Advice please .........

[Cleburne]

I recently bought a Remington 700 Tactical from a co-worker in .308 Winchester caliber. It's virtually new. I've added a Harris bi-pod and scoped it with a Burris Short Mag that I got as part of another purchase. The gun shoots well but I think it's capable of better and I'd like to enhance the set up with better optics. I'll likely use it only for punching holes in paper at between 100 - 300 yards. I'm a babe in the woods when it comes to optics and hope to learn from the experiences of others here that are more knowlageble than I. My budget is no more than $500.00. What do recommendations do you have in the way of a quality scope within this price range? Variable power, single power? I lean towards variable, with finger adjustable turrents but the Super Sniper with its fixed power has caught my fancy too. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Cleburne

[Ladobe]

There's good reason why serious paper punchers and long range hunters use high mag scopes with the best glass they can afford and the proper reticle's... to hit small consistently you have to aim small consistently, and you just can't do that consistently at longer ranges with lessor scopes.   So it comes down to how small you want to hit how deep you may have to dig in your pocket to buy.    None of my true LR scopes that could easily dot the "I" at long range could be bought new for $500 even 15 years ago, and at today's prices start at around $1K.   But then my needs were probably different than yours as mine was for hunting where the first shot had to find the mark and make a clean kill.   
 
I'm not a fan of mil dot scopes, never will be... but there are some other great target scopes that can be bought new within your budget and that would probably work good enough for you (unless you will be doing competitive target shooting against folks like the BR crowd).   
 
Most of my LR scopes were 20X to 36X.   But if you can live with less than 20X... I got excellent service from all of these models the latter years before I stopped hunting (all acceptable to 300 yards, some beyond).
 
Nikon Monarch UCC Long Range 5.5-16.5X44 Target AO
Weaver 4-16X42 V-16 Target AO Fine CH Dot MDT
Weaver KT-15X Target Dot
If you can bump your budget up about $100 you might find a Leupold FX-3 4.5-14X40 to consider (a 50mm would be better, but more money).
 
You might also get by with a Leupold FX-3 12X Target Dot for around $500...

Or you could also shop for used to buy more scope within your budget.   That might offer you a bunch of other possibilities for even better scopes (although it probably still won't buy you a top long range scope).
 
FWIW-HTH
 
 

[Cleburne]

Thanks Ladobe. I think I'll take your advise and save up awhile longer to get a better quality, higher power scope.

[Bugflipper]

A used leupold vx3 4.4-14x40 on ebay. A sightron S2 big sky 4.5-14x42. A vortex viper 4-16x44 or 6.5-20x50
On the SS, I would pass. They get a lot of hype. But they aren't the clearest or brightest scope in that price range. They do not have fully multi coated optics. The variable ones are outrageous in price. They were just a Tasco scope built in Japan for a military contract initially. 20 years later optics have progressed, yet it has kept the the same glass and still gets the hype for what ever reason(the base model). For a clearer brighter scope in that price range with fully multicoated optics you could look into Nikon Monarchs. But reports online are dodgy with them honoring their warranty all the time. I have had luck on the 3 times I have sent one back though. If you're not so worried about warranty then there are literally dozens of other good scopes well under 500. I stick with the first 3 brands I recommended because ATK bought out most of the scope manufacturers. I have since been shafted 4 times on "lifetime" no fault warranties.

[Lloyd Smale]

you dont need a sniper scope to shoot 300 yards. 9 or 10x is plenty. A decent 4x12 would probably be ideal. thing is with going with a 3x9 is there so comon that there usually substantialy cheaper then the 4x12s. So for the same money you can get a 3x9 with better glass and better mechanics. Ive shot deer out past 500 yards with 3x9s and cant ever remember thinking i needed more scope when i pulled the trigger and have shot one inch 300 yard groups with a 3x9. For a 308 i sure wouldnt waste money on anything bigger then a 4x12.

[Ladobe]

"I'll likely use it only for punching holes in paper at between 100 - 300 yards."
 
Tells me he wants all the magnification he can get.   It's always more fun to shoot single ragged holes than groups, and you're not going to get that kind of repeatability with a 10X-12X at 300.

[Cleburne]

WOW! There's a lot to consider. Thanks very much for all the great input.

[Brithunter]

The gun shoots well but I think it's capable of better and I'd like to enhance the set up with better optics. I'll likely use it only for punching holes in paper at between 100 - 300 yards.

You think the rifle should do better and it's right off the scope  .................Hmmmm have even considered that it might just be the rifle?

So to my mind the first thing to do is beg, borrow or steal a proven scope of known performance and put in on top of your rifle and try it again. If the rifle does better in grouping then yep you need a better scope.

If on the other hand there is no improvement your just going to have to face it that you either:-

1) need another rifle that does group well

2) your going to have to stump up money to fix the rifle you have.

  So then you have to decide how much your will to sink into this.

Of course one did not mention nor ask are YOU the shooter actually capable of shooting small groups?

It's amazing how everyone thinks they can and are the best there is yet when it comes down to it most of us are just plain ordinary.

How many of us can truely learn to use high magnifications properly?


I also find it strange the modern shooters need scopes the size of Hubble to shoot 100-300 yards. Our eyes must be much poorer than out fore bears.