[coltdog]

I was leaning towards a Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40. Lots of guys like the 3-9x40.....Have never owned a .223, until now, and want to know your opinion on the power scope to use. I will be mainly punching paper and shooting groundhogs/prairie dogs in the future, occasional yote.

Opinions?

 

[Bird Dog II]

For those stated purposes, have you considered a 10x fixed? Fixed scopes tend to be brighter due to have fewer lens and moving parts and are naturally more durable as well.

 

[KT29]

On my .223's that I use mostly for shooting prairie dogs, the 4-16's and the 6-18's have served me well. Enjoy your .223. They are fun.

 

[TMan]

I can shoot a prairie dog with a 3X-9X scope, about as far as I can stretch the .223, on a varmit weight gun. A 4X-12X is even better for small targets a log ways out.

My current .223 was acquired to shoot yotes and foxes, and an occassional ground hog. It's a little CZ American and weighs in at about 7lbs loaded with a sling, and a Leupold 3X-9X AO Compact. At 3X, I can still get on a moving yote at 25yds, and at 9X clearly line up a chuck at 300+.

Having owned a .222/.223 for the last 40 years of some type or another, I know you can cause a lot of varmit funeral's with a fixed 6X scope, right on out to 350-400yds if you guess the range correctly, and know your drop.

 

[BEL]

Scope

When you big guys stop shooting things that can't shoot back try SpecterDR 1x-4x by Elcan.

 

[broom_jm]

When you big guys stop shooting things that can't shoot back try SpecterDR 1x-4x by Elcan.

Yeah, that's great advice...put a 4 power scope on a rig that's meant to shoot small targets at 300 yards. You might want to read and understand the thread before offering your thoughts?

 

[unclepaddy]

I like lots of magnification when I shoot varmints. Since most of my varmint and predator shooting is done without much hiking, and is usually off a rest of some kind I lean toward bigger scopes and a minimum of 12 power on the high end of a variable for my .223. I wouldn't be against an 18 power or more, but the cost for a higher power quality scope starts to get a bit much for a gun that is really at it's best under 300 yards anyway.

 

[Bird Dog II]

Yeah, that's great advice...put a 4 power scope on a rig that's meant to shoot small targets at 300 yards. You might want to read and understand the thread before offering your thoughts?

Yeah no kidding, and having been downrange and "done that", I don't even know why he feels the need to bring it up in this case.

 

[Jim H]

i have to agree with what others have stated, for your intended use and not being used as a walk around sporter, a higher magnification scope will give you the image you're looking for and by buying a decent quality brand optic you should be able to use the full range of magnification without image issues. good luck and by all means don't go cheap on us now, make sure you put decent mounts between that rifle and the glass on top.

 

[MontyF]

Another vote for something in the 4-14x or 6-18x. As I get older and my eyes haven't ever been the greatest I appreciate the bigger scopes. One other added advantage is most everything over 14 power has adjustable parallax, which takes away a potential small sighting error at longer ranges.