable/repeatable scopes"?
Meaning, if it takes another 12oz.+ to make a scope "reliable" is there not a happy medium? Say a 15oz. reliable scope that perhaps has some titanium internals to keep weight down yet master the mechanics?

 

[Mike Islander]

I just run SWFA 6x. Less than 7 pounds fully loaded, and the most reliable dialer under $1000...for $300. 7 pounds is the right combination of low weight and stability for my skill set.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

A proper erector assembly isn’t lightweight.

At the end of the day the market isn’t calling for a lightweight dialable scopE. The nx8 sniffs it but it’s feature set is more geared towards being Like a red dot with the ability to make longer shots

johny come lately doesn’t want to pay 1700$ for the scope in question Anyways if you really want to build it right.

nightforce makes the sr4.5 that might work for most flyweight uses but 4.5x is a bit shy for most hunts And the reticle is pretty suspect for anything but what it was designed for.

There’s a couple 1-6’s that can work but a LPVO at 6x is a lot different then an fx-3 6x42 or SWFA fixes 6.

at this point I’m firmly in the Rubber capped windage dial, and Shaen shaved erector on a 6x swfa if I want to be able to dial for wind. The only concession is the 3-9 has a slightly bolder reticle.

above poster beat me to it.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

So that begs the question, where does the extra weight get used on the " dialable/repeatable scopes"?
Meaning, if it takes another 12oz.+ to make a scope "reliable" is there not a happy medium? Say a 15oz. reliable scope that perhaps has some titanium internals to keep weight down yet master the mechanics?

I’ve seen it discussed a few times On optic thoughts over the years but apparently titanium Has some negative traits in regards to erector assemblies. No idea validity of that statement.

to be fair the swfa 6x weighs about 8 oz more then a comparable 6x42 scope. And you get a built in sunshade, parallax adjustment and obviously bomber internals that have a metric crap ton of internal travel And arguably stronger 30mm tube. Last point might be a red herring.

I’ve been on two different hunts were party members have Swarovski Z series scopes lose zero and wasn’t due to rings And animals lived for another day.

that’s a bridge too far. No swaro scopes on my rifles.

 

[JeffRaines]

I’ve seen it discussed a few times On optic thoughts over the years but apparently titanium Has some negative traits in regards to erector assemblies. No idea validity of that statement.

to be fair the swfa 6x weighs about 8 oz more then a comparable 6x42 scope. And you get a built in sunshade, parallax adjustment and obviously bomber internals that have a metric crap ton of internal travel And arguably stronger 30mm tube. Last point might be a red herring.

I’ve been on two different hunts were party members have Swarovski Z series scopes lose zero and wasn’t due to rings And animals lived for another day.

that’s a bridge too far. No swaro scopes on my rifles.

I haven’t had any troubles yet, keeping my fingers crossed on that one. If it comes down to it I’ll throw a SWFA on it and call it good. The 308 is only 6lb flat - if it gained a couple ounces I dont think it would be the end of the world. But 6lb is nice.

 

[david2duck]

I just put a swfa ultralight with the bdc reticle on a Seekins Element. I need more time with it to give a definitive answer but so far it’s working pretty good. Is it perfect, no. But for the purpose of this gun I think it will more than do what I’m looking for. Gun is sitting at 6lbs 8oz.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Hey how is the view through the scope at 10x?

for my use I’d probably tape the mag ring at 5x and use the first mark for my 300 yard mark and the second for a 380..

beyond that I’d have to either rely on erector assembly and 10x and bdc.

not ideal but not the worst.

 

[Terrapin]

I use the VX3i 4-16 and the SHV 3-10 on my lightweight hunting rifles. I have never had a scope issue with any of them. On rifles that get dialed more extensively I use heavier, more robust scopes.


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[david2duck]

I don’t think it’s bad at all. I’ve seen people complain about the eye relief but haven’t had any issues with it yet. On 10x and shooting out there a decent ways it’s not the clearest scope in the world but it won’t stop you from hitting what you’re aiming at.

The turrets aren’t bad for what the scope is. Not awesome like a some high end scopes but I’ve felt worse on scopes that cost 3-5 times. I ran it out to 1000 yards and then rechecked zero a few times. So far spot on. My plan isn’t to dial it often but so far it’s fully capable. Hope that helps

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x32 or 42. Thats what I run and feel like its an absolute great match for the Fieldcraft. Rifle comes in under 7 lbs loaded, scoped and slinged. Dials out to a thousand yards just fine.

 

[sturner88]

Running a Swaro Z5 2.4-12x50 with the outdoorsman custom turret on my 6.5 FC. no complaints