SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  Mason's Rifle Room    Recommend an Inexpensive Mil-Dot Scope
Go
New
Find
Notify
Tools
Reply
  
Recommend an Inexpensive Mil-Dot Scope Login/Join 
Doin' what I can
with what I got
Picture of Rob Decker
posted
Tread title says it. I'm seeking an inexpensive Mil-Dot scope. Goal is to get 10x or better with a standard Mil reticle and adjustable zero Mil extended turrets.

My normal rule is to buy once, cry once, but life circumstances are forcing me to compromise that and do this on a budget. I am not a long range shooter but have been given the opportunity to learn from one of the guys at work. He's steering me towards an M24 pattern rifle as an entry into long range work. I'm stymied on scopes, however, given how little I know of the market and the trend in entry-tier scopes to have BDCs.

Can the hivemind help?


----------------------------------------
Death smiles at us all. Be sure you smile back.
 
Posts: 5540 | Location: Greater Nashville, TN | Registered: May 11, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Great bang for the buck in this one.

https://www.bushnell.com/produ...s-riflescopes-10x40/
 
Posts: 3718 | Registered: August 13, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of drobinson
posted Hide Post
SWFA 10x40 or 12x40. I have had the 10x for 12 years an it’s been an good optic.
 
Posts: 563 | Location: SC | Registered: April 28, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
Take a look at the Primary Arms website. Then go search for some reviews on both the internet and U Tube. They get some good reviews for their price range.
 
Posts: 1913 | Location: U.P. of michigan | Registered: March 02, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of myrottiety
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by hvyhawler:
Take a look at the Primary Arms website. Then go search for some reviews on both the internet and U Tube. They get some good reviews for their price range.


I've got one of these on a 10/22 that has been pretty good.

https://www.primaryarms.com/pr...e-mil-dot-pa4-14xffp




Train how you intend to Fight

Remember - Training is not sparring. Sparring is not fighting. Fighting is not combat.
 
Posts: 8838 | Location: Woodstock, GA | Registered: August 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
My first thought was SWFA as well. Their "super Sniper" series is a great value and have a really nice MIL reticle, much more precise than the old-school mil dots.




“People have to really suffer before they can risk doing what they love.” –Chuck Palahnuik

Be harder to kill: https://preparefit.ck.page
 
Posts: 5043 | Location: Oregon | Registered: October 02, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
fugitive from reality
Picture of SgtGold
posted Hide Post
I've got this Konus on my 10/22. Some others:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000...F8&tag=justprofit-20


https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...il-dot-reticle-matte


_____________________________
'I'm pretty fly for a white guy'.

 
Posts: 7069 | Location: Newyorkistan | Registered: March 28, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
Picture of sigfreund
posted Hide Post
You didn’t ask for advice about the reticle itself, so you can obviously ignore this comment if you’ve settled on your choice.

If not, however, I strongly recommend that anyone who is considering a scopesight with a calibrated reticle to assist with various aspects of shooting to look at a more modern design than the traditional mil-dot.

The mil-dot reticle consists of circular (or oval) dots strung along the crosshairs at 1 milliradian (mil) intervals. The idea was a brilliant one when it was conceived of decades ago to assist with both range estimation and consistent aiming holdoffs. The problem with the original mil-dot reticle design, however, is that it’s somewhat coarse and difficult to use accurately for fine holdoff adjustments and range estimates.* The traditional 1 mil interval between dots makes it more difficult to accurately judge smaller increments such as 0.3 mil, and therefore more modern reticle designs usually have calibration marks at shorter increments. I have had second-hand experience with the frustrations of the traditional mil-dot reticle when shooting with a friend who has that design in one of his scopes and I tell him things like, “You’re 0.25 mil left.”

