B MAG torture

[maximo]

Re scopes 12, 16 and more are great. Cheap scopes over 9 power are not worth a dam in my opinion. They are not real clear and will not stay true when moved up and down in power. I have had to pay in the $400 - $500 range to get a scope that was good in the higher powers.

Frank

[plinkin]

Plinkin, and anyone else who wishes to join in, what power scope do you use for shooting wood chucks at several hundred yards? I have a 9x on my 17 HMR and I'm beginning to think I could use at least 12x to maybe even 16x on it.

2-6x36 HMR revolver (max 100yd)
4.5-14x40 HM2 rifle (max 100yd)
6-18x40 HMR rifle (Confirmed kill 185yd)
4-16x40 WSM Rifle (Confirmed kill 165yd) changing to 6-24x42
6-24x40 22Hornet Rifle (Confirmed kill 189yd unconfirmed 200) changed to 8-32x50
6-24x50 17 Hornet Rifle(Confirmed kill 100yd)
6-24x44 204 Ruger Rifle (NO Confirmed kills, no range finder last year judging distance past 250yd, I was missing over 300yd)

God bless those who can get it done with a 9x or 12x scope but I am "handicapped" and need my crutch of a high magnification scope.

[Willy]

I may keep the 3-9x on my 22 mag but I think I'll start looking for something with higher magnification for the 17 HMR. Scorpion is supposed to have just as good glass as Leupold (one dealer told me it was even better), so that may be the direction I take.

[JG26_Irish]

Well I was coming from centerfire only and reloading to get the best benchrest accuracy. The .17 WSM actually got me excited again. I am too busy these days to reload as much and still am able to get reasonably good accuracy in the WSM. I am enjoying it, except for the extreme shortage of ammo here.

Irish

[plinkin]

Re scopes 12, 16 and more are great. Cheap scopes over 9 power are not worth a dam in my opinion. They are not real clear and will not stay true when moved up and down in power. I have had to pay in the $400 - $500 range to get a scope that was good in the higher powers.

Frank

Frank, you might find this hard to believe but I have looked at scopes in the 6-24 range up to $400 and none are as clear as a Barska. Over $400 the Nikon is excellent and if I only had one rifle (or 2) that needed a scope in that range I would choose Nikon but it is obvious I have more than 2.

Recently I upgrade the BSA 6-24x40 scope from my Savage 40. This scope came on the rifle when I bought it. I would not have purchased that exact scope myself for a few reasons. For 1 in general I "normally" do not buy an illuminated reticle. Another reason was that this exact scope was a tad dim with or without the sunshade especially compared to how bright the Barska Varmint or the Hot Magnum series I have is. The real and main reason I took it off my Hornet is because the coating on the lenses interfered (or vise versa) with the Crizal coating (that I didn't want, that I was convinced to have a 2nd time and NEVER again) on my newest glasses. It didn't bother me when I was wearing my contacts or my old frames with new lenses. Unfortunately I accidentally broke the old frames and as a rule I don't wear my contacts out Summer hunting due to pollen issues. Anyway what would occur is on a bright or slightly overcast day if I was viewing through the scope my viewing eye would start to tear up something terrible, seriously really bad.

Had I not sold that scope over eBay last week I would have kept it as a spare because I won't have these glasses forever and it held zero and over all it was fairly clear, as clear as the Bushnell scope they have on display at the local Gander Mountain.

The most recent Barska scope is from the Excavator series and is a 8-32x50AO target dot with illuminated dot. I know I said I do not normally buy illuminated reticles but I had been wanting a target dot scope to try and for some reason I figured illuminating the dot was not a bad idea. Plus the Excavator only comes with illuminated reticle whether it is mildot, target dot or range finding reticle.

Granted at 32x it is a little dim and slightly foggy but at 28x its crystal and all the way to 28x it is crystal. This scope sells for $169.99 from MidwayUSA or Buy It Now on eBay directly from Barska "huntinggear" shipped free from both or someone who is patient and pay shipping can bid it out on "huntinggear's" listings and usually get one between $110-$120. I snagged mine for $101.65 shipped.

The Excavator series all come with 50mm adjustable objectives and range in 4-16x, 6-24x, and 8-32x. Reticle is either target dot, mil dot or range finder. Up until recently the 8-32x didn't come in mil dot but there is a listing now on eBay from huntinggear with one. It must be a new number because even their website doesn't list it.

Recently one of the local gun shops received a Barska 10-40 SWAT series scope with some purchase or trade they made. Normally they would have something like this in the bargain bin. I have picked up some decent scopes from that bargain bin like my 2nd Mueller APV for $65 which if anyone knows that scope it darn near brings the full price used on eBay, it is just that good of a scope. Well t hey had the SWAT scope on GunBroker and I watch their listings on there. I went in to check it out and let me tell you out of all the Barska scopes I own or have handled this scope puts a new meaning to the words clear & crisp. Pardon me when I say this but, if you were so inclined you could watch a flea take a dump on the woodchuck you are going to shoot with this scope.

