I will have a flat top ar upper on order this week from Fulton Armory. I would like this to be a 300 yard capable gun with reasonable accuracy and would like to scope it. What do you recommend for a scope? Do the Bushnell Elite 3200 and 4200 scopes hold up? Currently I have 2 rifles with scopes and both are Leupold.

Where do you go to purchase scopes on the internet with good pricing?

Thanks in advance.

Either of those scopes will work good. Check out www.riflescopes.com I have bought 2 scopes there and service and selection were good. I think alot of guys on this site use them.

I have a brand new Simmons .44Mag 6.5x20 mounted on warne rings for sale, this set up works great..     $100  The rings are not shown in the picture those are Burris rings that I ended up taking off for the better and higher Warne non quick release.
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Second for SWFA www.riflescopes.com  Great prices, super fast shipping...

I'm a serious Leupold fan, I just picked up a Mark 4 M3 for an as yet un-named upper and an M8 4x for my Beowulf upper but you may want to read the SWFA forums, many there are speaking highly of the Bushnell 4200 series....

edited for linkee...

I'll recommend good ol'Iron Sights.

Depending on how "300 yard capable" you need it to be, I'm very happy with the Leupold I've got on my CAR-15. It's their compact 1-4x with the "shotgun" reticle, which is basically just a heavy duplex.

It's labeled as "1-4x" but in the book, the specs are listed as "1.3 to 5.2x", which IMO is plenty for combat accuracy at 300 yards. Obviously for prairie dogs at that range, you'd want more power in your scope.

For the kind of shooting one's likely to have to do with a CAR-type gun (or even a full-size AR), I recommend this little scope highly. It's very fast to pick up on low power, yet can be instantly cranked up to 5+ power for reaching out when necessary, it's not battery dependent (like the red-dot I used to use), and it's a Leupold, so it's going to work very well for a very long time.

I've got a Leupold 2X6 on mine.  30mm tube, 36mm Objective.  It is nice to keep the low mag setting on the AR, I can dial mine down to 2X and shoot 3-Gun with it.

I have a Weaver Grand Slam 3-10X40 on my flat top.  They are very bright optics with nice resolution.  Fine duplex lines for range work.  This scope also came from riflescopes.com--good prices and fast delivery.

Quoted: Depending on how "300 yard capable" you need it to be, I'm very happy with the Leupold I've got on my CAR-15. It's their compact 1-4x with the "shotgun" reticle, which is basically just a heavy duplex. It's labeled as "1-4x" but in the book, the specs are listed as "1.3 to 5.2x", which IMO is plenty for combat accuracy at 300 yards. Obviously for prairie dogs at that range, you'd want more power in your scope. For the kind of shooting one's likely to have to do with a CAR-type gun (or even a full-size AR), I recommend this little scope highly. It's very fast to pick up on low power, yet can be instantly cranked up to 5+ power for reaching out when necessary, it's not battery dependent (like the red-dot I used to use), and it's a Leupold, so it's going to work very well for a very long time.

I'm inclined to agree here with the 1-4. I got a lupy 1-4x20 on my AR too. For work out to 300 it works very well. If your tring to shoot small groups than no go with something else but if yer looking for something that can give you hits to 300 yards quickly, the 1-4 is a good way to go.

For my Oly Ultramatch, I have a Leupold Vari-X III 6.5-20X.  

I went through several ring and rail setups, trying to get the height and eye relief right.  I finally settled on the Armalite scope mount.  This mount is very industrial looking, rings and base all one unit.  It has a good forward offset for proper eye relief, and it mounts the centerline of the scope such that it is at the same height as A2 iron sights.  So, I can mount this scoped rifle like I do my A2 configured ones.  The Armalite mounts can be purchased for 1" and 30mm scopes, and the price is a reasonable $80, not much more than quality rings, and less than rings plus rail.

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For another flattop, a 16" carbine, I recently purchased an IOR-Bucharesti M2 with the IOR mount and rings.  This is a 30 mm tube, and will work with the Armalite 30mm mount, too.  In fact, I may very well change over to the Armalite.

This little jewel of a scope is excellent!  It is a fixed 4x, but with a lit reticle, range finding scale, and bullet drop compensator set for M855 (62 gr), but should work pretty well for 55 gr - 69 gr.  Big easy to adjust knobs, and it just seems to be perfectly suited for "offroad use".  About $350.  

You may want to consider a Zeiss Conquest scope as well as some of the others mentioned.  I'm not sure what your budget is, but you can pick one up for around $500 and you get a lot of quality for the money.  I am also a big Leupold fan and have had great success with one of their LRT models on my bolt gun.  As far as magnification, a variable power scope (say 3-10 or 4.5-14) will get you to 300 but also give you the flexibility to go further, or for more precision out to that distance.  Also, don't skimp on the rings.  It stings a little bit to spend upwards of $100.00 on a really good set of rings, but it is worth it in the long run to buy quality components.

For those of you who replied with scopes mounted, what mounts and rings have you used? This is the set up I'm interested in, but eye relief is an issue with the longer scopes. Also, do you low power scope guys have a fixed front sight, does it interfere with your scope picture?

Armalite one piece mount, got it from Quantico Arms & Tactical online.
Yields very good eye relief/cheek position. I've had a scope set at 4X with the front sight on, and I can make out a bit of ghosting of the sight, but not bad.
Do a search here for the Armalite mount, there are pics somewhere.
If you have the bucks, that LaRue mount is really slick!

So far I've seen some good advice. Stay  with a low power variable, 1-4x, 2-7x and you'll be fine.  My rule of thumb is 1x/100yrds so at 300 yrds 3x would get ya' by.  Of course a lot depends on the target. At the most I'd go 2x/100 yrds. so 6x at 300 yrds should be more then good enough. If you can keep the low end at 1 or 1.5x then it'll work for CQB/close up work without having to remove the scope.

I have a Bushnell 4200 2.5-10x50.  It is hands down a better scope than my Leupold Vari-XIII.  Brighter, clearer, finger adjustable w/e, better field of view, and better range of magnification.  The Bushnell is every bit as good optically as my friend's Zeiss Conquest.

wwww.riflescope.com used to have outstanding prices on these scopes, but their prices have increased substantially.  Check out www.dnrsports.com and www.bearbasin.com.

The Weaver Grand Slams and Nikon Monarchs are also reputed to be very fine scopes for the money, in the same league as the Leupold Vari-XIII.  Leupold claims better light transmission with the new VX-3s, but I have not actually seen one yet.

Quoted: For those of you who replied with scopes mounted, what mounts and rings have you used? This is the set up I'm interested in, but eye relief is an issue with the longer scopes. Also, do you low power scope guys have a fixed front sight, does it interfere with your scope picture?

- ARMS rail on a standard A1 upper; allows use of the iron sights at will.
- Rings, I don't recall. Not QD or anything, just standard LOW mount steel rings. Rear bell of even compact scope just barely clears ARMS rail; probably 1/16" or so is all.
- Normal A1 sights and carry handle; even with low-mount rings, can't see front sight thru scope, no obstruction at all.
- Don't recall eye relief measurement. Rear lens bell of scope is roughly even with top-rear of carry handle.

On 1-power, the scope's faster to acquire (for me, anyway) than the iron sights; go figure.

Maybe I should see this as an excuse to take & post a pic of my carbine...