Long Range Scopes for Prairie Dog Hunting

[The N.U.B.]

This one is for Mike on the Got .204 thread.

Here's the story. My father-in-law (pretty new cause I just got married last April) lives in Western Kansas and has been shooting, hunting, and reloading for most of his life. I did some shooting in the Navy, but no real hunting.

I decided to go with the .204 after many protracted discussions with him. I first bought a Kimber ProVarmint. I put a VX-III 6.5x20 40mm SF with Varmint Hunters reticle on it and began to do some Prairie Dog killin. The scope was terrific. I wanted the long range 20 power but not the bulk of the 50mm objective. Problem was, the gun gets hot and I don't want to wait for it to cool.

Then came an XR-100 in .22-250. I figured it was kinda crazy to have two rifles of the same caliber if they were my only two. I looked around at different scopes and decided on the "new" VX-L 3.5x14 50mm with the Varmint Hunters reticle. Leupold wasn't selling the 56mm with side focus yet. The XR-100 is a much heavier rifle and I wasn't concerned with the bulk of the scope.

I then began reloading and going to a range out east of the Front Range to do more shooting. I really liked the ability to spot with the scope and not have to set up a separate sighting system to check my work. The fixed objective of the VX-L was a real pain out on the plains. we might take shots from 70yds out to 500yds. I liked the bright sight picture but was having trouble focusing on the dogs. Not bad, mind you, just not as cool as the VX-III on the Kimber.

Next came an XR-100 in .204 (great rifle, all should have two or three) to help with those high volume shoots. This needed optics, I had credit, Lilja in Montana got a call and a pretty new Nightforce NXS in the 5.5 x 22 56mm arrived. Way too much money for a scope, but the first range trip was incredible. I was shooting some gongs at 400 and I could actually see the bullets splat on the metal.

Soooo....

Lets figure out how to trade the VX-L and add another Nightforce. After a terrific defense of our homeland (pickup) from the advancing hordes of prairie dogs, my father-in-law and I began talking. I offered to trade him the scope for a .38-55 he had. That allowed me to convince myself that I was a scope down and needed a great long range model for the .22-250. Again back to Lilja and a nice 8x32 56mm NXS showed up one day. I figured I'd use the .22-250 for the shots out past 400 due to the killing energy left in the heavier bullets. This is where I found out that I was constantly screwing the power down to find the targets in the field. I think that a 14 to 16 for field work is probably the best combination. I hope to get into some really long range shooting at paper sometime (maybe 6.5 x 284) and that rifle might just wear the big scope.

Summary, I think the 20 power VX-L with side focus would be a terrific prairie dog scope. They weren't shipping when I was buying. I absolutely love the Nightforce scopes. I did consider the Zeiss and liked the target turrets and ruggedness of the Nightforce better. The optics are as bright as any I have ever looked through. The reticles are etched (won't ever break). I tried the trip around the square detailed on this forum (up 1 left 1 down 1 right 1 and back up 1) and found the scope perfectly repeatable. JUST A TON OF MONEY FOR A SCOPE.

Hope my little story helps.

Scott

[Mike]

Scott,

Thank you very much for taking the time to make this thread. I appreciate your insights. Here's my situation:

I'm looking for a new scope for my Cooper in .204. The gun will be used on the bench and prairie dog fields (no stalks or still hunts), so I want higher magnification. I was interested in your experience with the Nightforce scopes because I like the idea of having up to 32 (or 46 if you want to get really crazy) power on hand. I'm trying to decide how much power is too much and stop just short of that. This spring I'm going to go on my first prairie dog hunt (once I find a place in western KS), so I want to get all set before I go.

Thanks again, Scott.

Mike

[Rick in Oregon]

It appears both of you have the same needs; a good scope for PD's and squirrels, with adequate, but not excessive magification. The Nightforces scopes are excellent, but brutally expensive and quite heavy, but if only bench shooting, a moot point.

My bias is well known here, but honestly, I've never, ever needed more than 20X in the field, even for PD's at 800 yards using my 243 Ackley Improved. Personally I'd srongly recommend the Leupold 6.5-20X LR 40mm w/30mm tube and Varmint Hunter Reticle. On most shoots in the field, after the sun comes up, much past about 09:00, you can't use much more than 14X to 16X, and 20X is usually only needed for targets or load development.

I have a couple of these scopes, one mounted on my M77 Swift, the other on my Sako 75V 204 Ruger, and both rifles have accounted for numerous ground squirrels past 600 yards, and those puppies are much smaller than a prairie dog. They are bright scopes, the reticle is excellent, if you put an M1 elevation turret on it, it's the epitome of a LR scope (1/4 MOA adjustments), and half the price of the NF, and about half the weight to boot, with excellent optics and warranty. You can spend much more for the NF, but you won't get too much more for what you buy a scope for in the first place.

Below is my Sako with the scope mentioned. It's you're money in any event.....

[Ryan S Albright]

I know this will hurt some but I own 3 of the Mid way special 6x20x50AO simmons Whit tail scopes for $99 dollars they work good in the realm of cheap scopes this has been the best. It makes the long shots and is clear I would love to own a Leupold but for killing squirrels this works great and fits the budget I gave my Tasco 6x24x40 away as a gift and am thinking of getting rid of the 6x18x50AO Bushnell Simmons beats these. I know these aren't expinsive scopes but for squirrels Simmons is a poor mans dream come true. They work for night hunting and have good field of view.

[Gube]

N.U.B Thanks for the info on the new VX-L. I'm still trying to decide between the VX-L and the VXIII. I went to the local gun shop yesterday and priced out a 6-20 x 56 in 30 mm tube with windage and elevation dials in the varminter reticle. Came in at $1600. I've been searching other sites for more info on the VX-L. I need to be sure of what I want before I drop that much coin on glass. My original budget was $1200.
Oh well, I'll just have to increase it a bit more or just go with the VXIII.

[glenn asher]

Ryan, a friend of mine has a couple of those Simmons, and he's very happy with them. They've been on some .25/06s for years, and shot very hard, never had any trouble with them, either. They are a lot better than the price would seem to allow.

[BigBoy]

Give the Burris line a look. Put a Burris Black Diamond 8X32X50 side focus on my Savage .204. Very very clear optics at all distances, does not change zero when changing power from 8 through 32, and can be purchased around $650. So good in fact that I bought another one for my Win M70 22-250.

I too have Simmons on other rifles and they have never failed me. I have one on my favorite 25-06 deer rifle and with all the beating and banging it has never moved zero. Great scopes for the money.