Now I am not trying to sway you, Frank or anyone reading this, that Barska is the "be all end all" in scopes. All I am saying is on a limited budget you can get some really clear optics that hold zero shot after shot until you have the cash to get what your heart desires. Chances are when (or if) you swap it out you will hang on to it for a spare and if you don't you can easily got the majority of what you spent on it back on eBay.

Now having pumped up Barska let me just say a few things negative. From my personal experience which has taught me to look at Barska scopes closely when I can handle them. When I can't handle them I get them from these sources in this order because they will take care of me if needed but I haven't needed them to do so. Huntinggear (eBay), MidwayUSA and Optics Planet which actually did take care of me on another scope that was not Barska. On the lower end scopes of Barska that I have owned which currently is the Hot Magnum 17 (Barska's answer the the Sweet22/17 BSA) they have a knob on the windage turret to reset zero once you have set zero. They are retained by 3 small allen set screws. The varmint series has these too on both turrets. On my Hot Magnum 1 of the 3 holes was not drilled perfectly 90º into the knob so when I tighten that screw the knob cocks just a bit. Okay, there you have it, That is the negative for my experience. Does it hinder function, nope, but if you are more anal than me it will drive you bat crap. For me it is under the turret cap out of sight out of mind except when I am writing talking about it. If I had not special ordered it from Dick's Sporting Goods because I had a crap load of rewards checks & I had more patients I would have had them order another and exchange it but I had already installed it. For a 6-18 scope that sells for around $100 it is extremely clear all the way up, holds zero and if you are into the bullet drop turrets it comes with 17gr HMR turret and 3 .22 turrets 40,38 and 36gr. It also comes in 3-12x and 2-7x although I don't know why anyone with buy a 2-7x scope for a HMR rifle.

I guess I am saying just don't discount those "cheap" scopes, especially Barska. I 1st bought one of there scopes off of eBay a few years back because I needed a "cheap" scope for this old Marlin 60 I had that was missing the front sight. $20 shipped they sent me the 4x32 duplex reticle scope with 3/8" rings that bolted up and had that Marlin shooting off hand 1" groups at 25yd with bulk ammo AND that thing was SO CLEAR it was crazy. I ordered 3 more just like that. Low price, good value.

[plinkin]

I may keep the 3-9x on my 22 mag but I think I'll start looking for something with higher magnification for the 17 HMR. Scorpion is supposed to have just as good glass as Leupold (one dealer told me it was even better), so that may be the direction I take.

A few months ago I purchaced a .22 rifle with a Leupold 2-7x33 VX1 on it. The scope is nice and if I had only 1 .22 rifle for squirrel hunting I would buy it but since I have multiple rim fire and multiple Henry levers I can't afford to plunk $200+ down on a scope for everything. For me the Henry rifles all get 3-9x32AO Simmons 22mag scopes. Affordable, clear, generous eye relief which helps in the Henry and it fits the small receiver well. My eye could not tell the difference in clarity between the Simmons and the Leupold. My PayPal account could when the eBay buyer sent me $220 to ship it to him.

Again, I am not trying to gt everyone on the thrifty band wagon and this is why there is so many brands of scopes, rifles, ammo, cars etc, we are all different.

Not every Simmons scope is to my liking. The 6-24x44SF on my .204 is not a favorite of mine. I don't like the Simmons version of Mil Dot in that scope, I don't like the bars in it because they are so thick, every time I pull the trigger I have to refocus the quick focus eye piece and when target shooting at 100 yards no matter where I focus the eye piece or the side focus it is never crisp. Now when hunting NW Pa wood chucks it isn't an issue because as long as I can see the reticle clearly and see the target clear enough it is a done deal. The scope holds zero well. It might get transferred on to my new M25 22H and something else onto the .204 or both might end up with other scopes entirely and I will save that scope for a custom rim fire rig because up close it is clear, crisp and crystal.

[Willy]

Gonna mount a "22 mag" Simmons 3-9x on my Henry 22 as well.; should be plenty good for that....I hope.

[plinkin]

Gonna mount a "22 mag" Simmons 3-9x on my Henry 22 as well.; should be plenty good for that....I hope.

I prefer the adjustable objective version but that is me. Yes it will work nice. You might want to get a little better ring set. For 50yd or less squirrel sniping ect.

[Willy]

I mounted a 4-12x Leupold Redfield (doesn't have adjustable objective, wished it did), on my 17 HMR so I'll give that a try in the next few days. I didn't locktite the threads and hopefully won't need to. Used the weaver rings but I may have to change those. I'm currently using the plastic orange predator shooting rest (about$40-$50); do sandbags work better? I asked one guy at the store and he said whatever you're comfortable with.....