Budget is $1k not including mount (I have a Larue 1.93 SPR mount). I primarily use this rifle for 25-200 yard shooting, ammo testing (groups) and the occasional 300-700 yard shoot (1-2 times each year).

I am currently using a PA 4-14x44 with Griffin (chevron+Christmas tree reticle) scope with an offset RM06 in an Arisaka mount. This rifle gets between .8-1.2 MOA (10-shot groups) with 75 grain AAC match ammo. Barrel is a 16" BRT OPTIMUM Cold-hammer Forged CL with their intermediate gas system.

I've been looking at the Trijicon Credo 2-10x36 with MRAD tree reticle as an idea for what I'm looking for. I am also considering a 1-6x24 or 1-8x24.

Any recommendations based upon my use would help a bunch. I'm not expecting to purchase a scope for several months, at least, as I do my research.

Attached File

What is it you're looking to accomplish with the new scope? It sounds like your current one works fine for your needs. Also, I don't know that ditching the Larue mount for a newer one would really be much of an upgrade. Certainly not an economically justified one. $1k would get you a can. Just throwing that out there...

I have cans (they're in NFA jail atm) and that scope is borrowed from my 6.5 Grendel so I'd like to put it back. I'm fine using the Larue mount, but some scopes aren't 30mm tubes, which that Larue mount is for. My budget is hard capped (before tax and shipping) at $1k.

You can buy different sized rings for your SPR mount from Larue.

Oh nice. I forgot I could do that.

Well, the budget is still $1k, but doesn't include the mount now.

Delta Stryker 1-6 in your existing 1.93 mount.

If you go for a 2-10 or similar, I'd get a lower mount height. The Credo would be a good choice but no parallax.

That Delta Stryker is definitely interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

I think the confusion people have is that you mentioned the range you shoot but not what you are shooting at those ranges. If you are just punching paper then dont get a 1-6. Get a 4-16 or higher. If you are deer hunting then maybe a 2-10 or whatever. Varmit hunting maybe a higher power. Defense then sure the 1-8 or whatever. But what you are doing at those ranges mater a lot.

But i will say i have Credo 2-10 waiting to go on a 16" rifle. I plan on using it for pigs, deer, plinking and general use. 2x with the FFP retical wont be ideal for pigs or self defense. 10x wont be perfect for long range target work. But i live in a very wide open rural landscape in Montana right now and i feel it is a very versatile mag range. I also own a VX5HD 2-10 Firedot on another rifle. Love that scope. They both have advantages and disadvantages but give the Leupold a look also.

For ammo testing, you'll probably want parallax adjustment.
Trijicon AccuPoint 2.5-12.5x42 MIL-Dot?

The Credo 2-10x36 has it beat in every way except weight parallax adjust, and eye box though...

Those are very good points. I haven't taken this rifle hunting, but with how accurate it turned out to be, I have considered making it my pig/coyote gun. Primarily, it'll be punching paper until it's used for hunting. Currently, my deer rifle is my 16" 6.5 Grendel that uses the scope pictured with the 5.56 gun I'm shopping for.  I'll look at the Leupold, too. Thank you!


Yeah, I didn't realize the Credo wasn't adjustable for parallax, so these other options are definitely welcome. I swore off the Accupoints because of reticle selection, but I'll take a look at that one. Thank you!

ETA: I like that mil-dot Accupoint. It's definitely in the running. I guess I'm looking for a small form factor scope, probably in the 2-10 range, under $1k that'll be good for shooting paper, deer/pig/coyotes and doing ammo testing while being durable enough for defensive use.

Is this unrealistic?

Its not unrealistic but it is not popular. For whatever reason smaller light  2-10 is not common at all. For my needs 10x perfomance is more important than 1x. I cant get behind a 1-10 with the small objective lens when i dont really need the 1x.

I have not used my Credo 2-10 yet but playing with it the reticle is a little small at 2x but might work fine. Cant tell till i mount it. At 10x it looks like one of the best reticles i have used. Turrets feel great but wouldnt mind locking or being small since it is supposed to be a small foot print scope. All knobs feel great, build quality feels great. 21oz is a little heavy for a light weight scope but light compared to whats on the market. Its kind of a contridiction scope. FFP with long range reticle but 36mm objective. But if it meets you needs it could be brilliant.

The VX5HD 2-10 is amazing in some ways. The simple rreticle with daylight bright firedot is grear at 2x. Eye box is massive, i think i could easily use the scope 2 eyes open with a little practice. At 17oz it is lighter than a lot of LPVS AND it has a 42mm objective. Only real downside is turrets dont feel as robust as Credo but no problems yet. Reticle has no holds and is a little heavy for fine presision work at long range. But i was still shooting steel at 1000yrd yesterday with it.