A common design as in Leupold’s Tactical Milling Reticle(s) (TMR) is to have longer marks at every 1 mil and shorter marks between them at 0.5 mil intervals. Some versions of the TMR also include a section with marks at 0.2 mil intervals, and by using the gaps between the marks (and other features) it’s possible to estimate angles as fine as 0.1 mil. Below is a link to Leupold’s manual on using tactical reticles. The manual includes depictions and descriptions of the traditional mil-dot reticle as well as their other offerings such as the TMR.

https://cdnp.leupold.com/produ...ling-reticle-man.pdf

Many other manufacturers offer reticles that are similar if not identical to Leupold’s designs, so it’s not necessary to spend Leupold level money to get one that’s better than the old mil-dot. What is important, though, is to know exactly how the reticle is calibrated. For example, the traditional mil-dot reticle uses circular dots 0.2 mil in diameter. At least one Bushnell scope I’m familiar with, however, uses 0.25 mil dots. A very early mil-dot reticle that was reportedly specified by the Marine Corps used oval dots that measured 0.25 mil parallel to the crosshairs and (as far as I can determine) 0.2 mil perpendicular.

* Most shooters these days use laser rangefinders rather than estimating target distances by using calibrated reticles, but the latter isn’t a completely dead art among professionals because laser rangefinders don’t always work.




6.4/93.6

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato
 
Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Bone 4 Tuna
Picture of jjkroll32
posted Hide Post
SWFA is also my recommendation


_________________________
An unarmed man can only flee from evil and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it. - Col Jeff Cooper

NRA Life Member

Long Live the Super Thirty-Eight
 
Posts: 11143 | Location: Mid-Michigan | Registered: October 02, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
Picture of sigfreund
posted Hide Post
I have no experience with SWFA scopes, but after a quick look at their site, this one caught my eye:

https://www.swfa.com/swfa-ss-1...flescope-105770.html

They also offer two in 10×, including this one with a side focus knob which is, IMO, an extremely convenient feature:

https://www.swfa.com/swfa-ss-1...mm-riflescope-3.html

The SWFA “Mil-Quad” reticle is essentially the same as the Leupold Tactical Milling Reticle I discussed above.




6.4/93.6

“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.”
— Plato
 
Posts: 47365 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Colorado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of swage
posted Hide Post
It'd help a lot if we knew what your budget was.
 
Posts: 1865 | Location: Westlake, OH USA | Registered: October 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Constable
posted Hide Post
Super Sniper. Silly name ,but hell of a scope for the money.

I have a 10X on my M1A. It has been SOLID for 5 years. Reliable; returns to zero, consistent adjustments, etc.
 
Posts: 7074 | Location: Craig, MT | Registered: December 17, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Fusternc
posted Hide Post
Love my SWFA SS 10x
 
Posts: 1373 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: December 05, 1999Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
SWFA
 
Posts: 5082 | Location: Alaska | Registered: June 12, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of kimberkid
posted Hide Post
I've got 2 SWFA Super Sniper's and they are a great value, but if you're shooting for group size at 100, you'll need targets you can center the thick cross hairs on, or circle shiollets you can center the dots on. There's easier ways.

I'm a Leupold fan, they make (and I have) have a low end 3-9x40 scope that has a cross hair and a dot down on the vertices leg which can be used as your 200 yard zero, as well as range estimation of known target sizes ... And several other things, I think they're around $179 another, (maybe the Rifleman) that's 4-12x40 around $279 and it has a couple hash marks instead of dots

It's not just their warranty, but I've had failures of other scopes ... While they also have lifetime warranties when they fail you may not realize that's what's happened at first ... I had a Bushnell that I didn't realize wasn't holding zero. I thought it was the 2 different rifle I'd had it on until I realized the eyepiece was slightly loose ... Bushnell not only replaced it but upgraded it at no charge ... But it was still very inconvenient.

Anyway, I'm a fan of the Leupold golden circle ... When I discovered they price ranges for all budgets it cemented me to their brand.


If you really want something you'll find a way ...
... if you don't you'll find an excuse.

I'm really not a "kid" anymore ... but I haven't grown up yet either Wink
 
Posts: 5700 | Registered: January 11, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
  Powered by Social Strata  
 

SIGforum.com    Main Page  Hop To Forum Categories  Mason's Rifle Room    Recommend an Inexpensive Mil-Dot Scope

© SIGforum 2024