Thread: scope suggestions for 22 mag

Originally Posted by Ftx325

Now I have the new 22 mag I need a suitable scope to fit.

Any suggestions...or insight in to the base (cheap) loopy scopes ?

My view is that don't get too hang up on the brand.

You need to take into account these things -

* what range will you be shooting? Some high end 22Mag can accurately go out to 150m, but most cannot. Most 22mag I heard will only do 3 MOA. Way too coarse for rabbits beyond 100m I think.
* do you intend to shoot free hand a lot? if so, big magnificent is needed to shoot accurately at long distance. I shoot free hand 100% and use x16 myself, I would not go below x12. On my 17hmr I use x18.
* if you shoot with big magnifications, then you will probably need to adjust focus. You get better convenience with side focus, but pay more over AO. some x12 scopes do not have focus adjustments. I think they are OK for bigh game but not good for small game where you will mostly shoot around 50-80 metres.
* You don't need high end glass for rabbit shooting. You will probably be using spot light after dark, so it is not like you need super clear glass with 95% transmission / no flare / no CA / super clarity at 600 metres. I have done a lot of possum shooting with a cheap Hawke scope, because I always use spot light with it and always shooting with 100m, glass quality has never affected this kind of shooting.
* do you care about weight? the biggest advantage of getting leupold is actually light weight. Nothing else about Leupy stands out at the low end compared to competition (until you go up to VX5HD or VX3 EFR, then there are some optical or mechanical advantage). Most people dont need super light weight shooting rabbit because you simply do not need to hike for hours or with other things in your back pack. My main rabbit gun is a heavy barrel 10/22 with a x16 30mm tube scope with side focus. it is heavy, but it never bothered me.

Hawke has a 4-16 scope which you can get feature for about 450 bucks. It is a low end brand but for low end scope it offers better value than higher end brands.