Scope Recommendation

[jhm]

After hunting season I am going to be looking for a new scope for my 45 Pacnor/Savage. I have a 3-9 VXII on her now which works well enough for 100 meter shooting. (Our range is in meters) For load development I think I want something with more magnification. I will most likely be shooting at 200 meters and the 9X just don't cut it for me. I will keep the new scope on for hunting so it will need to dial down to 6x or so. Once I figure out what is my best choice I can wait for a sale or deal to come up.
-$500 max
-prefer 1" tube
-I would like to use the med rings that I have.
-I like AO scope
-6x to ? 14 X would be nice
-I would like the scope to have a reputation to handle recoil.
-Good clear glass with excellent light transmission.

[Richard]

If you want load development, I can sell you a nice 24X target scope for about $400 + shipping! Complete with a Leupold lifetime gurantee
Richard

[ozark]

I would take Richards offer and when hunting go back to what you have. Should work out fine. You can quick change type bases that would keep the same zero you had before removing the scope. Someone else may have a better idea.

[dougedwards]

I doubt that there is a scope out there that the high powered smokeless loads can't mess with. Nightforce has a reputation of withstanding heavy recoil but they are very heavy and in general way out of your price range. If you could be satisfied with a fixed power scope then you should consider Richard's offer. If not, the 4-16x42 Nikon Monarch has very good glass, clear as a bell on 16x and has a lifetime transferable warranty. Burris offers the 4-16x44 Signature Select which is also a tough rifle scope with some decent glass. Bushnell 4200 4-16x40 also offers very nice glass with rainguard coating to boot. All are under $500.

Leupold makes some very lightweight scopes with a variety of reticles from which to choose and has one of the best customer service departments in the business but their glass has never measured up to their price tag in the opinion of my 54 year old eyes. But if it is only load development that you are after at 200 meters that shouldn't be of greatest importance. The Vortex Crossfire is a very economical scope and many target shooters praise them. Now if you could only go with a 30mm tube this would be my choice hands down for versatility, quality glass and dependability.
cgi.ebay.com/Bushnell-Elite-6500-2-5-16X42-mildot-NEW-FREErangefinde_W0QQitemZ320439981035QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9bb613eb

Doug

[sw]

:)My opinion.
1) Use quick release rings(QRRs)
2) Get a load work up scope(I use a 36X Leupold) on QRRs.
3) Have a good hunting scope on QRRs.
4) Load develop with the 36 or 24 pwr tgt scope @ 200+ y/ms
5) Sight in with hunting scope and get drops and chart these
6) Sight in your back-up scope

I use 36X Leupold for load development: never develop load below 200 yds(all 200 yd loads shoot well @ 100 yds and generally @ 300 yds). Many 100yd loads don't cut it @ 200+ yds.
My back up scope is 4X Weaver K-4. Simple, cheap, and very reliable. ML-2 won't tear it up. Main scope: WCE of course .

The cost of the QQRs, WCE and Weaver K-4 will be in the 500-600 dollar range.

[Richard]

While this is not an opposition to SW's above post, it is a bit on the overkill side. I can say this because I shoot competitively at both 600 and 1,000 yards. All I use are straight 24X Leupold or Weaver scopes. These are capable of delivering 1/10th. MOA groups. (when the shooter and wind do their part) So, for a ML, more than 24X is overkill (just my opinion SW) However, if you happen to have a 36X, it will not hurt you (unless it has a very short eye relief )
These very high power scopes are also mostly mounted on heavy (13 lbs. and up) guns and shot from expensive sophisticated front and rear rests with lower recoiling (or muzzle braked) rifles. Also, these high power scopes are used with rifles capable of much greater accuracy than any of our muzzle loaders; and hence can take advantage of more precise alignment of the cross hairs.
I may be getting off track but let me set up an example to illustrate how different power scopes can produce good groups:
Just draw (using a jar or lid or whatever) a one inch circle on a piece of paper. Now take a pencil and carefully locate the center and put a dot in it..........I would bet you could put that dot within less than a 1/10th. of an inch from true center, right? Now take a coffee can and draw a 5 or 6" circle and try to locate the same dot in the center..........Pretty close, but probably not as close as with the one inch circle? So, if shooting at 300 yards with a low power scope you find the cross hairs covering your aiming point, what do you do? Simple, get a larger circle with outer rings that allow your eye to center the cross hairs. Thats how it works at 600 and 1,000 yards. Your target must be of such diameter that you can line up the cross hair in the center. In IBS benchrest, the center white dot (1/2") increases to 5" at 1,000 yards. There are also other scoring rings which are white that make it appear bigger. So, in reality, you don't really need a more powerful scope, you just need a bigger aiming point. Herman has shot a number of small groups at 300 yards with his ML using his scope at 6X. Agreed, the higher power might give you a little more confidence but it will also showcase any movement!
Again, this is just one mans opinion.
Richard

[jhm]

Thanks for your thoughts guys. Very good advice. I got some thinking to do.

[whelenman]

What Richard said. I've got a 35 Whelen with a Leupold 3.5-10 with the heavy crosshair. It was a pain to zero until I made up some targets with a 3 inch heavy black circle to use for 200 yard sight ins. That crosshair covers a lot of the circle but groups tightened up because of the closer match of my scope to the target. The crosshair will now shoot a group smaller than the crosshair thickness.

[sw]

:)Richard, I have a Leupold 36X and no other use for it except load work-ups. I use it on the 45 saboted and 40 sabotless. They don't have that much recoil due to Hg recoil reducers and the lower recoil of these loads in comparison to some heavier loads.
The other reason I like 24 or greater power is my ability to easily and quickly see the bullet impacts even out to 300 yds. I do not have an adequate spotting scope currently.