long range hunting with low power optics

jackh

New member
im still deciding on what scope to get for my rifle. its a 700 sps-v in .308, its my go to hunting rifle for deer, pigs and varmints. i want to start actually shooting long range, but dont see myself ever actually shooting 1000 yds with this gun. ive always thought something around 4-16 power range would suit me well. i have been looking at IORs 2.5-10x42 ffp mil/mil scope and im leaning towards it. i like everything about it, i just cant decide if its got enough power on the high end for long shots. a larger scope also means more weight and i would like to keep the rifle as skinny as possible. i feel like a 2.5-10x scope is great for the type of hunting i do right now, but might not be enough when i really want to reach out there.



does anyone hunt long range with 10x scopes? whats the longest yall have shot with those scopes, and did you feel that 10x was enough at that range? thanks
 
What type of target size are you ideally wanting to hit at long range? I've hit many sillhouette targets with a standard M16 at 300meters with standard iron sights, and that's not an incredibly accurate standard setup.

10X is plenty if you wanting to stretch out to 600+yards to hit man sized targets. Many military/LEO sniper rifles are fixed power 10X scopes.
 
the gun is my primary hunting rifle for deer/pigs/varmints etc. at the ranch i like to fill up milk jugs with water for targets, theyre fun to watch pop. im thinking about buying some 18" square AR500 steel plates to set up for targets as well.
 
If your going to shoot over 600 I'd go with a little more power. I like to use 14 to 16 power when I shoot at 1000yds.
I have a couple of the IOR 6-24x50mm and a 16 x42mm tacticals and a 5.5-22x50 nightforce I use for my long range shooting. The main thing to look for is to make sure the scope has enough moa adjustment to get out there. One of my rifles is a remington 700 5R Mil/spec in a 308 win and I shoot 190 Berger VLD out of it. It's not real fast but accurate as [beeep] at 1000yds. I need 42MOA adjustment with my 100yd zero to get to 1000yds.

I hope this helps
Brant308
 
A milk jug at 400 isn't a big target either and with my. 223 and the nikon on 14 power landed 9 out of ten rounds.
 
My 3x9 on my 7mm rem mag has taken many things in the 400-550 range. Mostly Mulies in the high desert. Ideally you would want more magnification if you know all you were going to get were long shots, or if you were target shooting, but you said Hunting :-D. A 8x24 is a terrible hunting scope. UNless your p-dogging oe something like that.
 
I think this is more personal then most realize.

I just got rid of a leupold 6-18 because I couldn't handle not having more power, I hated it in fact.

Just something about me, I like higher power. I now have a Bushnell Elite 6500 in 4.5-30X50.

I don't even know that I've shot past 300 yards yet, with the vast majority being at 100 and 200-230

That really isn't even far, I still didn't like having the 6-18 and couldn't imagine having to use it accurately at 600yards for f class.

I've talked to competition shooters on both ends of this as well, some use 14, 16, 18 power for long range matches, some wouldn't touch anything less than 24 power.

Different strokes for different folks, ask the sales person if you can take a few scopes outside to test them. Take different scopes in varying powers and see what you think you'll like. Ask him to bring a rangefinder and range what you consider long distance for a reference point.
 
Although i now use many higher power optics for LR coyotes in my handguns, i just ordered a Nikon 2.5-8x pistol scope for a Specialty pistol and expect great results even to ~600yds. Watched Ernie Bishop run 8 shots in a row at 785 yds. on 8" steel discs with the 3-12x Burris pistol scope at the 2004 ITRC.
 
shot my buddies ar15 this weekend out to 400 with iron sights. really wasnt that bad with a spotter. he used to shoot with that gun in competitions out to 1k yds with iron sights. i was shooting my gun with a 3-9x40 nikon scope on it at 400 and it was ok. the BDC reticle was not that great imo but with a different reticle and better glass, i probably would have done better. we were on a telephone pole right away. i counted poles out to 1k yds in my 3-9x scope and i dont think i would have been comfortable shooting that far with that mag range. more power would have been better but i could have used the 3-9x out to 600 easily. i think leupolds 4.5-14x50 would work well. IORs 3-18x42 would work well also, but ive heard its pretty heavy.
 
Jack, it's a fine line having a 1000 yard rifle and a deer/predatot rifle as well.
What you give up in one catagory you get in another. What you get in one you lose in another. I really like the 4-16x50 scope. A quick truth, I work for Nikon, and as I have told so many folks, a whopping 4 months, but I have used their products 15+ years. Now that that is out of the way, I am a big fan of the BDC reticle. I have shot 10 inch steel plates at over 600 yards with numerous .cal. of rifles utilizing Nikon's BDC reticle on different scopes. For my hunting shooting style, the Monarch 4-16x50 BDC is a workable scope for all I am going to be hunting/shooting. My longest shot to date on a deer is 427 yards. My longest hit on steel is 623 yards. My usual shot while hunting, less then 200 yards. A big plus with the BDC scopes is Nikon's Spot On program that gives you all the distances for each power setting on your scope. Check it out on Nikonhunting.com, click Spot On logo.
Thanks,
 
when we were in school, we went to 1100 meters with iron sights on iron maidens. those are 19X40" steel targets.

I have also used M1 garands and M14 locally to 1000 yards with irons for long range matches. And that inclueds seeing a lot of guys hitting the 10 and X rings at 1000 yards with iron sights as well.

Just takes practice, just as it would with a scope.

As you get out further, you are going to want finer reticle stadia's. Likely you will also want to go from 1/4 " clicks to 1/8" clicks as well.

Start moving things around really quick at range.
 
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