Scope for 204 ruger
- Thread starter seasley
- Start date
Hecouldgoalltheway
Well-known member
I don't put anything higher than a 3 on the low end of the mag range on a coyote rifle. They like to run in at 20' sometimes, and they are awful hard to identify, and shoot while running with more magnification. Most of my daytime rifles are 1-10 lpvo's. I started playing with those a couple years ago, and I may never change. 10x is enough to shoot any shot I'll ever get where I live, with few exceptions..
spotstalkshoot
Well-known member
5-30 would be a good prairie dog/gopher scope.
spotstalkshoot
Well-known member
I have been looking at the Sig msr line of scopes, probably a 1-8x.
I have pair of 20P's one is wearing a 2-12 and the other a 1.5-5. the 2-12 is on a rifle more dedicated to open country and the 1.5-5 is on a rig I use more often as it is more of a lightweight carbine. No matter what scope I'm using while calling coyotes I want at least a 40' FOV at n the bottom end and more is better. I keep them on the bottom end until more is needed for a long shot.
Hecouldgoalltheway
Well-known member
I've got 2 of their 1-10's. The glass isn't really good enough to be a 10x, so the 8x probably makes plenty of sense. They are pretty good, though. Good enough for predator hunting. Comes with a nice 1 piece mount. The reticles are good, illuminated. I'm going to try the 2-12 next, but they are a good choice for a coyote rifle, in my opinion..
spotstalkshoot
Well-known member
HCGATW when you have them set at 10x are they dark, but useable midday on targets?
Plant.One
Well-known member
understanding your usage of your optic is critical to knowing what the right specs for that optic are gonna be. 5-30x is great for somethings, but awful for others. this has been driven home to me on a very personal level because of my exposure at the gun club and our new(ish) 500 yd range.
over the last year i've spent a fair amount of time helping our club rifle director oversee the proficiency exam for our 500 yd range as a spotter. just because of the distance and the relatively minimal access folks around here have to shooting out past 200 yds... we just want to know that you at least have a basic understanding of how to click your optic, use a ballistic app to get a basic dope chart, and identify targets. and then you're free to go. its the only part of the club thats restricted in this way.
our course of fire for the exam is arrive with gun zeroed at 100 yds. fire two rounds on steel plate at 100 yds. adjust optic for 300 yds, fire two rounds on steel plate. adjust optic for 500 yds and fire two more rounds. all targets are 6 moa steel gongs. no real time limit, but we'd like if you can be done in less than 15 minutes - just for efficiency sakes. shooters are allowed two misses total. 3rd miss and you DQ, try again next month (now soon to be next quarter since we have most of the members who want access covered)
the kicker is, there is steel at the 100 yd, 200 yd, 300 yd & 500 yd berms. we explain that as part of the safety briefing. all shooters are aware before they uncase their guns that the 200 yd line is not used in the course of fire for the exam at all. but the steel is out there, and just as freshly painted as the other gongs are.
one of the most common errors we have are folks with high magnification optics thinking they need to be on super high magnification for everything and misidentifying which target theyre shooting at. ie: they hit the 200 when they're either on the 100 or 300 yd stage of the course of fire.
which of course, not only puts you at seirous risk of DQ, but its also a violation of basic firearms safety rules - know your target.
so you can imagine that out in the field, trying to identify a target - no less locate one - is proably quite a bit more difficult than doing so while trying to hit a 6 MOA gong at the range with no time limit to do so, and no worry about the target moving.
i can also tell you from personal experience - even with my cr@ppy eyes - you can very much see - & more importantly hit! - a 1.5" gong at 500 yds @ 16x.
so as others have said... shooting prarie dogs at 400 yds? 5-30 is probably a decent choice. same for like groundhogs at distance. coyotes at 50 yds? probably not so much.
Sometimes less really is more!
over the last year i've spent a fair amount of time helping our club rifle director oversee the proficiency exam for our 500 yd range as a spotter. just because of the distance and the relatively minimal access folks around here have to shooting out past 200 yds... we just want to know that you at least have a basic understanding of how to click your optic, use a ballistic app to get a basic dope chart, and identify targets. and then you're free to go. its the only part of the club thats restricted in this way.
our course of fire for the exam is arrive with gun zeroed at 100 yds. fire two rounds on steel plate at 100 yds. adjust optic for 300 yds, fire two rounds on steel plate. adjust optic for 500 yds and fire two more rounds. all targets are 6 moa steel gongs. no real time limit, but we'd like if you can be done in less than 15 minutes - just for efficiency sakes. shooters are allowed two misses total. 3rd miss and you DQ, try again next month (now soon to be next quarter since we have most of the members who want access covered)
the kicker is, there is steel at the 100 yd, 200 yd, 300 yd & 500 yd berms. we explain that as part of the safety briefing. all shooters are aware before they uncase their guns that the 200 yd line is not used in the course of fire for the exam at all. but the steel is out there, and just as freshly painted as the other gongs are.
one of the most common errors we have are folks with high magnification optics thinking they need to be on super high magnification for everything and misidentifying which target theyre shooting at. ie: they hit the 200 when they're either on the 100 or 300 yd stage of the course of fire.
which of course, not only puts you at seirous risk of DQ, but its also a violation of basic firearms safety rules - know your target.
so you can imagine that out in the field, trying to identify a target - no less locate one - is proably quite a bit more difficult than doing so while trying to hit a 6 MOA gong at the range with no time limit to do so, and no worry about the target moving.
i can also tell you from personal experience - even with my cr@ppy eyes - you can very much see - & more importantly hit! - a 1.5" gong at 500 yds @ 16x.
so as others have said... shooting prarie dogs at 400 yds? 5-30 is probably a decent choice. same for like groundhogs at distance. coyotes at 50 yds? probably not so much.
Sometimes less really is more!
Hecouldgoalltheway
Well-known member
Yes, but not too bad. It's usable, but not spectacular. I use them on 10x to zero at 200y, and other than that, I probably haven't had to go up past about 7x or 8x for a shot in the field since I started using them..
crowslayer17
Member
I really like the 2.5x10 Bushnell 4200 on my AR 204 and Tikka 243. It's set 2.5 - 4x probably 95% of the time. Like AWS said always keep it tuned down until you need it. One nice thing about the lower powered scopes is the fixed parallax. It's just one less thing to mess with or have set wrong at the wrong time.
I think of that much power as more of an precision option for prairie dogs, woodchucks, or maybe stalking fox.
The 204 doesn't really have the killing power for the distance those higher magnifications are useful for.
I'd say if you already have it, give it a try. Otherwise save yourself some weight and money.
Just my opinion from my hunting style experience.
I think of that much power as more of an precision option for prairie dogs, woodchucks, or maybe stalking fox.
The 204 doesn't really have the killing power for the distance those higher magnifications are useful for.
I'd say if you already have it, give it a try. Otherwise save yourself some weight and money.
Just my opinion from my hunting style experience.
Utahcaller
Active member
I have been using the Nightforce SHV 3x10-42mm on both my CZ .204 Ruger and my Remington 700 .22-250 Ackley Improved and I really love them. They are a very tough well built scope,hold there zero’s very well, track perfectly and have really good glass and are pretty short and compact.