44mag rifle scope?

O

ohihunter2014

New member
picked up an H&R handi rifle in 44mag and would like to add a decent scope for it but keep under $100.

what x would you guys recommend for that rifle. 22inch barrel 100yard max shots?
 
Bushnell Banner 3-9x40mm would fit your budget, and will complement your rifle nicely.

Bushnell Elite 3200 costs a bit more, but I believe under $200 for a 3-9x40mm.
 
Originally Posted By: VarminterrorBushnell Banner 3-9x40mm would fit your budget, and will complement your rifle nicely.

Bushnell Elite 3200 costs a bit more, but I believe under $200 for a 3-9x40mm.

Im not familiar with bushnell but are the 3-9 really long? I have a Nikon 3-9 on a 45-70 and its super long and heavy.

you don't think that's too much scope for that rifle? not arguing just never owned a pistol caliber rifle before so trying to see whats best.
 
The Bushnell Banner 3-9x40mm is an inch shorter than the Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40mm, however, the same weight. The Nikon Buckmasters ARE very long. I find the Banners and the Elite 3200 to be compact.

1-4x and 2-7x scopes often find homes on top of leverguns, I've just never found myself drawn to such low magnification optics. The FOV isn't a problem for me, and personally, I prefer more magnification over less.

One thing of many which sways my preference for a bit more magnification optics on revolver cartridge carbines is the extreme trajectory. The more magnification I have, the better I can estimate my hold over. "Aim small, miss small," as they say - if you can't see closely enough to pick a precise point of aim (POA), you can't ensure you're actually placing the bullet precisely. Having a little extra magnification helps the shooter better identify his hold over. If the body of a whitetail deer is only 10% of your FOV (which is what a whitetail at 100yrds covers in a Bushnell Banner 1-4x), can you REALLY tell whether you are you holding over 10" instead of 14"?


To give you an idea of the scale of the Bushnell scopes, here's a pic of a buck I took with a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40mm on a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun 45-70. With factory Hornady FTX loads, it tracks just a teeny faster MV than a 44mag - 1792fps. This shot was 250yrds, which means 30" of hold over to get on target.
CIMG1340.jpg


Here's a pic of the same rifle with a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x40mm on top. You can see the difference in length - In both pics, you can see the magnification ring sets right above hammer for both scopes, but for the Bushnell in the pic above, the objective lens ends behind the rear sight, whereas the Nikon below (not really fair comparing a 3-9x against a 4-12x) hangs clear over the length of the rear sight - looks like 2-3" longer. You can also use the checkering as a reference - the 3-9x Bushnell barely hangs out as far as the checkering, whereas the Nikon hangs a LONG WAYS over the checkering.
1895_zps9e7b9dd7.jpg


EDIT: I measured a couple of my scopes, my Bushnell Banner 3-9x and Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x are both 11 1/4" to 11 1/2", whereas the 3 of my Nikon Buckmasters I measured (4-12x, 4.5-14x, and 6-18x) were all 14 1/2" to 14 3/4", with the caps in place. So yeah, the Nikons are about 3" longer scopes than the Bushnells.

The Elite 3200 has the best glass of any on the above list. The only reasons we replaced it with the Nikon Buckmaster on my wife's 45-70 in the pics were to gain finger adjustable turrets and side focus parallax correction.
 
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Originally Posted By: pahntr760I would save a bit longer and get something better. $100 optics leave very much to be desired.

^^ 100% agreed. The Bushnell Elite 3200/3500 is about as low end as I'm willing to go anymore, and in that case, only when I'm willing to accept a bit lower optic quality. $250-300 scopes.

Most of my rifles sport Leupold VX-3 or 3i's, Bushnell Elite 6500's, or Nightforce scopes - but not every rifle or every rifle application warrants $650-850, or $1250-1800 scopes...

What I like about the Bushnell Banners is the fact they put what little money they cost towards glass quality. For their class, they are very bright and clear. Their "coin click" adjustment sucks (they hold zero, but may not track perfectly repeatably, but nobody dials drop with a coin click scope anyway), and their lack of parallax correction sucks, but the glass is good for the cost. Other brands throw a lot of features on a scope with schitty glass at that same price point, making for a nearly un-usable scope.

The Bushnell AR line is one of these. BDC reticle, finger turn turrets, side focus on some - but the glass sucks. Nikon Buckmaster II's seem about 50/50 to me - the glass isn't nearly as good as their higher end stuff, and only some of the features are there. I'd rather have good glass with zero features than schitt glass and lots of bells and whistles.
 
I was thinking $100 range cause I'm not sure I'm keeping the rifle and selling it with an expensive scope would probably be a PITA. My buddy said if I don't like it he would give me the $150 I paid for it so...

ill look into those bushnells. thanks guys.
 
Tasco pro point red dot with the 3 min dot. Small fast and effective. I can hit a milk jug every shot at 200yards with my contender in 35 rem. You wont shoot bug holes with it, but I dont think a 44 will shoot bugs at 100 anyway. Will come in under 100 bucks with and aluminum base and it comes with rings.
 
Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014I was thinking $100 range cause I'm not sure I'm keeping the rifle and selling it with an expensive scope would probably be a PITA. My buddy said if I don't like it he would give me the $150 I paid for it so...

ill look into those bushnells. thanks guys.

This is simply foolish. Having a cheap scope on it will be much more of a PITA than selling a quality scope. Cheap scopes have little to no value when trying to resell. A quality scope will bring much more of a figure closer to the original purchase price. You could always remove the scope of you decide to sell the rifle. When you put crap in, you'll get crap out every time.
 
Originally Posted By: pahntr760 Originally Posted By: ohihunter2014I was thinking $100 range cause I'm not sure I'm keeping the rifle and selling it with an expensive scope would probably be a PITA. My buddy said if I don't like it he would give me the $150 I paid for it so...

ill look into those bushnells. thanks guys.

This is simply foolish. Having a cheap scope on it will be much more of a PITA than selling a quality scope. Cheap scopes have little to no value when trying to resell. A quality scope will bring much more of a figure closer to the original purchase price. You could always remove the scope of you decide to sell the rifle. When you put crap in, you'll get crap out every time.

I agree on getting a quality scope but when I told him the other night I was going to put a Nikon or redfield on it he said how much would it be if you sold it like that. I said deffinetly not $150. he seemed a little turned off about that. I have a Nikon slug hunter on my slug gun I like so may try that on the 44mag and go from there. I figure if I paid $150 for the gun which will most likely be sighted in a hunted with this year if I put a $200 scope on it and don't like the gun I would ask $300 for scope and gun. they are still going for $300 full retail at a lot of stores.

Mounting the Nikon now for a test run just cause I want to shoot it.
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You don't have to sell the scope with the rifle. You seldom get your money out of a scope when you sell a rifle that is scoped as a package. I've seen plenty of scoped rifles for sale that had a scope on board that I didn't care for. If the seller won't separate the combo it's a no go for me usually. I don't want to pay for something I know I'm not going to use and don't want the bother of trying to flip.

In your case, buy a decent scope, use it, remove it for you to use on something else later, sell the bare bones rifle to your friend. I'd toss Weaver and Burris in for inexpensive options with decent glass for the money.
 
Fixed parallax is fixed parallax, just something to deal with in lower cost scopes. For typical 44mag ranges - 0-200yrds - with lower magnification range scopes - like 3-9x - and considering the expectation most people have for 44mags - 2-4MOA - you won't experience any significant parallax errors.

That Bushnell Elite 3-9x40mm in the pic with the buck is fixed parallax at 100yrds, and I used to shoot that rig to 300yrds with that rifle regularly. That buck was killed at 250yrds. Draw away from the scope a bit to reveal the black halo, center the image in the black (uniform thickness), and let it rip. The crosshairs will be a bit blurry and can wash out a bit, but as long as everything is centered, it'll hit where you aim it.
 
The Redfield 2x7 isn't a bad scope for the money and the magnification is about right for your rifle.
 
A youth stock on that 16 inch h&r is quick handling. My daughter will still drag her 223 with the pro point out when we go fill feeders. Thatbis gonna be a cool little gun in 44.

Just a tip. Dont bear down on the fore arm screw. Just snug is all you want. You should also make sure that the fore end does not put pressure on your barrel. Dont ovver scooe it. A 1.5×5 is more than enough.
 
ugh. centerpoint. that's like strapping a $75 brick to your gun. they weight about as much, and the one i bought the glass was almost as clear as one. it was ok on broad daylight, but absolutely useless in low light conditions.

i had picked up one of the IR models - the settings adjusted from floodlight to solar flare. i tried to shoot a raccoon by the barn one night under the yard light with the reticle illuminated and it was so bright it kept washing out my night vision - even on the lowest setting red - and it was bright enough that you could see the inside of the tube looking into it.


i sold it to a neighbor down the road as a cheap knockaround scope for his kid's 22 for $20 just to get rid of it.
 
Originally Posted By: Plant.Oneugh. centerpoint. that's like strapping a $75 brick to your gun. they weight about as much, and the one i bought the glass was almost as clear as one. it was ok on broad daylight, but absolutely useless in low light conditions.

i had picked up one of the IR models - the settings adjusted from floodlight to solar flare. i tried to shoot a raccoon by the barn one night under the yard light with the reticle illuminated and it was so bright it kept washing out my night vision - even on the lowest setting red - and it was bright enough that you could see the inside of the tube looking into it.

yeah not way I'm putting a center point on there. Nikon, vortex, Redfield is what im looking at so far. I have a Bushnell 3-9 with the lighting crosshairs and I cant even use the light because it glows the whole dang scope. I think its time to start selling some of this junk I picked up over the years.
i sold it to a neighbor down the road as a cheap knockaround scope for his kid's 22 for $20 just to get rid of it.
 


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