SmallCaliberCentral

CZ 527 Varmint in .17 Hornet. Will probably get the Calhoon low mounts plus modified bolt handle. This is for sage rats under 200 yards in general, mostly under 100. I am leaning towards a Leupold VHR reticle 4.4-14x, but am willing for other options. I need a fine reticle for these little guys. Price range under $900.

Swift Premier 4-12x40AO. Usually around $170 shipped. I have 3 of them & they've become my go to scope. Picking up another in silver for my HMR this Spring.

http://www.eabco.net/Swift-4-12x40mm-AO ... 14013.html

Thanks, will take a look!

Bodei: Another Leupold alternative, less expensive, and entirely suitable for 200 yard sage rats is the VX2 4-12X40mm with their LRV or "Long Range Varmint" reticle. Fine Duplex with two lower horizontal hashmarks for extended range.

My CZ 527 221FB wears one, along with Calhoon 'Hunker Mounts', and a CRT stainless bolt handle (which now wears a teardrop knob). Even though it's not a HB, it's very effective on rats out past 300yds, so would just about duplicate what you want to do with your 527 in 17HH:



With what you'll save over the VX3 4.5-14X, you can put towards powder, primers and mucho bullets!

Thanks Rick, great suggestion! My buddy has a VX2 4-12 mil-dot that he is selling, only thing is its the 50mm objective which I am worried wont sit right with the low hunker mounts. I will check out his scope on Thursday, I know he will sell it to me for what he paid for it and less (factory discount price). May be the quick, easy solution.

I was also directed to this http://www.burrisoptics.com/veracity4x20x.html scope and I wonder if anyone has had experience with it. The reticle (E1 FFP Varmint) looks like a Leupy rip-off. This scope I can get for about 50% off retail, but I never used Burris high-end glass before. Plus it may be a better fit for my 204 rather than a 17 hornet.

Bodei. I had a Burris fullfeild e1 6.5-20x50. I liked the reticule very much but there were a few things I I didn't like about the scope. Most were just personal preference but I didn't like the feel of the turrets. They were smooth and didnt seem to click. I didn't like not having side focus and to my eyes the glass wasn't as good as any of my leupolds. I too bought it because I received a 50% discount. I tried and spent a lot of money on df scopes and have all but one that is leupold and that is a bushnell 6500 elite 4.5-30x50. Which I will probably sell soon and replace with a leupold.

Not to sound like leupold is the only way to go but again personal preference and to my eyes leupolds gllass is the clearest. I'm sure there are lots of opinions but that's mine. HtH

I have spent lots of hours shooting prairie dogs and leupold is the only scopes I take with me now and my eyes thank me for it. Also all my buddies that hunt with me and that have tried my gun have either switched to leupold or want one.

Shoot straight and be safe
Bob

Agree with RIO on the VX-2 with LRV reticle. I like mine in 6-18X though, as Leupolds' f.o.v. seems to run smaller than other brands; still a small scope size-wise in that higher power. VX-2s, with their new glass, are the stone-cold "bargains" of the Leupold brand.

Rick in Oregon wrote:Bodei: Another Leupold alternative, less expensive, and entirely suitable for 200 yard sage rats is the VX2 4-12X40mm with their LRV or "Long Range Varmint" reticle. Fine Duplex with two lower horizontal hashmarks for extended range.

I also have the same scope as RIO on my 17HMR. I would not hesitate recommending this scope to anybody. I also have to agree with fisnbob, about time spent behind my scopes in the "rat" fields. I will say, get the Leupold, and don't waste your hard earned dollars on, so called "bargains". I think your eyes will thank you for the better glass!
Just my 2 cents!

Right, thanks everyone. Today I went "shopping" at some of the big stores in town to look through the glass in person. The only two that stood out in the mid range prices were Leupold and the Zeiss "Terra" as far as clear glass at all magnification levels. I am pretty sure that is where my money is going. When looking through scopes for hours at a time without a break, clear glass is the deciding factor. Some other scopes had nice features and weren't bad, but no comparison.

I have been very happy with my Vortex Viper scopes on my varmint rifles. Check out the 4-16x44 Viper HS with the BDC reticle. The side focus is really handy. They sell for about $500. I think that you will extend the range on your rifle once you get used to it and give it a try. I shoot 200 yards at sage rats and prairie dogs with a 17 HMR with good performance. Great luck with your 17 Hornet.

I would push the 17 hornet out farther, but thats's what the 20 VT and 204 are for in my "arsenal". There's just way too many targets under 200 to even waste a round out that far. For PD's I bet it would be different. I'll look through some vortex scope next time I'm at the store. Haven't looked through em for a while. When I did a few years ago I wasn't too impressed.

The best scope for the money I've found would be the vortex viper series 500-1000$

Get the best glass you can afford because it greatly reduces eye fatigue. The comments regarding looking thru a scope a good portion of the day are spot on.

Jim White wrote:Get the best glass you can afford because it greatly reduces eye fatigue. The comments regarding looking thru a scope a good portion of the day are spot on.

Regarding Eye fatigue what I believe he's talking about is resolution. When you're looking for fine detail on the target better resolution will assist in this. How do you test it? Put a bottle cap out at 100 yards. A beer bottle will work as well if there is fine lettering on the label. The more detail you can see on the bottle the better the scopes resolution. This is a great test that you can run comparing to scopes at the same time aiming them at a simulated target even in the scope store will allow you to do this.

While a little harder to test, tracking is something else that is important. For example, when you click in five mils of elevation a modern scope should give you that change. In the old days, not too long ago elevation numbers were just approximations because nobody ever did anything to change the adjustment after the scope was sighted in. Ballistics tables and chronographs have made accurate tracking almost a necessity, especially for long-range target or varmint hunting. The more you spend for a scope, the more likely these features will be better.

Tube diameter in my view should be a minimum of 30 mm. I actually like a little more but that drives the price up for the scope. Knob scales should be in the same units as the reticle. If you have a mill scale reticle and the knob units are in mils, then it is an easy matter to correct and check zero by firing two shots and measuring the displacement with the scale and dialing in the necessary change.

Another item that is very useful is a quick change zero feature. This allows you to modify your zero stop on the fly depending on shooting conditions, etc. I also like extended travel knob scales. On my scopes typically 65 or more mils the rotation is typical.

It is also important to have rings and bases that will clamp the scope to the rifle and never vary. Spending a little more quality rings and bases can actually save your hunt. Not all scopes will give you all the features you want, but these are things to think about in my view. Since there are so many options this is not something you can decide without considerable study and analysis especially when under a tight budget.

As a general rule of thumb I like to spend about as much for the scope as I do for the rifle. Think about the scope expenditure another way. If you spend the time and money going on a hunt with the attendant expense for lodging, gasoline, etc. having this hunt ruined by a failed or incapable scope is unacceptable in my view. I don't recommend any particular brand of scope because everybody's requirements are different.