Any riflemen?

[marlinspike]

Any riflemen here care to recommend a not too expensive scope with a 1" tube and a 50mm objective (well, no larger than 52mm) with a variable zoom (for use from between 50yd to 200yd...target, not hunting).

[Cibalo]

I've had a few different scopes on rifles over the years. My favorite so far is a 3x9 leopold on my 30-06. Once I got it sighted in it's been solid. I have never had to worry about resighting it in after a long drive to the hunting lease.

[marlinspike]

Here's what I'm going between. Bushnell 323954M, Nikon 6430, Nikon 6445, Leupold VX-I 58220.

My brother's bolt action has an el-cheapo Nikko Stirling (rifle and scope for $400 and it's an MOA gun once we sanded down the stock to float it) that works well, but the picture is dim and not very clean.

[Cibalo]

If you are only going to be doing target shooting I'd go for the Nikon 6445. It has the greatest magnification of the one's you listed and when target shooting the close you can get to the target the better IMO. Also I'm going to assume that you will be shooting when the sun is fully risen and not at sunrise or sunset and that the weather will probably be good. A lot of the features on the scopes are tailored for hunters and you may not need them, like the anti-fog lenses.

Before you buy, go and check each one out and look at things like edge clearness. Some scopes tend to get blurry around the edges and that shrinks your actual field of view. They may also have different cross hairs and some people are pretty particular about that.

I hope this helps some. I haven't looked at scopes in a while so I'm not that up to date. Once I get one sighted in and really don't want to touch it at all.

[marlinspike]

I'm not too particular about the crosshairs, other than I'm not a fan of the German T.

During nice weather true, but I might do some later afternoon shooting (not dark, but not noonday sun either), but I guess with 92% light transparency the Nikon would be good for that too...but of course it's also the most expensive.

[Cibalo]

True. I don't really think you can go wrong with any of them. If you're just getting into shooting I'd go with the less expensive one because an expensive scope isn't going to help you that much. It's more about the load, breathing, trigger pull, etc that will determine your accuracy.

I'm extremely happy with my Leupold and will probably stay with that brand. I think it'll come down to which one you can see clearest through and if you just find a crosshairs pattern you really like.

[marlinspike]

Well, I've shot pistol, but outside of using my brother's bolt-action a few times and a 10/22 when I was a little kid, I haven't shot rifles. Maybe I'll see if where I buy the rifle has any scopes to look at (it's so hard to find good gun stores) - I've been eyeing a Mini-14 Target.

[Cibalo]

If you have a Gander Mountain I'd go check them out. They have a ton of scopes mounted to half stocks that you can pick up and look at in a shooting position.

The mini-14 is a good starting rifle and pretty fun. You should also check the news papers and see if there are any gun shows in the area. We have one about every month or so. I try not to go or I'll buy something. But you can find some good deals there.

[marlinspike]

Ah, but see the mini-14 Target is no mini-14, and that is the key. Ruger says it's an MOA gun, and I've seen people who spend time messing around with the barrel weight get <.6MOA at 100yds.

See, I'm new to rifles but not to target shooting. Here is my current pistol of choice (226 X-five...<2" at 50yds)

[Cibalo]

Nice looking pistol.

You got me there with the mini-14 Target, don't know if I've every seen one before, don't know if I've every heard of one before either. When I go to the range I'm usually making sure things are sighted in and I can hit where I'm aiming. There are some forgiveness in shot placement when hunting while still making a good shot.

As for you scope choices I think you have good choices, nice quality that have lifetime warranties so you can't go wrong there. They aren't the high price ones but it's not a cheapo either. I'd stay away from scopes that are priced under $100 or made by a company I've never heard of.

My best is 3 30-06 shots under a dime at 50 yd. I don't know what that converts to in MOA.