Im dying to get a new scope for the Savage axis. Ole Dan has me wanting a Nikon Prostaff and that got me thinking... I kinda wanna try to make my Savage a duel purpose rifle. What I mean by that is making it a mid to long range rifle, maybe even for comp shooting from 400 - 800 yards but then it can transform into a hunting rifle by just me donning an orange vest and hat.

With that said, would the Prostaff fit that bill or would another scope be better? I know the pro staff is plenty for 300 and in for hunting and Im sure its fine for 400+. I know the Axis probably isn't ideal for precision shooting but Im not yet looking to push it to a grand, I wanna shoot to a grand and Im sure it'll get me there (may not hit the target but I'm sure the bullet can make it), but Im just looking for about 600 yards for now.

Thoughts?

what power Prostaff you got in mind?








 
 
 

can you read a Mildot or milrad?

there are quite a few online help pages on using a mildot,learning to use one up to 600 yards really is quite fun,and could open up a lot of scope choices for you.



bushnell

swfa

vortex

falcon

weaver

mueller

etc....

I have Burris, Leupold, Redfield, Bushnell, and Nikon scopes. The Pro Staffs are lower end Nikon models with the lesser quality lenses that still rate 90% light transmission. They are great scopes for the money for knock around hunting rifles and perform admirably for that purpose. The Monarch scopes are a step up and higher cost. That might be an option.
At each level of costs there are good scopes and better scopes fot the same money. At the lower end of scope manufacturers quality can vary a good deal.
I have bought refurbed Nikon ProStaff scopes that are great and one that was a POS. it went back to the retail shop the day after I opened it.
Refurbed are returned scopes under warranty and known to be problems but corrected by Nikon.
I have had an inexpensive Savage rifle with a $99 Simmons scope that outshot rigs that cost 5x as much. So cheaper scopes can be a great deal.
If you want a do everything rifle you'll have to spend more mony for the optics. It may or may not be worth the money. Only you can determine that.
I think scopes are like rifles sometimes. Some are better than another of the same make and model. It is a limited risk each and eevery time you buy one.
I'd buy abother refurbed ProStaff if I need one even though I had a real t*rd one.  
It is because the little extra clarity and light transmission is minmal compared to the 50% increase in cost.
Avoid the $59.99 scopes. Those are a waste of money.

or just go Nightforce or Schmitt&Bender

1X per 100 yards is a rule of thumb. A fixed scope will usually result in a better optic than an equally priced variable. If you're wanting just 600 yards then this is a good optic that will get you further if you decide to try it but isn't too powerful for hunting applications.
http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-6x42-Tactical-Riflescope-P53711.aspx

been using the bushnell fixed 10x40 for a few years on this rifle works great,never had any issues both in close up and far off reachout and hunt 223 fun.

Vortex products work for me.

LOL, You get what you pay for.......................

What's your budget? That's going to dictate everything.

I have a Savage 116 FCSS .30-06, and per Dan's recommendation, went with a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10X42 BDC.  I've not had the opportunity to shoot at long distance but the glass is very good and I have no doubt it would work dual purpose although, if you want to compete, you probably need to go with mildot/milrad reticle.  My rifle is set up for primarily hunting, so I went for the Nikon BDC reticle.  It's a system I really like, plus I have a few other Nikon's with the BDC reticle and with the Nikon Spot On ballistic calculator app on my phone it makes it really easy to quickly figure out where you need to be shooting.

If competitive long range shooting is your primary goal I'd probably go with a mildot style reticle scope.  I'm a huge fan of Vortex, they make fantastic optics for the money.  I put a Vortex Viper HS LR 4-16X44 Dead Hold BDC scope on my 6.5 Grendel because it's specifically designed as a Hunting/Shooting Long Range optic which is what the HS LR stands for and it was in my limited budget.  

X2 The glass is so much better now than it was 20 years ago.

I have this same model of scope on one of my rifles and it's great for the money.  I also have two Vortex scopes and I think they are quite a bit better.  

After going FFP, my recommendations fall outside of these perameters. If I can help it, I won't use SFP on any of my own unless it's low power magnification.

I'll second this. The Vortex has impressed me in this price range.

Ive been eye balling tonight the Vortex Crossfire II 3-9X40. Anyone have one on a .308?

Thats a big thing with the scope I get is it needs to handle the .308. Made the mistake with my last simmons scope thinking it could handle a few .308 shots for $40

My Crossfire II is on a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .257 Ackley improved.
Good warranty from Vortex if you ever were to need it as well.

ETA: I load hot for it too.

Vortex is the latest and greatest. It  is said they ran shills in many gun forums about how great they were in a self promotion effort.  Having people paid to say how great they are is not an ethical business manner.
That being said you need a Vortex side by side with a Nikon, Leupold, etc in the same price range to compare for yourself. What works for one person may not do for another.

Does Leupold have anything under $200 that isn't rimfire only?

Not that you can see through

Close!
http://swfa.com/Leupold-3-9x40-Rifleman-QDManager-Riflescope-P12126.aspx

Natchez Shhoters Supply has Nikon Buckmasters on sale.
http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=NK6421&src=exrbSrch

I just ordered the 4.5-14x with side parallax adjustment for 199.99. They have a free shipping promotional until tomorrow. Use FS150112 as the promotional code. It will save $10 or so.
Be warned the Buckmaster series is being discontinued but the lifetime warranty is stll good. They will replace the scope if necessary with the next higher grade.
The one time I dealt with Nikon on a warranty they were top notch and responded quickly!

i just ordered this Bushnell off Amazon.






