Scope to shoot 100 to 300m

[Hales Smut]

My "deer" scopes are 6x42. I still have two brand new Zeiss 6x42's on the shelf. As I want to get a 223 to practise on the range on distances from 100 to 300 m I just ask myself the question : What magnification do you need to clearly see a 1" to 1,5" dot at those distances?

If I would get a new stalking scope it would be a Meopta 3-12x56 with Illum. reticle. Would this be sufficient? Or better a Meopta 4-16x44 tactical?

What about a Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 or Vortex 6-24x50 FFP ?

[gun nut]

Hi Hales, i would have thought at least 20x mag for 1-1.5" targets at 300m, Vortex would be my choice from your list.

 

 

Mike

[gbal]

Agree with Mikes advice.

Remember that you need to both see your aiming mark,and 25x is helpful here,but you do not want your reticule to obscure it completely,otherwise you do not know if you are perfectly centered.This is unlikely at 300 yards,but if you can check it out,try with you lower mag scopes to get some idea of this effect.,and what size/style reticule suits you-it can be quite subjective,but you do need ,above all else,to be able to superimpose your reticule/dot on the centre of your aiming mark.

Gbal

[Hales Smut]

At the present time my Browning has a Leupold V XIII 2.5-8x36. When I zero a stalking rifle I put a piece of 1 cm red isolation tape on a paper. At 75 m I make it shoot 2.5cm ( 1 inch) high. A German 6X scope allows me to clearly hold the centre of the reticle on the piece of tape. At 100 I had problems doing the same with the Leupold. So I can imagine that at 200 metres you need a lot more magnification to see and know where you aim.

[jcampbellsmith]

Try out other folks' rifles and see how the target looks through their scopes. Pre-reloading, I shot with 8 x 50 Swarovski scopes for about ten years. I have recently switched to Z6 5-30 x 50 scopes. When stalking they sit at about 7.5 x. When I am testing loads or on a range (400m typically) I crank them up as high as conditions will allow. Regards JCS

[lancslad]

using a s&b 3x12 myself.... reticle obscuring is an issue at full mag at 200+.

[kent]

Its not really a how much magnification question the way I see it you could just increase the target size your aiming at. If it is to be a stalking scope the last thing you really want is a honking great big scope on that .223 just so you can get a sight picture on a 1" dot! Deer and foxes just don't come with 1" dots on them so why not just have say three targets a 1" for 100, 2" for 200 and 3" for 300? there is no real practical lack of precision in this as a 1" centre - centre is still possible at 300 yds with a 3" target by design. Obviously you can adjust the target to suit whatever reticule or mag level you have on your scope and a darn sight cheaper

[jcampbellsmith]

My "deer" scopes are 6x42. ....

I sometimes shoot a .308 with a 6x42 scope at the attached target. For longer ranges you could fill in the five diamonds. When aiming, I am just trying to centre the crosshairs with respect to the 4 external diamonds. If you want a copy of the Excel spreadsheet PM me an e-Mail address.

Regards JCS