Originally Posted By JoeMal:
Got my first 'big' caliber rifle recently, a 308 bolt, and I'm looking for someone to help guide/ground me on what I really need to care about and what I can let go for now.

I've shot rifles for a fair amount of time, and have used various budget-minded scopes, but this will be my first foray into shooting with more of a purpose, thinking more about the scope I would like to use.  Gun will primarily be used for target/bench/steel shooting out to 1,000 yards.  Maybe a small amount of hunting.


My "wish" list in a scope looks like this (again, without really knowing much): high magnification, a "Christmas tree" reticle for holding, good warranty (just in case!), obviously clear glass, target turrets, MIL/MIL, FFP.  

One immediate contender that checks all of these boxes is the Vortex Viper PST 6-24x with the EBR-2C reticle.  But it comes with a $1,150 price which is more than I'm looking to spend.


I know Vortex offers other stellar products, but I would lose at least one of the items I mentioned above.  And giving up FFP, for example, really opens up the possibilities.  So does a more standard reticle like mil-dots or hash marks.  Then you throw in the PA 4-14x which hits most of my wants, but are they really as good as people claim?  Is PA really the exception to "buy once cry once"?


So as a beginner looking to dip my toe into longer range shooting, with an off-the-shelf Savage by my side....am I wanting too much?  Do I need to worry less about FFP and a crazy reticle for holding?  Would the cheap PA keep me happy for a few years while I settled in and learned?  Or do I bite the bullet and save for the scope I think I need?  


What features should I really be looking at, and what, at this point, is not as important?
 

Originally Posted By WMTX91:


The best advice I can give you that I learned the hard way, is to find some friends who have some different scopes with the features you want, if you don't have any shooter friends or they don't use the type you're after join a local range/shooting club or group in your area that does, doesn't matter where you live, I'm sure you can find someone who'll let you handle/loan you their optics in the field/range, that is what is most important. You can look at specs all day long online, and you can finger scopes for hours at a gun store/show, but the lighting or distances in those situations is rarely adequate to make any real decisions.



Just recently I had managed to convince myself that I needed a Nightforce NXS 2.5-10x32mm, I purchased it and was happy with it (aside from the price tag), until I handled a SWFA SS HD scope my friend had, after examining the two together I returned the Nightforce and replaced that $1600 scope with a $600 SWFA. Now I'm not advocating that one is better than the other or anything like that, it's just that I found, for what I needed that optic to do, I was personally served better with the FFP SWFA at less than half the price, and then I had an extra $1000 that I used to buy another gun and a decent chunk of ammo with.



YMMV but I believe hands-on is always the best approach this to find out what YOU actually NEED, because only YOU are going to be able to qualify that.

Originally Posted By JoeMal:
Got my first 'big' caliber rifle recently, a 308 bolt, and I'm looking for someone to help guide/ground me on what I really need to care about and what I can let go for now.

I've shot rifles for a fair amount of time, and have used various budget-minded scopes, but this will be my first foray into shooting with more of a purpose, thinking more about the scope I would like to use.  Gun will primarily be used for target/bench/steel shooting out to 1,000 yards.  Maybe a small amount of hunting.


My "wish" list in a scope looks like this (again, without really knowing much): high magnification, a "Christmas tree" reticle for holding, good warranty (just in case!), obviously clear glass, target turrets, MIL/MIL, FFP.  

One immediate contender that checks all of these boxes is the Vortex Viper PST 6-24x with the EBR-2C reticle.  But it comes with a $1,150 price which is more than I'm looking to spend.

I know Vortex offers other stellar products, but I would lose at least one of the items I mentioned above.  And giving up FFP, for example, really opens up the possibilities.  So does a more standard reticle like mil-dots or hash marks.  Then you throw in the PA 4-14x which hits most of my wants, but are they really as good as people claim?  Is PA really the exception to "buy once cry once"?

So as a beginner looking to dip my toe into longer range shooting, with an off-the-shelf Savage by my side....am I wanting too much?  Do I need to worry less about FFP and a crazy reticle for holding?  Would the cheap PA keep me happy for a few years while I settled in and learned?  Or do I bite the bullet and save for the scope I think I need?  

What features should I really be looking at, and what, at this point, is not as important?
 

Originally Posted By MS556:


Just start with the basic Leupold Mark AR 6-18x40 MRAD with mildot reticle.  About $550 most vendors.



If you like the hobby and stay with it, then move up.  Turrets are accurate .1 mil per click and repeatable.  Nice glass at its price. Mildot ranging is the way to go to begin.  Use turret for elevation come up and reticle for wind holdoff.  Don't need Christmas tree reticle until you are much more advanced.