What's Your Calling Scope?

LUCKYDOG

LUCKYDOG

Active member
I'm picking up a Remington SPS Varmit 22.250 tomorrow. This will be my coyote gun and maybe some Pdog shooting. I want a decent scope but I can't break the bank. I was thinking about one of The Burris package deals with the GPS included.

1. What scope would you recommend?

2. BDC or no BDC?

I only get to practice out to 100 yards most of the time. I get some practice at 200 to 300 yards. I would however like a scope for longer distances later, if I ever find a place to practice with that long of shot.

Thanks Bryan
 
My 243 has a 2.5-10x50 Kahles CB on it. Good FOV in close and a reach out. I like the first focal plane it has. I've found it works well. Others may have different experiences and opinions.
 
You really need to answer the question of what the majority of your shots will be taken at. For me personally a coyote stand scope and a pd scope are two different things. I don't really pd hunt but know they would be longer shots. In the coyote stand my shots are typically 15-75 yds so I stick with my 2-7x.
 
Burris is a great scope for the money. I would have Burris over Leopold any day. Great night hunting scopes too. I would not get to wrapped around the axel about BDC's. What most people do not understand is that if the BDC/mil dot/ BC, recitals are not calibrated for the firearm they are mounted on, and the load you are using they are pretty much useless, and really act as just a reference. If you want to spend a little more $ you may want to look into Shepard scopes, I have never used one, but they claim to make scopes for specific rifle calibers, based on over the counter ammo. They start out around 680.00 i believe. I have heard their recitals are a little buisy, but are worth the money. Good luck and luck us know what you decide.
 
This will be my designated coyote gun. I might shoot some pdogs, but I have a .223 and a 17HMR for that. I really want it set up for yotes. This will be my first year at really hunting yotes, but I have permissiion on a lot of good properties in Colorado, but I don't know yet how far my average shots will be. My buddy (Gander d. Bander) shoots a lot of his around here at less than a hundred yards, but he has a ton more experience than me.

Thanks Bryan
 
Well, not that this matters and I certainly don't have the most experience but what I found between when I first started calling and now is that the distance of the shot wasn't really any greater before I just see more coyotes now. The terrain dictated the distance of the shot more than anything else. If your buddy is shooting less than 100 yds then likely you will also when calling. IF, and it is a big if, this is the case then personally I would go with a lower powered scope with plenty of FOV.

YMMV
 
I just picked up a used leupy mark 4 cqt. Although it mounts a little high on rifles (seems to be made for the AR) Its still usable.
http://www.leupold.com/tactical/products/scopes/

Optics are awesome, reticle is simple and its illuminated. All in all, if I didnt have an AR to put it on, Id happily use it on a rifle or shotgun and figure a way to get the comb higher.

Other than that, Bushnells in the 3200 or 4200 variety are awesome choices. I know that a 3x9x40 isnt as awe inspiring as a 6x18 or something like that, but they are popular because they are practical. Heres a good choice-

http://www.bushnell.com/general/riflescopes_elite3200_32-2732m.cfm
 
My own personal calling scopes are in the 2 X 7 to 4 X 16 range. I like the lower powers better. But it sounds like this will be a multipurpose gun. A 4200 Bushnell in 4 X 16 would be hade to beat in my opinion for those uses.
 
Quote:
A 4200 Bushnell in 4 X 16 would be hade to beat in my opinion for those uses.



Agreed for this guy wanting to P-dog with it.

Otherwise a 4200 2.5-10X40 would be a great way to go.
 
If it's primarily for coyotes, it would be hard to go wrong with something that has 2x at the low end and 10x or so at the top. If you need it to serve double duty, then you might spend a bit extra and get a Bushnell 6500 with a much wider magnification range. Swarovski also makes a wide range scope (Z6?), but the price will be much higher.