 

Well, here's a budget friendly option. Leupold owns Redfield now just FYI. The 2-7 is nice for closer shots and gives a pretty wide FOV and you can crank it up for longer range. I had one and thought it was pretty decent for the money.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/3435117608/redfield-revolution-rifle-scope-2-7x-33mm-matte?cm_vc=ProductFinding

I'm beginning to lean to a vortex dead hold bdc. It's still between Nikon and vortex, guess it'll depend on if I can get it locally vs online.

Got the Nikon 4.5-14 scope! Nice!!!

Just pulled the trigger on a Vortex Crossfire II Dead Hold BDC from optics planet. Scope, new rings and shipping came out to a bill 62 even right to my door

Worse case I figure is the scope body doesn't fit the distance between my current mounts. I got mid rise rings too.

You got the scope and rings for $62??? That's the deal of century.  Well done.

$162, not $62.

Well looks like the rings were put on back order as soon as I hit oder. So now I either wait a month for the order or cancel the rings and get them locally.

I really want that scope. Time to look at rings

Just thought about this, is your rifle a .308 or .30-06? If it's a .308, it has a short action and you shouldn't have any problems with getting your scope to fit but a .30-06 has a long action (or intermediate if you want to get technical) and getting a scope to fit can be a real pain in the arse.

I ran into this when I was scope shopping for my Savage 116 FCSS .30-06.  Having normal scope ring mounts on the rifle made the gap between the bases too long for the scope to fit.  It took me a long time of researching and going back and forth with Midway USA to finally locate a set of bases that would work.  After looking online I found tons of people having the same problem with long action rifles.  I finally ended up with a set of bases that had one short and one long base in the same set which allowed me have one hang over the action cutout a little giving me just barely enough room for the rings to fit on the scope.  I could have avoided the whole thing by getting a one piece scope ring base that spanned the action gap but I was stubborn and wanted just the right "look" as well as it being functional.  If I had it to do all over again I would probably go with the one piece base.

If your rifle came from the factory with bases already mounted, they should work with no problems.  Mine came with no bases and not having any experience in such things, I had to bumble my way through it.

These are the bases I got first that were way too far apart to allow me to mount the scope.


Those went into the parts bin.  Then I got another set that were a silver finish which were a little longer but still didn't fit (they were mismarked on the website), into the parts bin they went.  Finally, after working with the guy from Midway via the phone, we finally got a set together that worked.  

So here's the final working setup, you can see the one base at rear side of the scope hangs over the gap a little while the front base comes up flush to the edge.  It didn't provide enough room to adjust it any but at least it fit and it's pretty much perfect where it sits so no problems.


Was a frustrating journey but it worked out and I learned a lot about scope bases lol.  I also have a couple extra sets in stock should I ever need to scope another rifle.

Ya its a .308 but its long action which sucks cause I don't like long actions much, especially for a short action round but whatever. With this issue of rings on back order, it'll give me a chance to take the set up to a shop and see what I can do, Ive thought about a one piece base but Im gonna see what my current set up offers before I dive in to fixing something that aint broke. Ive said it before in the past, I don't care what it looks like so long as it works. Function over form. If it looks good, thats just a bonus.

http://www.amazon.com/Savage-70459-Rascal-Scope-Mount/dp/B00ADUEP62/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422838746&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=Scope+base+savage+rile
Two piece Weaver style bases can be bought off Amazon cheap as well as rings. If you don't use Amazon Prime find some one who does and they willbe here in two days.
http://www.amazon.com/Weaver-1-Inch-Extension-Detachable-Rings/dp/B0000V2DM2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1422838943&sr=8-7&keywords=Weaver+high+rings

The bases you linked to are wrong sized lightweight bases made for the Savage Rascal which is a child size .22 or Airsoft use.  

I just put those up as an example. I didn't look that close
Not sure if this is for his rofle but they have bases:
http://www.amazon.com/Redfield-Mount-Savage-Accutrigger-Stevens/dp/B004U4H71C/ref=sr_1_cc_9?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1422877401&sr=1-9-catcorr&keywords=Savage+base
http://www.amazon.com/Warne-Scope-Mounts-Matte-Savage/dp/B000E131JM/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1422913071&sr=1-1&keywords=Savage+scope+base

I checked my Savage and I used a rear off set ring to get the length set on my 308.

So I had to cancel my order. Everything was on indefinite backorder

Had to settle for basspro but I got a Nikon prostaff.

3-9x flavor? The one I have on a Savage has been a real winner IMO!

Yup. One of the better flavors

Still a great choice, I'm a big fan of the Nikon Prostaff and the Spot On ballistics program.  If you haven't already, get the Nikon Spot On app for your phone.  It gives you a great ballistics calculator for just a couple dollars.

but how would i get the phone to the range?






 
 

Good point, a cord that long would be prohibitively expensive, so much for that idea.

Silly boy, you just plug them in at the range!

Man that thing is ancient. Can't recall the last time I saw one in the wild

.