Tikka CTR 6.5 Creed Scope Suggestions Needed

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greengt88

Well-known member
Just ordered a Stainless 20” CTR…Looking for scope suggestions…Will be mostly shooting from bench at the club, but would like to be able to hunt with it also.
Have been looking mostly at Nightforce NXS/NX8…prefer 2nd Focal Plane, Illuminated Reticle…I like the MOAR reticle…don’t want something too complicated.
Budget range is $1000-1500 and need rings as well…can go more but prefer to stay in that range.
I guess overall goal is a Tactical Rifle that could pull hunting duty if needed.
Not real interested in any of the newer companies (Athlon, Maven, Tract, Chinese made flavor of the month) Also not a Vortex fan.
TIA
 
This might not meet your needs but it is Mils
www.leupold.com

Mark 3HD 8-24x50 P5 Side Focus TMR

When you’re at the range or in competition, you never know what distance you’ll find yourself up against. That’s where the Mark 3HD™ 8-24x50mm comes in. With the most versatile magnification range of the entire series, the 8-24x gives you the flexibility to dominate on any stage or in any situation.
www.leupold.com www.leupold.com
MSRP $700.00
or the Mark 4 HD series
or maybe a Kahles.
 
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In that price range you would have to look at used NF NXS if wanting much power. Have to bump it up if wanting NX8.

New scopes in that price, I'd be looking at Zeiss . Camera Land has sale/rebates on them, plus if you call in they are including Zeiss rings and a code for a Kenton custom turret, if you get exposed turret scope.

I only have one currently ,its a 4-16x44 . I've been pleased with it so far.
 
Have not used the NF SHV line up ,but they are in you budget. I do know for a fact phone calls will get you a better price than MAP ,as seen online.
 
On another site a guy really raves about the Arken scopes. I bought into the hype and bought one at a gunshow. It wasn't the model I wanted but I wanted to give Arken a try. Mine is 34MM tube and I didn't like that but as for performance and clarity, it seems to be working pretty good but I have only used it a couple of times since I bought it. On a negative, mine is a tank. Large tube, and really large knobs but that may be just the model that it is. As for glass, no complaints. Adjustments seem spot on as well. I honestly haven't used it enough to make a really good evaluation and I'm no expert but it seems to be a solid scope and they are budget friendly too.
 
Arken falls in the china flavor of the month scopes..ha

I will say they couple I've played with are a pretty good value . Built like a tank, not lite weight by any means.
 
www.midwayusa.com

Vortex Optics Razor HD LHT Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 2-10x 40mm

Go lighter for heavier pack outs. From Midwest whitetail fields to open-country mule deer, the Razor HD LHT is the one long-range hunting optic you need...
www.midwayusa.com www.midwayusa.com

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Currently looking at the Leica Amplus 6 3-18x44 with L-Ballistc 2 MOA reticle. Trying to keep the setup fairly compact, and don’t really think I need a 56 or even 50mm Objective. The 3-18 mag range seems to be about right. Reticle isn’t a Xmas tree, and still has an illuminated center dot and low enough base mag to still be usable to hunt with…I do want dialing type turrets, I do have a VX5HD 3-15 Firedot, and I don’t really love the turrets on it.
Still researching, but some good suggestions so far.
I did look at the Vortex LHT line, a lot of nice features, but I’m more partial to European stuff. The Leica is $1299 so right at about the top of budget with still needing rings. Looking at the Seekins Rings, but not sure if .82 or .87 height is what I need.
I am get a Nightforce NX8 2.5-20x50 for $300 more,so more googling and YouTube watching…the hunt continues.

Appreciate everyone’s input.
 
greengt88 said:
Looking at the Seekins Rings, but not sure if .82 or .87 height is what I need.
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Seekins is my go to in most everything I shoot

For me, there's never any scope & ring combo that I can use low rings on.

Medium .87' is the lowest I ever go.

For mostly bench or prairie dog shooting, I prefer .97" highs.
 
I’ve got the 2.5x20 and 4x32 NX8 and like them both. I like the mil-c reticle and FFP though. I know other NX8 users don’t really like the eye box in the 2.5 scopes. The 4x32 definitely is more forgiving in the eye box in my opinion. If that’s a deal breaker, I’d go look through a 2.5 before buying.

Have you looked at the Trijicon Credo? I’ve got one of those on my wife’s Sig Cross because she prefers SFP. It’s the 2.5x15 with a simple reticle. That scope can take a beating just as good as a Nightforce and they’re around $800-$1000 bucks.
IMG_9967.jpeg
 
I’ve tried a Burris XTR II FFP in the past and a Nikon F1000 or something like that, and I prefer SFP. FFP makes sense just not my preference.
The Credo HX does look good. I can get that for $1049, the Leica is $1299. Leaning toward the Leica atm.
 
How important do we think dialing turrets and complex reticles are vs a duplex reticles? Max range I will be shooting is 525yds. And what upper end magnification do we think is sufficient?
 
greengt88 said:
How important do we think dialing turrets and complex reticles are vs a duplex reticles? Max range I will be shooting is 525yds. And what upper end magnification do we think is sufficient?
Click to expand...
For a dedicated calling rifle, it's hard to beat a regular SFP scope with duplex type reticle.

It's still nice to have a turret on top and/or a BDC type reticle for the longer shots.

10X to 12X is plenty to get to 600.
 
The dilemma you have is trying to scope a rifle for 2 different possible uses.

I want 20X or more with a fine reticle for shooting groups at distance, & a bold reticle with a good FOV on the bottom end for hunting, but then what type of hunting could be on the menu? A coyote calling scope is/can be totally different than a deer scope.
 
alf said:
The dilemma you have is trying to scope a rifle for 2 different possible uses.

I want 20X or more with a fine reticle for shooting groups at distance, & a bold reticle with a good FOV on the bottom end for hunting, but then what type of hunting could be on the menu? A coyote calling scope is/can be totally different than a deer scope.
Click to expand...
Yes, that’s where my biggest dilemma is. I have 5 deer rifles in various calibers, 3 coyote/predator rifles, 2 varmint rifles…so I guess this should probably be more relegated to being a bench/target purposed rifle. We are hopefully moving to a 90 acre plot of land in the next 2yrs (hopefully less) and I plan to build my own range and shooting house.
 
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