SmallCaliberCentral

I am shooting a Ruger M77 Predator 204 and want to stretch out to 400 plus yards for small game. What's the highest magnification in a variable scope forum mambers are using, is 32 x over the top?

Not sure how small you mean by "small game", but my varmint rifles wear scopes from 4.5-14X, some have 6-18X on them, but most of my rigs all wear 6.5-20X LR scopes, all Leupold. IMHO, 32X is far too much magnification for varmints.....too small a field of view, mirage during warm weather will preclude ever using that much power, and unless you want to spend on the north side of a grand, you won't find decent optics to support that much magnification. Those scopes are designed for dedicated BR shooting.

The 204R gets along just fine at 400 yards on both prairie dogs and ground squirrels using 14-20X. Most of the time I find my scopes set between 12X-16X for shooting rats even past 400 yards. By around 09:00 or 10:00, it's usually warm enough that the mirage won't allow much more magnification than that anyway. In any event, you'll want a variable; if you also shoot coyotes, better figure on something like a 4-12X or 4.5-14X to give a decent FOV for the closer and moving shots predator hunting usually involves. JMO

I have to agree with Rick. I am also shooting our little Belding squirels, (AKA Skippy). Small targets at 200 yards and farther. My 204 and my 223 both wear 6-18x40mm AO Lupy's. Most all of my shooting in the field are done at 12 to 14 power, and even as low as 10 in the heat. About the only time I go to the higher power is for looking for bullet holes in targets that I cannot see at a lower power. For my 20VT, still waiting on, I already have in my hot little hands a 6.5-20x40 AO VXIII w/Varmint Hunter Reticle, just waiting for the rifle. As for my 270's for deer hunting, one wears a 3-9 VXII and the other wears a 4-12 VXI.
I would suggest,however, whatever scope you choose, get as good optics as you can afford. JMHO

Rick in Oregon and futuretrades many thanks for your helpful advice, exactlty the information I was after.

Just adding my 2 cents:

Rick is right. I started off with a Leupold 4-12 x 40 and then went to a Millette 6.5-25 X 56. Waaay too much scope for the reasons Rick stated. Wanted something for both paper and critters but found myself dialing down the magnification to 16x or less. That mirage and lowered FOV kinda takes the fun out of it.

6-18x40AO Leupold. I don't need anymore than that & unless I'm at the range I don't go over 12.

I have the Leupold VX3 8.5 x 25 with the varmint reticle on 2 PD rifles. Liked the first one so much I went and bought another for the next rifle. I also have an M77, it has a Bushnell 4200 8 x 24. Longest PD kill with the M77 was 492 yards. Not near as long a shot as others have made, but I was pretty happy with it. (wind was blowing, sand was in my eyes, mirage, bench was unstable...)

Kirk