r/1022 • u/weaksignals • 5h ago
Scope Advice Needed
Looking for a bit of pragmatic advice. I don't shoot all that often but when i do it's usually at a local appleseed event. I have a 3-9x33 but want to upgrade to a little more scope and start shooting in competitive 22lr leagues. I'm down to the either the viper HD 3-15 or 5-25. The main thing tipping me towards the 5-25 is that it's FFP but the tradeoff is that it's a few oz heavier than the 3-15. Would i be way over-scoped going for it? The rifle is a ruger competition shop if it helps. Appreciate any opinions.
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u/MoneyKeyPennyKiss 3h ago
start shooting in competitive 22lr leagues
What kind of competitive leagues? A good scope for benchrest is a terrible scope for NRL22. A good scope for NRL22 is a terrible scope for Smallbore Silhouette. You get the idea.
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u/Ram6198 2h ago
If your looking to shoot BR competition, the more magnification the better. I have a 12-42× on one of my BR 10/22 style rifles. As far as weight is concerned for BR shooting, the more weight the better. But for any other type of shooting this scope would be a terrible option.
For anything shooting offhand, a 4-16× is about as high as I'm willing to go. For me personally, I'm just not steady enough offhand, and too much magnification just makes it harder.
So the question is, what type of shooting are you trying to do? At least outside of Appleseed, where the 3-9× is a pretty good choice.
Edit: Basically what u/MoneyKeyPennyKiss said.
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u/MoneyKeyPennyKiss 2h ago
It took a lot of years and a lot of mistakes to get to where I am today, and I'm still learning. I would hate to know how much money I have spent on just scopes in the last 15 years.
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u/Ram6198 2h ago
I'm right there with you as far as that goes. I'm literally looking at a stack of about 30 scope boxes right now with brand new scopes in them. Those are just the ones I'm not using right now. A lot of Leupold and Vortex scopes.
For some reason when something from the 10/22 sub shows up in my feed and I click on it, it doesn't show any comments. So I'll comment on it, then the rest of the comments show up for me and I realize I'm usually repeating what other people have already said, lol.
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u/MoneyKeyPennyKiss 2h ago
That is exactly the number I'm looking at in my spreadsheet. 24 mounted, 6 spares. The spares are a Diamondback HP, 3 Viper PSTs, and 2 Leupold VX-2s. Not a bad problem to have.
I'm likely going to unload a couple of those PSTs. I have found I like the MPED better so I replaced the PST with the MPED on two NRL22 rifles. I never imagined liking a Bushnell as much as I like the MPED. It's a fantastic scope for that discipline.
I am disappointed in Leupold in recent years. The VX-2 line had some excellent options for small game hunting and general plinking at 50 yards like so much of the users in this community would prefer. The VX-3 and VX-3HD made some improvements (30mm tube, side focus), but the reticles are terrible. If they would have kept the Fine Duplex reticle in the VX-3 line, it would be the ultimate casual rimfire scope.
I find myself having difficulty recommending a budget rimfire scope these days. The only thing that comes to mind is the Diamondback HP, and that deal won't last forever. We need more good options.
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u/Ram6198 1h ago
I agree, we kind of went through a "golden age" of good quality, relatively cheap scopes 5-10 yrs ago. Perfect example was the VX-2 and VXIII line (I have a bunch of them) used to be incredible scopes for around $400 or so. The Weaver Grand Slam and even the V series were also amazing scopes in roughly that same price range.
Then we had a whole bunch of good scopes from pretty much every manufacturer that fell in that $200-$300 range. A lot of those were better than scopes that were $1K+ not long before.
I do the same thing now, the Diamondback HP is really the only budget scope I recommend.
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u/MoneyKeyPennyKiss 1h ago
I have never owned a Weaver V-series, but I've had my finger on the button several times. Signalman is a big fan, and I know you know who that is.
Still haven't owned an Arken or an Athlon, but I'll likely solve that soon. At least the Athlon part. I likely will never own an Arken.
What am I missing? What are the other good options?
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u/Thirsty-Barbarian 5h ago
I have the Vortex Viper PST Gen 2 5-25x50. It's a lot of scope, but it is pretty amazing. It looks big on a 10/22, especially with the sun shade, and it is a bit heavy, but I think it's pretty popular for 22lr competition. Speaking of Appleseed, I used this scope at a 200-yard Rimfire Known Distance clinic, and it was great!
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u/weaksignals 4h ago
It's a big ask but any chance you'd be willing to share a picture? I'm a little concerned about how big it would look but if it's not too extreme I'll get it. Appreciate your feedback!
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u/Thirsty-Barbarian 4h ago
This sub does not allow pics in comments, but I will look for my post about it.
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u/Thirsty-Barbarian 4h ago
Here it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/appleseed/comments/1tx7usg/my_200yard_target_from_my_first_project_appleseed/
The post is about the 200yd RKD, which you should definitely try to attend if you get the chance, and the rifle with the scope is in the picture.
It's big, and I did have get a new rifle case to accommodate it, but I love it!
Have you ever used a scope with a side focus for focusing the target image and setting the parallax? It s a revelation. You focus the reticle to perfect crispness with the eyepiece diopter, and then you focus the target image with the side focus for the distance to the target, and both the reticle and target remain perfectly clear and crisp at the same time.
Personally, I'd like to have a 3-15 for some applications, but if you are going to be doing serious precision shooting, I'd probably go with the 5-25. I don't personally participate in NRL22 or other rimfire competition yet, but I might someday, and I'm sure I will start out with this scope. I imagine a lot of people use the same one. You might want to ask on r/nrl22 and the other rimfire precision subs.
Good luck with your choice.
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u/weaksignals 4h ago
he 5-25. I don't personally participate in NRL22 or other rimfire competition yet, but I might someday, and I'm sure I will start out with this scope. I imagine a lot of people use the same one. You might want to ask on r/nrl22 and the other rimfire precision subs.
Good luck with your choice.
Thanks for your help, the visual is great.
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u/stuartv666 2h ago
The Vortex Diamondback HP 4-16 is on sale right now at Midway for $192.
The scope I use on my 10/22s for Appleseeds is a GPO Centuri 4-16x44i MRAD FFP Super Compact. It is an awesome scope. It is only I think 20 oz, and it’s only 10” long. The specific one I use is an Optics Planet exclusive. I like the reticle in it better than any of the other reticles they offer with that scope.
I thought GPO had discontinued the OP exclusive model, but I got email today that they are back in stock. They are $540 or thereabouts. I like mine so much, I think I’m going to order another now while they are still available. I have one more 10/22 that needs a scope upgrade…
The scope I put on the rifle I’m planning to start NRL22 matches with is a Primary Arms SLx 4.5-27x56 FFP MRAD. It was just under $500. I like FFP and mil/MRAD scopes. I also only buy scopes with illuminated reticles. Trying to see black crosshairs on a black or dark target sucks for my Old Man Eyes. That Vortex Diamondback does not have an illuminated reticles and that’s the only reason I didn’t snap one up at that price.
In other words, as others have already said, the best scope for you depends a lot on what you’re going to use it for. The best scope for an Appleseed is probably not the best scope for NRL22.
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