Recommendations for a big scope for an old fella with a .22?

[CarolinaColtCollector]

My dad joined a group at his church that does “long distance” shooting, he asked if he could borrow one of my guns for the events. We settled on my Henry .22 for a bit and then stepping up to my 20” AR.

Aaanyway. He needs something with a big field of vision and that’s pretty forgiving for eye relief. I know it would look funky but I was thinking one of the Sig Whiskey 3 or something of that nature. Price point would preferably be $250 and down, trying to avoid having more into the optic than the rifle in this case.

Anyone have any suggestions? Or anything hiding in a closet they want to sell? I had him shooting a pellet rifle the other day and he seems to be able to put rounds on target still, just had issues seeing through an ollllld Bushnell scope.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Have you considered the Sig Sauer Buckmasters 3-9x40mm - BDC #SOBM33001, Athlon Talos 3-12x40, Sightron 3-16x42, Burris Fullfield E1's or Burris Fullfield IV's? As a long standing supporting vendor here on the forum it is our pleasure to assist in discussing different options and opportunities with you. Please give a call, 516-217-1000, when you have a few moments

 

[Shady Grady]

Don't have a recommendation other than I definately recommend buying from ^^^^

https://cameralandny.com/ is fantastic to deal with.

 

[#1gohunt]

Not trying to talk you out of gr8fuldoug offer above. But I bought a Hammers scope 3x9 with adjustable paralax. It worked very well. Needed a scope to try out on my 22 target rifle so I swapped it and tried it out. I was impressed with the results for the price. It is now back on my pellet rifle.

 

[711b]

As a pretty old geezer myself, I can tell you that what will matter most is the size of the tube (e.g., 30mm vs. 1 inch) and the size of the objective. This is what will gather more light and provide a better (and larger) image -- assuming that other things are roughly equal in terms of optical quality (which they really aren't, but we can pretend for practical purposes in cases like this).

I currently have a (fairly old) Tasco 6-24x40 on my CZ 455 and will likely be looking for something better once I finally get everything sorted out to my satisfaction in terms of bedding, trigger, etc. (it's been an ongoing project off and on for several years). So I'm looking at 30mm tubes and 50 (or 50+) mm diameter objectives (with adjustable objective, of course). Another thing you should probably consider for him is an illuminated reticle since that can make up for some sins in the case of a lower cost scope with less than excellent optics.

Then, it's mostly a matter of preference and price range. Unless he wants to get into precision matches at 100+ yds, I honestly don't see any point in dumping a pile of money into this purchase. There are a lot of pretty low-end products out there that will be good enough and that he will be comfortable with, without breaking the bank. In my case, my old Tasco may end up being "good enough" to allow me to do what I want to do and have a good time. But then it may not. We'll see.

 

[Amanda4461]

At the price you listed, it will be Chinese if new, or you might find an older Leupold or Burris.
If he won’t balk at buying Chinese, try out an Athlon from Doug at Cameraland. They have excellent quality lens and construction. Price is very low.

 

[Ethan Montgomery]

The Arken SH4 6-24X50 is a great option. One of my buddies has this on one of his little bolt action .22 rimfire that works like a charm. Not to mention its only $300 right now on their website. They have a pretty fantastic deal on their website that will also include the ring mounts and optics covers for a little bit more of a cost. Overall, this is a pretty solid optic for the price. I see some of the higher power optics from Vortex reach around $1000, and its just not necessary.

I would watch a video on this optic to see if the field of view and eye relief is too his liking. Last time I shot a rifle with this optic, I loved pretty much everything about it.

 

[Supermatch]

The Weaver classic series offers pretty good bang for the buck in sub-$300 target scopes.

 

[Weaklink]

Being an old dude myself, I will tell you that having an adjustable focus is a priority for my old eyes. I have three Vortex Crossfires with the Adjustable Objective on the end bell. I think Sportsman's Warehouse had a 6x18 for $150, or you can find the 4-12 x56 for around the same price. I have a 4-12 Crossfire on my Ruger .22 and regularly shoot out past 150 yards and can see hits.

I had a regular non-adjustable Vortex 4-12 Diamondback on my .22 at first, but when shooting under 60 yards the focus was not great. I also own a few PCP airguns, and the ability to focus under 100 yards is a must.