.308 Scope Suggestions

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I just bought my first .308 and now I'll need a scope for it. I'm looking to stay around 4x and up. I have a 3x primary arms on my 5.56 and love it. This may be a stupid question but can I use a .223/5.56 scope on it, I know the BDC will not be correct but I'm more interested whether or not it will hold up with the recoil of a .308. I'm looking to spend $400-$500 new or used.
 
In that price range, Bushnell's higher-powered Elite line is available, and pretty decent. You could probably get a Bushnell Elite 6-24x50mm Tactical on the used market for a bit more than that, or a new Vortex Viper for a bit less.
 
I'm running a Millet 4-16x on my Savage. Great scope and in your price range.

ETA: Probably would help if I gave the model huh? TRS-1 is what I'm using. You can also go 6-25x for a little more, but still in your range.
 
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What do you plan on using it for? (As in what sort of shooting?)

You're going get a dozen people who respond with whatever scope that happen to have, which may or may not be ideal for whatever you plan on doing with it.
 
What do you plan on using it for? (As in what sort of shooting?)

You're going get a dozen people who respond with whatever scope that happen to have, which may or may not be ideal for whatever you plan on doing with it.

This exactly. plus the type of rifle, is it a tactical 308 i.e. Saiga or DPMS or a hunting 308, i.e. Remington or Browning
 
I will be shooting pins and out to 300 yards.

What positions is this done from?

Hitting any sort of pin (duck, candlestick, push) is going to be not so easy at 300 yards if you can't see it. If prone or benched, I'd probably go with as much magnification I could afford with mid-range glass. If standing, sitting, or otherwise, I'd dial it back a bit.

I probably wouldn't worry about BDCs or reticule too much at 300; you're looking at 1.6-ish mil drop at 300 (variation depending on your loads and environment) which is pretty much exactly the height of a (duck) pin. Grab something that you can see through nicely and has some sort of measuring reticule (old school mildots are fine) and have fun.

Lastly, shooting a bowling pin with a 308 doesn't sound super-safe. Don't those things fill up with lead and send bounces off in weird ways? I've never shot pins, so maybe it's not an issue.
 
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(I've never shot pins with a rifle so the following is just me talking out of my ass.)

Bowling pins are skinny and relatively short (18" tall?) and the "sweet spot" area is much smaller than that (maybe 6" tall by 4" wide?) With a .308 the drop from 100 to 300 is around 20", which means you won't be able to get by with a zero and a single hold, so you can either turn the knobs based on range or hold up or down depending. Mil-dots are a bit course for shooting a small target at close range, you be trying to deal with holding half mils (or less,) so turning the knobs is probably the way to go.

I'm assuming that you're just looking to hit them, and not racing or anything like that. I'm also assuming that you'll be shooting from 2 or 3 known distances (probably 100, 200, and 300 yard lines?)

Given those assumptions, I would probably go with a standard target reticle and the strongest magnification I could afford while staying in within a decent quality band. Given the price range I'd probably go with a fixed power 6 or 8x with good eye relief and clear optics. Something like a Leupold FX-II or FX-III, which should go for around $400 retail.
 
(I've never shot pins with a rifle so the following is just me talking out of my ass.)

Bowling pins are skinny and relatively short (18" tall?) and the "sweet spot" area is much smaller than that (maybe 6" tall by 4" wide?) With a .308 the drop from 100 to 300 is around 20", which means you won't be able to get by with a zero and a single hold, so you can either turn the knobs based on range or hold up or down depending. Mil-dots are a bit course for shooting a small target at close range, you be trying to deal with holding half mils (or less,) so turning the knobs is probably the way to go.

I'm assuming that you're just looking to hit them, and not racing or anything like that. I'm also assuming that you'll be shooting from 2 or 3 known distances (probably 100, 200, and 300 yard lines?)

Given those assumptions, I would probably go with a standard target reticle and the strongest magnification I could afford while staying in within a decent quality band. Given the price range I'd probably go with a fixed power 6 or 8x with good eye relief and clear optics. Something like a Leupold FX-II or FX-III, which should go for around $400 retail.

I thought 308 was sort of a "de facto" sniper caliber for the police and what not. Surprised it drops that much.
 
I thought 308 was sort of a "de facto" sniper caliber for the police and what not. Surprised it drops that much.

I imagine most cop snipers are shooting from 200 yards or less, and .mil guys who take longer shots are trained to estimate and compensate for range.

(Actually according the Sierra ballistics calculator it's more like 12" with a 168 SMK. Still too much for a pin though...)
 
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Let me take some of that back. According to the calculator if you zeroed at 260 yards you'd be approximately +3 at 100 and -3 at 300. (I was using a 600 yard zero, which doesn't really make a lot of sense for the situation above.)
 
