Scoping a 1922 Savage 99 in 300 Savage

[Mad Dog]

Ya, try some 150 gr pills, it'll take the sting out of it.

Unless your hunting moose you don't need 180 gr.

[DogT]

That's what I figured. I've got some old Hornady 150gr spbt. They should fill the bill. I thought about some 125 too, but since I have the 150's they'll be good. Need some dies though. Oh, wait, they're FMJ BT. That's not good. I probably got those for my M1A1 when I was doing high power comp. Yeah, it's only for the Coyotes and White Tails. Need something to expand on them. I've been impressed with the Nosler Varmagadens in my 112J 220 Swift but I'm not supposed to shoot deer with them here in VA.

[DogT]

I tried the 110 Sierra spitzers and was not too impressed with them with 42gr of 4895 at 2700fps. Their BC is rather poor, so I got some Speer TNT in 125gr. and Sierra ProHunters. I like the Speer more, much better BC. I think I'll also get some 150gr to try just because the fps is not that much different if at all and I can get some much better BC bullets in that weight. But so far I like the looks of the 125 TNT, I just haven't tried them yet. It's going to have to warm up, and I also need to get some brass, it's so expensive one almost might as well just buy loaded ammo for the brass, $35 for 50 brass and less than that for 20 loaded 150 gr Federal. I did that for my 220 Swift 112J, Midway had a deal on 220S so I bought 100. It shoots great but the throat is worn enough I'm missing about 200fps on loads. That rifle is really heavy too.

[DogT]

I got 2 Bushnell scopes. One was a 613944 with a circle-x. It was listed as a 6" ER on Amazon and was about $50. Wife got it for me since she has prime, but the ER is actually maybe 3" or maybe 4, especially at 9x. So I got one from Planet Optics, 613947, Multi-x, and it is shown as extended eye relief even of the package, same price. But it's the same as the 944 except for the reticle. Think I'll just keep the BCD Nikon one that I have on it now, it's zeroed anyhow. The glass in the Banner ones are not that sharp especially on the edges, comparing it to the Nikon.

Now that it's warmed up I'll try to work up some of those 125gr TNT bullets that seem to shoot pretty good in this rifle. If I could just get past this fog I've got in my brain from the pills for my back/leg nerve pain.

[Model24]

Hmmm, I just double checked. 613947 is the part number I have, and it's definitely 6 inches of eye relief. Curious indeed.

[Mad Dog]

Curious, aren't those reticles made for shotguns and muzzleloaders?

[DogT]

Don't know about using them for shotguns, but tomorrow I'll check the ER on all of them again, but as I remember none of them were any farther than the spread of my hand, at least at 9x.

[Model24]

The scopes are advertised for shotguns and muzzle loaders, but I don't know that the reticles are particularly specialized. The Multi-X is nothing more than a duplex.

[Mad Dog]

Sorry I was talking about the circle X.

[Model24]

Ah, so, yes, the circle x seems more like a shotgun reticle, for quick target acquisition, maybe. I'm still not sure why you would use any different reticle for a muzzle loader.

Leupold has introduced a new "Scout" scope this year, 2-7 x 30something, illuminated reticle, that has my attention. It's spec sheet lists 6 inches of eye relief. Why they call that a Scout scope, I have no idea.

[Mad Dog]

I thought a scout scope would have more eye relief than that, it sits on the barrel, not the receiver.

[DogT]

Measured the ER of my 3 scopes today at only 9x for full sight picture. The circle Banner is right at 2.25", the multu-x is right at 2.5 and the Nikon is 3.5". Guess which one is staying. They may work at 6" at some power, but most likely I'll be using 9.

[Model24]

If the eye relief is that low at 9x, I can't believe it gets much better at 3x. That is disappointing.

I was mis-remembering. The Leupold with 6 inch eye relief is the VX-R 1.5-5x33 Firedot. Besides being expensive, it has a 30mm tube.

[DogT]

Not that disappointing given how the Banner scopes distort the area around the center.