I dont feel like there are many other options on the market unless you change you set of needs. For a little longer range or more paper punching fun i have really considered the Credo 2.5-15 but it is adding weight which i dont want since i carry the rifle a lot elk hunting. But the 2.5-15 has a nicer reticle than the Leupold and probably nicer turret feel. Cant judge it eye box which is very importebt to me.

Also looked at the VX5HD 3-15. Similar to the VX5HD 2-10 but trad the low mag for the top mag. I would like more than 10x out past 500 yards but always suprised how usable 10x actually is even at long range.

Wish there was more options on the market at less than 20oz, similar quality and price range.

The Credo 2-10 is an awesome optic!  I use them on a few rifles.  It’s FFP, lightweight and clear glass for a great price.  I haven’t found the lack of parallax adjustment to be an issue.

Another great optic I’ve been buying lately is the Primary Arms Platinum 1-8.  It’s only like 17 ounces and a great reticle.  

If you can’t tell, I’m a huge fan of light weight optics.

If your shooting to get the smallest groups possible you might need parallax adjustment in a max 10X scope.  But for anything else in a max 10x scope, a side parallax adjustment is just an annoyance.

Don't believe me??  How about Barrel and Hachet:

GPR Scoped Carbine Optic- Primary Arms GLX 2.5-10x44-


Go to 5:51 on the You Tube Video....Where they compare the PA 2.5x10x44mm, which has PA, to their earlier tests of the 2-10x36mm Credo without PA.

The Leupold VX5HD is lighter then the Credo 2-10x36mm because it is a 2nd Focal Plane (SFP) scope. FFP scopes like the Credo 2-10x36mm have more lenses causing them to be heavier than SFP ones, all thing considered.

If your happy with SSP and it's limitations, but value it's inherent lightness, that's a good way to go.....

I just hopped back in here to check responses while watching the Barrel And Hatchet review video.   It's definitely looking like my initial preference to the Credo might be what I'm looking for.


I really like the 4-14x44 PA scope, I guess I just don't need the extra top-end magnification, but I need more than 1x on the bottom so I guess that's why I'm leaning 2-10-ish scopes as they trend smaller, lighter and able to exceed my 100 yard grouping requirements, but meet my mid-range shooting requirement.

The parallax adjustment is something I do use on my current scopes, though. Thinking about my prior shooting at varying ranges to 500m, I never adjusted parallax unless shooting slow fire, hunting or for groups. It makes sense to not worry about parallax adjustment when switching quickly between various distances.

I also tend to hold, rather than dial, for things like elevation and wind, but I'm also new-ish to distance shooting.

More to think about lol.

I have the 2-10x36mm Credo on my SPR 18" barreled AR15.

It just fine given the range limitations of the 5.56 to about 600-700 yds.

Lack of parallax is not a hindrance in any scope under 10x top mag.

I appreciate the insight. I generally spend a few months researching before I make big purchases, so what would you recommend I look at in the same space (price, specs and capabilities) of the Credo 2-10?

I went with ye ole NF NXS 2.5-10x42mm

Here's what I posted about 5 months ago  when the same question was asked:

You'll need to look up the total spec's and the best overall prices yourself.

Current MVPO's with Turrets and under 44mm Objectives.

Athlon Helos BTR GEN2 2-12x42mm - Side Focus, Locking Turrets, FFP and Illuminated  25.4 oz

Leupold Mark 5HD 2-10x30mm (35mm Tube) - Side Focus, Locking Turrets, FFP and Illuminated ( For $500. more)  24 oz

Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x42mm - Side Focus, Illuminated,  but SFP  20.5 oz

Swampfox Warhawk 2-10x44mm 34mm tube, Side focus, Illuminated, 29.7 oz

Primary Arms GLx 2.5-10x44mm - Side Focus, Locking Turrets, FFP and Illuminated 22.5 oz

SWFA 3-9x42mm SS HD 30mm Riflescope - FFP  19 OZ no illumination, no side focus

Trijicon Credo 2-10x36mm  - Capped Windage, FFP and Illuminated, no side focus  23 oz

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 2-10x32mm - Side Focus, FFP and Illuminated 26.3 oz

Vortex Razor HD LHT 3-15x42mm - Side Focus, Illuminated, Capped Windage, but SFP only  19.1 oz

These seem to meet my current requirements, so I'll check them out. Thanks for the suggestions!


