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Posted: 6/25/2009 11:17:52 AM EDT
A co-worker and I were talking yesterday, he owns a riding stable and has problems with ground hogs. He invited me to come out anytime and help him with making his riding areas safer.  I'm a total scope newb, I've used iron sights for my hunting/shooting all my life so I don't know what would be best for this application. The shots would be at a max of 250-300 yards or so, I'll have it mounted to my flat-top AR. What I'm looking at right now, is the Leupold VX-II 3x9x50. Too much? Too little?  Be gentle with the newb, and thanks for any help. http://www.leupold.com/hunting-and-shooting/products/scopes/vx-ii-riflescopes/vx-ii-3-9x50mm/ |
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Quoted:
A co-worker and I were talking yesterday, he owns a riding stable and has problems with ground hogs. He invited me to come out anytime and help him with making his riding areas safer.
I'm a total scope newb, I've used iron sights for my hunting/shooting all my life so I don't know what would be best for this application. The shots would be at a max of 250-300 yards or so, I'll have it mounted to my flat-top AR. What I'm looking at right now, is the Leupold VX-II 3x9x50. Too much? Too little?
Be gentle with the newb, and thanks for any help.
http://www.leupold.com/hunting-and-shooting/products/scopes/vx-ii-riflescopes/vx-ii-3-9x50mm/ A 3-9 is not a bad scope, though it is a bit much for an AR. The 50mm obj is not needed. The Burris FFII (or TAC) and Bushnell 3200 2-7 scopes are more in-line with your needs and cost less than the equivalent Lupy. |
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3x9 should be OK. Try to compare the Leupold to Bushnell Elite, Nikon, Ziess Conquest, Burris and Sightron. +1 on the 50mm not needed
Any of these will work well, but your eyes may favor one over the others. Be sure and reference Maxicon's site on scope mounts mounts |
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I shoot a lot of groundhogs, mostly with my bolt guns but I've shot them with my ARs also. Going by 10 years of experience, here's a few things I've come to learn. A 3-9x40 would suffice but it's easier to shoot them and shoot them in the head anchoring them with a higher magnification scope. I use a 4-16 Weaver V16 on one of my 'hog guns and think it's a classic varmint scope and a great value for the price. 4x magnification will still allow for close in shots and the 16x is nice for longer range work. The higher magnification also helps to pick them up in weed lines and fence lines where they like to hide and scan before leaving cover. Groundhogs a lot of times will come out at dusk or a little earlier, a larger objective will allow for better light gathering and allow you to make better, humane shots during low light periods. You can kill them fine with a 3-9x40 but in my experience you can kill more and more humanely with higher magnification and a larger objective. |
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