I imagine most cop snipers are shooting from 200 yards or less, and .mil guys who take longer shots are trained to estimate and compensate for range.

(Actually according the Sierra ballistics calculator it's more like 12" with a 168 SMK. Still too much for a pin though...)


Police snipers typically operate at much shorter ranges than military snipers, generally under 100 metres (109 yd) and sometimes even less than 50 metres (55 yd). Both types of snipers do make difficult shots under pressure, and often perform one-shot kills

Sniper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the average range is 51 yards...

The ASA study, which is titled “Police Sniper Utilization Report 2005,” revealed that contrary to the old 70-yard myth, the average range at which police snipers engage suspects is actually 51 yards.

SWAT Snipers - Article - POLICE Magazine
 
Let me take some of that back. According to the calculator if you zeroed at 260 yards you'd be approximately +3 at 100 and -3 at 300. (I was using a 600 yard zero, which doesn't really make a lot of sense for the situation above.)

Just as an addition I zero my .308 same as my all my other rifles, 200 yards, for consistency. That way I can grab any rifle and readily be accurate. No need to remember individual rifles inside of 300 yards.

I also only use mil dot reticle scopes, again for consistency.
 
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I will be shooting pins and out to 300 yards.
Not practicing on Blue helmets?! Headshots!
The Millett rocks, I would also for a good dollar recommend the Redfield's
http://www.redfield.com/_media/downloads/Battlezone_3-9x42mm.pdf
It ships with a 308 168 gr dial for BDC, comes loaded with a 5.56 55gr dial.
This one is also very nice for the money,
Redfield Revolution 4-12x40mm Riflescope FREE S&H 67110, 67115. Redfield Rifle Scopes.
Snipers hide has some good things to say about these,
redfield battlezone

In all honesty though, I'm a big fan of great glass, it is the difference in shooting. It is also bigger and big money, 1500-4000 depending on what and whether your life or anothers may depend on a single trigger pull.
 
I have a Remington Police with a Springfield Armory 4-14 power with a BDC calibrated for the 168 grain Gold Medal round. It has been on the rifle for 14 years and the zero has never drifted.
 
I have a Millett TRS-1 4-16x50 on my Weatherby and it's a pretty nice scope. For the money the SWFA fixed 10x42 is a pretty sweet setup as well. I use the adjustable zoom less than I thought, but you might use it more, YMMV.
 
I just bought my first .308 and now I'll need a scope for it. I'm looking to stay around 4x and up. I have a 3x primary arms on my 5.56 and love it. This may be a stupid question but can I use a .223/5.56 scope on it, I know the BDC will not be correct but I'm more interested whether or not it will hold up with the recoil of a .308. I'm looking to spend $400-$500 new or used.
Leupold 3X-9X is what I use on my Ruger .308. I got it on sale at the Sports Authority store on Route 28 in Salem, NH. Regularly $249.99; got it for $199.99. Didn't have to pay a MA 6.25% sales tax either, so there is additional savings! Excellent scope. Well worth the money.
 
I'm running a Millet 4-16x on my Savage. Great scope and in your price range.

ETA: Probably would help if I gave the model huh? TRS-1 is what I'm using. You can also go 6-25x for a little more, but still in your range.

i have a TRS-1 as well and for the money it's a good piece of glass.
 
Weaver Tactical 3-15x50 FFP Ill. EMDR(PICS) - Calguns.net

That's a great review on the weaver. I got mine for less than 700 after rebates.

Those pics do not do the glass justice, I can read where it says "RD" in smaller letter on the street sign 220 yards away EASILY. You can see in that review that people can be made out at a MILE.

The thing is a tank, its mil/mil and ffp. Red/Green illum. The only thing that would be nice is Zero stops, but honestly that was hardly an issue for me. Lifetime warranty is nice too, and weaver isn't going anywhere.

At 3X magnification with or without the illum up it can easily be used in "CQB."

All my research pointed me to that as the best scope under 1K.

Here it is on the AR10
20130521_190347_zps17ee9540.jpg


Mike
 
Weaver Tactical 3-15x50 FFP Ill. EMDR(PICS) - Calguns.net

That's a great review on the weaver. I got mine for less than 700 after rebates.

Those pics do not do the glass justice, I can read where it says "RD" in smaller letter on the street sign 220 yards away EASILY. You can see in that review that people can be made out at a MILE.

The thing is a tank, its mil/mil and ffp. Red/Green illum. The only thing that would be nice is Zero stops, but honestly that was hardly an issue for me. Lifetime warranty is nice too, and weaver isn't going anywhere.

At 3X magnification with or without the illum up it can easily be used in "CQB."

All my research pointed me to that as the best scope under 1K.

Here it is on the AR10
20130521_190347_zps17ee9540.jpg


Mike

I may have to look at one of those.
 
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