Athlon Helos BTR GEN2 2-12x42mm - Side Focus, Locking Turrets, FFP and Illuminated  25.4 oz $500

Primary Arms GLx 2.5-10x44mm - Side Focus, Locking Turrets, FFP and Illuminated 22.5 oz $750

SWFA 3-9x42mm SS HD 30mm. $500

Trijicon Credo 2-10x36mm  - Capped Windage, FFP and Illuminated, no side focus  23 oz $970

Vortex Viper PST Gen II 2-10x32mm - Side Focus, FFP and Illuminated 26.3 oz $850

11boomboom,

One new one to add:

Swampfox Warhawk 2-10x44mm.  34mm tube, Illuminated, Side focus, Locking turrets, 29.7 oz and $559.

WARHAWK PRECISION SERIES

Thanks!

A lot of the Trijicon scopes are Japanese glass (Credo) and are good to go.

The Vortex Razor line is Japanese glass (same LOW factory that makes the Trijicon Credo, Nightforce, and other fairly higher end scopes), same with Athlon Cronus BTR Gen 2.

The Razor HD LHT 4.5-22 I have is SUPER light and crisp quality. I've had it on my 300WM bolt gun for 500+ rd and it handled it just fine. The Vortex Diamondback chinese glass scope failed after less than 50 rd. The Viper PST Gen II is made in the Philippines and I think the parallax cell is starting to take a shit after 100 rd.

That's a good data point. Thanks for the info.

I think as my research goes on, I'm leaning more towards the Credo.

Another option that you may want to consider would be the new Leupold Mark 4HD that they just announced. They have a 2.5-10x42 in your choice of SFP or FFP along with a handful of other magnification options. They are just starting to hit the market so there aren't many reviews yet, but if you already plan on waiting a little while you might want to keep an eye on them.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check it out. I remember a buddy of mine had a Mark 4 on his M4 in Iraq way back in the day and he said he loved it.

My guess is the new Mark 4HD series should be a noticeable improvement optically and mechanically over the older Mark 4, but that is based on nothing more than a hunch.

Dupe

It is not the adjustable parallax that is the issue there. You can set an adjustable parallax to 150 or whatever the Credo is set at and that would be the same. The difference is the objective lens size. Larger objectives have compressed depth of field/focus. So any 44mm objective without parallax adjustment would still have the same blur issues.

Secondarily, even if lower power of 10x or less is used with a smaller 36mm objective to keep the image and reticle in focus, you still get reticle drift equal to the objective size when you double the range the fixed 150y parallax setting of the Credo is set to and run your eye from one extreme of the eyebox to the other. The only difference then is an 18mm max drift per side at 300y vs a 22mm drift with a 44mm objective set at 150y. Hardly a big difference compared to zero reticle movement with your eye anywhere in the eyebox with a properly set adjustable parallax at any range. As ranges increase, that reticle movement just continues to grow.

Can you dumb this down a little bit. I think I understand what's going on, but need a simpler explanation.

UPDATE:

I have purchased a Credo 2-10x36 with the MOA Precision Tree reticle and mounted, zeroed and tested some ammo with it. I love this scope. My buddy and I are planning to stretch its legs out to 600 in the next week or two. So far, I really like this scope. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

Attached File

I see zero point in 34mm tubes on scopes in this mag range. Just adds unnecessary weight. 30oz is a pig.

I agree, but the OP asked for scopes in that power range and this is one of them.

In fact I don't see any point in going much over 24 oz in a sub 12x power scope.

But what weight is acceptable is up to the OP respectfully, not you nor I...

And OP has already made his choice.....

Thanks for the update. The Credo 2-10x36 has intrigued me quite a bit. How's the reticle at 2x?

Really good. I'll be doing some close-up drills tomorrow switching between different mags and the offset red dot.

The clarity is on par with my buddy's ACOG, so I'm really impressed. Better than what I'm used to in my SLx and MTAC.

EDIT:
Went to the range today. Chrono'd some match ammo and tried some doubles and transitions on steel. I also did some transitions while transitioning from the scope to the RMR.

Eye box is middle-of-the-road on 2x compared to my other optics on the minimum power (3-9x40 Leupold Freedom, 4-14x44 SLx PA, 1-4x24 Burris MTAC and 3x Holosun magnifier). Clarity is good and, for me, getting into the eye box wasn't an issue for me. Same for doing the ready-up doubles and tracking through recoil. Switching between the scope and the RMR is fine, because I have good muscle memory on my cheek weld.

Overall, I'm very, very happy with the scope and it meets all of my criteria in the original post. No issues found doing close-up stuff with the scope or getting behind it quickly on 2x and 4-6x. I'll be running this setup in about 2 weeks from this update out to 600 yards, weather permitting, to see how the reticle and class clarity works for me.

Delta Stryker HD 1-6



EDIT. OP, I see you already purchased your optic.

Congrats!

Thanks!

I've been real happy with it. I guess my gut was right.