Thread: Scopes for long range shooting

Evening Guys,

Im in the process of building a long range hunting rifle.

A Sako 85 in 300WM, Hardy silencer and full cerakote etc, but Im finding it hard to decide on a decent scope for this set up.

Im currently looking at a Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27x56. I was looking at a Leupold VX-6 but have been told to stay clear.

Any knowledge/past experiences would be a great help!

Cheers Craig

What's your budget.

What do you define as "long range" ?
Will it ever be used for bush hunting (6x low end too much IMHO)
Are you likely to ever have to take shots from positions like off-hand, kneeling etc (lower magnification useful)
Are you happy do dial (SFP) or are you willing to spend extra money for hold-over at any magnification (FFP)
Are you set on a particular turret/reticle ? Mil/MOA ?
Is weight a consideration ?

Originally Posted by jakewire

What's your budget.

Don't really have one as long as its a decent scope

Well for a man without an upper limit I would say a Schmidt and Bender PM11, but that is simply because I have one.
There are many very good scopes starting at a Leupy Mk 4 and on up from there .
Check some of ebf's questions and you'll get a better idea of your requirements.

Originally Posted by ebf

What do you define as "long range" ?
Will it ever be used for bush hunting (6x low end too much IMHO)
Are you likely to ever have to take shots from positions like off-hand, kneeling etc (lower magnification useful)
Are you happy do dial (SFP) or are you willing to spend extra money for hold-over at any magnification (FFP)
Are you set on a particular turret/reticle ? Mil/MOA ?
Is weight a consideration ?

I would love to get a shot out to 1000m! But the majority of shooting will be less that that.
Wont be used as a bush gun, not worried about weight it will be a ground/bipod rifle.
Do like the idea of FFP

Sightrons are the best value for money IMHO

At the top end a S&B PM11, Nightforce NXS or an ATACR would all be up there, but they are a heavy scope and not ideal for a lightweight hunting rig.
To be honest, you don't need that much scope to get to 1000m, I have shot 12" plates very repeatable to +1000m with a VX3 4.5-14x40 on several different rifles but find it a lot more pleasant and easier to spot the exact placement of the hits with a higher mag scope.
My best advice would be to read some reviews and then go and have a play and look through those that you have short listed. It may mean a bit of a drive, but from personal experience, it's better to get it right the first time!

A fair few people on the forum rat on it, but in my opinion there is nothing better than a March 2.5-25X42. Good magnification range, compact size for the magnification range and repeatable. If weight and money isn't an issue, I would go either go S&B or NXS!

Only thing I would recommend would be to have a play with as many as you can, weight can vary a wee bit... That as well as personal preference on some small things

Originally Posted by lost

A fair few people on the forum rat on it, but in my opinion there is nothing better than a March 2.5-25X42. Good magnification range, compact size for the magnification range and repeatable. If weight and money isn't an issue, I would go either go S&B or NXS!

Only thing I would recommend would be to have a play with as many as you can, weight can vary a wee bit... That as well as personal preference on some small things

+1 on the March.

I use a March-F 3-24x42 FFP on my 270wsm and it's a great scope for a lightweight hunting rig!

Or the 52 mm version

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

Ok, so budget no issue
Range 200-1000m
Not worried about weight
Prefer FFP

Does your rangefinder do both meter and yards, or one of them only ? If yards only, look at MOA scopes, if meters only, look at Mil scopes.
Try to get something where the turrest match the reticle.

Magnification wise 4-16 is 100% capable of 1000yd shots, I use a 12 power scope 6-24 range is nice if you don't have to do off-hand etc, and you can easily distinguish 1/2moa sized targets at 1000yds with reasonable glass.

Bottom end price wise, have a play with Vortex FFP or Sightron S3 FFP, both decent scopes and good value for money.

Top end: March, S&B, Nightforce etc (way out of my price range, so no experience other than having the occasional look thru one).

Find a second hand premier glass is jaw dropping. Havnt seen the new ones tangent something? But imagine they would be good too. Would be interested in what people think of the razor compared to something like a beast or s and b.

The vortex you mentioned is awesome, but it's a huge scope, would look really out of place on a nice sako, when you see one in person you'll understand.
Here's one on a r93 338 lapua for a size perspective.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

iv got a zeiss hd5, best scope iv ever owned, i shoot deer over 500m with it and could easily do much further. easy to dial, clear glass, not too big.