6-24X50 or 8-32X50 scope???
- Thread starter jb7mmstw
- Start date
I agree with Brad H. I too have a 6.5 X 20 and it is always set on 6.5. I do not do much prairie dog shooting but the times I have, I thought the 20 power was plenty even for long shots. If I had it to do over I think I would look at something in the 4 X 16 X 50 range though, as I predominantly predator hunt and even 6.5 can be too much when there really close.
CHeck 'em all out and pick the one your comfortable with.
Goodluck
CHeck 'em all out and pick the one your comfortable with.
Goodluck
Phylogenesis
New member
In general I think anything over 3 or 4 power on the low end is a pain when hunting predators. It is nice to have a higher upper power when you get that rare 350 yd shot a yote sitting still but most if not all shots will be sub-150 yds. When calling I'm set on the lowest power (3 on my normal) and then any long shots will allow time to crank it up.
P-dogs on the other hand can make a high power scope fun. Still anything over 16 or so is hard to use unless you have a cool day with very little wind.
Light is easy. If you buy some monster 50mm scope and mount it on your rifle with 15 inch high rings (sarcasm) you will have all the light your eyeball can handle up to about 14 power. At 4 power you could actually have an objective of 20mm and still have all the light you can use.
All that said -- my advise is to get whatever you like. The only person you need to impress is you.
P-dogs on the other hand can make a high power scope fun. Still anything over 16 or so is hard to use unless you have a cool day with very little wind.
Light is easy. If you buy some monster 50mm scope and mount it on your rifle with 15 inch high rings (sarcasm) you will have all the light your eyeball can handle up to about 14 power. At 4 power you could actually have an objective of 20mm and still have all the light you can use.
All that said -- my advise is to get whatever you like. The only person you need to impress is you.
Four of my rifles are dual-purpose rifles. I use them for both predator hunting and prairie dog shooting. Three of them have Burris Fullfield 6x-18x scopes and the fourth, my .17 Remington, has a Burris Signature 6x-24x.
When I start calling on a stand my scopes are usually turned to 6x. If I have a fast charging predator that won't stop, the scope stays on 6x. If I have a predator that seems inclined to stay out beyond 75 to 100 yards I may crank the scope up to somewhere around 8x to 10x or so. If I have one that hangs up at the 200 yard or more range and I have lots of time, I may even crank it up to 18x.
When I am out praire dog shooting, my scopes are usually up on 14x or higher unless I have a few dumb PDs that are less than 50 yards away--then it is down to 6x or so.
I had an 8x-32x scope on my .17 Remington a couple years ago and that was WAAAAAY too much power. Even 6x, on the low end, is too much magnification for those hard charging predators that won't stop. It's hard to pick out which hair on their body will give you a killing shot as they pass by!! You can't even get the scope focused when they are that close. Don't go to 8x as the bottom power. If you are comfortable with long PD shots at 16x as the top power, then a 4x-16x is the way to go for you. If it is a .223 then 16x at 200 to 250 yards should be plenty for prairie dogs.
When I start calling on a stand my scopes are usually turned to 6x. If I have a fast charging predator that won't stop, the scope stays on 6x. If I have a predator that seems inclined to stay out beyond 75 to 100 yards I may crank the scope up to somewhere around 8x to 10x or so. If I have one that hangs up at the 200 yard or more range and I have lots of time, I may even crank it up to 18x.
When I am out praire dog shooting, my scopes are usually up on 14x or higher unless I have a few dumb PDs that are less than 50 yards away--then it is down to 6x or so.
I had an 8x-32x scope on my .17 Remington a couple years ago and that was WAAAAAY too much power. Even 6x, on the low end, is too much magnification for those hard charging predators that won't stop. It's hard to pick out which hair on their body will give you a killing shot as they pass by!! You can't even get the scope focused when they are that close. Don't go to 8x as the bottom power. If you are comfortable with long PD shots at 16x as the top power, then a 4x-16x is the way to go for you. If it is a .223 then 16x at 200 to 250 yards should be plenty for prairie dogs.
I have a 6-24X42 sightron mil dot on my weatherby .243 and mainly use it for my contest gun but it does take a few pdogs once in awhile. The scope rarely goes over 14 power. Speaking of contests, jb7mmstw you said that you hunt west of the river...do you ever enter any calling contests around there too?