My coyote gun, a CZ527 in .223, is scoped with a Vari-X 2 3-9X40. It works well for coyotes (I've never moved it from 3x). I've shot a few prairie dogs with it too, and out to 250 or so it does just fine at 9x. Further than that and I want more magnification, that's where my dedicated varmint gun comes in though.
 

Leupy 4.5x14x40 A/O. The 4.5 is low enough for expected close shots with decent FOV and I can go up to 14x for load developement, crows and ect.
 
+1 on the 4-16. it has the low power for coyotes or whatever for under 100 yards and then the 16 power if you are shooting something smaller or 300 yards away like a prairie dog.

Alpen is a great scope for under 300. otherwise bushnell sightron leupold burris are well worth the extra money
 
I have a custom made Burris Euro Diamond 3x12x56 with a lighted ballistic plex reticle it sit's on top of my Dtech 243 wssm upper. It has a great FOV on low end and cranked up to 12x shooting at 500 yards is a cake walk.
 
I have several of the Burris Fulfield Scopes and they are excellent i also have several Leupolds and will take a Burris any day over the Leupold for the money. Yes Leupolds are great but a little high for the same size and quality scope. I would not mess with buying the package deal for the reason that I dont like the cheap GPS all that much. I found new scopes on ebay for 232.00 eace shipped to my door off ebay, and it was the scope only. I ordered 5 of them and just got them in last friday. They are te BDC scopes but like stated above you have to be shooting a gun with a specific load to be in range of the BDC. The scopes come with a chart that you can load by that will allow the BDC to work correctly and it does have a load for a 22-250. I am going to drag out one of my 22-250s and load it to the chart this friday to see how well it works. Ill post the info later and maby it will help you on a decision. If you do want to buy the package deal I would look into the one with the spotting scope. I have one and it is great. I bought a mount that will squeeze onto the truck side window and I just leave it in the back seat of my truck. That way its always handy and in there when I go hunting. Just my 2 cents on a scope and some experience form a Burris user.
 
When your calling field of view is the important thing instead of power. Any scope with a field of view less than 40 foot at a hundred yards is usually out of the running for a calling gun. Burris makes fine scopes along with many others recommend above. Just take a gander at the field of view specs first. Most scopes with 7 to 10 power on top work very well for occasional PD, ground squirrel or rock chuck hunting.

I shoot several 3 by 9's, 2 by 7's and even one Simmons 2.8 to 10 AETEC and all have better than a 40 foot field of view at a hundred yards on their lowest power. There's nothing like getting a coyote that's sneaked in to 20 yards and all you can see is a ball of fur or you can't find the yote in the small field of view.

In the spring when I start ground squirrel and rock chuck hunting in earnest the 2 by 7 or 3 by 9 comes off the varmint rifle and a 6 by 24 or 8 by 32 go on for that duty. Nothing wrong with using two different scopes for two different purposes and it gives you another reason to get out to the range and do some shooting.
 
Here's another way you could go since you have the .223 also. Make the 250 a dedicated pd/long range practice rifle with a larger power scope and turn the .223 into a dedicated coyote stand rifle with a low power scope.
 
I'm gonna use a Sightron S1, 3-9x40 Mil-Dot this year. Zero at 200 yards with my .222 Rem and the 1st mil is on at about 350 for the longer ones. Haven't got to use it yet as I just got the scope about a month ago, but will be using it this fall/winter. I like the optics and this is my first Mil-Dot scope, so we'll see how it turns out.

I had a Leupold VX3, 2.5-8x36 prior to the Sightron, but it was my dads scope. I figured it was time to give it back to him and buy my own. The Leupold 2.5-8 worked great for the range of my triple deuce. Killed about 10 coyotes with it from 50-300 yards. Only lost 1 coyote with it and thats because I was shooting at him on the run and didn't hit him very well. Other then that, every other coyote hit with my triple deuce has bit the dust.

My long range coyote scope is a Leupold vx2, 6-18x40 Target knobs w/fine duplex on a 25-06. Have killed quite a few from 300-600 yards with that combo.
 


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